Tasty Jerk, Thornton Heath
Yup, Thornton Heath. Look it up.
While the rest of the food world had their eyes on which restaurants would make it into the World’s 50 Best last night, I was schlepping down to a crumbling takeaway in Zone 4 to get me some jerk chicken. I spend much of my time schlepping around London to taste jerk pork or chicken, come to think of it; either that, or I’m sitting in the corner of a darkened room, rocking and weeping gently, mourning the loss of some of London’s greats. The Jerk Cookout for example (RIP) was one of the best food events ever created, in my eyes, but it stopped a couple of years ago when they (apparently) couldn’t get any sponsorship; to be honest the event was getting too big by that point anyway and thus the quality of stalls diluted until it ended up as just a representation of the state of jerk in London in one place (loads of shit places, very few good ones), rather than a gathering of the very best. The other great loss was Caribbean Spice Jerk Centre next to Peckham Rye station (RIP). That place got taken over by new management who clearly couldn’t care less; when I walked past last night the place was empty. I cry.
And so the search continues. Now I knew Tasty Jerk was going to be good because they won the Jerk Cookout two (or was it three?) times in a row, before they were told they couldn’t win any more because it wasn’t fair to the other contestants. I say: if you’re the best, you’re the best, end of. Anyway, they have branches in spectacularly inconvenient places, those places being: Thornton Heath, Croydon and er, Ghana. So Thornton Heath it was.
We could smell the food cooking from a significant distance. I’d been warned that the place was ‘grotty’ which of course meant that when I entered I immediately fell in love with it. The back wall is basically lined with jerk drums and a massive extractor fan which does try to suck up some of the smoke but fails for the most part, leaving our clothes and hair infused. I’m not wearing the same coat I wore last night. Cooking good jerk is very much about getting a lot of smoke going on, you see. Of course the spicing is important, but a lot of places fall down on the cooking method. Tasty Jerk have it nailed. Here’s a really crap photo that’s out of focus but nevertheless gives an idea of the smoke levels…
A jerk meal will typically come with your chosen meat, plus rice and peas and hot sauce (you should always add the hot sauce). The meal is all about balance; this might sound obvious but the components should not be judged separately. It’s also very much about the build. I want a steady increase of heat and allspice, not a punch in the mouth. I want moisture from the rice and peas. Always ask for gravy on those. Tasty Jerk offered gravy without me having to ask which impressed me and in fact, their rice and peas were excellent; good gooey texture hanging on the right side of stodgy, bit of yellow pepper going on in there for sweetness. Generous with the beans. Their hot sauce deserves special mention too as it was pure searing bonnet fruit balanced with a shedload of sugar that made for a terribly addictive cycle of consumption which ended up with me in tears. The method of dealing with this by the way is, in case you don’t know, Guinness punch.
Tasty Jerk are making some of the best jerk in London right now, along with Smokey Jerkey in New Cross. It’s always the glamorous locations, see? Okay so perhaps none of you care enough about a good jerk pork meal to rattle down to Thornton Heath on an empty train for which you actually have to buy a special ticket. I can understand. For me, that’s what I’m calling a good Monday night. While chefs and food glitterati were sipping champagne and waiting to hear whether or not Noma had won the title of world’s best restaurant yet again (it did), I was drinking warm gin and tonic from a can, on a train. I was uncomfortably full, I stank of jerk smoke and I was in the middle of effing nowhere. I also couldn’t have been happier.
Tasty Jerk Centre (for other locations website here)
88 Whitehorse Lane
London
SE25 6RG
Tel: 0208 653 3222
Category: Caribbean Food, Jerk, Restaurant Reviews | Tags: Tasty Jerk Centre, Tasty Jerk Croydon, Tasty Jerk review, Tasty Jerk Thornton Heath, tasty jerk Thornton Heath review 65 comments »
May 1st, 2012 at 9:45 am
please take me with you on your next jerk quest!
May 1st, 2012 at 9:46 am
You would be most welcome!
May 1st, 2012 at 9:51 am
having tasted their hot sauce myself: this is a GENEROUS helping.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:51 am
These guys have a trailer on Hoxton street Thursday and Friday lunchtimes if you are ever around there. The jerk chicken is amazing. http://www.shadescaterers.co.uk
May 1st, 2012 at 9:54 am
Yes you understand my tears…
May 1st, 2012 at 9:55 am
Ace. Thanks!
May 1st, 2012 at 10:32 am
I can imagine the business meeting. “Well guys, we have two very successful and very well regarded jerk shops in London. It’s time to expand!”
“Great! Where are you thinking? Somewhere with more footfall but an eclectic enough customer base to appreciate good jerk. Soho? Camden? Or perhaps somewhere in Brixton Market?”
“Accra!”
“That’s….”
“Ghana, yes. For too long the people of West Africa have been denied good Caribbean food.”
It may not have actually happened like that but I like to think it did. Brilliant food though, and I’d go back just for that chilli sauce.
