Freakin Rican’s red curry chicken is among this week’s best dishes

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

You know those restaurant visits, when a single dish stands out from the rest? It’s the one your tablemates wish they’d ordered because it’s super flavorful, Instagram-worthy or rivals a favorite home-cooked version.

From Brookline to Bloomfield, Shadyside to the Strip District, here are the week’s scene-stealing dishes and drinks:

Jamaican red curry chicken at Freakin Rican BBQ

It’s easy to miss Freakin Rican BBQ on Greensburg Pike in Wilkins because there is no sign indicating its existence. But it would be a shame not to stop by the stand in Bob Lounge’s parking lot and pick up Fernando Rios’ American-Caribbean barbecue with a touch of hardwood smoke. Mr. Rios — who has a Puerto Rican father, an American mother and an “aunty” from Jamaica — prepares foods that he grew up on such as the Puerto Rican-style pork ribs and shoulder and a tangy and sweet-but-not-saccharinesweet pulled pork in a sub ($6). His Jamaican red curry chicken ($10), which is punctuated with ginger, paprika, a hint of Scotch bonnet pepper and colorful annatto seed, looks fiery but tastes a lot milder. And the crisply skinned meat is absurdly tender. However stuffed you might be, save a spot for smoked and creamy mac ‘n’ cheese made with farfalle pasta, smoked pepper jack cheese and smoked chilies. The beauty is you can taste the chilies without the burn. The stand is open from 2 to 7 p.m. Sundays through the end of October.