My wife (Sandra) is Haitian and has introduced me to a lot more Caribbean food than I would have expected.  It does not take much to get her to say yes to going out for Jamaican food.  The restaurant is  a very clean establishment and located right next to some bar with lots of locals and Jamaican clientele.  On one side of the restaurant they do carryout and the other is a nice little eat in area that’s dimly lit and nicely decorated.  If you like Jamaican food they have the most representative menu I have seen outside of Jamaica or New York.  They have authentic dishes that include of course patties and jerk chicken, but also include:  curry goat, oxtail, cow foot, curry conch, butter fish, goat fish, ackee and saltfish and more. All dishes between $8-13 the seafood a bit more.

We went for the Jerk Chicken Dinner that included rice & beans, plantains and vegetables.  Additionally, we tried a beef patty and caramel cake for dessert.  The chicken was moist and delicious and not greasy.  It had a great jerk sauce that had a little sweet taste to it and not too hot.  It seems like so many times I have ordered jerk chicken and the seasoning always taste the same.  Not the case for Good to Go it had a unique flavor.

Next rice and beans.  My mother-in-law makes the BEST rice and beans in my opinion.  And God love her I never pay her a visit without her sending me home with a fresh pot.  I have to say the rice and beans at Good to Go are right there.  Seriously, great rice and beans, not mushy not flavorless, but rather light and cooked to perfection.

The beef patties.  I don’t know how Jamaicans can make these flaky, delicious pastries filled with seasoned ground beef taste so good and not be dripping with grease and oil.  These were good.  Good like you know when you get done you want to order one to go for lunch the next day.  The plantains, something else I have grown to love, were sweet and perfectly cooked with a lot of flavor.

Lastly, the caramel cake.  With a little arm twisting we ordered a slice to go because we were stuffed.  Now I am typically not a fan of Caribbean desserts, often times the cake is dry and dense.  I got to say this was a damn good slice of caramel cake.  It was moist, fresh and delicious.  It is a little more dense almost like a pound cake, but not so much.  A great finish to the meal.

An honorable mention for great carryout only Jamaican food is Jamaican Grill in Oak Park, 10 East Chicago.  It’s a small place with a limited selection but their jerk chicken is juicy good.

So, if you find yourself up on the North Side for no particular reason or you are heading back from a drive to Evanston, make a stop.  I think  you’ll like it.

We arrived around 7 and upon entering I was struck by the modern upscale decor.  I was expecting the something more brightly lit, some overstuffed salad bar with the customary sneeze guard and miserable wait staff parading around in upscale gaucho outfits ready to pounce on you with skewers and knives in hand.  Rather the place was dimly lit, contemporary, lots of dark wood and a good looking crowd.

We sat down and the waiter came over to give us the ground rules.  He started out by pointing out that Zed451 is NOT one of those typical Brazilian steak houses that heap meat onto your plate, rather it is an upscale table-side meal offering everything from beef, to lamb, chicken, seafood and duck.  They have a nice wine list to accompany your meal and hands down had some of the most expensive wines I have ever seen on ANY menu.  Seriously, they had several bottles of wine from $900 to $1400!  C’mon guys who is really going to drop $1400 on a bottle of wine to pair with a bbq’d piece of chicken and complimentary cornbread?

Well, the first step in this process is to saddle up to the salad bar as their marketing team has so eloquently renamed “Harvest”.  I have to say, the one thing I did hear about is Zed451 is supposed to have a great gourmet salad bar.  And they do have a nice salad bar with hot and cold dishes, grilled vegetables, wild rice, pasta, bread and cheese, soup, but no real lettuce which is probably why they don’t call it a “salad bar”.  Only complaint there – sorry, you really just can’t put out cheese and cured meats (salami, capacola) as part of this fanfare – 10 minutes under the lights and exposed  cheese starts sweating and the meats start drying out – leaving them looking completely uninviting.

The waiter brought us some cornbread and chipoltle butter, smoked gouda mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach to accompany our meal.  They have these small, smooth river rocks on a plate at the table and you simply take them out and set them off to the side of your plate which is the signal to the knife wielding chefs to come over and let the gluttony begin.  We pretty much tried everything and they did have a large selection:  ribeye, chicken, sausage, lamb, jerked pork, ribs, braised short ribs, salmon and duck.  I pretty much passed on the chicken and sausage and tried a little of everything.  All and all it was all good.  No surprise.  Nothing really over the top.  Nothing bad.  Not having eaten at one of these places and not entirely knowing how to pace my meal I just tried one, maybe two pieces of each.  Which really left my plate looking rather sparce throughout the meal with a small serving of sides and sometimes one small serving of meat.  And with one bite, I’m back to sipping on my wine and scanning the restaurant for passing skewers.

So my advice would be to grab a couple of pieces of each thing you try.  And make another trip back to the ‘Harvest’ bar so there is more than two things on your plate.

We wrapped things up and we didn’t over do it.  The dessert menus came around, we were not stuffed, but we decided to pass on the dessert.  Our host was taking advantage of his expense account and saving face with his wife who was at home watching their two month old ordered two desserts to go.  He invited us to do the same and we thought we would jump on board with that idea and ordered one to go as well.  So about 20 minutes after dinner we were already in our lounge wear on the couch digging in to our dessert.  We had this rich smores dessert of chocolate ganache, graham cracker crust, marshmallow topping and a peanut butter ice cream ($15 serves two).  It was rich.  We both only had a quarter of it and it was good.  Lastly, the service I will say was excellent.  Everyone was very friendly and attentive.  The host even walked around to the tables checking in on everyone.

Oh yeah, the dinner is $55 per person.  So, keep that in mind that you are into it for $150 at least with glass of wine and tip if you do go.

In conclusion, the food is good overall.  I’d certainly give the place a try it was very good dining experience overall.  We’ll go back again some time.

bon apetit.