SEBASTIAN — If you’re not in the mood for sushi or Thai food, authentic international cuisine is not easy to come by in Indian River County. But we do we have a Jamaican restaurant, and an excellent one at that.
Tucked away in a strip mall off US1, Chef Wesley Campbell’s Mo-Bay Grill is easy to overlook. Doing so, however, would be a mistake.
Appearances can be deceiving, and that is certainly the case with Mo-Bay Grill. Despite its nondescript shopping plaza surroundings, once my guest and I walked through the door, we were transported to a vibrant, tropical world.
Though it was windy and raining outside, inside it was warm and inviting, with reggae music and a colorful island decor. We were greeted promptly and pleasantly.
There is a modest selection of beer and wine, but I highly recommend the tropical iced tea, a refreshing beverage with hints of mango, passion fruit, and guava, available both sweetened and unsweetened.
We started off with fried plantains ($4.99) and conch fritters ($9.99). The plantains were perfectly ripe, beautiful golden-brown pockets of firm, mild sweetness. They were served with sour cream, but I didn’t feel as though it added much to the dish; the plantains stood on their own.
The conch fritters were as good as any I’ve had north of the Keys, breaded just enough to lend a salty crunch to the soft, sweet sea snail inside.
And although they needed no accoutrement, the cherry pepper remoulade accompanying the dish was so delightful – a mouth-watering combination of sweetness, spice, and acidity, with just a hint of garlic to balance everything out – that we couldn’t resist.
My guest ordered the jerk stuffed chicken ($14.29) for her entree. While the sauteed spinach and mushrooms were a nice twist on a Jamaican classic, the chicken is obviously the star, and it shines brightly.
Where Caribbean restaurants typically opt to use a dry jerk rub, the Mo-Bay Grill makes a marinade out of the traditional blend of sweet and spicy elements.
As a result, the flavor was both more subtle and more pervasive, allowing the chicken (beautifully moist and tender) to not be overpowered, and letting the diner enjoy the delicious jerk flavor even on skinless bites.
The dish came with mashed sweet potatoes – light as air and sweet without being cloying – and steamed house vegetables.
While nearly everything on the menu sounded appetizing, once I saw the curried goat ($13.99), my decision was made. This was the dish that introduced me, years ago in a friend’s kitchen, to Jamaican food, and I’ve been in love ever since.
Mo-Bay’s version did not disappoint.
The goat was braised to perfection, falling off the bone and melting in my mouth. It was just gamey enough to let me know I was eating goat without being overpowering or unpleasant.
Of course, the best entrée in the world can be ruined by a bad sauce, but Mo-Bay’s curry did the goat justice, a perfect saucy mixture of sweet, savory, and spicy. The dish was served with a heaping helping of peas and rice, which is actually kidney beans and rice cooked in coconut milk.
When you’re introduced to a cuisine in a home kitchen, it can be difficult to find a restaurant that lives up to your original experience. As I ate my curried goat, however, I found myself transported back to my friend’s kitchen.
Even my guest, who had never eaten Jamaican food before, remarked that it felt like we were being cooked for by a family friend.
Chef Campbell obviously puts a lot of care and passion into both designing and presenting his dishes, yet there is nothing pretentious about it.
And it certainly helps that, thanks to the restaurant’s small size, aside from a prep cook and a dishwasher, Chef Campbell is the only one in the kitchen.
You can tell he loves cooking his food as much as I loved eating it, and I can’t wait to go back.
Finally, for dessert we were brought Mo-Bay’s famous cheesecake.
On its own, the rich New York style cheesecake would have been fine. Topped with sauteed bananas and a piping hot cinnamon-rum sauce, it was a pitch-perfect note on which to end a marvelous symphony of flavors.
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Sebastian River News.