May 1st, 2012 at 10:34 am
Ha ha! Yes I think perhaps it MIGHT have been the other way around…
The chilli sauce was so good. I can’t believe I made myself cry.
May 1st, 2012 at 12:31 pm
I should really go and have a chat with the lady at the Caribbean stall in my market and ask if she knows anywhere good in my quartier…
May 1st, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Yes, you should. You definitely should. I have a feeling there’s going to be some ace jerk cooking up in Paris very soon. Just a hunch…
May 1st, 2012 at 2:57 pm
This place looks good and my OH works in Croydon so I must go check it out.
I’m currently looking at Grill Stock after seeing your tweet btw!
May 1st, 2012 at 3:01 pm
HOW amazing does Grill Stock look though? Go on, you know you want to…
May 1st, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Brilliantly written & I want some now!
May 1st, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Cheers Chris!
May 1st, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Oh Guinness punch! Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
When I next come home I’m hitting this place. No good jerk in Trinidad. Every stall here just barbecues their chicken with a bought paste. Not. Good.
Incidentally, after trying many Caribbean pepper sauces (including lots of home made ones) we have decided that our favourite is Neville Edwards A1 from Barbados. It’s amazing. Sweet, hot, but not searing (which suggests to me they use some sugar – it’s Barbados, after all – and more peppers than just scotch bonnets). Beautiful.
May 1st, 2012 at 7:54 pm
Hey Matt. I use rather a lot of sugar in my marinade, although I’ve recently decided to reduce it. That said, sugar makes a big difference, particularly if you don’t have a proper jerk drum; it basically ensures you get a good hit of flavour. That hit could otherwise have come from smoke, perhaps, or another aspect of the cooking method. If you don’t have that option however, a good whack of sugar is a sure fire way to go. As it often is…
May 1st, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Loving the smoky picture! Who needs the 50 best restaurants anyway!
It reminds me of this amazing Turkish grill we went to in Sheffield – apparently the grill used to be open but they’d put a plastic shield between the fire and the tables. There were black coal burns all over the floor right where our chairs were!
May 2nd, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Oh wow, the Croydon one is apparently only 15 mins walk away from me…
May 2nd, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Oh you lucky so and so! I am very jealous…get down there.
May 3rd, 2012 at 8:39 am
Awesome! I went to this last night based entirely on your recommendation. Involved cycling around for fifteen minutes in the rain trying to find it, but it was WELL WORTH IT. Thank you for the review.
I consider myself fairly attuned to chilli heat, so clearly I asked for the pepper sauce. Man, that’s some fiery sauce – took me a while to recover.
May 3rd, 2012 at 9:10 am
Wicked! So pleased you enjoyed it Charlie. Yeah, that sauce is killer. Addictive, no? You realise now why I cried…
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:43 pm
this looks amazing! I wish we had a jamaican restaurant nearby… i live near Jamaica Road, afterall!
May 4th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Help: good jerk pork, East London – where.
May 4th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea…very sorry! I’ve never heard of anywhere. You may have to make the drip daaahn saarf…
May 4th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Brilliant commitment to the jerk! Speaking of which, I marinaded the daylights out of some fowl with your jerk sauce a few weeks ago. Delicious – and sneeze-inducingly spicy!
May 4th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Ace! Crikey it’s always a relief when people like it…
May 4th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Helen – yes, I’ve made your jerk marinade before and it’s perfect. The excessive sugar really does the trick.
Becs – where’s the place in Sheffield you’re talking about? Is it Zeugma (the small one, not the bigger one) on London Rd? I’ve had a many an amazing kofte from that place.
Donald – is your Parisian Caribbean woman from the French islands? If so, you should ask her about poulet boucané. I’m off to Martinique next week and that’s the first stop: it’s kind of similar to jerk, but nowhere near as spicy, and where the Jamaicans smoke their meat over pimento, the French West Indians smoke their poulet over sugar cane. It’s bloody delicious.
Caribbean food rules.
May 6th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
I haven’t made jerk chicken in a while – thanks for the post. I’m gonna have to serve some up soon alongside some black beans, rice and plantains. I’ve never actually made the sauce from scratch though. perhaps that should be my next step. Thanks again!
Gary
May 7th, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Matt, I’ve no idea, I’ll np out tomorrow and ask her…
May 8th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I may have to make the trek over the river to bandit country (South London) to try this. The two Jerk restaurants in Walthamstow are sub standard; mine (yours) is better!
Your Jerk recipe has become an absolute staple in the Copley household, we have it at least two three times a month. We had it this Saturday, Jerk Belly Pork and Jerk Chicken.
Are you going to unveil the new improved recipe soon?
A
May 8th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I am really pleased to hear you enjoy the recipe so much. As for the new one…it’s complicated. Depends when I can get my act together to test it. Of course the weather is improving so now that’s more likely to happen..
May 9th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Eeek very excited that the Croydon one is pretty much down the road from me, I think some Friday night Jerk is in order! Thanks for this, love your writing.
