Jamaican D’s – Philadelphia, PA – 3rd & Spring Garden Street Truck
Philadelphia’s food truck movement has been growing exponentially the last few years as highlighted in many published articles on the subject such as this one (click here) for uwishunu.com by Allison Stadd. Some trucks are mobile at all times, others are stationed at specific locations year-round. One resource to find information about the food trucks is Philly Mobile Food Association, but as of the date I wrote this article their website had not been updated since October 2012 and their Facebook and Twitter feeds seem to be used quite infrequently thus not making it easy or convenient to patronize their members. The food truck scene is by no means new in Philadelphia now, but their allure and ability to promote seem to have faded slightly after many roaring success in 2012 with the exception of The Food Trust’s wildly popular “Night Market Philadelphia” events like the next one planned at 5th and South Street on Thursday, August 15th.
My food truck visit would bring me to Jamaican D’s (JD) at their 3rd and Spring Garden Street outpost for an order of Jerk Chicken with fried plantains and cabbage. JD is a stationary truck here Monday through Friday as this truck is one of the many JD trucks in their fleet throughout Philadelphia. You may recognize the name from one of their most prolific and long standing trucks at the Community College of Philadelphia campus at 17th & Spring Garden Streets.
I ordered the medium sized platter which was nine dollars and the portions were very generous in all aspects of the meal. The plantains were cooked nicely with a decent amount of sweetness to them. The chicken was seasoned well along with being moist and tender while the skin had a good crisp firmness with the meat still easily coming off the bone. The rice was covered in a jerk sauce while the chicken was topped with an additional sauce of some sort with the option of mild or spicy giving the entire dish a nice mix of flavors in each bite. The only aspect of the dish that I was not thrilled about was the cabbage. The cabbage seemed it was not cooked long enough and could have been chopped a little smaller. It was tough and too chunky for my liking. The flavor seemed OK, but too much crunch in every bite for me.
The meal JD provided was as good if not better than some I have had at full blown Caribbean restaurants. The service was quick and friendly with portion size very generous and affordable. If you drive to order something from JD, just be aware that parking is not the easiest thing to find near them at this location. With the experience I had at JD I see no reason why the food truck movement can not grow even larger. The days of having to go to a singular location to eat something specific could easily come to an end with these trucks ability to go out and about where the crowds want and need them. I only hope they can band together to get their message out to the masses in an effective manner.
Overall
Three and half out of Five Stars
BlueJeanFood 