Review Island Grill - Ottawa

I ordered the Jerk Chicken Dinner for take out and the food smelt amazing! As soon as I got home, I dug into the fried plantain and was happy that it was sweet and juicy. I've had some dry fried plantain in the past month from another spot and this one brought me back. The Jerk spice was definitely spicier but we'll invited. Coleslaw was not bad but the Jerk Chicken definitely hit the spot. Lots of rice and peas in the dinner! Sadly they didn't have any patties but I'll try again next time.

Jerk chicken was spicier than anticipated, but very juicy and flavourful. The rice was great and coleslaw was ok (a little too sweet for my taste). I wish they served it with more plantain, two pieces disappear quick!

Rice and veggies tasted watery 0 flavour. I tasted uncooked grains in the rice Jerk pork was hard and didn't taste like jerk more like stew pork, also some pork was so dried like it was laying there for a week and then it was put back in to sauce and recooked again. Oxtail was decent and soft. But the server was nice.

Compliments to the Chef Carleton and Mr. Elisha Campbell for referring Chef Carleton to cater for our Fundraising event. Thank you so much for a very, very tasty and delicious meal. I had a fundraising event and sold 81 meals. Over 90 percent of the individuals who ordered the meals gave rave reviews about the food. Here are a few of the feedback that I got : 1."Service good and meal good. Thank you and all the people working to make this happen" ---- 2."Morning Sis.. hope you had a nice Mother’s Day.. the food purchased was absolutely fantastic.. please extend to Luke.. have a good day ❤️"---3. "Hi it was good". Most of all the food was delivered on time. Please keep up the good work and looking forward to working with you in the future and visiting your restaurant to pick up a meal or two:) One love.

This has been my favourite Caribbean restaurant for a while, especially when I'm craving goat curry like my mom used to make. Food is top notch and I can barely finish the roti platter. The oxtail hits the spot, and the rice and peas makes my day. The jerk chicken is spicy but the flavour is amazing. I always get the fritters, they are so delicious. Overall very authentic and tasty. I've only ordered for delivery through Uber Eats, so I can't wait to enjoy the dining-in experience.

DON'T GO, IT'S BAD Extremely disappointed. Not the food so much, but how they run the place. I ordered boneless jerk chicken, plantains, ox tail gravy and can. What I got was chicken with bone, extra ox tail meal, half done plantains and no can. I asked them to give me an ox tail gravy rather than the whole meal itself later on but still had the wrong chicken and did not get my drink that I paid for. The cashier girl looks like she hates working there and hates the customers, didn't even apologize when she realized she brought me an extra meal I did not ask for. I realized the chicken had bones and plantains were half done and the absence of my drink when I got home since it was a pick up order. There are two possible explanations for this. Either the cashier has serious problems or she mistreates customers who don't tip. I have two suggestions, 1) find new employees who are going to at least smile and be polite towards customers and own their mistakes. 2) Don't expect to get tipped just because you are cooking. There are no tables and no hospitality on your part, you are just taking orders and packaging the food. That does not qualify for tip, and you shouldn't treat your customers depending on that. At the end of the day, I did not enjoy the food I got, and they owe me a can. Horrible experience for someone who loves caribbean food.

They were out of rice and peas! That takes 3 stars off my jerk chicken dinner meal. Then I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes, took 30 minutes.. that takes 1 star off. Meal was ok, I've had much better. Unlikely to return.

One of my favourite restaurants in all of Ottawa. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but if I have to pick I'll give a shout out to the oxtail, coconut curry, reggae wings, fruit punch, and coconut-pineapple cake!

Staff are friendly, restaurant is clean and food tastes fresh. I had the boneless goat roti platter. Goat was very tender and full of flavor. They are also licensed so you can have a drink or a beer with your meal.

Delicious! Giant portion of curried goat and tasty dessert for less than 20 bucks tax in!

Just amazing. Probably my favourite jerk sauce, and I make a point to try as many as I can. I've had the jerk ribs, jerk wrap, goat roti and jerk chicken roti many times and all are delicious!

