PG's Jamaican Takeout

*Restaurant is closed*

It goes without saying that there is not a whole lot of choice when it comes to Jamaican cuisine in the GVRD.  Sure, there is The Reef, but for me at least, it has become pretty mainstream after they opened up 2 more locations.  So when I spotted a Groupon for PG's Jamaican Takeout, I immediately bought it without noticing it was located in...  White Rock???  Okay...  I guess they have no immediate competition!  I was able to get Emily to join me on this food adventure as I promised rollerblading.  Apparently White Rock is a no fun zone as they have more "No Rollerblading" signs than stop signs...

We decided to start our meal off with an order of their Johnny Cakes not knowing that each dish came with one.  Doh! No matter because the mango coconut butter made it all good.  It was creamy, aromatic and lightly sweet.  However, the Johnny cake itself was on the denser side.  On the outside, it was all deep-fried goodness being crispy (almost crunchy) and only a touch greasy.  The ones at The Reef are better. For our first plate of food, we dug into the Stewed Oxtail.  It featured gelatinous and tender pieces of meat (albeit the smaller pieces of the ox tail, which are generally more tender anyways).  Flavours were tight with a definite meatiness to go with sweetness from the onions.

Next up was the impactful Jerk Chicken.  Normally, I find the jerk chicken in Vancouver to be too mild and one note in flavour.  The one here was complex with layers of heat mixed in with the nutmeg, cinnamon and rum (this had a striking resemblance to some moles I've had in the past) .  We liked how the flavours had penetrated the meat and at the same time, the meat was still moist and tender while the skin was rendered.  On the side, the beans and rice were nicely dry so it could soak up all the tasty spice.  Equally tender, the Curry Goat exhibited a rich curry hit that was a touch salty.  However, it went well with the rice as a result.  I liked how the goat was not dried out.  In fact, the pieces were gelatinous and fork tender.

Lastly, the Ackee & Saltfish was money.  The tender pieces of ackee were nicely flavoured by the salty fish.  Smooth and fluffy, the ackee maintained a texture without being mushy.   I couldn't stop eating this dish, which was pretty much the theme of all the items we ordered.  In the end, it was worth the trip out to White Rock because the food at PG's is legit.  We would've paid regular price (without the Groupon) and would've been happy.  It wasn't only because of the food either as the people there are super nice too.

The Good:
- Impactful flavours
- Solid execution
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Small place, it truly is takeout unless you can snag a table
- It's not exactly cheap (especially if you order the larger portions)
- Johnny cakes could be less dense