April's Pick: Chubby's Ja Better
If there's a restaurant in town that I've been meaning to try and keep on delaying it indefinitely (for no reason!), it's Chubby's Jamaican Kitchen!
The day is here when I finally get to visit another creation of Toronto's boss lady Janet Zuccarini, recipient of the 2017 Pinnacle Awards Independent Restaurateur of the Year, and the Gusto 54 group! And of course it's a brunch! I want to thank Sunny and Iris for coming out to brunch with me for a catch up. (I met Sunny when I was an intern at an advertising agency and she was the Account Manager. I was like "who is this cool girl with the nice style and the perfect name?) Our friendship started from then. Iris is Sunny's other half! It's been so long!
First thing first, the interior of the place is outstanding! I'm a big fan of restaurant interior and the amazing effect it has on your dining experience. Chubby's is brought to life by Partisans, the group behind Bar Raval (my favourite!), and is housed within a 127 year-old soul - a 2-storey row house.
The development took 2 years long of renovating the old house and expanding the back area. The area from the front to my 2nd shot would be the original house, and the 3rd shot of the pink bar would be the new expansion. The design is meant to embed the "essence of a Caribbean home". And yes, they nailed it!!!
From the kitchen to the lighting, everything brings out a vibrant and tropical vibe within the colour, textiles, and shapes.
I love the basket lampshades and the patterns of the seaters, they just scream African culture and art in your face! It's like a complete island dining experience.
Now for the food! The first item to be served is the explanation of how the dish is meant to be shared and enjoyed together - the homestyle. Coming from an Asian background, I was more than ready for the experience.
Our appetizer is the Pepper Shrimps with garlic butter, scotch bonnet, and house-made hardough bread points. To me, the scotch bonnet & garlic butter sauce was everything. The underlying sauce that's hidden from this photo is the hero of this dish along with the tender & well-flavoured shrimps. Make sure you dip your bread to the very last drip!
Next, we got the Oxtail Stew with braised butter beans and herbs rice & peas. As a person who is obsessed with oxtails, this dish didn't wow me. The oxtails were tender but I can use a bit more heat and flavour.
Ok ok ok! This next dish was indeed the star of our visit!!! The Jerk Chicken was phenomenal!!! The portion in my photo was a half-chicken and we all found it to be super well-flavoured, juicy, and tender. It was one of the best jerk chicken I've ever tasted!!!
Another thing I have to point out are the 2 bottles of hot-sauce in the photos above! They were brilliant to be enjoyed with everything. I personally prefer the yellow spicy mango sauce to the red sauce because of the strong citrusy! Although the red sauce bears in a higher heat!
Lastly, and special thanks to Iris for this because I would have not discovered this dessert without her craving for sweets (I'm usually not a dessert person! :D).
Pictured is the Passionfruit Coconut Cream Pie and probably was the best cream pie I've ever had!!! The best thing about the dish is the super mild level of sweet allowing the passionfruit to take over your pallet along with the richness of the freshly whipped cream. Outstanding!!!
I will 100% be back, probably at night time to enjoy the upstairs rooftop windows (imagine a starry sky above your Caribbean cocktails!).
For more info on the restaurant, visit https://www.http://chubbysjamaican.com/
All photos are taken by Huy Tran.
