Jawaiian Irie Jerk Lunch Wagon

Delicious food and 4 vegan options that are the BOMB! Had all four and they are all so yummy! Great service and ambiance too! Seems like there is always some live music. Highly recommend. One of my fave restaurants in Honolulu.

We went there, as per the directions and address via Unilocal,but the lunch wagon was no where to be found. Sad, too, as we were hoping to get a taste of this food!

Just tried the Jawaiian Irie Jerk Lunch Wagon at this past Discover Kaka’ako and it was a pleasant surprise! It’s like a boy you’re not sure you’re going to like because honestly, you don’t really know much about Jamaica and you wonder what you have in common. You’re an uptown girl, he’s living in a downtown world. But… like love, food is a Universal language that breaks all barriers and crashes through your mental judgements. Well my taste buds have done thorough research and we love this not so fancy food truck!
My BF and I decided to share the Jawaiian Jerk Chicken which was served with an assortment of three sides. Although the chicken was tasty I knew immediately that the sides were where it was at! A lovely little curry, a deep fried plantain thingy (I’m not quite sure what it was but it was good!) and a bean rice. Chicken + rice + sides = Me falling in love with Jawaiian Irie Jerk!
How did I wait so long?!
Why was I such a snobby dum dum?!
See what happens when you judge a book by its cover?!
We were meant to be together!!!
So dear friends, open your mind, open your mouth and enjoy this piece of Jamaican specialness located right here in the 808!
(Photo of my new found love:
)

Took a chance on this truck at a recent Eat the Street.
It was one of the only trucks without a line, and no sold out signs.
First red flag.
Even though I was the only person in line it took a little while for the TWO people in the window to acknowledge me.
Second red flag.
I really wanted to like this truck as I’ve been super interested to try some Jamaican (or at least Jamaicanly spiced [ish]) food. The beef patty I ordered came out of one of those «keeps the churros warm» hotboxes that Ice Palace or the movies has, and it wasn’t even warm. –_​–
Lacked flavor, had a thick, cornmeal crust that wasn’t seasoned properly, and just. just…:’(
It does sound like the original chef may have vacated to open a stationary restaurant, and I’ll be making up an excuse to see if the flavor followed.

Ate here after seeing the food network show last night. The food here is delicious! We ate jamaican spicy wings for an appetizer. The chicken was so tender it was falling off the bones. The spices were so delicious, and it wasn’t super spicy hot to where your mouth is burning its just right. For dinner we had the Jamaican chicken and rasta pasta. And once again the chicken was juicy and sooo tender it was falling off the bone. The rasta pasta had a coconut tomato sauce with spices and they were delicious. For desert we had the banana desert (i forgot the name right now). It was really good with two scoops of ice cream, sooo good! Definitely come here to try their food!

Chef Cassie makes some tasty treats, I really love his food, but sadly he no longer operates this Lunch Wagon.
Maybe he’ll bring it back some day, but until then, go visit him at his new business venture:
The Jawaiian Irie Jerk Restaurant in Kaimuki!

Just had my first meal here, had the curry chicken and it was bomb!
I used to always pass by this place on my way to the gym and the smell of the cooking would get me droollng, problem is that since I was going to the gym, I never brought my wallet. I didn’t today either, but made a special trip back after the workout.
Definitely the best 9 $ i’ve spend, the food is fresh, delicious, has a variety of flavors and also nutritious. The owner is a very nice guy also, will be coming back alot more often

Before I begin in case you didn’t read my quick tip, Chef Cassie is leaving his truck to open a restaurant on August 6, 2011 at 1137 11^th Avenue. So PEOPLE GET READY! Yes I am honoring the greatest reggae singer Bob Marley in this review.
I first heard of Jawaiian Irie Jerk Lunch Wagon when I Unilocaled Mapunapuna and noticed this was the highest ranked in this area. I was devastated to find out he moved to across the convention center. You will find it located in CONCRETE JUNGLE. I have been WAITING IN VAIN to try his food.
It took me couple years, but I finally made it. For about a month more you can find this truck in a parking lot next to Century center in a parking lot. Yes its hard to get to and there isn’t much tables to eat your food but come on people the name alone should lure you to this magical truck. Don’t worry his food provides REDEMPTION.
I approached his truck and heard some reggae music JAMMING. I made my order for Jawaiian Jerk Chicken and Jawaiian Jerk Pork. I watched in anticipation as he reached for the stew and begin to STIR IT UP and PUT IT ON my plate.
All the ingredients combine to create ONE LOVE of NATURAL MYSTIC food. ONE DROP of this food will SATISFY YOUR SOUL. Just look at the food it screams TRY ME. The plate included entrée, flavored rice, squash stew and a patty.
Yes the SHINE WAS SHINING that day. I came home and had to wait for my wife to come home to eat dinner, NO WOMAN NO CRY… I took some of her pork
.
IS THIS LOVE? Yes it is thank you Chef Cassie for making THEM BELLY FULL. GET UP STAND UP and take a drive to this wonderful Rastafarian adventure.

