Tasty Jerk
Jamaican restaurant · South Norwood
88 Whitehorse Ln, London SE25 6RQ, United Kingdom
Highlights
London's best Jamaican jerk, smoky protein grilled with expertise
London's best Jamaican jerk, smoky protein grilled with expertise
"Possibly London’s best Jamaican jerk shop. On the edge of Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, with a smoky aroma detectable from many hundred meters, this stark room is dedicated to one thing: immaculately, judiciously seasoned protein grilled without remorse. The age of these oil drums and the time-honored expertise of chef Murphy Lawrence and his team result in jerked pork belly, chicken, goat, and even lobster, all penetrated with smoke and lifted by allspice, Scotch bonnet, and salt. Tasty Jerk is a heady, intoxicating, and remarkably good-value eating experience. Know before you go: Buy a bottle of the home-made pepper sauce to take away, but use with caution and keep it in the fridge." - Adam Coghlan
"If you haven’t stood in Sainsbury’s Crystal Palace’s car park shovelling jerk pork belly into your mouth and sucking the meat of smoky chicken leg that would make the Marlboro man do a double take, you haven’t eaten jerk properly in London. Tasty Jerk, a takeaway-only joint opposite Selhurst Park, is the most elite Jamaican spot in London. Its pork belly marries a ludicrously charred and crunching exterior with melt-in-your-mouth fat, while the chicken surrenders from the bone almost immediately. Hunch over the counter if you like or find your own space in the big Sainsbury’s behind. Either way, get extra homemade jerk sauce. It’s better than water." - jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley
"The jerk chicken legs and pork belly that come straight from the Tasty Jerk rig behind the counter are superb. Charred to perfection and blackened on the outside but glistening within, everything at this Selhurst spot 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." - jake missing, rianne shlebak
"Home to London’s finest jerk pork and chicken, as well as Crystal Palace’s finest tarmac dining room in the shape of the big Sainsbury’s car park behind, Tasty Jerk is the must-visit Caribbean takeaway in London. The stripped-back interior is most notable for its line of perma-smoking steel drums behind the counter that are carefully charring sensational hunks of pork belly and ludicrously smoky chicken. This stuff is best consumed with your hands outside the door. A pot or two of Tasty Jerk’s blazing homemade scotch bonnet sauce is essential, but a seat or table is not." - team infatuation
"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." - Jake Missing
