On the scene reporting from Portland, Jamaica at the Frenchman’s cove: Juici Patty with coco bread.

In Jamaica, patties are made from a sort of think filo-dough with various fillings: Chicken (spicy), beef, lobster, shrimp, vegetable or soy. They are sold from a chains of stores spread over the island, each of which are as hunger inducing as staring at cardboard. However, don’t let their boring interior put you off.

Essentially two major chains are vying for the hearts of the locals: Tastee, the original chain, and Juici Patty, the copy-chain. Having tried both, I have to join the revolution and vote for Juici Patty. Their patties are more crunchy, and with better filling. On warning though, if you click on the link, your computer will start playing some pretty awful music without warning. Such is the power of marketing and sales in Jamaica…

For the purposes of this review, I chose a chicken patty, with coco bread. I realize this is odd, taking a patty which is already baked in dough, and then wrapping it in even more bread. But, this is the way of the local, and who am I to argue with cultural traditions. The coco bread also justifies the review, since anything wrapped in bread is a sandwich in our book.

The coco bread is soft, very soft, and has a slight sweetness to it. The patty itself is filled with a yellow curry chicken mix, which has a slight touch of spice to it.  Juici Patti servers their patties warm and crunchy and fresh baked, and this means the outside is flaky and breaks apart and slightly sprinkles crumbled dough on your shirt. This is not a gourmet meal, but it is the second best Jamaican fast-food there is to my knowledge right after going to one of the ever-present roadside jerk chicken centers.  Overall, for this type of food, 4 stars out of 5.