Patois

There was one night about a week ago when I just thought of how much I miss the company of one of my favourite dining partners, Diona, a.k.a. TitaFlips. Between her very hectic Kanto and catering schedule and me working full time, our dinners together has lately been scant.  I sent her a text and took a chance to see if she had a small window of opportunity where we could squeeze a good meal.  The lucky stars were shining down at me as she said yes and the day after, we found ourselves in a table at Patois.

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I have heard of this place once before but it fell off my radar as I was trying to cope with a busy schedule.  I thought since has been open for a few months, there would be a reasonable amount of people on site. When I walked in the restaurant, I was glad that I was prudent to make a reservation.  The crowd was brimming to the hilt and every seat was taken when I got there at 8pm.

The crowd does add to the coziness of the space.  With tasteful combination of whimsy decor and Jamaican palette of colours, it adds to the high energy of the space.  I was led to the back of the restaurant where I squeezed behind one table . As I waited, I randomly took pictures of the space, trying to be as discreet as possible.  I guess most people don’t mind anymore as I didn’t hear anyone complain. I was so happy that Diona walked in as my tummy was growling with hunger.  I finally can get the evening started. And I know when I dine with Diona, it would definitely be indulgent.

After we both went through the menu, we chose two apps and two entrees.  Just like old times we split everything down the middle.  We tried the Jamaican Patty Double Down (Two Jamaican patties topped with bacon, Swiss cheese fondue and sriracha sauce) and Kimchi Potstickers “Pierogi” Style with caramelized onions, bacon, kimchi sour cream and scallions. For the mains we ordered O.G. Fried Chicken (with Watermelon Pickle with Thai Basil and sriracha), Jerk Porkbelly (churrasco rotisserie roasted, fresh jerk paste, pickled cucumber) and Jerk Chicken Chowmein (Crispy Egg Noodles, Oyster Sauce, Shiitake, Bok Choy. Thai basil and sweet sriracha). Yes, we do come hungry when we dine together.

It was fun as I watched Diona do her usual pensive tasting as she tries to understand the profile of the food she just ate. She just took a bite of the Jamaican Patty and she was impressed with the flaky crust.  I did miss all that when she would give me new words to put in my blog. If you asked me which was my favourite of the night, I don’t think it would come as a surprise that I am most leaning towards the Jerk Porkbelly.  It has similar notes to how we grill pork bellies back home, full flavor crusting the outside and moist and tender soft pork on the inside.  It was definitely my bliss.

Now that I figured out how to get Diona back to dining with me again, I think I’ll do this regular random checks if she is free or not.  Worse comes to worst, she is busy at Kanto and she would feed me Lechon Kawali instead.  LOL.