If there’s an animal that Jamaican restaurant Negril (965 Thayer Ave) can’t stew or stuff in puff pastry, I’d like to meet it, because that rainbow unicorn or duck-billed platypus would be one lucky bastard. By lucky, I mean spared the humiliation of being turned into a bland curry or, even worse, mashed beyond recognition and baked in a patty.
It’s the fate that too many goats, chickens and cows have met at Negril. There’s little to explain why Negril’s food is so dull. Traditionally, Jamaican food is savory and ass-kickingly spicy. That’s definitely not the case here.
The restaurant’s oxtail stew ($9, above) falls flat. Tender, meaty morsels melt off the bone, but the minuscule hit of thyme doesn’t do enough to balance the beef’s sweetness. Without more of the acidic herb, the stew lacks life.
Similarly, the curried goat ($8, below left) lacks flavor, despite its name. The goat meat itself is soft and wonderfully pungent. But the bland gravy does nothing to complement the goat’s bold flavor. It’s also riddled with bone chips, which are easy to pick from the plate. But when that same curry is stuffed into a roti pancake ($7, below right), the bones present a dental hazard.
Thankfully, the jerk chicken ($7, below) isn’t too bad. The moist, roasted dark meat doesn’t really differ from what one would find off any rotisserie spit. But its slightly salty flavor contrasts well with the sweet, coconut milk-infused red beans and rice that accompany most of the dinner platters.
And then there are Negril’s baked patties ($1.50 each, below), which range from bland to blah. On the bland end, the beef patty has heat but not much else. The meat is also inexplicably mushy, minced beyond ground beef and teetering on the texture of wet cardboard.
On the blah end, the chicken vegetable patty is stuffed with dry, chewy chicken cubes and limp mixed vegetables from the freezer case. The light, salty sauce that gently coats the stuffing is reminiscent of canned chicken soup.
The flaky, golden puff pastry enveloping the patties is rich and buttery, so much that it sometimes overwhelms the unremarkable fillings.
Negril’s main dining room is clean and cozy, despite the main entrance’s shabby digs. Service is courteous but can be slow during the lunch rush. For quicker pickings off the patty menu, hit the Negril Express next door.
Negril, 965 Thayer Ave, Silver Spring, (301) 585-3000.
Photos by Ron Pace and Jennifer Deseo for The Silver Spring Penguin.
Originally published Sep 5, 2007.
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I must rise in defense of Negril, one of my favorite restaurants in Downtown Silver Spring. It’s true, the food is nothing to write home about. I gave up the goat dishes in 2004 after an unfortunate goat bone incident and the vegitarian options are pretty terrible. However, the jerk chicken (dinner or sandwhich) is consistently excellent and the curried chicken is also reliably good, as are the plantains.
What Negril truly excels at is presenting an alternative to Fast Food Nation. Negril and McDonalds both meet the need for simple and inexpensive but good tasting food that can be ordered and eaten quickly or taken out. But unlike the fast food franchises, Negril is locally owned and it offers customers a wholesome and balanced meal (true I have not done a nutritional comparison, but a plate of rotisserie chicken, rice, and a salad sure seems better for you than combo meal #7). The restaurant fits into the existing streetscape rather than imposing itself around a sea of asphault, and it lights up the otherwise drab section of Thayer Avenue.
I’m sure there are more refined Jamaican places in the area, but try going back on a cold and rainy winter night after a long day of work when you are hungry. Order the Jerk Chicken and a root beet, sit back and soak in the Bob Marley and you too will be transported to epicurean bliss (or just go when you have the munchies, if you know what I mean).
… agreed.
Theres a really good Jamaican spot in the White Oak shopping center that give much more food for your money and its the best Jamaican food I’ve put my fingers on since I left NYC.
Its worth the hike up 29.
I think Negril’s offerings lose something in the mass production. They are clearly good at what they do, but making good food with consistency–and on a large scale–is hard to pull off. For instance, you’re supposed to taste a hint of coconut milk in real Jamaican rice & peas. At Negril, sometimes the flavor is there, sometimes it’s not.
By comparison, the food at the Jamaican place in White Oak shopping center (wish I could remember the name) is consistently flavorful.
What I love about Negril is the “Negril Vortex” of cars cruising slowly by trying to find a close Negril parking space. Watch out for the vortex! It will suck you up.
what is the first food called it is for my project