I’d give ‘em five stars if I had more experience with Jamaican dishes, but I can say the Jerk Pork plate was absolutely awesome, and the sides were tasty.

Just wanted to note the address for the lunch wagon is probably old. He parks at the intersection of Kalakaua Ave. and Kapiolani Blvd. in the parking lot near the Century Center building. I can’t check in though since the address is listed as Ahua St.

Huge serving of jerk and chicken pork for the $ 10 combo. Comes with rice, stew and a fritter. Oh, and a lovely orchid flower.
Everytime I’ve had jerk chicken, I’ve compared it to the jerk chicken from the truck in Nassau, Bahamas. Nothing so far has come close to the sweeter flavor of that jerk chicken wrapped in aluminum foil for $ 6. The chicken here was on the dryer side. The pork was okay.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the rice and squash stew were. They are both flavorful and similar to curry. Those two items alone made it worthwhile.

I drive by this truck every morning on my way to work and have been thinking for months, «I gotta try that Irie Jerk truck one day.» Today was that day.
My co-​worker and I had the jerk chicken, and it was just. .. OK. I had heard from others standing in line that it was «very spicy,» but it wasn’t even a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. I also had to sift through large bones and chunks of cartilage in some pieces. Definitely not worth $ 8 for the plate. Not that I really had any choice but to order the chicken, though, because guess what? The pork WASN’T READY when Chef Cassie opened for business at 12:30.
(Why would a lunch truck OPEN at 12:30, anyway? Aren’t many of the «9 to 5» worker bees of the world halfway through their lunch hour at that point?)
But, back to the plate: Rice was plentiful but a little sloppy, as the sauce was not distributed very well on top. The flavor of the side of stew was just OK, though I did appreciate the nice chunks of kabocha. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of what I assume was the fritter, as it seemed to be just batter piled on top of. .. more batter. Maybe that’s how they do fritters in Jamaica, but at my house, we just call that leftover fried batter.
I didn’t walk away from the plate completely disgusted, but at the same time, I wouldn’t go back, as the jerk chicken plate was simply not worth the time spent standing in line in the hot sun with reggae music blasting my eardrums until Chef Cassie could tell me that half of what I wanted to order (the bread pudding was also not ready) was «gonna be a while» anyway. If it’s gonna be a while, it better be worth my time, and, sorry, but this just wasn’t.

Ya mon, I’m giving this place 5 stars, even though the food is served from a lunch wagon in a parking lot.
I first tried the food from Chef Cassie three weekends ago at my friend’s duaghter’s 1^st birthday Luau, he had it catered from the «Irie Jamaican» and coudn’t stop thinking about it!
I dragged my co-​worker there on monday at 12, doh! Not open until 1.
Returned today, so glad I did. I got the Jerk chicken plate, was absolutely delicious. He cooks the chix right outside his wagon in a gas grill, so you know it’s fresh. It came with this Black-​eyed peas and rice, a sort of potatoe curry stew, and a patty. All were very flavorfull and good.
Will probaly make this a regular lunch stop. I just wish he opened earlier than 1pm. Try it!

This place is well worth the stop! It has plenty parking, amazing food, and is priced right. Plus you’ll catch a THC buzz while ordering. This isn’t some local guy from waimanalo blasting ‘the legend’ and rocking a jamaican colored hat. This dude is from the motherland and his cooking is delicious!
also, tell him you’re also from jamaica, and when he asks ‘where in jamaica?‘
say, «by the beach… boooyyyyeeeeeee.» he loves that shit.

