Tasty Jerk

Back in 2017, white smoke poured out of the chimney of Tasty Jerk à la the Vatican in honour of Crystal Palace F.C. announcing a new manager. And it’s fair to say the Jamaican takeaway shop on the edge of Selhurst Park is something of a religious experience for jerk aficionados. 

The jerk chicken legs and pork belly that come straight from the Tasty Jerk rig behind the counter—a smoking, four steel drum setup that would give the cast of Chicken Run the heebie-jeebies—are superb. Charred to perfection and blackened on the outside but glistening within, everything here is best paired with their unforgiving homemade scotch bonnet pepper sauce. Plantain and gravy-soaked rice and peas are also welcome as beads of sweat form. Eat it in the car, on the street, wherever.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Jerk Chicken

Thud, thud, thud. That’s the sound of your chicken, straight from the grill, being cleaved into hand-sized pieces for you to devour. It’s also the sound of your heart as you anticipate this smoky chicken that surrenders from its bone when you bite in. All of it is begging for a dunk of Tasty Jerk’s scotch bonnet-charged jerk sauce. Get two pots.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Jerk Pork

This pork belly is so scorched it tastes like it’s got a 50-a-day habit. Yet, inside it’s still meltingly juicy. The pieces are chopped into hunks that oscillate between crunchy, meaty, and meltingly good. You’ll be dreaming of this foil container until the next time you come. A generous side of juicy plantain goes down well too.