Jams

It was about 10:15pm on a Friday and I had just finished watching a documentary that was screened in Harlem as part of the Black Panther Party Film Festival. I had eaten a big lunch that afternoon as my company had provided free lunch that day for the long meeting we had. I just was not hungry prior to watching the film and I had not eaten anything since lunch. But by 10:15pm I was about to gnaw my own arm off to satiate my appetite. Well, where to eat? Sylvia’s was closing in 15 minutes, and other than a few lounges that I walked by, Jams was the only restaurant that I saw was still open at this time.
As its sign would suggest, Jams serves Jamaican and southern food. When I first entered this little restaurant, I was not sure if they were still open as there was nobody else there but one two other people waiting for their takeout orders. But I was assured that they were indeed still open and I was asked what I would like to eat. My eyes quickly zeroed in on the chicken offering on their menu. Sweet & sour chicken, BBQ chicken, brown stewed chicken, curried chicken, fried chicken, and jerk chicken. I asked for the brown stewed chicken but they were all out for the night, so I settled for the BBQ chicken. For a side I ordered mac and cheese. Size? Large, of course. The food at Jams was not made to order, but instead it was scooped from trays of food that had already been prepared. So I got my food right away, which was excellent timing.
The BBQ chicken was roast chicken that was literally swimming in BBQ sauce, and the mac and cheese sat next to it all together on my plate. The portions were big, but I did order a large. I think I was given half a chicken. The chicken tasted good, not too rough, but neither was it very tender. The BBQ sauce was also good, but it wasn’t anything for me to rave about. The mac and cheese really did the trick to satisfy my hunger, and there was so much of it that I could not finish. Overall, Jams is a great place to get a quick bite if you are hungry, but the food wasn’t something that I would go out of my way to have. Three stars.