Jambalaya is a cozy, Bohemian restaurant that stands uniquely apart from its counterparts on Richmond Row in London Ontario. While the rest of the street is lined with such fancy bistros and restaurants as the Black Trumpet, The Tasting Room, and its next-door neighbour, Blue Ginger, Jambalaya has its own style and is not shy to flaunt it. Jambalaya’s menu is a mix of Carribean, Cajun, and Thai, with the three culinary flavours sometimes overlapping in its dishes. For example, their well-known pad thai is also available with jerk sauce.
The outside of the restaurant looks like an old, run-down house from the 60s, with a small elevated porch facing the street. Once inside however, the atmosphere immediately changes. I have never felt so distinctly transported to a different time and place as I have at Jambalaya.
With the late afternoon light streaming through the stained glass windows, the painted walls turned into various shades of gay green-yellow. Although the restaurant is quite small, the quiet conversation of nearby tables did not distract me once. The wall was also sparsely decorated with African crafts, which was a nice touch. They obviously put a lot of thought into the atmosphere, and I’d say they were successful.
I ordered a Mango Loco to drink, which is a cocktail blend of vodka, triple sec, and guava juice. It tasted (and looked) exactly like mango, but there was no mango in it. Intuitively interesting, but if I hadn’t known it, it would’ve just been an ordinary mango and vodka concoction.
To start, I had Carribean fried plantains, which I didn’t take a picture of because I was so hungry when they finally came out that I dug in right away. They were extremely oily, so I kind of wished the chef blotted them with a paper towel before bringing them out, but the oil was fresh so it didn’t feel greasy. There was nothing special about them – I’m quite certain if I fried plantains at home, they would taste exactly the same.
For the main, I settled on their famous chicken pad thai.
At first, I was put off by the presentation – I mean, a metal pot, really? But I suppose it suited the flair of the restaurant, so I quelled my critic and tasted the food. The glass noodles could’ve used a bit more oil so they weren’t sticking together in lumps, and a telling indication was the lumps of burnt noodle. Moreover, the chicken pieces were cut in large chunks instead of strips, and not surprisingly they were overcooked and extremely bland. Despite my reservations about the cooking skill, the pad thai sauce was excellent. Just the right hint of sweetness with a spiciness that increased as I ate more. It’s really a shame that the dish was not cooked better, since the sauce was so good. Such amateur mistakes really, that could’ve been easily remedied with a bit more oil and better timing.
There was no dessert menu, much to my dismay, but I was nonetheless satisfied with the meal. To say that it is the “best pad thai in southwestern Ontario” requires quite a stretch of imagination, but they certainly have a great sauce. I may come back again to try a different entree, but as for pad thai, the best I’ve had in London still comes from my own kitchen.
Rating: 