TRUE Island: Jamaican Cuisine

TRUE Island, located in The Hall on The Yard is a truly authentic Jamaican restaurant. If you’ve never been to The Hall on The Yard, it is an upscale take on what can only be described as a food court. However, you still have a waiter or waitress and all the menus, from each restaurant, in one convenient location. There are multiple bars and patrons can swig any number of alcoholic beverages including cocktails, beer, and wine. TRUE Island is the only Jamaican restaurant available. In fact, TRUE Island is the only Jamaican restaurant in the immediate area. So, if you’re in the mood for some fantastic Jamaican cuisine, make sure you stop by and try some of TRUE Island’s impeccable and traditional Jamaican dishes.

Karen, the owner of TRUE Island, grew up in Jamaica watching and helping her mother prepare Jamaican cuisine. It’s these lessons and experiences that allow Karen to recreate all the wonderful meals that you know and love, such as jerk chicken wings, coconut shrimp, and Oxtail served with rice and butter beans. As Karen carries on the tradition, her goal is to simply share this wonderful island food with anyone willing to try.

TRUE Island Has The Shrimps… Coconut Shrimps

Coconut shrimp is very tasty, and it’s very rare that we run into coconut shrimp that we don’t enjoy. Have you ever fried something too long or not long enough and noticed that you don’t receive the texture or color that you want? Well, Karen really knows her way around a coconut shrimp because she has nailed that perfect golden crust that is highly revered in the food world. The shrimps are topped with fresh coconut shavings and served with a spicy sauce which makes a very well-rounded appetizer.

Jerk Chicken Wings Marinated For Four Days

Jerk chicken wings were a favorite of ours. If you’ve ever had jerk chicken, you may remember the well-balanced blend of sweet and spicy flavors. TRUE Island takes this a step further by marinating their wings in a jerk marinade for four days! Yes, four days! Although they are spicy, it’s just the right amount of heat. The jerk chicken wings are suitable for spicy food lovers and people who don’t traditionally eat spicy foods as well.

Most restaurants do not marinade anything for more than a day or two and if they do, you’re usually going to be paying a hefty price at a high-end steak house etc. We will be back to TRUE Island specifically for these wings. The marinade is given more than enough time to penetrate the whole chicken wing and then they are baked in the oven for a sensory explosion that we will be craving from now on. If you’re a wing lover, like us, please make a point to stop by TRUE Island and try these out for yourself.

Thanks To TRUE Island, We Love Oxtail

Okay, so we’ve never had Oxtail before… We know, we know, as foodies and frequent eaters of island food, especially in Florida, we absolutely should have tried Oxtail before now and we don’t have an excuse. However, we would like to announce that, thanks to TRUE Island, we have become Oxtail lovers and advocates. Wow, just wow. Oxtail is just downright delicious comfort food that we will be trying to re-create at home. The closest thing we can compare it to would be a perfectly cooked, EXTRA flavorful, roast beef.

When you mix in a bite full of the rice and butter beans, you’re really giving your stomach something to smile about. We would highly recommend trying Oxtail from TRUE Island, especially if a hot, wholesome, meal is what you need. Pop on over to The Hall on the Yard and ask Karen to fix you up with any of her wonderful creations and we bet you won’t be disappointed. Follow TRUE Island on Facebook and keep up with news and any new dishes that may appear on the menu. Also, be sure to tell all your friends who love Jamaican food that they need to pay TRUE Island a visit.

Overall, TRUE Island is owned and ran by a Jamaican native, and a truly hospitable culturist. All of this shines through their food. When it comes to delicious, well-executed, comfort food from the island, you can’t get much better than TRUE Island. Even if you were to visit Jamaica itself. Please support TRUE Island by paying them a visit and by following their Facebook page here.

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