Mini-Meals at Golden Krust – NYC

I’m not a fan of fast-food chains, but Golden Krust has been a long time favorite of mine for quick and homey-tasting Jamaican food. Since I was little, I’ve been going to different Golden Krusts all around the city for their hard dough bread and Jamaican beef patties. Moreover, any chain restaurant that has oxtail stew on their menu is A-OK in my book.

Recently, I’ve been going to the Midtown location on 8th Avenue a lot for their their mini-meals, smaller and more manageable versions of their menu items. Sure, the Jamaican Dutchy Cart, at five dollars a pop, has cheaper mini-meals, but Golden Krust is closer to my work and sometimes the thought of plowing through the confused huddled masses in Times Square is enough to make me lose my appetite. And for the record, if another person on the street selling comedy club tickets asks me whether I like comedy, I’ll be showing them something really funny. My foot where the sun don’t shine! I mean, ‘HELLO!!!, YOU SEE ME EVERYDAY, HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO ASK ME?! AND JUST ‘CAUSE YOU SELL TICKETS FOR A COMEDY CLUB DOES NOT MAKE YOU A COMEDIAN! YOUR JOKES ARE NOT FUNNY!!!’ OK, I need a drink. Thank god the weekend is almost here.

For the mini-meals, you usually get an option of Stewed Chicken, Curried Chicken, or whatever the special is that day. All the options come with cooked cabbage, a slice of fried plantain, and a choice of rice or rice and peas. Prices are dependent on what you order, but everything hovers around $6. The specials are as follows:

Monday: Cow Foot
Tuesday: BBQ Wings
Wednesday: Stewed Peas
Thursday: Fried Chicken
Friday: Curried Shrimp

I normally get the special of the day. Cow foot sounds scary, but it’s actually very good, albeit a tad heavy on the allspice and/or cinnamon. I prefer the cow foot stew at the Jamaican Dutchy. The flavors are less muddled.

If you aren’t feeling the special of the day, Stewed Chicken ($5.99) is good. The sauce is sweet and tangy with the taste of pimentos, and the chicken is moist and flavorful. Curry chicken is also good, but if I’m in the mood for curry, I go to Minar on 46th Street.

My favorite mini-meal is the Jerk Chicken Wings ($6.50). I got these Monday, and the juicy wings were charred nicely with a ton of bright jerk seasonings. I especially liked the spice level on the wings. Golden Krust doesn’t shy away from spices just because they’re cooking for the general public. When I was ordering, a guy waiting for his order even warned me the wings would be hot, but of course, that’s exactly what I wanted. As you may know by now, I like heat. And lastly, if given choice of adding some gravy over your rice, do say yes. The thoughtful older woman behind the counter spooned some sauce from the oxtails over my rice and the rich sweet flavors were the perfect counterpoint to the deliciously spicy wings.

If you think these mini-meals are just too mini for your appetite, you can always top off the meal with a Jamaican patty. Although the flaky patties could be less dry and have more color, the pulverized fillings are always seasoned well. Unfortunately, the patties aren’t freshly made in-house, so the pastry shells suffer the most. This week I got a Jerk Chicken Patty ($1.99), because I was especially hungry, and it was tasty enough with a slight kick, but again I wished for a more “golden krust.” It’s odd the patties don’t live up to the restaurant’s moniker. Perhaps the patties just need a vacation, like me. Badump Bump. OK, I’m not a comedian either.

And since this is a recession, I should mention Golden Krust is offering Plaintain Tarts and Coco-Bread with cheddar cheese for one dollar all throughout March (If you don’t value your hearing, you can listen to the audio commercial for the deal on their website. It’s hilarious, but incredibly loud.). I tried getting the Plantain Tart on Wednesday, but they said they didn’t have any that day, so I’ll try again another time this month. I think Golden Krust three days in a row is enough. At least for this week that is. Next week I’ll be hitting up the place for some oxtail stew. (That sauce was amazing!) They don’t have a mini-meal version, but I think I can handle it.

Golden Krust
601 8th Avenue (betw 39th & 40th Street)
NY, NY 10018