Spencer Williams, Contributor
There's a fruit and vegetable market on Waterloo Road, just opposite the turn to South Avenue. The market also serves Jamaican breakfasts, soups, sandwiches, salads and French bread pizzas. All are available for takeout.
Driving into the parking lot, you may believe you're at the wrong location, with old trailers parked randomly and an assortment of garbage strewn everywhere.
Unless someone recommended that you go there, you would not guess that fresh produce lies within what looks like a temporary building, resting on a plot of land that seems deserted.
Jo Jo's Market has character though. No, it's not your regular sterile supermarket, but the charm of the place lies in the makeshift wooden ramp, leading up to the door. Boxes of limes, pineapples and mangoes rest on the floor, bags of beans and pulses, packed like sugar, cardboard trays of eggs displayed in the fridge, and loose scallion, sold by the pound rather than pre-bound in bundles.
Disorganised service
Even the disorganised service makes everything feel organic! This might well annoy the shopper, who has other chores to complete. There's a huge billboard, stating lunch items on offer, looming over the main room.
And although the kitchen door is right under it, along with a glass display of cut fruits, to place an order, you must go to one of the two cash registers in the next room. You stand in line, behind people buying potatoes, okra, et cetera, so that you can tell them what you'd like. You pay, then you take a receipt back to the kitchen and give it to one of the chefs, and you wait. This receipt then goes back to the cashier, at some point, so that she can write up another one for you. You still wait, and you wonder at the inefficient use of time.
Despite all of this, the moment you get home with this very fair-priced fodder, you ought to be happy with the overall experience.
The Philly steak sandwich is huge, and for those who aren't absolutely starving, it could actually be shared. Filled with strips of beef, and cooked but crispy bell peppers, this French bread concoction has little wrong with it. Perhaps, a tad more cheese or salt would enhance the flavours to perfection.
The chicken Caesar salad tortilla wrap, is very 'more-ish', with tender and well-seasoned chicken, romaine lettuce, and a great dressing that isn't overpowered with garlic (like a lot of Caesar dressings). The smoked marlin version, with onions, capers and lime, goes down equally well. A couple more green leaves in both, would give them more oomph, but they're the best tasting wraps I've come across in Kingston.
Hungry-belly man
I'm not sure what happened to the grilled chicken sandwich the day I had it. It was as if the person working the grill was called away and forgot that they had been cooking. It was completely dried out and tough, and carelessly slapped into a baguette with slimy slices of tomato. Had it been edible, it would have managed to feed one hungry-belly man.
Jo Jo's has mastered the art of making lip smacking and hearty home-made soups - small, medium and large - that have a good ratio of bisque, meat and 'food'. There's nothing better than a superbly cooked Jamaican tradition!
The Greek salad of red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, feta cubes, parsley, sliced olives and green peppers, is generous with every ingredient, and topped with the light vinaigrette they pack it with, you've got yourself a bargain. So, next time you're trying to decide where to pick up food, take a jaunt down to Jo Jo's Market.
Jo Jo's Market, Waterloo Road, Kingston. Telephone: 906-1612
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m-6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Expect to spend: $220 on a large soup, $350 on a large Greek salad, $350-$450 on sandwiches and wraps (smoked marlin wrapis $650).
