Riddim & Spice

Nice place, I go there and take advantage of the cheap lunch specials when in the area. I’ve met the owner and he’s a pretty nice guy too. It’s hard to find Caribbean food in Vancouver, great Jerk chicken but I’ve had better when living in Toronto etc. My only other complaint about the place is it’s bit dark inside. Other than that, great place to eat with very reasonable priced lunch specials !

Very good friendly service
Awesome food big portions
Familial restaurant simple and cheap prices
Will definitely go back

I had a craving for oxtail so knew of this place but had never been in. I knew I just wanted take out so had perused the menu beforehand as I like to be prepared like that. The oxtail was awesome… so tasty and the best Ive had so far in Vancouver. I got the large so technically would have been two meals in itself if I wasnt so hungry! Will definitely order from here agsin!

Meh!
I was soo excited to try this restaurant as there are not a lot of places to get jerk chicken in Vancouver. I was really looking forward to making this my regular spot but was disappointed both times I went there. The service was terrible, the food was mediocre and the bathroom was NOT clean.
The first time I ordered the jerk chicken and second time the oxtail. The best part of the meal was the salad– not being sarcastic, the salad was delicious! Its a simple garden salad but the dressing was very memorable!

Carribean cuisine is largely gluten free by nature. The food relies more largely on potatoes to thicken dishes, not wheat flour! This is bad news only if you are Pale-​o! My lunch mate and I decided on their $ 5.99 lunch special; I did jerky chicken and he did curry chicken. Our dishes arrived promptly, delivered by a Chrissy Teigen look alike.
Our dishes had nice balance of flavors. With mine, it was a little bit sweet, a lot of spicy and a touch of savory. I even tasted cinnamon in there, very good. It was served with a nice side of rice and a small salad. The dish cost around the same as a fast food meal but it is definitely better healthier for you. It was interesting seeing a lithograph of Bob Marley while dining!
Good friendly service.

Are there a few days ago.
Had the «special chicken jerk» the portion was very small. I left the place hungry. And this rarely happens to me. The rice was ok, the chicken was over flavored and the atmosphere was weird. Nothing authentic about this place. It wasn’t an expensive meal though. 5.99 for the Chicken and 1.50 for the drink. I’ve had better though.
This experience made me be at this location twice at one time, first time was my first and at the same time it was my last.

We came on a weekday past 2pm, so there was one person sitting outside and when we were deciding whether to go in or not the dude said «go in, it’s good».
So we did.
The $ 5.99 jerk chicken special was worth it. The portion was just right, wasn’t too much, but satisfied my needs. My husband go the goat curry and he was thoroughly satisfied. The food was super hot which was great, on a cold rainy day.
I thought the jerk chicken could have used a bit more flavor, but for that price, and the temperature & speed of the food, I may return.

You will def get bang for your buck here. $ 5.95 for a Jerk Chicken plate for lunch is an awesome deal. The portion is fair and food is good. You will need to ignore that the place is old and run down. The service is okay.
If I’m in the area I will return.

I honestly did not like this place. If your looking for an authentic caribbean meal, you won’t find it here.

I was craving some spice so I thought this place would put out. I had the jerk chicken lunch special for only 5.99. Good deal for that plate of food. The salad was tasty and the rice was nice but the chicken, although perfectly cooked, tasted like it had some sort of bottled teriyaki sauce with a tiny bit of spice to it. I’ve had jerk chicken in the past and it didn’t taste like that. But that was long ago. so who knows if I am remembering correctly.
The service was very friendly. The waitress refilled our water numerous times. It looked like the owner, or manager, was there as well and he greeted us and said goodbye when we left. It’s nice to just have friendly welcoming service. It makes a huge difference for a place that really isn’t that spectacular in the first place.
Good stop for a cheap lunch that tastes somewhat homecooked. The jerk chicken plate was gluten free and dairy free as well.

Went there on a nice sunny day and sat outside. The owner was very accommodating and the waitress very friendly. The people that ate there seem to be all from Jamaica and quite friendly and chatty. The jerk chicken was was good. Tender and tasty! They just needed to play some good reggae as the restaurant was too quiet and everyone hears your conversation. It’s weird how the tables are set up. We will be back though.

Years ago, I was introduced to Jamaican food by my roommate/​boyfriend. I hadn’t yet travelled to the Carribbean– so many of the tastes and ingredients were totally foreign to me… The novelty has not worn off. I don’t know what it is about Ackee fruit. I’m kind of in love.
They have Ackee and saltfish here, easily on the top of my most often desired dishes. Curried goat… Jerk chicken of course… and Patties too.
The only reason I don’t move in or set up camp outside is the fact that they don’t have callaloo. I still have dreams about the callaloo and saltfish my boyfriends mother used to make.
Damnit. Now I’m craving it again.

