The Islands

Growing up Jamaican and eating Caribbean cuisine I was a little skeptical as to the greatness of The Islands, or so I was told, until I tasted it for myself. I got the jerk chicken meal and was thoroughly impressed by the flavor and texture of the chicken. The rice and peas was excellent as well. I thought I was going to save half of my meal for later… I thought wrong.

This isn’t a classic 5-​star spot but the experience was so great that I’m upping the ante anyway. My friend and I are both leaving Brooklyn soon (so sad) and so we wanted to try some authentic Jamaican before we do. Internet research led us here, as it often does, but The Islands 100% lived up to the hype. We waited about 20 minutes in the tiny downstairs section before there was a table for us upstairs. Upstairs is like your grandmother’s tiny attic — low ceilings, a bunch of mismatched furniture close together, interesting lamps. Random small AC/​fan system. And the tiniest bathroom I’ve been in, I think ever. All in all, the ambience was great. Add to this that the Islands is BYO, but we had plenty of water all night, and the oxtail was so tender, savory and perfectly cooked, and it was a great meal. The mac and cheese was so-​so — probably not worth the calories (spend it on the meat) — but definitely add the Islands to your bucket list.

Great Caribbean food from people who are actually from there.

I come here every week now because these people can cook!!! Mac and cheese is the best, just enough cheese and crunchy on top. Jerk falls off the bone, as do all the meats and the curry and gravies are flavorful and add to the perfection of the rice and peas. Like what someone else here says: I hope this business endures forever!

This place is really small. We ordered take out and it was ready immediately. Very authentic Caribbean food. The jerk chicken was well seasons and juicy. It wasn’t as spicy as I expected. Can’t really eat inside, the place is really small. Order take outs and go. The small portion were huge. The large portion can feed 2 people.

I’m Jamaican and the food was just amazing. The seating area is small, but worth it. The dishes had so much flavor, it really tasted like a meal from back home. I love that it’s like a hole in the wall, not too many people can dine there at the same time because of the size of the dining area. But seriously when you get that food you don’t even realize how small the place is. It’s that good. I recommend the Calypso shrimp curry chicken jerk chicken plantain and macaroni and cheese

pode parecer pequeno e estranho, com uma primeira impressão que mais te manda embora do que convida para entrar, mas não se engane, a comida é sensacional.
provamos a oxtail, uma rabada muito bem temperada, e o jerk leg of lamb, pedaços de carneiro com molho (peça o chutney de manga para acompanhar).
comida surpreendende com um atendimento que vai fazer você se sentir na casa de uma tia querida no interior.
você deu sorte de chegar aqui, parabéns!

This was by far my favorite meal during my last visit in NY, we randomly stumbled upon it after visiting the Botanic Garden.
Dishes we tried:
Curry Goat with rice&peas
Oxtail with jasmine rice
Both dishes were phenomenal, large portions and full of flavor! I still salivate when I think about that meal. We also tried to get an order of the mac and cheese but our server forgot. No big deal though because we were heading to dinner in a few short hours so we wanted to save room.
About the restaurant… this place is definitely not wheel chair accessible, you have to hike up/​down a narrow/​steep stair well to get to their attic. It literally seats 12 people in really tight quarters but the food makes it totally worth it.

Quintessential hole-​in-​the-​wall gem. Everything here is crazy delicious and affordable, so you really can’t go wrong with your order.
Perfect takeout option for quick dinners or picnics in the park.
I hope this business endures forever!

The most flavorful curry chicken is served here.
Their pots are sacred! I’ve been spoiled, and I now
have virtually eliminated all the other spots in B’klyn.I haven’t eaten upstairs, as I’m a bit tall for the space. I take out pretty regularly, though.
For my palette, it’s the number 1 restaurant for
Jamaican cuisine!

The Islands is a very small restaurant where you have to climb up the stairs to what feels like an attic room of a house. I came here after a work out at the gym so I can indulge in their popular Caribbean jerk chicken and oxtail. HUGE mistake. The wait to get seated wasn’t long (10 minutes) but the wait for our food was a good 40 – 50 minutes. I get that there’s only two ladies working the kitchen and but I don’t understand why it took so long to serve something like oxtail that should’ve been simmering in the kitchen for hours.
Just when my boyfriend and I were about to give up and leave, our meals finally arrived and all my frustration went away! I ordered the large jerk chicken (to share) and my boyfriend ordered the oxtail. The jerk chicken was seasoned very well but I would’ve liked it a little less spicy. The oxtail was very flavorful, tender, and sweetness in the sauce helped counteract the spiciness of the jerk chicken. I loved the side of cabbages, the salad with sweet dressing was OK, and the rice and beans were a little too dry for my taste. I wasn’t able to finish my meal and packed the remaining jerk chicken to go.
I would probably come back if I was ever in the mood for some jerk chicken but I wouldn’t dine in again. I noticed that there was an extra $ 3 charge on our check and my boyfriend assumed it was the tax. After reading some few reviews, I realized that it was the fee to dine-​in. Take out FTW next time.

