Dreaming of the island at The Ackee Tree...

Saturday night, after a long choir practice, fellow choristers; Hot Tamale and Mahna Mahna and dining enthusiasts: Cindy and Ira met up at The Ackee Tree 170 Spadina Ave. (Spadina and Queen St. W) Thoroughly funked up with local art work and relaxed with the musical vibe of the islands, we feasted on ox tail stew, succulent jerk chicken, stew chicken, curry chicken and bbq chicken (hehe, that's a heck of a lot of chicken) medium plates go for about $9-10 and the larger plates $11-12. Our meal, complete with cola champagne (of course!), sides of plantain and dumplings were finished off with rum cake and coconut tarts. Fanshmastic! Check out their link at: http://www.ackeetree.com/home.asp

The ox stew to the left, medium size served with rice and peas and coleslaw. On the bottom, jerk chicken and the same sides... oh yesssss... so good!

Goat Roti and Cola Champagne...

Monday last, Hot Tamale and I went to The Real Jerk at Queen St. E. and Broadview for dinner (2nd one for me that evening, yes, the sad stir-fry I made was uneventful and saturated in oyster sauce) to be followed by a romp at Ed's Real Scoop further east on Queen St. The groovin' atmosphere, complete with dark lighting, vinyl red, yellow and green sticky tablecloths and various rasta paraphernalia hanging from the ceiling were matched by the well-organized menu and our pleasant server Leo. Dreaming of sandy beaches, my girlfriend ate Ackee and cod fish ($13) which she claims was, "pretty good" as I quickly ate my goat roti ($6.99), although with bones and very large potato chunks, was still savoury. As a worthy comparison, there is Cool Runnings at Main St. and Gerrard St. to try with high recommendations (an old hang out after work with friends). Unfortunately, Ed's was closed 15 minutes before aforementioned closing time (don't do this people!) and we settled for Dairy Queen Mint Oreo blizzards on the way home, no comparison!!!!!!