Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck | York Ave. bet. 70th & 71st Sts. | |
[mappress mapid="186"]

TWO WEEKS AGO I FOUND myself having a sudden but extreme hankering for curried goat, even convincing the chef at the restaurant where I work to whip up a batch just to try. I decent effort, but not the real thing.

A quick Google search a day or so later turned up the highly-regarded, well-reviewed, and very popular Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck which, just lucky enough for me, was located a 20-minute walk away but still here on the Upper East Side. Finally having enough time to take a leisurely stroll for lunch, I headed my way to 71st Street and York Avenue to experience first-hand what all the food sites, bloggers, and reviewers had been raving about. I got there around 2:30, as I always try to avoid lunch rushes, and found the shiny silver truck, it's owner/chef/operator, Yvonne (looking excellently healthy for 61-years old), and a menu touting a full menu of appetizing traditional Jamaican dishes.


Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck

Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck

Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck

Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck


Arriving after the lunch rush, however, is a studied risk, as I discovered when Yvonne told me she was out of all the main dishes except for oxtails and curry chicken. I ordered a small curry chicken, that comes with two sides—mine being red beans & rice and macaroni & cheese—then a small order of oxtails only, and beef patty, and a ginger beer. Excited at first that all that only cost $16.25, it was until I got home that I discovered how "well" I had scored. Once the food got spooned onto my own plates, I got to enjoy a most excellent meal, enjoying meats layered with flavors from obvious hours of slow cooking with a wide array of spices, infusing the both the tender juicy chicken and slide-of-the-bone oxtail meat with hearth, heartiness, and heart. The beef patty's aromatic crust had plenty of flaky crispiness and held firm to the spicy heat of the perfectly seasoned minced beef filling.


Curry Chicken, Oxtails, Rice & Beans, Mac & Cheese

Curry Chicken, Oxtails, Rice & Beans, Mac & Cheese

Curry Chicken

Oxtails

Beef Patty

Beef Patty


Being 15 blocks away keeps the truck and its yummy wares from being in general "walking around" area to grab a quick lunch, but I knew regardless that I would be a frequent visitor and customer. Which is probably why I was, not long after the meal, Googling "bicycles"...!

Bun Apple Tea!

.kac.


Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck  on Urbanspoon


Yvonne's Jamaican Food Truck | York Ave. bet. 70th & 71st Sts. | |