YardieTing — Restaurant in Portland

I had the pleasure of eating at Yardie Ting twice while vacationing in Portland, and it was absolutely one of the highlights of my trip. Jake and Dee were so friendly and welcoming, making me feel right at home.

Most restaurants were closed mid-day, but Yardie Ting was open and serving up incredible food. The first time, I ordered the loaded fries with jerk chicken which was super flavorful and a very generous portion (I couldn’t even finish it!). On my second visit, I got the oxtail plate with rice & beans and plantains, and Jake was kind enough to let me sample several other dishes, including the curry goat, jerk chicken, mango chutney, pineapple salsa, coleslaw, mac & cheese, the festival dessert, and both their signature jerk barbecue sauce and the specialty blueberry jerk barbecue sauce. Everything was delicious, but the curry goat was my favorite!

Not only is the food outstanding, but Jake also took the time to share a bit about Maine’s cultural history and gave me great recommendations for places to visit while I was in town.

If you’re in Portland, Maine do yourself a favor and eat at Yardie Ting. You won’t be...

Been coming here for years because it is one of two places in a couple hour radius that sells Jamaican food . If it wasn’t out of being one of the only places people would not come here. Service is bad all the time. 80% of my visits I get skimped $40 for 2 pieces of oxtail in person. when I order online the plates always are so much fuller, even if and when I get a smaller size plate. The restaurant is closed more often than not and continues to keep online ordering up even when closed so if you’re ordering DoorDash or online ordering , call first annoying to wait a hour when hungry to find out their closed (also happens more frequently then not) The food quality also is not consistent you can taste they have different people cooking it and it is so over priced for how little portions...

I’ve given this place about four chances, and each visit has been disappointing. The customer service is very poor no greetings, no smiles, no effort to make customers feel welcome.

As a Jamaican, I expected the food to at least make up for it, but it didn’t. I had the jerk chicken sandwich, and it tasted bland and inauthentic, like it was seasoned last-minute and baked in the oven. It lacked the bold, smoky flavor jerk is supposed to have. The patties were also dry and flavorless.

To top it off, the prices for the grocery part were made up. I went in recently to buy syrup and was charged almost $30 way too much.

Overall, it’s been a bad experience every time. If you’re going to offer poor service, the food should at least be good. I’m sorry but this place...