Authentic Taste of Jamaica — Restaurant in Leavenworth

This Island Spice restaurant in Leavenworth, KS is absolutely awesome!!!

The first time I went, I ordered the Chicken Soup as an appetizer and it was wonderful. I love spice, but a little bit of spice goes a long way with me and this was PERFECT! For dinner, I ordered The Oxtail. It is great and the gravy on the Oxtail and red beans and rice is amazing!!!

I have since been back a couple of times to get the Kingston Fried Chicken and also the Jerk Pork. Both dishes were excellent.

Second visit, Kingston Fried Chicken had crispy chicken skin but also very moist inside and a WONDERFUL taste!!! Cabbage and plantains are a great addition to the plate.

Third visit, The Jerk Pork, deep smoke throughout and blackened crisp skin sticks with you in a good way. I cant find a BBQ restaurant that still smokes their meat to this level around KC. In order to get this smoke you have to watch the smoking process over coals, not liquid smoke...Island Spice in Leavenworth does it right here!

I will try everything on their menu.

To further mention, the ambiance is spot on. This place is very large with a band stage that they have live music on. They also play Reggae music softly through the sound system when a band is not present. It makes this Leavenworth Island Spice a very comfortable experience as a "Lounge" that serves wonderful Jamaican cuisines. In other words, there are not a lot of people yelling to talk to each other, which is a very nice...

What a wonderful surprise! M42/F40 Experienced 10/19/24 Saturday night. First time. Walked in what I assume is the back door (maybe?) Pleasant seating area with nice decor for first visual. Round the corner, see some areas of a kitchen that really need some cleaning, but ok, things happen. Really just a door there would be ideal. Enter dining area, about 2/3 full of people (good sign) However there's only one individual working the floor, so it takes roughly 15min to get through the other customers and to us, not an issue as we aren't in a hurry. When the server arrives he more than makes up for the wait with personalized professional service. He was pleasant and apologetic for the wait, but made a suggestion of jerk pork. Surprise, during the mist of all this we were treated to a phenomenal karaoke rendition of a Whitney Houston song, and another love song classic. (The young lady singing performed as if she was o.n the stage of American idol, Amazing) While that little aspect of the dining may have not been everyone's cup of tea, we certainly enjoyed it! The food comes and it's phenomenal imo, the girlfriend insists hers needs salt and pepper, the waiter "maybe owner", was a bit taken aback that she thought it needed more seasoning but was accommodating and numerous about it without making it weird. Price is on par, and I would not hesitate to return. A+ 5*. Well done...

3.12.23 -Happy Sunday! This review is so long over due but here we go. Firstly, I want to say congratulations- you guys are so incredible and I say that because I would’ve never imagined a Caribbean restaurant in this location and it looks to be so strong standing! On a visit to KS we googled Caribbean food and based off the reviews we drove the 40 minutes here. The ambiance was quite calm, we were greeted by the owner and seated. After a brief Q&A and some laughter we were brought our appetizer ( Jerk wings) I think this was my favorite part of the meal- the flavors did not hold back and the added bbq sauce went perfectly. My boyfriend had the curry chicken and the owner chose the curry goat for me as our entree. Both dishes were good, but being Caribbean I’m used to our dishes being a little more spiced- the owner did tell us and we totally understood based off the demographics, but again it lacked in that area for me.. The purple drink I’m sorry to say I wasn’t a fan of but it came recommended ( try it for yourself ) for me, I just didn’t like the purple syrup it was a bit strong. All in all this was a great venture, the place was lovely, the food is good, the staff was welcoming and it was a definitely a vibe. Definitely give this place a try! If I’m ever again in KS, I’ll definitely make the drive for those jerk wings! Island Spice...