Jerk Chicken Chow Mein
The dish the restaurant is built on. Both halves of the idea, fully committed.
Caribbean · Dundas West
Patois
Caribbean-Chinese mash-up cooking that has no business working this well
CaribbeanDundas West, Toronto$$Details being confirmed
The review
Jamaican-Chinese is not a novelty — it is a real cuisine with a real history — and Patois cooks it like someone who grew up eating it, because Craig Wong did. The result is a menu that reads like a gimmick and eats like the opposite.
Jerk chicken chow mein is the signature and the correct first order: both halves of the idea are fully committed to, neither is a garnish. Dirty fried rice is the other essential, wok-charred and deeply savoury. Drink rum punch and accept what follows.
Honest notes: it is very loud, it is not a place for a conversation, and weekends need booking. Come with people and lean into it.
What to order
Dirty Fried Rice
Wok-charred, deeply savoury, gone in minutes.
Rum Punch
Order one, regret the second, order it anyway.
What works
- A genuinely original menu
- Excellent drinks
- Consistently fun room
What doesn’t
- Very loud
- Not for a quiet conversation
- Books out on weekends
Verdict
Jerk chicken chow mein, dirty fried rice, rum punch. Bring friends.