Ting Irie, which claims to be Dubai’s first home-grown Jamaican restaurant, has just opened in Souk Al Manzil in downtown Dubai. It comes from executive chef Craig Wong, who pairs his Jamaican-Chinese heritage with the culinary techniques and discipline he learnt from years of working in Michelin-starred restaurants, including Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée and Heston Blumental’s Fat Duck.
The restaurant uses ingredients imported from Jamaica, including Scotch bonnet peppers and pimento seeds – but they source organic produce and meats locally.
“Ting Irie is a fresh, modern take on Caribbean cuisine and food for the soul,” says Wong. “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.”
Highlights on the menu include cubed watermelon salad with pickled rind, cherry tomato, basil, creamy coconut dressing and scallion oil; Jamaican beef patties (also curry vegetable patties); a pulled oxtail sandwich served with coleslaw; spit fiyah jerk rotisserie chicken with Jamaican coleslaw and mango Scotch bonnet salsa; the beach shack lobster; “original gangsta” fried chicken with whipped honey butter; and a dish called Dat Lamb Tho – grilled Australian lamb chops with chilli paste, jerk hummus and crispy chick peas.
Desserts include the signature carnival funnel cake and the puff pass – a mango-banana sorbet with whipped white chocolate ganache, lime curd and candied macadamia nuts.
Wong opened Patois Toronto in Canada in 2014, the restaurant that pairs Chinese family-style dining with flavours from Asia and the Caribbean.
• 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.
sjohnson@thenational.ae