Let Kirk’s Jerk Kitchen take your taste buds to the islands

Lovers of Jamaican food will screech to a halt when they see the giant Jamaican flag awning over Kirk’s Jerk Kitchen in downtown Milledgeville. Among all the other great little eating spots in downtown, Kirk’s has become known as one of the tastiest.

They have all of the dishes you would expect at a Jamaican restaurant — oxtail, curried goat, ackee and salt fish — plus a few Southern standards as a compliment to their adopted hometown. Thursday’s special, for example, is jerked pork ribs, combining the Georgia favorite with the spices of the islands. So expect sides like mac and cheese and potato salad along with rice and beans, Jamaican slaw, plantains and coco bread.

We tried the curried chicken, the escovitch fish, a jerk Caesar salad and rum fire shrimp. The curried chicken was a big favorite, with large chunks of stewed-tender chicken and just enough spice to keep the meat flavor in the front. The red snapper — left whole and fried, then topped with flash-pickled peppers and onions — had the right balance of oil and malt vinegar, but the eyes and tail may be for connoisseurs only. The salad was a good deal, at $9 for a jerked chicken breast atop a large lot of lettuce. We had a high bar set for the rum fire shrimp, cooked with crushed pineapple and brushed with Jamaican white rum.

Don’t be surprised if your meal has quite a few bones in it — that’s to be expected in a Jamaican meal. Most of Kirk’s dishes come in medium or large sizes, with rice and beans, mixed vegetables and delicious fried plantains on the side. Beef patties, veggie patties, jerk wings, “reggae” wings, and Irie steam fish are other specialties you’ll want to try.

If you want to try their daily specials, hit it on Tuesday for the escovitch fish, Wednesday for cow foot, or Friday for red snapper with either brown stew, escovitch or Irie steam. They’ve got carrot cake and soups, too.

So look for that giant black, yellow and green flag on North Wayne Street and be ready to transport your taste buds to the islands.

Read more reviews of local restaurants

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 6:56 AM with the headline "Let Kirk’s Jerk Kitchen take your taste buds to the islands."