NYC Food Truck Lunch: Fry Chicken & Jamaican Beef Patty From JMG Restaurant & Bakery

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A couple of weeks ago we ran into a new Jamaican food truck that looked very authentic (and good). Unfortunately, we were on our way back to the office that day with lunch in hand, but they told us the truck would be on Broadway between 55th-56th St every Wednesday.

Unfortunately (again), the truck did not show up the day before Thanksgiving, but that's perfectly understandable. The following week, they were back where we wanted, and finally had a chance to try them out.

If you want Jamaican food, the Jerk Pan is still going strong on Park Ave & 47th St, but that's too far for us to go during lunch on a regular basis. The other one we knew, Jamaican Dutchy, closed up a couple of years ago and (we hear) headed out west to San Francisco.

Now JMG Restaurant and Bakery is here to fill the void for Jamaican food in midtown west, at least on Wednesdays.

This food truck is the real deal, serving Jamaican dishes like jerk chicken, oxtail, curry goat, roti, and escoveitch fish. Each main courses come with a few side dishes.

The bakery part of their name makes several types of Jamaican patties fresh from scratch every day. They cost $3-5 each, and there's a wide selection on the menu, although they don't have each type listed every day.

We ordered the fry (fried) chicken for $10, and just had to try a beef patty for $3.

Right now we are working with a woman from Jamaica who we shared the beef patty with. (It was large enough to cut in half and still have a nice portion.) She said it was authentic and delicious. We can't vouch for the authentic part, but she can. We can vouch for the delicious part. The filling was a little spicy, but not overly spicy. You could see carrots mixed in with the beef, too.

The fry chicken included two pieces of chicken, rice and peas (or white rice, if preferred), cabbage salad and a fried plantain. They even put a little oxtail on top to give us a taste.

The fry chicken was not greasy at all. It was pretty similar to Southern fried chicken, and was one of the better fried chicken dishes around. The meat was still moist, and the breading was crispy in some parts of the chicken, especially the ends. You can't tell from the photo, but the chicken was boneless, too.

The "rice and peas" didn't include peas, but we already knew it wouldn't. Caribbean "rice and peas" has beans instead of what we call peas. We've also seen this dish called "dirty rice", but that name doesn't do it justice. Allspice, cloves and other spices were easily discernible. This was a nice break from white rice, which is served by most food trucks and carts.

Lunch from JMG even came with dessert, a fried plantain. This was a tasty way to end the meal.

We're happy that JMG comes to our nabe on Wednesdays, but they don't seem to have a Twitter or Facebook presence, so keep your eyes open in the regular food truck spots we've told you about over the years.