Country Style Jamaican Restaurant

JAMAICA 🇯🇲

COVID-19 UPDATE: There is currently no indoor or outdoor dining here, the small interior space is reserved for pickup and takeout and can get a little tight when multiple people are here.

Back in the alternate world of 2019, Country Style announced their opening to the world with a fish fry at the end of June. Word spread quickly among Inglewood's Caribbeans and the event was a packed affair. Right across from the Inglewood DMV, they must get a good portion of their new customers from those waiting for their numbers to be called.

Located a bit off of La Brea at the back of Hyde Park Plaza, Country Style is not reinventing the wheel, but based on the constant flow of people grabbing orders, they appear to be using very shiny rims. They sell mini plates of most items that include rice and peas, but most people seem to be going for entree portions, sold in both small and large, that also add steamed vegetables, fried plantains, and a small piece of festival bread.

Right up front in a heated case, of course they also have patties, sold in beef, chicken, and vegetable varieties all for $3. The beef patty (above) is very satisfying, spiced minced meat inside a thick flaky shell. It takes its color from an egg yolk, so you know it will also be rich and buttery.

If you can, take this out and do not let it steam. Give yourself a car appetizer. Most everything else will travel home just fine. Right outside the door, under the altered Rastafarian and Jamaican flags, is the perfect spot to at least start in on those patties.

Jerk chicken ($12 small, above) is always fascinating for the array of tastes that can be found in each bite. Marinades have garlic and onion, habanero peppers, limes, brown sugar. Is that soy sauce? Some thyme? Who knows. Each chef will keep their secret.

Available in large sizes for a couple bucks more, even these "small" portions were enough to feed two people each.

The oxtails ($14, above) were fatty, luxurious, and delicious. It waited until evening to be paired with a nice dry red and was perfect. By that time a lot of the gravy was well embedded in the rice and peas, but that did not hinder the enjoyment.

The same was true for the brown stew chicken ($12, below), always a favorite to try first and get a sense of how the kitchen is operating at a new Jamaican restaurant. It is the type of dish that might have you making up excuses to try the Inglewood DMV the next time you need to renew your license or transfer plates.

A generous wedge of their homemade sweet potato pudding ($5, above) is now a must order after seeing and grabbing a slice on this visit. This pudding is of course dense and runs nowhere, filled with plenty of sugar but never too sweet. Hidden in its mix are coconut and cinnamon, and maybe a little splash of rum from back home.

Country style also makes their own pineapple ginger and sorrel juices to wash it all down. On a visit when folks can once again gather and sit next to strangers, the fried or escovitch red snapper and/or the spicy curry shrimp are looked forward to, ready to be eaten fresh from the kitchen.

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INGLEWOOD South Bay

 630 N. La Brea Avenue

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