Island Spice Caribbean Restaurant

We tried the jerk chicken and the curried chicken dinner plates. The food was different, but not very spicy like other versions I’ve tried. The «jerk» sauce seemed more just like bbq sauce. The curry chicken was nothing to write home about, although well cooked. Cabbage and red beans and rice for sides.
The restaurant is a hole in the wall, based in a former bank. The ambiance is pretty lacking inside, so I would suggest takeout. The area outside the restaurant is also somewhat sketchy.
Bottomline, it was an okay dining experience, but nothing exciting enough to bring me back.

I am here visiting for work and a friend looked up restaurants and ran across this one. My face lit up when I saw oxtails and we quickly decided to eat here. The restaurant itself is small and not really accommodating for a large party. It was 4 of us and we moved two tables together to get comfortable. Two of us had oxtails, one escovitch Red Snapper, and Jerk Chicken. We ALL loved our food! The oxtails have some spice but they were delicious, a little pricey but delicious! The service was great and the young man was very attentive to our needs. If you want a taste of Jamaica come eat here you will not be disappointed!

I got the jerk chicken with rice and cabbage the sauce and jerk is on point this place is always on point for over ten years now!!!

Let me start off with the positives: their homemade ginger beer is great! Try it, if nothing else. I ordered jerk chicken plate and beef patty. The beef patty was fresh and not bad, nothing positive or negative to say about it. The portion size for the jerk chicken was good, plenty of chicken, cabbage and peas & rice. This must be a Kansas City twist on jerk chicken because it was basically drizzled with a sweet bbq flavored jerk sauce which wasn’t bad but not at all what I wanted. Hope there are other Caribbean restaurants around as I will not come back here for jerk chicken.

Did not like the food at all. It was my first experience of Carribean food and it was not pleasant. I think there definitely should be a better place that sells Carribean food.

I grew up around Jamaicans and I have eating Jamaican a lot in my life. This is great Jamaican food.

Stuffed out of my mind. I really enjoyed the tender Curry Goat with red beans and rice. The service was lacking but got everything we asked for without having bad customer service.

Love the food, though they are often out of various things that I try to order, particularly the oxtail. I like how they always open the box to show you what’s inside before bagging up a to go order. Always hard to pass up when I’m walking by the delicious smells!

The Beef Patties are to die for!!!

Although the chicken curry was delicious and the servings were generous, the person waiting on us was almost non-​communicative, stand-​offish and unfriendly. When we asked questions, he was barely audible and we had to repeat the question. I hate giving a negative review but that’s the way it was. The order did come out quickly and it was nice and hot and delicious but… I don’t think I’ll be back. Too bad… I wouldn’t have liked to have tried more. They could also tidy the place up a bit.

I ordered the oxtails, and my mother ordered the curry chicken and I gotta say… I’m a Southern girl and wasn’t used to this kind of oxtails, rather the kind they make in Atlanta, but these were still delicious. The curry chicken however was like ¹⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀ soooooo good !!! I definetely recommend !!!

I am giving this place these 2 stars for the friendliness of the service. One of the things I look for in any establishment is a place to wash your hands this place has nothing. So if you plan on eating there bring done wetwipes, not your typical sit down eat location you might want to take it to go since there are only 4 tables inside. I was terribly disappointed in the jerk chicken, it really seemed more like burnt chicken with seasoning, the oxtail meal was ok there was a good flavor but that was because there was sooo much fat on the pieces. This has been my 5^th location I’ve tried so far for oxtail and jerk chicken and the best one by far has been in NY.

Very good cabbage. My wife had the perch, and it was great. The jerk chicken is also good. Skip the plantains.

This place is more like a miniature restaurant. It is in a old bank with a very small lobby.
The jerk chicken is good but it is covered in a gravy like sauce that I thought was good because I was so hungry but it had a weird tang to it that I wasn’t much of a fan of. The cabbage however was very good. Both the jerk chicken and cabbage had some sweetness to them which left the dish as a whole lacking some contrast.
The small piece of bread that came with it was more like a desert, also sweet and a bit chewy.
Tuesdays they show a beef wrap for 2.99 which is a dang deal! I’m probably going to check that out soon but for my jerk chicken I’ll stick with the Caribbean place on 34^th and main.

2.5 stars.
It’s good, and I see what it wants to be, but it doesn’t get there. I will return for lunch, but only because it’s a minute’s walk from work. Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way.
I’ve had the jerk chicken twice. AND I LOVE JERK. A lot. The flavors aren’t all there… no heavy jerk punch. And the chicken is dry. Both times it was dry. The rice is dry, too, and looks more flavorful than it is. The cabbage is killer, though! Great flavor. In fact, I may just stuff my face with cabbage next time.
The fried plantains were tough and greasy. Still had good flavor, just off in texture. The sauce was great. I wish the chicken had a jerk flavor the way the sauce had flavor. Such a shame… all those spices just hiding their flavor punch someplace other than in my dish.

