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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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2 out of 5
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50) McFresh - Rasta Food

  • September 20, 2009
  • Rated 2 of 5 by Liam Hetherington from Manchester, United Kingdom
50) McFresh - Rasta Food

Jamaica - 15/09/09

Moss Side has something of a grim reputation - riots in the '80s, drug-fuelled vilence in the '90s, gang turf in th '00s. But the area was once famed for its community spirit, firstly amongst the Irish immigrants, and then among the West Indians who arrived in the 1950s and '60s. So it was here that Paul and I decided we should go searching for Caribbean food.

Walking down Claremont Road from Rusholme we soon found a couple of possibilities for food (as well as a Sudanese cafe and an East African called Kilimajaro Cafe - Tanzanian...?). One place, by the name of MC Fresh advertised itself as ‘The Taste of Jamaica’. So in we went. The menu promised all kinds of Jamaican delights - saltfish and ackee, callaloo, jerk chicken, Irish Moss. However, upon talking to the softly-spoken West Indian behind the counter we found that most of these dishes were only available for breakfast. We were left with a choice of just three dishes - curried mutton, chicken stew, and oxtail. Paul ordered the chicken stew with rice and peas; I went for curried mutton. We were also given boxes of 'veggies'. And I also ordered a drink - Guinness punch. My meal in total cost £7.65.

We retired back to Paul's to eat. And my overwhelming thought was: edible but not great. The curried mutton was a slightly off-putting mustard-brown colour, but it tasted fine, if slightly over-poweringly of mild curry powder. The mutton was gamey-tasting, and came on the bone; it was bulked out with potato and carrot. The rice and peas were a hit with both of us though - short-grain rice, almost purple in colour from the kidney beans it had been cooked up with. Tasting Paul's chicken, I found it reminiscent of Chinese chicken, cooked through, with a sweet glaze on the meat. The 'veggies' were not what I expected, instead being a salad of lettuce, tomato, sweetcorn and grated carrot. Half the portion was made up of a coleslaw-like affair, but sweeter and made of very finely chopped cabbage.

I had felt a bit nervous about trying the Guinness punch. It had been served from an unmarked jug kept in the bottom of the fridge, decanted into a styrofoam cup. It was the colour of milky tea, but served cold. In actual fact it was not bad, if slightly over-powering. It tasted like a Baileys milkshake, cold, sweet, and slightly coffee-y. Ingredients apparently include sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder as well as classic Guinness stout.

The food, I'm sorry to say, did not blow me away. And I think the reputation of Moss Side is likely to deter passing trade. A case in point: once we had made our purchases I crossed the road to take a photo of the place. As I got my camera out a man who had been loitering outside the neighbouring supermarket started to swear, and turned around so that his face would not be visible in any photograph. I have to say, this unnerved me somewhat, and directly influenced our decision to go back to Paul's to eat, rather than dine out on a nearby bench...

From journal Around The World In 80 Meals! (part 5)

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