Ku Yah

I’ve had soup and carry out jerk chicken from here. The food is well prepared and tasty. You get a lot of food for the money! The jerk spice they use is very hot. If you don’t like it that way you might want to see if they have a milder choice.

We decided to go there because I had a huge craving for beef patties and my beef patties supply from Jamaica had ran out. The place is very clean and very modern and it was a nice size. The beef patties were very fresh and tasted homemade and not frozen. Personally, I like patties to be spicy and this one was too mild for me. We also had a buffalo wings and they were also perfectly crispy batter and the sauce was not too overwhelming. My boyfriend had the jerk ribs and they were delicious. The meat was fall off the bone and it had plenty of spice and kick to it. My jerk chicken was decent. I personally like my jerk chicken to be a little crispy and this one was a little too wet with sauce. It was also all dark meat which I’m also not too crazy about. On the other hand, I had forgotten the nice burn of Jamaican spice where at first you think it’s not too bad, then as you eat more, it slowly builds up inside of you until you feel the burn coming out of your ears. The lunch specials were both under $ 10 and they give you tons of meat and rice and peas. Overall the place for the nice nostalgia of my childhood. I might come back for some curry chicken and ackee.

I went here for dinner tonight, Thursday. I was looking for some good Jamaican eats, which I found, but not much else.
We walked in and were the only customers in the restaurant at 6pm. The workers were hanging out with some of their friends and blankly stared at us when we walked in, as though we were intruding. We sat down anyways, it took almost 5 minutes for menus to be brought to us. It took another 10 minutes for the waiter to return with our beers, and he failed to bring the water we asked for three separate times.
We ordered an appetizer, Escovitch Chicken. We tried to order 2 entrees, the Curry Chicken and Curry Goat. We were told that neither of those were available. We continued trying to order menu items, being told one after another that they were unavailable. Eventually the waiter offered that they did have Jerk Chicken. That seemed to be the only thing they had, so we both agreed to it. We asked for water again, which we did not receive.
It was almost 25 minutes before our appetizer was brought to us. At this point we had been in the restaurant for 40 minutes. The waiter explained that the appetizer was late because they were so busy, which made very little sense seeing as not a single other person entered the restaurant the entire time we were inside, and there were no other patrons when we arrived. The Escovitch Chicken was composed of little fried strips of chicken in a spicy rub. It was pretty delicious.
Our Jerk Chicken entrees came out in a reasonable amounts of time following the appetizer and the food was solid. The dumplings were starchy and firm, the jerk chicken was very mild but tasty and the rice and beans were well cooked.
Based solely on the food, I would recommend this restaurant. However, the service was abysmal and confusingly so, seeing as we were the only customers in the restaurant. Get take out if you feel the need to eat here.

I don’t know where my first review went, so I’m doing it again.
This is an excellent new restaurant. We went here because the Mexican restaurant across the street was not open, and we are so glad we came here. I got the jerk chicken, which was moist and tender, and my wife got the fried chicken, which she really enjoyed. Both dishes cost $ 8.50, and came with a huge pile of rice seasoned with the same spices as on the chicken, and also some plantains. I would have liked more of the plantains, but it was more than enough food as it was.
The only drawback was the lack of beer, I wanted a red stripe, but they were still waiting on the permit.
The people there were very friendly, so the other reviewer is completely off base in his review.

On a bright sunny day me and my girl decided to grab some Caribbean food to eat down near the water in Poughkeepsie and enjoy the day. Once I walked in I thought the restaurant was beautiful. It is well lit with modest tables and a quiet environment that I could see as a nice relaxing place to sit for a meal. We were smiled at and ushered inside by one of the older gentlemen who works there and the warm feeling continued to grow.
Unfortunately that is right when the happiness died. The older man left and a younger man who ran the register helped us. We asked to see a take out menu and he promptly thrust his fist onto the counter topped and banged twice on the laminated sheet as if to indicate we were not worthy of his time. We decided to get two beef patties in coco bread and jerk chicken with rice.
The beer patties were a 1.50 each which was reasonable, but with the addition of coco bread from a bag it shot up to 3,00. Doubling in cost, for what someone bought for .50c. The quality was similar to that of boxed beef patties and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was.
The jerk chicken and rice however was great. Like most cuisines of necessity there were a lot of bones because the seldom used parts of the chicken here in America are not discarded. I can say nothing bad about this dish ultimately and it was delicious.
I also asked for some Roti and instead of kindly notifying me how the restaurant hadn’t finished making the roti dough yet, the young kid gave me a go to hell look and told me to come back later. The hospitality I have come to expect and give in restaurants was lacking completely in this place and ruined the experience completely. As sad as it is to say it almost seemed like racism, as I was the only white customer in there and most of the disdain was aimed at me.
All in all I expect to be treated with respect at a restaurant while giving respect in return and Ku Yah fell well short of that mark. I do not recommend them to anyone who would like to keep their dignity intact for the day.