Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Veronica's Kitchen


"Veronica's Kitchen"
Cuisine: caribbean/soul food
Location: Corner of Front and Pine Streets. Across from the Eurostars Wall Street Exchange Hotel. Not far from South Street Seaport and the Wall Street ferry terminal to IKEA.
Grub: Small Jerk Chicken meal with 3 sides ($6.50). Plus a 50 cent tip, it cost $7 to feed 1 adult and HD. (Maybe I'm dense, but I didn't see jerk chicken listed on the menu. The cooks suggested it as their most popular dish.)
Review: This cart caused me to junk my preconceived notions about jerk chicken. Forget the orange sauce or the bottled stuff that chain restaurants pour over a chicken breast. Veronica cakes on a mysterious herbal dry rub flecked with hot red spices. The chicken itself remains white or brown in color, but the meat is infused with the most addictive, delectable mix of flavors. I couldn't get enough. And it was spicy enough that I didn't need to add any of their hot sauce, convenient prepackaged in mini plastic tubs. HD kept begging for more chicken even though my mouth was burning. I gave it to her. At the end, I dipped my last piece of chicken in the piquant hot sauce and I hit a whole new nirvana. The sides were less to rave about. The mac-and-cheese was dense and bland, but it had a good cheesy top crust. The string beans were overcooked for my taste. And the candied yams were far too mushy and cloyingly sweet. But HD loved them. It's no bargain at $6.50 for a small meal. I would order the larger size next time. Excellent, quick friendly service at 11:40am. Veronica advised me to send HD to school and give myself a break. "Look, she's talking already," she said with a smile.
Rating: I'd go back tomorrow.


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