Jerk & BBQ Haven - Authentic Jamaican Food — Restaurant in Mississauga

Saw the store as I was driving by and decided to check it out. I like to support Black businesses and especially eateries offering West Indian food. While we were there, several cutomers came in to place orders which I always take as a good sign.

I really wanted to be able to write a positive review.

I ordered a white meat curry roti, two jerk chicken meals and a jerk chicken roti along with four festivals. It took a bit of time for my order to be put together but I took that as a sign that things were being made fresh.

The curry roti was a disappointment. It was over-salted, contained 'rubbery bits' and bone fragments. I also strongly suspect there were dark meat pieces in it as well. The meat had the consistency of something that was microwaved/reheated, and it was the middle of the afternoon. There were no potatoes in my roti at all. The sauce was okay - definitely had a subtle smokey taste that I liked, but like I said, the salt was over-powering. I found the dough tough - full disclosure I prefer dhalpuri but have had plain roti before. It was more remniscent of a thicker burrito wrap than roti. And the coleslaw 'serving' was honestly a little over two tablespoons.

My husband had the jerk chicken. He said he ate it because he was hungry, but wouldn't go back. He said the meat did not taste fresh, and the skin on his jerk chicken was rubbery - not what one would expect from a place that has bbq in the title.

My daughter had the jerk roti. Once again, she is a dhalpuri girl, so she was a bit biased about the dough from the outset. Unfortunately she was not impressed either. She, like her father, was turned off by the rubbery skin and cartilage she found in her roti, along with the meat that she said did not taste or feel good. She found the dough hard/tough. She also complained about the coleslaw.

We all liked the doubles (although at $2.50 each they're a bit pricey).

My son is too busy playing on his Xbox, but as the most audibly discerning one in the family when it comes to food I suspect he will come to the same conclusions.

Also, the prices listed on the display board are incorrect. There is a small sign by the cash register saying that some items are actually $2 more.

Maybe one day we will try Jerk & BBQ Haven again to see if things have changed. Until then, it's back to Leela's, Lena's...

I found this place a few years ago when I went to live in Mississauga, it was close to where I was living. The food was good and it was quite different from other Caribbean restaurants, serving other parts of chicken rather than just leg and thighs. I’m not a favourite of leg and thighs and because I could get wings and breast in my chicken meal orders, it becomes my favourite spot. I move out of the area to another city but would grasp the opportunity to stop by and get some meals whenever I revisited the area. This time on Sunday September 24, 2023 I stopped by with a relative of mine, and it was obvious that things were not the same there, I could no longer get my regular selection of chicken wings and breast, they now only serve leg and thighs. I wanted fried chicken and even though I did not like leg and thighs I opted for the legs only as my preferred option of the two. The gentleman server said he only have two legs and went on to include a thigh in it, I told him I definitely did not like thighs and ask if he could put a jerk leg in to complete my order, he stated that he could not do that and I would have to take just the two fried legs alone if I didn’t want the thigh. After a bit of arguing on the matter which he obviously got fed up with me and ask another of his colleagues to serve me instead. This time a female and she went on to tell me the same thing that they could not give me a jerk piece to make up for the fried pieces. In the meantime I had ordered roti and jerk chicken for my family member which was already served. After some amount of persuasion with the staff I had to eventually give up and cancel my orders and left the restaurant. That will be my last trip there…… It makes no sense to me why they couldn’t include a jerk piece to make up for the...

Raisins in the coleslaw. I have never in my 25+ years seen raisins in coleslaw. I tried picking them out but after thinking about it I threw the whole thing away. Ordered 2 small meals and a bottled drink. Spent about $35+ and really wish I didn’t. To me there was way too much rice given the meat portion was pretty small. The container it comes in has 3 compartments. I got meat in one of the smaller and then rice in the other small section and the larger section. I ended up only eating the meat. The gray was watery and lacked the curry flavour I wanted. There were no onions or carrots or anything you would expect in curry chicken besides the chicken and curry colour. The other meal I got was jerk chicken - I’ve had better.

Pros from my visit: The drink was good - fresh The younger girl was nice and helpful, can’t speak on the older lady I didn’t really interact with her much

Cons; The food - meh - nothing to write home about Raisins even being present in the store, unless they make rum and raisen Ice cream, should be a crime

Not horrible but left regretting my purchase and I don’t like...