RAP'S — Restaurant in Toronto

The throwdown is on! Oakwood Village (Toronto) is the home of one of the best Jamaican Beef Patties. The place is iconic and has been around for decades. The Place is Randy's Patties (I'll review that next time I visit). But also on this strip of Eglington the home of three popular Jamaican joints that serve up jerk chicken into the wee hours of the morning. In fact, they don't start serving until 18:00 (Jamaican time, so it's really anywhere between 17:30-19:30 and I recommend that you don't come until at least 18:30). Regardless of when you arrive, expect to wait, there's always a line. Always.

There is metered street parking as well as a Green P nearby; and you can probably find free street parking on the adjacent streets. The area isn't the best, and the locals can probably smell fear, so don't show any of it. Service doesn't really exist even though there are tables, the business is 99.99% take out. The three restaurants competing are less than 100' apart. They are: Hot Pot, Raps, and Spence's.

All three places serve a variety of Jamaican cuisine, saltfish (cod) and ackee, goat, ox tail, plantain, rice and peas, etc. but the focus of this throwdown is JERK CHICKEN. All three places serve it the same way. You go into the restaurant, line up to order, pay, and receive an empty take out container for your chicken order. The prices are all the same for the same size containers. Small is $5, Large is $10. Cash only. Bring exact change. Your container is simply filled up. No measuring, no weighing, your portion is what the chef puts into your container.

There are basically two elements to Jerk Chicken; there's the flavour of the chicken itself (spices and dry rub), and the flavour of the sauce that complements it. For all three places, the chicken is cooked in the ovens inside the restaurant and finished off on the charcoal grill outside. Wood chips are added for extra smokiness. Your order is served "Street Meat" style, the chicken is removed hot off the grills, chopped up, and put directly into your container. Sauce is optional, but if you get it, they put it directly onto the chicken (no separate containers)... you can't beat street meat!

Raps jerk chicken consists of full chicken legs only (no breasts), a typical and good choice since the dark meat contains more fat (for flavour), and retains more moisture so the meat doesn't dry out. It also contains more bone, and it's much cheaper than chicken breasts (good for the store, not so good for the consumer).

Being a purist, I needed to taste the chicken naked and sauced, so I asked for sauce only on one side of my container. The chicken was fully cooked, moist and tender as would be expected from dark meat. The skin was crispy and burnt in some areas, despite the lack of a flame on the grill.

The rub was excellent. Tonnes of flavour, allspice with hints of garlic, pepper (chipotle), chili pepper (not flakes), cloves, thyme, and probably at least 5 more. There was heat, but not enough to make me sweat. The crispy skin and the tender, juicy meat, was an absolute treat to my taste buds. 4,5 stars.

The sauce. There are two types, mild and spicy. I went for the spicy. There was definitely some heat here, but not too much that your tastebuds would be destroyed. While it was tabascoey, it wasn't pure tabasco. I didn't taste any flavours of Habanero, so it was most likely to be Scotch Bonnet. The sauce was runnier than gravy, yet thicker than tabasco, a good consistency for the dish. Other than the heat, the sauce did not do much to enhance the flavour of the chicken. 3 stars.

Overall, I pretty impressed with Raps Jerk. The flavour was infused into the meat and not just on the skin. I definitely preferred the naked chicken to that of the sauced chicken. 4...

Delivery review:

Under the “new normal” food is available earlier in the day and it’s offered through delivery services. There’s a strong charbroil aroma that escapes the jerk chicken ($14.99 for a ‘big’ meal or $12 for a sizeable box of just chicken), even after being delivered. That charbroil flavour stays as you bite into the meat – the other occasion I’ve had something similar was a kebab at Shombal North. While Raps is not quite as strong, it is a taste that makes the jerk chicken different. It’s a flavour that takes some getting used to: I enjoy the extra depth in flavour but found it overwhelms the jerk seasoning.

The chicken itself? Oh, wow is it tender! The skin rendered of all it’s fat so that it just sits on the meat as an extra layer of flavour. In future visits, I’d opt for the spicy sauce as the regular one is too tame even for me. And since the rice and peas (red kidney beans) is fairly neutral, you need something flavourful to go with it.

Such as the oxtail ($14.99 for a ‘big’ meal) where the gravy mixes into the rice so well. The oxtail is equally tender, falling off the bone and the cartilage soft like jelly. The meal is a good option, aside from the rice there’s a vinegary coleslaw that has a hint of sweetness. The salad is tarte and refreshing, helping to tame the heaviness...

Taste of Jamaica... Home style jerk chicken and many other kinds of food ... Everything will have you coming back for more...

January 26th 2025 update.... Still no complaints about the food I recommend you go try it for yourself and enjoy..... This part of the message is for staff it happens to me all the time but by the two young servers the young male and young female you have there working preparing the orders have a hearing problem or they cannot read..... I've been eating here for longer than I can remember and they have never messed up my order and over the last 2 and 1/2 years specifically those two young servers have gotten my order wrong more than 5 times now.... The last time I came the young male had gotten my order wrong I was craving something from your store and when I got home to enjoy my food it was the wrong order..... And I haven't been back to your store for more than half a year until today and what happens to me wrong order once again...... I'm still going to eat it because your food tastes amazing but... Understand this is two times I've had a craving for something specific in your store and it went unsatisfied I hope the next time if I do decide to come my order...