May 15th, 2012 at 8:48 am
having left peckham over 7 years ago my belly hasn’t been graced with jerk anything since. the middle of effing nowhere in germany has nothing that would even remotely compare. this post has made me weep with envy.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Awww! Dark times indeed. You’ll just have to make your own…
May 15th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Great dedication to the cause, Melly. And only a 20 min train ride away!
May 15th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Cheers Mabbers! I’m persistent. No-one can take that away from me.
May 17th, 2012 at 5:46 am
very tasty jerk pork and rice and peas from here. There pepper sauce is hot so only ask for a sprinkle or to the side ( i learnt this the hard way lol)
good prices and highly recommended
May 17th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I go here most nights. It’s the best Jerk Pork/chicken/fish shop in South London.
May 17th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Agreed. Also, most nights? Respect. I’m jealous.
May 17th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
I’m heading into Brixton tonight. Can anyone recommend a good jerk place there?
May 17th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Hey Tom, well Negril is supposed to be the best place in Brixton. It’s on Brixton Hill. I’ve not managed to get there yet so do let me know what you think if you try it.
May 17th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Thanks Helen, I shall give it a go. Love the blog(s) by the way! They’re an amazing guide to eating in London for someone who’s not lived here long.
May 17th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Thanks Tom. Really glad they are of some use!
May 17th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
Negril was very good, thanks for the recommendation! I had jerk chicken with plantain chips. The chicken was very tender but with crisp skin and very tasty and came with really nice gravy and hot sauce (if I’d been eating in I’d have had more of the hot sauce). I’d recommend it with the caveat that I have not eaten that much jerk to compare it with.
May 18th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Great! Thanks for letting me know. I really need to get myself over there pronto. Caveat noted, although the main thing is that you enjoyed it. Good stuff.
May 21st, 2012 at 2:10 am
Great blog! I’m so jealuos, though. We don’t even have the crappy jerk places here in Seattle. The Jamaicans mainly immigrate to the East Coast, especially New York. I will, however, take that train down to Thorton Heath and find Tasty Jerk the next time I’m in London. I love Guinness, but have never had Guinness Punch. What is it exactly?
May 21st, 2012 at 4:13 pm
If only I lived nearer, looks awesome!
May 21st, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Hi Gene, it’s basically a very sweet drink consisting of Guinness, condensed milk and spices. Over lots of ice it’s very good at easing a mouth burned by hot sauce…
May 21st, 2012 at 8:22 pm
That sounds like the ideal antidote to the 50 best… They look like they have some serious bbq action going on, and forget Thornton Heath, sounds like it’s worth trekking all the way to Ghana for this. Oh yes, btw, Guiness AND condensed milk *swoon*
May 22nd, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Thanks Helen! I can’t believe that I haven’t come across it before. Sounds interesting.
May 23rd, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Brilliant writing Helen. Is there any veggie jerk?
I’d like a Guinness punch too
x
May 25th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Well, people do jerk fish so that would be cool for the pescetarians…as for veggie. Um, no…. Guinness punch = wicked! Has to have LOTS of ice though x
May 28th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I used to live on Whitehorse Lane. It was the most miserable six months of my life. I really really wish I’d known about Tasty Jerk then.
In fact having sampled Tasty Jerk at the Cookout (I still dream about the jerk lamb…) I have found the only reason I would ever set foot on that road again. Get me on a number 50 immediately!
May 29th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I was searching google for food bloggers came across yours and I’m hooked!! Loved your post on the Carribean food, I’ve passed Tasty Jerk before but never tried it simply because there are so many (awful) West Indian takeaways and not enough good ones so I just stick to the ones I know…until I found your blog ha! Will certainly enjoy reading all your previous posts. Keep them coming!
May 29th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Aww thank you! Very pleased you like the blog and yeah, give TJ a try. It’s ace.
June 15th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
I can’t believe Thornton-Heath has been featured! LOL Grilled food is the best.
July 7th, 2012 at 9:51 am
Tasty Jerk burnt down last night. Sad times. I don’t know where to get my jerk belly pork now.
July 7th, 2012 at 11:31 am
What?!
July 7th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
It was the Croydon branch I believe http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/croydonnews/9804733.Firefighters_called_to_takeaway_blaze/ very sad though.
July 9th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
It was the one next to the petrol garage in Whitehorse Lane. Just in front of Selhurst Park.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:15 pm
The best in London I recommend everyone please go there
April 7th, 2013 at 12:14 am
It can’t be the one by Selhurst Park, because I was at the Crystal Palace vs Barnsley game today and bought some jerk chicken for dinner.. WTF
April 8th, 2013 at 9:25 am
No, it was the other one.
May 15th, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Tasty jerk fined £30,000 for being horrendously unclean.
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/10421688.Dead_cockroaches_and_mice_earn_Carribean_takeway___30_000_fine/
May 16th, 2013 at 9:22 am
That’s horrendous. This is the one that burnt down I believe. I must point out that this is not the Thornton Heath branch mentioned in the post.