Jonkanoo, Surry Hills

A dessert must be had when at Jonkanoo,

It had me spinning in my tutu,

And my stomach was going boohoo,

But my taste buds were screaming woohoo!

After popping over at the Connoisseur launch for their new collection, Miss CC and I made our way over to Jonkanoo. She had told me about this Caribbean joint recently and it was unfortunately closed when she had planned to go, thus she made sure when we visited it was open.

(R - L) Cliff Hanger $17 Where is the love? $17

We start our Wednesday night with some cocktails, it seems like hump day is a must for us with some hump day drinks. Maybe because I do have work that day and feels more legit for me to… you know, have a drink after a long day.

I ordered the Cliff hanger, I’m not too sure whether I like it or not however you wont miss the strong rum in this concoction. It is a mix of Sailor Jerry, crème yvette, fresh watermelon, ginger and lime.

“Where is the love?” The bartender asks.

“Right here.” Miss CC smiles happily, a little too happily with her little smart reply.

This was amazing, the mix of sweet pineapple and the subtle hint of lime had me in cocktail envy! From that point, I knew I didn’t like mine as much as I thought I might have…

Accras lan mory salted cod fritters, lime aioli $18

Food! I am famished for not having a very big lunch that day, due to pure laziness to pop out and buy something. But anyways we order some of the ‘small tings’ from the menu, the salty cod sure lived to its name! I loved how there were all different textures that worked so well, the slight crunch with the mushy innards that offered a nice elasticity like bite. The lime aioli helps give the cods a nice little zing to kill some of that saltiness.

Souscd mackerel, ginger ale & sweet potato chips $19

Sweet potato chips! Miss CC was already ready to order this. But I had a feeling she read chips as fries. But no fear, we simply enjoyed this so much. The dressing complimented the mackerel so well, I simply loved the zing it offered and the cucumber allowing you to refresh your palate

Jerk chicken (1/2 pound $14 | 1 pound $28)

We decided to skip on the bigga tings as we wanted to the jerk meat and dessert. So ½ a pound is a serving for one, which settles a lot for us, considering there is only two to choose from. One of each thank you very much. The jerk chicken is spicy, so beware non-spicy takers this one can be a killer. As I do love my chilli this one to me was rather spicy too, but I do love the subtle charcoal on the chicken, but apart from spice there is unfortunately not much else we can taste.

Patacones con hogao $9

We could not choose between the patacones or the papas fritas but the waitress recommended the patacones. So, who are we to argue? This comes like potato scallops, a crunchy exterior with thin potatoes inside, I found this a little sweet and use the salsa to help balance the flavours however Miss CC preferred without the salsa.

Jerk pork (1/2 pound $16 | 1 pound $32)

The jerk pork is not as spicy as the chicken, but there are still hints of it, and that’s cool. I do much prefer the pork, but that could be because we are pork lovers in our own senses. Miss CC seemed to be unlucky and got all the fatty pieces where as I seemed to be all confused when she claimed there was so much fat. Oppss? We did find the slaw lacks a bit of kick, perhaps a little more tang in it would give us that kick – it was a rather healthy slaw… and we all know slaw is debatably not considered healthy, right?

Papas fritas con chimichuri $9

Um… yeah, we also were too not sure who we were kidding when we chose one side. It totally was not our style, so we decided to add the papa fritas after our dishes were placed. We enjoyed these just a fraction more than the patacones only because they were seasoned well. They were sort of like roast potatoes but only that the potato skins were slightly crunchier than your average roast potatoes. The chimichurri on the side is not required for sure.

Chocolate banana fritter, grilled pineapple, vanilla ice cream $12

Dessert? Didn’t we already have that before dinner? Stix is also across the road. But come on, I can’t come here and not give you something sweet to walk away from right? So, I saw these little pot like things walk past with something that looked like crumble so naturally, I was like,  “I want the ginger cake crumble!” looking up Miss CC was “sure” but she had another look, and yes, I also wanted the banana fritter too…

Spiced ginger cake, crumble, chodo, ginger syrup $12

So, I may have looked at the wrong dish and felt a little guilty when this was placed. BUT have no fear, because this is so freaking amazing! It is the perfect winter dessert, ok, winter has left but the cold chilly nights haven’t per se. The cake is warm and decadent, each spoonful needs to have some crumble with the chodo and ginger syrup to help give you that spice like kick. Yum! Just thinking about it warms my soul right now.

chocolate banana fritter innards

We were warned to be careful of the banana contents, as it was very hot. Yes, this was a good dessert but was unfortunately already overshadowed by the ginger cake crumble. The warm chocolate hiding between the fritter, we find it hard to find banana pieces, however you do get the subtle hints, just not enough? The grilled pineapple is sweet and the slightly burnt pieces offer you a nice textural bite along with the refreshing ice cream to break up all the sweet chocolate. What makes me happy is to see the hint of vanilla beans within the ice cream.

Miss CC said, the lead up to our meal was jamacian us hungary! The puns began from that point...but that point aside, perhaps that's why she said, "Maybe after we go to coles, we can fit in Stix!"

The reply she received was a silent one with a raised brow...
It's safe to say, the silent responder was right.

I guess my mistake was a good one, have you ever ordered something believing it was one thing but turns out it wasn’t? And what was the outcome, a winning or losing one?

Hit: Salty cods, ginger cake crumble
Miss: jerk chicken

Jonkanoo
583 Crown Street,
Surry Hills

Opening hours
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday - Thursday: 5pm - 10pm
Friday - Sunday: 5pm - late