★★★★ | Rudie’s – Great Jamaican food in hip Dalston!
Rudie’s offers what they call a ‘Boss Burger’ – a rare breed of beef chuck patty that is topped with apple wood smoke cheddar, sweet honey mustard, red onion, tomato, pickles and jalapeño chilli – and it’s huge – worth the £12 price. My dining companion ate the whole thing.
Sides were a must to have, and it was the Avocado and Mango Salad that was the best dish of the night. A snip at only £4.25, it’s a big bowl of fresh avocado and mango with dices of onion and tomato in a very nice vinaigrette dressing. Amazing. The Sweet Plantains were also amazing – at £3.00 a great deal – topped with a hint of sugar to give them a sweet flavour.
Desserts are recommended after your meal but they’re very small! I had the Rum Cake expecting a nice portion, but it was quite a small, perhaps the size of the palm of a hand. It was sprinkled with berries and almonds and a syrup sauce, and came with ice cream, but it left me wanting more! My friend had the Banana Brulee, it has a nice crust and underneath the coconut custard créme was heavenly, but again a bit on the small side. Both were £5.50.
It’s all about exotic drinks when going to a Jamaican restaurant, and Rudie’s does not disappoint! There are 10 delicious sounding cocktails to choose from, and while we didn’t have all 10, we did order the ‘Jamaica Nice’ – a nice smoothie with almond syrup, lime, nectarine, rum, with a huge slice of pineapple – it’s as delicious as it sounds! My friend ordered ‘The Colony’ – another rum cocktail that included brandy – he said it was smooth going down. All ten cocktails are priced at a very friendly £8.50 each.
The bill for the meal came to £80 – not too bad considering all the different types of food we ate, coupled with the drinks. Rudie’s is a great place to eat, with large windows so you can watch the passing trade walk by. Service is wonderful, and they’ve been in business for just over a year. With Dalston becoming the hip place to live, Rudie’s will most definitely live up to a similar mantra – it will be the hip place to eat.
Reviewed by: Tim Baros
Telephone: 0207 249 9930
Address: 50 Stoke Newington Road N16 7XB
Opening hours:
Mon – Wed: 18:00 – 22:00
Thur: 12:00 pm – 22:00
Fri – Sat: 12:00 to 23:00
Sun: 12:00 – 22:00
PRICE: ££ (explained)
STAR: ★★★★ (explained)