Our first time being there and I love the look of the place. The services are amazing. Mr. Chef Carlton himself would come out and greeted us and making sure that we, and our babies are super comfortable. The presentation of the plates of delicious food on the other hand are amazing! I had ordered Jerk Chicken, Reggae Wings, and Island Pepper Shrimps and I must say I am very pleased of the way it taste. A true Jamaican flavours from home backyard! I'm all about the spicy-ness. It gotta be stomach burn hot. And island grill gave me that satisfaction. We are definitely will be back and will let others who have the same passion of strong spice taste as I am :).

Amazing food and service, would recommend it any day of the week.

Been there many times .. Usually have Curried Chicken Roti. This evening Chose Escovitch Fish Excellent .. Will be having it again This evening EJ was our waiter . Very attentive.

Wonderful food, great selection, I have eaten there a few times now and have not been disappointed once. There are also a number of Sauces on sale that you can buy to take home.

terrific roties, tried the boneless jerk chicken and the goat. Chicken was good but the goat was over the top delicious. Oxtail was good but not overly generous.

We used this restaurant's catering services for a special birthday dinner. The food was excellent, and service polite and efficient. I would have given them five stars, but for the lack of parking, but otherwise, two thumbs up - we even had leftovers for a second dinner, just as the chef predicted! :)

The food was GREAT can't wait to go back and try other dishes. I had the curry chicken roti.

Authentic flavors, true Caribbean recipes and the best fire hot sauces.

Food was great! I'll have to come back to try some of the other dishes!

Super Awesomeness!!!

One of the city's best spots for Caribbean food! Excellent service, and I highly recommend the Jerk Chicken; the best I've ever had! I also highly suggest purchasing some of their signature hot sauce if you like to add that extra kick!

The place is nice and clean but I wasn't a big fan of the food. Caribbean food is great but this place does make it a bit dry. Drinks and juice are overpriced.

Went and tried a bite of the cod fish fritters, and had the curried chicken. <br/><br/>The cod fritters tasted very blank. I needed to put a fair bit of hot sauce on the stuff to give it some flavour. The chicken curry was not bad, but there wasn't nearly enough curry sauce to go with the rice. The flavour was okay. Nothing amazing, but not bad.<br/><br/>I've been using Chef Carleton's hot sauces for years, and love them. He was also very friendly, and relaxed. The food itself was generally pretty mediocre though. I'll stick to using his sauces at home, but probably won't be returning for the food.

Fantastic new spot!. Checked out the Island Grill last night for the first time and have nothing but good things to say! This is a terrific new neighbourhood spot. The food was fantastic (our group tried the calypso wrap and the jerk chicken) and the service was excellent. The prices also can't be beat. I will definitely be back!

Good Food Good Price. When I saw the prices on the menu I wasn't expecting much, but if you ever doubted the "phrase don't judge a book by it's cover"... Not being an authority on Caribbean cuisine I can't speak to the authenticity of the food but I can tell you it was hot, flavourful and served with a smile. The jerk chicken was delicious and my dinner companions both enjoyed the Calypso chicken wraps. So if you are looking for great food at a very reasonable price check it out.

Fabulous Little Neighbourhood Find!. We went to Island Grill for the first time tonight. We just happened upon it as we walked by and the lovely yellow glow from the cafe style space called us in. The server (Melissa) and the food was fabulous! I had the coconut curry shrimp and my husband had the King Fish. Both dishes came with amazing rice, plantains, and vegetables, and were outstanding! Carleton, the owner/chef came out to say hello and informed us he has only been open for six months. We were impressed with how well organized everything was for a relatively new restaurant. The remixed music with an island vibe comfortably shared the space and made us forget about the still present chill outside.

Great flavours, great prices - Beer coming soon!. I am no connoisseur of Caribbean food, but was very impressed by what I perceived to be very authentic and inexpensive Island fare. Ordered the jerk chicken roti with a side of plantain chips. Roti was extremely flavorful and quite spicey - which was a nice surprise. They also provides an array of gluten-free Caribbean hot sauces made locally - all delicious. Owner informed me they will be offering alcoholic beverages by the middle of February, which will make the place a even better catch.

