Junior's Jerk Pit — Restaurant in New Providence

Located in the food truck lot on Paradise Island that's near the base of the East Bridge, if you've walked or driven by, chances are that you've smelled the grilled goodness wafting from Junior's Jerk Pit.

My wife and I stopped by while staying on the island, and we opted for the jerk pork plate, since jerk chicken is a bit more ubiquitous and easier to find elsewhere.

You get your choice of two sides with each protein, and we had to go with two of the Caribbean classics - rice and peas, and mac and cheese.

The food truck space is a nice setup, with plenty of picnic tables as well as string lights for some atmosphere - a great little venue for local entrepreneurs on an island that is mainly for big, foreign businesses.

First off, it was a generous serving. It's not cheap (what on Paradise Island is?), but this was a pleasant portion for two adults for lunch, so it maths out well.

The chunks of bone-in pork had a great char and smoke from the charcoal grill, with a dose of jerk sauce to finish them. The combination of spice, sweetness and richness of this famous sauce paired well with the pork, and helped it recover from being a bit overcooked.

We really enjoyed the mac and cheese, which eschewed the standard elbow macaroni for longer, and wider noodles which were more like ziti. The baked pasta had a decent level of spice which helped cut through this decadent dish and took it to the next level.

Our rice and peas dutifully served its role as a hearty starch.

If you're looking for a break from the artificial glitz and glamour of resort bubble, do yourself a favour and hit up Junior's or its peers for a real taste of...

We were excited to get some authentic jerk, as opposed to what we got at the Atlantis restaurants. We ordered the jerk pork dinner. Right away there was confusion. It comes with 2 sides, but when we ordered the rice and peas (listed together) and white rice, she said it was $3 more. But that side didn't have an extra price. It was already $20 for one meal! We ended up with disgusting mac/cheese. We paid but then had no idea if they were going to call out our order or what. A few people milled about in confusion. We waited more than 15 mins and like others, had to keep going up to the cart, wondering where our food was. It's the kind of food that's basically ready, so no idea why it took so long. Scoop it out and hand it over...how hard is that???

When we finally got our food, we had to eat around chunks of fat and bone. I think we got about 2 oz for our money. The rice/peas was good, and the tiny bit of actual pork was good. The pic shows the leftover bits. With the level of service and communication, we figured there was no point in complaining....

We absolutely loved the food here. We sampled a little of everything from the menu. Kids loved the ribs and chicken. The boil food was a new experience for us and I highly recommend if you like root veggies. Mac and cheese had a bit of spice and the kids, who don't usually eat spicy, loved it. The escovtich fish was really well cooked and delicious. I highly recommend the conch fritters as well. I didn't get to try the festival because everybody else at them first, should have ordered more. The ox tail was another new food for us and it was very tender and tasty. Can't really go wrong with any of the other sides. I could go on and on but highly recommend if you're looking for an...