Tasty Jerk
Jamaican restaurant · South Norwood ·
Smoky Jamaican jerk spot with charred pork belly & chicken
Smoky Jamaican jerk spot with charred pork belly & chicken
"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
"London’s best jerk should be enjoyed on laps, balanced on walls, or spread out in a spacious open-air dining room known as Sainsbury’s car park. That’s because Tasty Jerk—a smoking Jamaican takeaway spot that borders Selhurst Park and a big Sainsbury’s—makes the most consistently charred, moist, and fruity jerk chicken in the city. You’ll want to take home extra of whatever’s cooking behind the counter on Tasty Jerk’s steel drum set-up, be it blackened chicken legs or sizzling pork belly." - jake missing, 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
"A hefty clearance from a Crystal Palace centre-back could see the ball land on Tasty Jerk’s roof. That’s how close this smoking Jamaican jerk spot is to Selhurst Park. A takeaway box of charred jerk pork belly or chicken isn’t just an option if you’re coming to watch The Eagles—it’s essential. Whatever you do, don’t skimp on their homemade sauce." - jake missing