The food was alright. The sorrel (hibiscus) was the best thing they had. Like everyone else serving beef patties, they were frozen and not homemade. The waitstaff seemed off. The owner is unorganized, but very nice. I went the weekend of the Caribbean Festival and of all the Jamaican food I had that weekend this was the best. By the way, if you can make it to the Caribbean Festival, do so! Honestly, Vancouver’s Jamaican food scene seems to be slipping.
By the way, if you can make it to the Caribbean Festival, do so! It’s the last weekend of July every year.

I don’t know what the hell happened to this place!!! It has been the same cook, nice enuff guy for at least 15 years but the patties just are not the same anymore.
I was a steady customer when I lived on the Drive and continued to be when I moved to Burnaby but the last 3 visits have been progressively worse and worse.
First off, they hire the most STUPID counter staff of any restaurant I have ever been to. Its a revolving door and I never see the same girl from month to month. The last two managed to get my order wrong both times, its bad enuff when it happens once.
The patties once rivelled the great Jamaican Patties you get in Toronto, now those are Jamaican Patties. Now you get weird mustard yellow pasty dough with something I can’t quite make out, a little of it mind you, stuffed in between. Yuck, I threw the last order out.
Never again Riddim & Spice, even for free.

I went to Riddim & Spice recently and was disappointed by my dining experience. I dined there on a Friday night and the restaurant was out of rotis, which meant that half the menu wasn’t available. The red snapper was okay as an alternative, but nothing special. The restaurant is obviously very casual, which makes for comfort dining, but it would have been nice to have drinks served in real glasses instead of in plastic cups. I would still like to try a roti at this place at some point but I’m definitely not in a rush to return to the restaurant.

Growing up in Toronto, I was accustomed to great beef patties. I took it for granted but now I’m on the search for Vancouver’s greatest golden crust of goodness. I’ve bought a mixed reggae cd AND a great patty here. I give this place 4 patties out of 5

Alright. Now this place is something I have been curious about but my jamaican cuisine arsenal is not say, at the top of my game. However, yesterday, I went with a friend who’s mission was to go eat at this place. She’s from the Caribbean and craved food from home. So, that totally bumped my food game up to 5 stars on this.
She went through the menu. Asked the waitress a few things and realized the one thing she saw on the menu and was really excited about was the roti which she called ‘skin.’ Anyway, the server said they didn’t make their own but they just used regular wraps.
«So, not the way it’s done back home.» She ordered the curry goat. I had the fried chicken and rice. We were both happy with the food. My chicken was flavourful and the rice tasty too. The accompanying salad was just that — green filler.
The place ain’t fancy by no means but give it a shot for something different.

Nice place with good jerk and roti — and a great vibe.
The place is authentic Jamaican — nice rotis, patties, and curried meats.
It’s a little utilitarian: a shop-​front with a kitchen attached. And actual Jamaicans eat there, which usually recommends «ethnic» food.
Brilliant place for a quick lunch or take-​out.

On a damp Vancouver day we trudged in looking for a little spice to warm us up.
Riddim n Spice is a casual, plastic table-​cloth, easy-​on-​the-​décor eatery right on the Drive. It’s the sort of place that checked the hip factor in at the door in exchange for reggae tunes and good eats. A transportive experience with friendly staff and regulars, you could almost be on a beach, man.
We started off with the patties (spicy beef and a chicken). They were huge, over-​sized, tasty if not a little under-​stuffed (more pastry than filling). We washed these down with ginger beer. hmmmm… ginger beer. now that’s the spice ticket!
Full from the patties we opted to split the Jerk Chicken roti lunch; a leg quarter of chicken liberally slathered in jerk sauce and served w/​a side salad and roti. While the roti was steaming and the salad was a nice contrast, the jerk didn’t do it for me. It just didn’t have enough spice (and I prefer a dry jerk rub to a wet marinade/​sauce).
For the budget minded it was a great alternative to the Reef, I’d like to go back and try the curries since they seemed to be the ‘order of the day’.

This place is interesting. It’s a little dive on Commercial Drive serving Jamaican food. I don’t know how authentic it really is because I’ve never been shown exactly what true Caribbean food should be like. The jerk chicken was okay, I had nothing to compare it to though.
I ordered the chicken in a roti dish, which I guess was okay too. However, I come from an Indian background and to me, it just tasted like a much milder version of a chicken curry that my mom can make and we eat with roti too. The food took a while to come out too. The menu isn’t terribly large, but some of the other things the other party guests ordered looked interesting. At the end one girl ordered the casava or yam bread cake thing… Which was essentially a very dense quick bread. It tasted like Banana Nut Bread but with A LOTTTTTTTTT of ginger in it, the spiciness of which hits you at the end after you’ve swallowed a bite.
Overall, it was an interesting experience. I’d like to try a caribbean restaurant with someone from the Caribbean so I know what it should be like.