As you know, I went to Ting Irie for Iftar in June, and was quite impressed.

However..

Now I am even more impressed!!!

I went back with a friend who also happens to be an ex-Bermuda expat.  She had seen it was finally open and also needed to get her fix of jerk spices.

Firstly, we were greeted by a lovely cheery lady called Monique.  She instantly makes you feel welcome and then on top of that, remembers your names so when you are leaving, she can say goodbye personally.  How does she manage that!?  I can’t remember names for more than 5 minutes!!

Monique seated us and then handed over to Tash who was to be our server, and who was every inch as lovely as her.  It really sets the tone for your whole evening when the team is as bright and bubbly as this lot.  It doesn’t just end with the people that are immediately assisting you either.  I was looking at a lovely plate of food one of the waiters walked by us, and he kindly came back over to tell me what the dish was.  Again… little things like this just make a really good place as far as I am concerned.

We had some of those divine plantain chips to start with.  Justine loved the hot sauce that came with them.  I hate the fact I am allergic to coconut.  So much.  I hope they make it without the coconut one day so I can try it!

For my main course, I decided to give the Jerk Chicken another shot.  My reasoning is that it was Iftar when I first tried it, and I had so many other things to eat that I maybe had ruined my taste buds a little so by the time I got to it so I couldn’t taste it properly.

I will say that it is a fine tasting bit of chicken.  I really enjoyed it.  I would absolutely order it again.  But, it still isn’t how I think jerk should taste.  Justine agreed.  Again though, I don’t know if that says we are used to non-authentic jerk?  A Bermuda version that is different maybe?  I just wish I knew a Jamaican here in Dubai to go try it and tell me!

Anyhoo… I had the potato salad and the coleslaw as sides again.  In fairness, I think that this is going to be my standard order.  It was so, so good.  I don’t see the point in changing it up.

We needed a wee break after all that food, and loved the fact that we weren’t pushed to make a decision about what was happening next.  We just sat and chair danced.  Yep, because that’s what I do when I am incredibly full.  Nope, I am not normal.

I have to say it’s not entirely my fault.  Firstly, I love music.  Secondly they had a DJ on, and she was playing some great stuff!  I don’t know what genre it would all fall into because I don’t really understand all that stuff, but DJ Cheriana certainly was creating a lovely beachy, islandy vibe.  She even helped us celebrate Cup Match Weekend (Bermuda public holiday celebrating the end of slavery and cricket – for more read here) by playing Collie Buddz (who is technically Bermudian).  And then, because I was all brave and lifted by the music, I asked for some soca.  I think Justine may have wished she was with anyone else for the chair dancing portion of the evening!  I had a ball though!!

Next, of course, was dessert.  Naturally I had to have the funnel cake again.  I told Justine about it, and gave her a rough estimation of the size of the dish, and we thought we would order one each.

Then it arrived.

We could have easily shared and still had a bunch left.  I absolutely swear it’s gotten bigger!

Shockingly, somehow, we managed to eat it all.  No left overs.  It was quite literally time to go home, lay on the couch and ride out the food coma in comfort.

The only thing that was missing was the rum.  From what I understand, Ting Irie is in the process of obtaining their booze licence.  When they do, I will be there a lot more because a wee tot of rum would have made the evening perfect.  Probably best it didn’t happen though.  I may have actually ended up dancing on the tables as was suggested!!

Thank you Ting Irie for a great night!  Please don’t change too much!