After passing this place EVERY day on my way to and from the gym, I finally decided to stop by and take my boyfriend with me. I’m SO glad I did! We both got the jerk chicken plate — Soooo delicious and filling! Everything from the rice to the chicken itself was pure perection! Not to mention, the chef/​owner was awesome!
Will be back FOR SURE.

Disclosure: Jamaican food IS flavorful. So please don’t eat here if you’re expecting rotisserie chicken. =/​Seriously.
Place lunches from this wagon are nothing fancy but that’s part of its personality. The rice and meats do not shy away from flavor and spice. Although it was a bit oily for my taste I’m willing to overlook it because:
1) I rarely eat fatty foods (so this was a treat)
2) the food was packed with an array of spices
3) the portion was particularly generous (it lasted me 2 meals)
4) the cook is very personable and was very willing to share his insight on how I could make my own jerk chicken
Overall, my rating is based primarily on taste and charm. Minus one star for the excess oil that I couldn’t completely excuse myself from eating.
In a place dominated by Asian cuisine (Japanese, Korean, Filipino etc) this wagon is a tasty vacation for my palate.

I’ll admit that it’s my first time trying anything «jerked». It was good – the taste can somewhat compare to the explosive flavors of Indian cuisine.
I tried the Jerk Chicken plate. I didn’t know any of the plate’s components’ names, but they were all good. The taste that stood out was the dollop veggie stew and the jerk chicken (2 chicken thighs), which can be described as «blackened” – ie. blackened catfish. Unlike the first reviewer, I would not describe the jerk chicken «intense» since I’ve had tandoori chicken before, which comes close. I’ll just describe the jerk chicken as a flavorful experience that looks burned, but not. I will give the chef props for the pink orchid flower that surprised me when I openned my lunch box. That little bit of effort made the plate more inviting and somewhat negated the chicken’s appearance.
Price is as expected as any plate lunch, which is common. Drinks was over priced – $ 1 per canned drink or small bottle of water. Parking is only a nightmare if you don’t mind paying for it because the lunch wagon is situated on a Diamond Head owned parking lot.

The jerk chicken is the most intense chicken I’ve ever had. Chef Cassie is the man. If you eat this at lunchtime you’ll be tasting it well into dinnertime.
Don’t eat the Jamaican Patty at the same time with any of the Jerk plates, the jerk spices will overpower everything else in its path. Patties are good to snack on, but it won’t add anything to the jerk experience.
I like the chicken better than the pork just because it’s more tender, and the chicken skin tends to yield sweeter meats.

i like it. jerktastic. I prefer the jerk pork to the jerk chicken, but they both good.
the ital is delicious. give it to meeeeeee

Jawaiian Irie Jerk Lunch Wagon is a cute little lunch wagon in the vacant lot opposite Hard Rock Café on the corner of Kalakaua and Kapiolani.
The lunch wagon is clean as a whistle and chef Cassie takes obvious pride in the wagon. When we came up, he was sitting under the tree wearing custom monogrammed chef’s outfit. Reggae blasts out from the ordering window.
Food was good. We had mini-​plates of Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork, along with seafood chowder and a meat pastry I can’t remember the name of. The mini plates came with the meat, a fritter (plantain?) and some rice and beans. The meat itself was good, with the pork tasting much better than the chicken. The seafood chowder was hearty without being too heavy — it wasn’t cream based thankfully. The pastry was pretty good, but really wasn’t much to write home about until you put Chef Cassie’s homemade hot sauce on it. The jerk seemed less spicy than I was used to, but he may be catering to local tastes.
Interestingly, the food came nicely arranged, with an orchid flower to compliment the food. Nice touch! When do you see that at a lunch wagon?
The total bill for the two of us having mini-​plates and appetizers each was $ 16, which seemed reasonable.
The atmosphere was adequate. You probably wouldn’t take a date there (though I did). There are a few small stools and tables under a tree next to the sidewalk. The view is limited to the usual traffic jam on Kapiolani. Still sitting in the shade of the tree was pleasant enough.
Parking seemed ample in the lot the lunch wagon sits in. Keep in mind though this is one of those «push the money through the slot» pay parking places. I just parked illegally and kept an eye out for whoever checks the lot.