Love this place! I am addicted to the garlic shrimp. It is simply delicious and if you like heat ask them to make it spicy. Last night I tried the oxtails and they were extremely good! It was also a big portion so plenty of leftovers.
Note: the place is tiny so I always get my food to go.

Friendly service and good food, what more can you ask for?
We got here late because we tried a few locations that had a 40+ minute wait time and finally ended up here. Because of this, we did not have much of a selection. I really wanted Oxtails but that was gone by the time we got here which was about 9:30 — 10 pm.
This is not a fancy place, so let’s get that out of the way. We ordered the jerk chicken and the stew chicken. The entrees come with rice, some steamed cabbage and a tiny side salad. The food was authentic and really good.

Oh my gosh, I just died and went to heaven. The food here had amazing flavor. I’m pretty sure several times during our meal we used our food as an analogy for what heaven will feel like.
We ducked into here while it was 12 degrees outside. Stepping into the warm smells of soup and rice was a phenomenal experience – and we hadn’t even eaten yet.
We had the oxtail, which was amazing. The meat was fall-​off-​the-​bone tender and full of savory flavor.
The coconut shrimp really did whisk us away to the islands.
To top it off the rice and beans on the side were so tasty and complemented the meat perfectly.
A bit pricey, but obviously worth it for the quality of food you get. Bring cash!

So I really wanted to love this place, I really did. Part of my desire to love this was because one of my coworkers told me that the oxtail was amazing and I wanted to have another go to place for West Indian food. It appears that my dream was not to be.
I will start by saying that I was a little weary about entering the establishment when I saw that the door was being kept open using a stick… It is winter after all why was the inside so hot? In any event my friend and I decided to venture in. The gentleman behind the counter was very friendly and told us where to find the menus. We settled on the fish with okra and it sounded like it would be an explosion of flavors. We were disappointed to find out that there was none available… okay…So I opted to ask what was available and it was curry goat, jerk chicken, stew chicken and oxtail.
Mind you the menu had over twenty items but this was all that was available after noon. Mind you I did not get the impression that the other items would become available later. As we were contemplating which items to order another woman walked in and tried to order the fish with okra and she was told the same thing that my friend and I had been told. Next she asked for a shrimp dish and was told there was none. She asked for another shrimp dish… guess what? there was none. She asked for some of the veggie meals… there were none. I gently suggested that she asked what was available and pick from the four items.
The food was a little over priced for the portion but I did a appreciate that when I asked for a little bit of rice the owner was willing to fulfill that request and gave me quite a bit of cabbage. Unfortunately the food did not taste great. I liked the cabbage but the rice was overcooked, the chicken was dry and not flavorful.
If I was rating just based on taste I would have give a star but I thought that the owner was very nice inspite of the shortcomings that I saw. Buyer beware.

The oxtail is to die for ! Bring some wet wipes though…
Can’t wait to try the curry.
If you know someone in the hood then do take out and eat at their place. You can see the Brooklyn Museum from their entrance.

This felt like the most authentic Caribbean food I’ve had outside of the Caribbean. As close to a jerk chicken hut in Negril as it gets. The plantains were wolfed down at record speed. The Jerk chicken was seriously spicy but very delicious. And though I’m not a huge fan of bread pudding dessert, they got it right.
The atmosphere is pretty fun too but not for everyone. You wait for a table (and the wait could take awhile) and you eventually make your way up a tiny set of rickety steep stairs to the second floor with a handful of tables and wait for the server/​chef/​dishwasher/​hostess (?) to take your order. Be prepared for them to be out of certain menu items. Oh and it’s BYOB.
The portions are large and the bill relatively small. Would love to come again or better yet, get takeout.

This place seemed like a one man shop. We sat upstairs and it gave off a boat like atmosphere — not sure if that was intentional.
I got the jerk shrimp dish, the small size, but it definitely was not small. The owner originally said the small size comes with 6 jumbo shrimp, but my dish definitely had more than 6. The owner definitely warned that the dish was spicy, but it was a beyond tolerable/​deathly kind of spicy and I love spice! Not sure I’m a fan of this place but I might come back to try a different dish but beware of the jerk shrimp.

