Jamrock

January 25, 2024

This place was such a great random find thanks to a friend of mine who is actually Jamaican. Jamrock is a literal hole in the wall type restaurant located at GW Brook Business Park. You can spot it immediately you enter because who’s gonna miss the international reggae colours of red, green and yellow?😊

They have quite limited seating both on the inside and the outside but you can sit in the main area of the courtyard and your order will still be brought to you there. They have a little cocktail bar on the side of the restaurant and the whole place just feels casual and chill.

I love the vibrant murals painted on their walls, showcasing little aspects of Jamaica here and there. I’ve been here twice, once during the day and the once in the evening - the evening vibe is much better than day time just fyi… but I’ll get to that later.

Now for the food. Jamaican food is not as easy to come by here and the only place I rated before here was Josephine’s Caribbean in Gigiri. This place is run by a Jamaican so already that gave me the confidence that the food will be good.

The menu is super simple which I love and please look at those prices! When’s the last time you saw mains under KSH1000 in these Nairobi restaurants?😱 Of course my first order was some Jerk chicken (KSH350) with rice and peas (KSh250) and my friend had the grilled fish (KSH500) with a side of plantains (KSH300).

The portions are a good amount especially for those prices. The jerk chicken was nice and moist, soft, fall off the bone chicken. The flavour was good but it wasn’t as spicy as jerk chicken is known to be… would have liked it to be a tad more ‘hot’ but I think they’re catering to the Kenyan market so spice levels si mob vile. The rice and peas comes with a side bowl of oxtail gravy that is so thick and yummy my goodness🤤 Might need to order the oxtail next time just to have it together with that gravy.

My 2nd visit here had me ordering the grilled fish this time and plantains because I tasted it the last time and said I need to try a full version. You guys… this fish my goodness! It takes a while to be made, like 30-40min but it’s so worth the wait. That tilapia was marinated to the high heavens, so much flavour just oozing out of every bite😋 It has been perfectly grilled right down to the crispyness of the tail and fins. I know it looks charred in the pic but it’s some charred goodness y’all. Squeeze some fresh lemon on it, kachumvi and eat a chunk of fish with a piece of plantain to add a bit of sweetness to balance the spice of the fish and that’s a match made in tastebud heaven.

That fish was amazing, period. For drinks I’d recommend the Jamrock special (KSH400, non-alcoholic), it’s a very refreshing mocktail. They have an array of cocktails as well and you know Jamaicans love their rum so if you get to try any of them - come back and tell us about it.

Normally I wouldn’t think to have dessert here because it doesn’t feel like a place that would have much to offer there but our waitress insisted we try their mango cheesecake (KSH700) and I’m so glad I did. That cheesecake was so fresh and so tasty! I would never voluntarily choose a mango cheesecake when it comes to cheesecake flavours, I’m more of a berries babe but this one was so well done that I may add it to my roster of flavours now😅 I expected it to taste frozen and lacklustre but we were told it was made fresh that day and it tasted exactly that - FRESH AF. The mango flavour wasn’t too sweet, just sweet enough to balance out the tartness of the cheese, highly recommend it!

Now back to the ambience I was referring to at the start… this place has much better vibes at night, especially on a Friday night. It feels like an outdoor chill bar, where you can drink and hangout but also dance with your people if you want because the music is played at a nice volume and it’s all reggae and dancehall jams💃🏽

They have happy hour from 5 - 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays😌 I enjoyed Jamrock a lot, enough to keep going back - great food, great prices, great vibes all round🇯🇲