This is one of my favorite hole-​in-​the-​wall, divey, homestyle places in town.
You’re not here for the ambience or fancy table linens. You’re here for the food.
I’ve personally never had a bad experience here. The employees are always accommodating and sweet. Food quality is very high. The homemade juices are worth every penny, as are the food and soup specials.
Some of the preparations might not be for everyone… things like the cow’s feet soup, the way the jerk chicken or fish dishes are prepared with bones intact. Get over it. This is how most of the world prepares its meats.
Favorite items I’ve had so far:
Fish soup
Jerk Chicken
Beef Wrap
Goat Curry
Snapper escoveitch
Sorrell juice
There’s not much seating here. It can be busy at lunch and you might be better off calling it in and getting your lunch to go. Prices can be a little steep for the divey-​feel of the place, but the entrees are WORTH IT and they offer specials like the jerk wings and beef wraps that are fast food-​priced.
I’ll be back over and over. Give it a whirl.

The service was fast and friendly. Very helpful with menu selections. I ordered the oxtails with the curry chicken wings as an appetizer. The wings were delicious and a delightful surprise.
The oxtails were served with an order of cornbread with cabbage and red beans and rice. The cornbread was unique and the portion size for the oxtails was enormous and very tender. All in all, a very balance meal of both quantity and quality.

I moved here about 10 years ago and I had always wanted to try this place. Last night I finally got around to it.
No nonsense place located in an old bank in the heart of the KC ghetto.
We went inside and were surprised at how quiet, clean and nice it was. It wasnt some great space or anything but we did think twice about getting our food to go.
We showed up a little before closing so they are clearly excused for being out of a few of the items we were curious about (fish soup, meat patty, steamed cabbage) but we made due with the calaloo (great!) and veggie patty (also very good).
The wife and myself split two entrees; The jerk chicken and the curry shrimp. The shrimp was fantastic. The chicken was okay. Not bad but I’ve had better jerk chicken before. They have some other interesting things on the menu like goat and whole red snapper that I cant wait to try.
Overall a good experience. Will certainly go back and check out the super cheap lunch specials since I work over on Westport Rd.
Oh and the festivals de la whatever is basically a deep fried doughnut with very little sweetness to it. Almost cornbread… almost a corn fritter. These are a must get!

When you walk by Island Spice Caribbean the aromas just reach out and give you a hug, welcoming you to come in to the restaurant and enjoy a meal.
This is one place I can never says misses on the spice! I have never experienced a bad meal here. Ox tails, curried goat, and the jerk chicken are among my favorites. Each one is plentiful to say the least and full of flavor. The ox tails and goat are tender, fall off the bone, cooked to perfection. The ox tails come served in a brown gravy that has a touch of heat and a bit of richness. The curry has a mellow heat that would be acceptable to most palates and when paired with the earthy taste of the goat it is perfection. The jerk chicken is probably the best I have tasted.
The meals come with red beans and rice, steamed cabbage, and a piece of corn bread. The red beans and rice are delicious. They may be a bit spicy for some. The corn bread is fantastic. It has a slight crispy outside, I am betting it is cooked in cast iron over a stove and not in an oven. The cabbage is the real star of the sides. I am not a huge cabbage fan, but devour this side like it is the last thing I will ever eat. It is steamed soft, but not mushy, it has a nice mild flavor, retaining a bit of the cabbage taste, but complimented with spices.
If you are wanting a to go order, call ahead. They prepare orders as they are placed so you will wait, but it is worth it. The staff is amazingly friendly, they really add to the overall experience. The dining room is small, only a few table, but on a nice day there are also a few tables available outside.
The meals are huge! $ 9 and you will have enough for two meals, if not three. Don’t skip this place or shy away because of the location. This is one of the best restaurants in the city!

There is a picture of this place next to the word «dive» in the dictionary. It truly is a dive. The floors have dirty rugs tossed on them haphazardly, the tablecloths on the four tables look like they came from a clearance sale at the dollar store and there are dusty fake palm trees scattered about. There are handwritten signs on the walls saying how prices are higher (they don’t say what the prices are) and that you must buy at least $ 5 of food to use a credit card.
The man who runs this place has a thick Jamaican accent and speaks very quietly as he tells you one by one that the things on the menu that you’re trying to order are not available (homemade ginger ale, greens, sweet potato pudding). We ended up getting goat curry and red snapper plus fried plantains. The goat curry was good although not great. The goat was tender and juicy and chock full of bones and the brown sauce it was floating in was just ok. The red snapper was really flavorful and was probably the best thing we had. Both meals came with rice and steamed cabbage. The steamed cabbage was really good and had I known it was going to be that good, I would have ordered an extra side of cabbage. The plantains were bad. Really bad. They had clearly been fried in rancid oil which had left a disgusting rancid flavor. Plantains are not supposed to taste like that. What a waste of money and taste buds.
While we were there, a drunk homeless man wandered in twice. He came to our table and sang to us. It was both charming and unsettling at the same time.