A quelques minutes du musée de Brooklyn, se trouve petit joyau. L’agneau au curry, les crevettes au calypso et le oxtail sont un vrai délice! Les plats ce situe entre 13 $ et 16 $.
Bémol l’espace est vraiment petit et peu convivial.
L’odeur à l’étage est peu agréable et les toilettes né sont pas très propre.
Je recommande donc de prendre le temps de manger à l’extérieur en face du musée ou près du jardin botanique

The Islands is probably my favorite Caribbean restaurant amongst the glut of Caribbean restaurants in the Prospect Heights/​Crown Heights area. I’ve gotten take out here and eaten in multiple times and have never been disappointed.
As opposed to places like Gladys, which is a bit more upscale/​trendy, The Islands is more of a dingy, no frills food joint. Everything I have gotten on the menu has been excellent — my favorites are the jerk chicken and the curry goat. They offer two sizes small or large — small is a pretty decent size and could probably satisfy the average person, but when I’m super hungry I go big! The jerk flavors are spot on, and I love the spiciness in a lot of their dishes; the meat on the chicken is so tender and juicy as well, and slips right off the bone.
They have an upstairs dining area which has some pretty steep stairs — so not sure if it’s the greatest for the less mobile, elderly, or handicapped. But once you get up there you’re rewarded with a super cute dining area; there were many times where I felt I was back in Jamaica! The menu says there is a small extra charge for dining in, although last time they didn’t seem to charge me, so YMMV. Oh, and of course one of the best things of this place — BYOB! And no silly corking fees too.
Also, the people who work and cook there are super nice. One downside is that the place is cash only, but there’s an ATM at the adjacent Key Foods in case you’re not carrying enough cash.
For some authentic, delicious, home-​cooked Caribbean food served in an laid-​back setting, you can’t go wrong with The Islands!

I was in Crown Heights and Unilocaled a nearby place for dinner. The Islands had the most highly rated reviews, so I decided to come by. As recommended, I got the food to go, as this restaurant is in a small space (tis the theme in NYC, no?). I ordered the Jamaican jerk chicken; a small order ($ 12) came with a thigh, drumstick, rice & peas, vegetables. You can ask for more veggies than rice, if you so desire.
I LOVE THE SPICY SEASONING! So good. The chicken was perfectly marinated, and the spicy flavors oozed out onto the rice & peas. The veggies were good too. I saved ½ and ate the rest for breakfast the next day. Just as good reheated!
Depending on if there’s a line, the food may take a while to come. Operationally, they aren’t the most efficient. So ordering to-​go means it definitely comes quicker.

The Islands really isn’t the type of place you should go on a first date. That’s not to say that it isn’t good, but the fact that the dining area is an attic-​sized room with poor ventilation, less-​than-​ideal lighting, and variable service doesn’t make it the best setting for a seamless meal. For those of us who don’t live near Prospect Heights and can’t take advantage of their take-​out service, however, dining in is the only option for a chance to try the Jamaican fare.
I was able to wander in thanks to the recommendation of a friend, after stepping inside the first floor, which holds the kitchen and a small counter area, we were able to head upstairs into the dining room to snag the one remaining table. The space is tight, and we could clearly overhear our neighbors’ conversations; again, it’s a venue to visit solely for the food, and not for the ambiance nor service. There were extended periods of time that the lone server was gone for as she probably doubled up on tasks in the kitchen or on the phone. Thankfully, we were able to get our orders in after deciding on a side and an entrée to share.
The Mac & Cheese is worth an order, a cube of pasta that’s generously doused in creamy, well-​seasoned melted cheese. Most importantly, there’s a layer of crisp crust left on the top, the remnants of being properly baked in the oven to produce the much-​needed textural contrast. One is enough to share, or make an appetizer of as we did, since the entrees are more than substantial.
The main dishes are served in two sizes, a small and a large, and a large is certainly large enough to consistute two meals. We ended up splitting a large order of the Jerk Chicken, which was a wise decision; the plate consists of three pieces of chicken, rice with peas, and a lightly dressed side salad. The star of the plate is clearly the chicken; braised to an unbelievably tenderness so that it pulls off the bone at the prodding of the pork and marinated in a mixture of various spices, honey, barbecue sauce, and the creeping heat of scotch bonnets, it’s an addicting and delicious bite. You’ll be tempted not to share, but given the sheer portion of the plate, it’s an inevitable outcome.
Also of note is that The Islands accepts Cash Only, and has an additional $ 2 charge for dining in. Regardless, it’s certainly worth a visit for those looking for authentic Jamaican cuisine; just be sure to bring your appetite.