Jerk Chicken & A Patty From New FiDi Regular Sunrise Grill

We lunch’ers in the Financial District aren’t exactly hurting for Caribbean food options. It used to be there were only a couple of choices – Veronica’s Kitchen or Trinidad & Tobago carts – and the one you frequented depended on where you worked. Then there was something of a surge in options recently with Nio’s Trinidad Roti Truck resurfacing at Water & Pine and R. Retha’s cart parking at William & Beaver until it got shuttered by the Department of Health. Another truck that was somewhat slippery to catch was Sunrise Grill which I’d sometimes seen at Water & Broad, but they weren’t there every day. But yesterday was my lucky day, and Sunrise Grill was there, there wasn’t much of a line, and hunger was setting in. Jerk chicken and a beef patty seemed to be in order.

The truck seems to be based in the Bronx and is staffed by an older gentleman, a guy on the grill and a woman bagging things up. I can get behind any truck that’s a family operation. Really, I don’t think any of the trucks serving Caribbean food in the city aren’t family operations.

The menu is short and comprised of some chicken dishes, oxtail and goat in small, medium and large sizes and four different kinds of patties ($2 each) which you can get wrapped in coco bread for an extra $1. Vegetarians should probably look elsewhere as the only non-meat options are plantains, stewed cabbage and a spinach and cheese patty. I opted to get the small jerk chicken with peas and rice ($8) along with a beef patty. A guy behind me ordered three jerk chicken patties as his lunch, and I admired his style.

A small is still a fair amount of food although whether it’s worth between $7 and $9 is up to you. The chicken was nicely crusted with spices and retained its smoky flavor. I could have used a bit more gravy (aka sauce from the oxtail) over everything because the peas and rice underneath were a little dry, but there was some nice flavor going on. You also get two pieces of plantain and some stewed cabbage alongside and I enjoyed a break from the meat and carbs.

The beef patty was the highlight of my lunch (although the jerk chicken was a close second). I’m not positive, but they tasted homemade and the meat inside was a tad bit spicy and plentiful – nothing like the paste within the ones at Golden Krust. I’d go back for one or two of these in some coco bread for a carbolicious lunch.

I like that we now have a bunch of Caribbean food options in the FiDi and from what I tasted at Sunrise Grill they might not rip customers away from Veronica’s or Trinidad & Tobago but what they’re serving is good.

Sunrise Grill Truck, parked at Water & Broad streets most days

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1 Comment

  • Not a fan of the jerk chicken

    Too much white meat and too barbeque sauce tasting

    The goat curry is really good and the patties are great

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