Jamaican nosh and reggae music

For a taste of Jamaican food and culture, head over to the Chokodok Reggae House Cafe, writes Ewe Paik Leong

AS I stroll towards Chokodok Reggae House Cafe, its facade already hints to me on what to expect in terms of decor. Once inside, I am blanketed in a gritty ambiance created by rugged wooden furniture, graffiti, T-shirts, bric-a-brac on walls, posters of Bob Marley and the Rasta colours of red, green, black and yellow.

The small recycled tables encourage you to sit nose-to-armpit if you’re part of a big group. Nope, there’s no music as yet.

I take a seat on a wooden cable-wire spool and a waiter hands me an A3-size wooden board which functions as a menu. I squint; in the moody half-light, it’s difficult to read the hand-scribbled names of dishes, what more as various felt pen colours have been used.

The listings are broken into toast, sandwiches, nazi (sic) goreng, burger, choppy (sic), fresh juices, shakes, cordials, lassi and smoothies. The dishes are typical cafe grub with a few local items thrown in. My other disappointment with the menu is that there are no grazing dishes.

After having placed my order, a quick visual survey reveals a wooden structural mezzanine at the back of the hall — accessed by a steep ladder — that is so small that you can’t even swing a rat, never mind a cat. Yet, there is a drum set here, a mike and two small chairs.

SALSA TIME

My lime juice comes in a small red plastic pail, making me wonder (cynically) whether Jamaicans drink from such an item. My nachos salsa is blanketed by tomatoes, jalapeno and onions that are lacquered in thick, gooey cheese.

The textural complexity of the crispy nachos together with the soft-and-firm toppings intrigue my taste buds, and its strong gust of cheesey aroma almost lifts me from my seat! Gee, this snack is bursting with vim and vigour.

After that, I attack the Jamaican jerk chicken burger. In the dim light, I can’t see what’s crammed between the halves of the burger but my taste buds tell me they are kissing cool onions, lettuce and chicken meat that is sweetish-spicy-smokey, like a distant cousin of Peri-Peri chicken. The crisp-skinned saltish fries are on nodding terms with my lime juice too. This is burger success indeed.

REGGAE TIME

Two men, whose faces I can’t see, now appear