I love it.. Tonigt was my third time there. Brought a friend from Toronto who is pretty picky about his caribean food. But he was impressed. He had the oxtail. I've had the jerk pork ribs, jerk chicken, curry goat, chicken soup and fried cod. Awesome. And they make their own hot sauces - really good. I'm going for the king fish next time - working my way through their menu. Jerk chicken poutine sounds like a bit much for me, but who knows. <br/>Recommend big time!

A Lovely Meal at a Good Price!. I went here last night and I was quite impressed. The Jerk Chicken was beautifully presented in a stylish bowl and the chicken itself was moist, spicy and flavourful. Equal care was taken with the vegetables, rice and peas, and the plantain. And the price was reasonable for the portion! I'm definitely going back!

Tasty and veggie friendly. We had the two veggie main options on the menu - vegetable roti platter and vegetable stir fry with tamarind ginger sauce. Both were excellent and had more variety and quantity of vegetables than other caribbean places we've tried (the roti wasn't just mostly potato like other places we've been). the tamarind sauce on the stir fry was very nicely spiced. The roti was a bit smaller than at some other places but as a platter it was more than enough food. We called it in as a take out order and it was ready very quickly (10-15 mins).

Change is not always good.. I was dreaming about having the Jerk Chicken poutine from here. I have had it multiple times and raved about it in my last review. I was also a fan of their Jerk Chicken. <br/><br/>The first hint that there were changes afoot was when I visited their site to get their number to place a take-out order. They now have a slick modern looking site which I think is improvement, but that is where the good times end. We ordered the Jerk Chicken poutine and a Jerk Chicken plate. <br/><br/>The Jerk Chicken poutine was a total let down. They changed the gravy to some dark coloured concoction that pales in comparison to the previous gravy. I noticed it is also the coating on the Jerking Chicken which is more like a BBQ sauce. Needless to say that what once was a delicious marriage of ingredients in now a train heading for Divorceville. There was hardly any cheese and even with the sauce the dish was dry which didn't help the frozen fries. There were a few scattered pieces chicken that were barely noticeable.<br/><br/>The Jerk Chicken plate has seriously shrunk in size. I have also had better Jerk sauce from the grocery store. Why they changed something good is beyond me. Although the chicken was ok, you are now paying more for less. I'm really glad I didn't choose delivery or I would have felt completely ripped off ($4-$7 fee). I am now hesitant to try this place again or recommend it, unless I hear they changed.<br/><br/><br/>-----10 Nov, 2014-----<br/><br/>Love the Jerk Chicken Poutine!. We decided to try this place out twice before passing judgement. We stumbled upon it while searching for another place and I’m glad we did. Inspired by another reviewer, I went out in search of Jerk Chicken Poutine. The thought of gravy, cheese mixed with Jerk Chicken had me salivating. Well I’m glad we hit on this place because the food was spot on. We’ve tried the following:<br/><br/>Jerk Chicken Poutine – The flavours marry well together and the result is some of the best tasting Poutine I’ve had in a long time. I think it’s the way the Jerk Chicken melds with the gravy that really gives the gravy a rich distinct taste. My only complaint is that I wish they would use fresh cut fires instead of frozen. I think that would make an awesome dish even better.<br/><br/>Reggae burger with fries – Nice presentation and portion size, but it advertised BBQ sauce on it and I could not taste any. The fried onions were a nice touch, but the seasoning had a funny after taste. Maybe it’s an acquired taste, but it did not impress. Again, the side of fries were of the frozen variety.<br/><br/>Calypso Chicken Wrap – Very good with some nice Caribbean flavours, moist chicken and cold slaw wrapped in a warm handmade Roti. <br/><br/>Chicken Roti – Very good. With a nice balance of potato and chicken that complemented the curry nicely.<br/><br/>Overall my hands down favourite is the Poutine, but I look forward to exploring more of their menu. I would recommend this place.<br/><br/>Prices are average. Eat in or takeout options available. Clean and nicely decorated. Accessible. Street parking. Prices on their website would be nice.