City Gates, Wind Street, Swansea. 01792 476222 / www.jamaicanjills.com
Food **** Atmosphere ***
We get a warm Caribbean welcome stepping off Wind Street into the vibrant colours of Jamaican Jills. There’s yellow, green and orange everywhere, Bob Marley quotes on the walls, reggae through the speakers and I Am Bolt on constant loop on the many TVs. A steel pan set is ready and waiting in the window for when the party gets started later that night. At lunchtime Jills is busy and the lady herself is on hand to look after her many guests. This is her place and she is giving us every bit of Jamaica that she can.
The meze platter is huge, even for two: a bed of fresh salad topped with an assortment of traditional delicacies with rice and peas in charming coconut shells. The inevitable jerk chicken is probably the least interesting part, tasty but a little tough. Spicy prawns are a similar combination: brilliant sauce but not best quality. The real treats are the salt fish fritters; full of flavour and well textured they look and feel like the real thing. But the centrepiece, Jills famous curried goat, is the real highlight. A stunningly rich sauce, which benefits from packing a more nuanced punch than the jerk or chilli, generously covers tender pieces of goat. This is very moreish and makes a great dipping sauce for the extra dumplings, savoury yet sweet.
More extras include some beautifully cooked jerk ribs. There’s plenty of meat on the bones which, unlike most restaurant ribs, can be eaten with a knife and fork. For the truest taste of Jamaica you must go for the ackee and salt fish. Jamaica’s national dish is the ackee fruit, sautéed with salt cod and spices served in a lidded ramekin. I can’t get enough of this and it has a welcome freshness after all the spice. Two pieces of banana cake are a perfect ending to this Caribbean feast: sweet, warm comfort food with a serving of custard on the side.
On leaving I felt like turning the lights down and the TVs off. I guess that will happen when the band gets going and the smoking cocktails come out. I’m looking forward to a return trip to Jill’s Jamaica. But next time I’ll wait until after dark.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES