On The Town: The Real Jerk

The Real Jerk
709 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON
416-463-6055

(Photo borrowed from Tyson WIlliams’ Flicker)

The Real Jerk is a Toronto institution.  It has been around for about 25 years and has expanded to include 2 locations.  Despite having been born and raised in Toronto I had not been to The Real Jerk until last year.  It was my first year buying the famous Entertainment Book and there was a BOGO coupon for an entree at The Real Jerk.  I figured why not give it a try.

I ordered the Jerk Pork and was thoroughly disappointed.  I don’t even remember the flavouring because I was too concerned about the hunks of fat on each cube of pork.  Totally unappetizing.  I wasn’t ready to give up on The Real Jerk just yet (it has been around for AGES) so when I got a coupon in the 2009 book I figured I’d give it another ago.

This time I decided to go for the Jerk Chicken.  I also considered the curry goat and oxtails but figured I’d have something that I don’t normally eat at home.  I was disappointed once again.  The chicken wasn’t bad but the flavour was weak.  When I eat Jerk I want some heat and different levels of flavour.  No such luck.  It almost seems as if the flavour was brought down to the lowest common denominator.  My dining companion had the oxtails.  These were okay but on the sweet side and again, no pepper.  Did they run out of scotch bonnets??  On the side I had rice and peas and coleslaw.  All were ok.  The rice and peas could have used more peas (beans) but that opinion might be based on the fact that my mom always puts too many peas in her rice!

Service was friendly if not a bit slow.  I watched my food sit on the ledge outside of the kitchen for about 5 minutes before it was brought to me!  Several waitresses looked at the order but no one let my waitress know that it was there or bring it over.  That was beyond frustrating.

Would I visit them again?  Not on purpose.  If I were in the neighbourhood and hungry I would choose The Real Jerk over say, Dangerous Dan’s but I’m not rushing back.  Oh, and for the record I’m a fan of the Jerk Chicken at Ritz Caribbean Food on Yonge.