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Big Boyz Jamaican Restaurant 4000 S. Babcock St., Melbourne, FL 32901
4 Stars (small chain)
With more than a handful of Jamaican-inspired restaurants now in the area, the hungry populace craving the flavor of the Island nation has quite a few choices. Sitting at 4 stars, this should be one of them. However, I get ahead of myself.
My server today was Shemean. I must say that if I have ever met a human being more aptly named, it escapes me. Wow. She was unfriendly to the core. I got the feeling that she viewed me as a dreaded responsibility, like plunging the restroom. Something that had to be done. I mention this only to sadly report that my streak of fantastic servers ends here at 12. Please, join me in a moment of silence as we honor The Streak.
With that acknowledged, thank you all.
I managed to place an order of Curry Chicken, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, some Curried Goat, and a Jamaican bun & cheese to round out my order with Shemean the Unpleasant. Sitting back, I snapped a few pics of the place and took in the welcome, joyful atmosphere that radiated the friendly vibe of the Caribbean islands (not my server).
Shemean the Sour returned shortly with my order. I must say that the aromas preceding her caused me to drool a bit, as my feast was delivered in Styrofoam to-go containers. Snapping some pictures, I got to work. First, I placed a forkful of Curry Chicken in my maw. This didn't immediately make me want to write home about it; however, it ended with a delightful aftertaste on the palate, and everything was cooked to perfection. The chicken tasted fresh and was plump, juicy and exploding with flavor. The rice was steamed as rice should be, and it served as a much-needed cooling agent for the tasty Curry.
Moving on to their Jamaican Jerk Chicken. Like most of us, I hazard a guess that Jerk seasoning was the first foray into the cuisine of this island nation. Once again, I found the chicken to be superbly cooked and the Jerk seasoning was outstanding. This was a great representation of the vaunted Jerk flavors! Well done, Sirrah!
I found myself at the penultimate plate for this visit, the Curried Goat. If you've never had goat outside of an authentic, honest-to-Zeus Gyro, I suggest coming to Big Boyz and hittin' up their Curried Goat. The goat was succulent, flavorful without being overpowering, and the curry was just hot enough to warrant the accompanying rice. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was miles from slop.
This brings me to the final item for review on this visit, the Jamaican bun & cheese. This is traditionally a Jamaican Easter food. The bun is a spiced bun, not unlike the more popular English hot cross buns, which are traditionally baked on Good Friday. The Jamaican version is baked in a bread loaf shape and traditionally served, as in this case, with cheddar cheese. The second the bun hit my palate, I picked up flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, definitely allspice, and maybe even saffron. This was spectacular.
The Big Boy says, “Everything was wonderfully full of flavor and properly prepared. It's a good thing I only rate on food execution as the service blew chunks.”