Jamaican restaurant Ting Irie opens in Dubai

Ting Irie has just opened in downtown. Courtesy Ting Irie

Ting Irie, Dubai’s first home-grown Jamaican restaurant, has just opened in Souk Al Manzil, downtown Dubai. The restaurant comes from acclaimed executive chef Craig Wong, who has combined his Jamaican-Chinese heritage with the culinary techniques and discipline he learnt after years of working in Michelin-starred restaurants including Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée and Heston Blumental’s Fat Duck.

Wong says, “Ting Irie is a fresh modern take on Caribbean Cuisine and food for the soul. We’re not shy about bold flavours or fun modern ideas, but at the same time we have the utmost respect for traditional island ingredients and Jamaican dishes that we have all grown to love.” The restaurant uses ingredients imported from Jamaica such as Scotch bonnet peppers and pimento seeds, but organic produce and meats are sourced locally.

“Highlights on the menu include the watermelon salad with cubed watermelon, pickled rind, cherry tomato, basil, creamy coconut dressing and scallion oil; spit fiyah jerk rotisserie chicken with Jamaican coleslaw and mango Scotch bonnet salsa; oxtail cocobread sandwich; the beach shack lobster and more. Among the desserts are the signature carnival funnel cake and the puff puff pass — mango banana sorbet with whipped white chocolate ganache, lime curd and candied macadamia nuts.

Wong opened Patois Toronto in Canada in 2014 — a restaurant that pairs Chinese family-style dining with flavours from Asia and the Caribbean. Ting Irie in Dubai is Wong’s only other restaurant and he will spend time going back and forth between the two.

Ting Irie is in Souk Al Manzil, retail 1, MBR Boulevard, downtown Dubai. For more information, call 04 557 56 01 or visit www.TingIrie.com.