DISH: SAVOR Mr. Brown's Lounge

Throughout my years covering restaurants for Windy City Times, there are few cuisines I haven’t covered.

However, authentic Jamaican was one of them—until recently. Mr. Brown’s Lounge (81 E. Wacker Dr.; MrBrownsLounge.com), an eatery offering such cuisine, has opened a branch in the Loop. (Another is in West Town, at 2301 W. Chicago Ave.)

Judging by the quality of the food—and the jovial atmosphere—I will be returning soon. The jerk chicken alone is worth the price of admission; on a recent visit, it managed to be tasty while having some kick. (The trick, of course, is for a dish to not have too much kick—which takes away from the experience, for me.) Be sure to try it with the slightly sweet coco bread, or plantains.

Be warned, though: A lot of Jamaican food—at least, at Mr. Brown’s Lounge—has a kick. That includes the Island Mac ‘n’ Cheese, which includes five types of cheese. There’s also the jerk chicken burger, although it has ranch dressing to cool off things. The Jamaican fried snapper comes with hot-and-sweet pepper sauce. (Other entrees include the traditional oxtail, with brown sauce and butter beans, and curried goat, with Jamaican seasonings.)

Also, don’t forget the dessert. The coconut-drop cookies were fun (albeit a bit sticky), but the banana pudding won my heart. An alternative to the Nilla-wafer ones most of us have heard of or tasted, this one is not too sweet and filled with large chunks of banana bread.

As for drinks, my Hummingbird (a cocktail with Appleton Gold Jamaican rum, Tia Maria, milk, fresh banana and strawberry syrup) looked so good I didn’t want to try it—and it tasted pretty good, to boot. A nice variety of cocktails is available (at $10-$12 each). However, if you’re in a celebratory mood, there’s also Dom Perignon ($350)—but there are also various beers ($7-$8).

Then, there’s the atmosphere. The DJ spins tunes (and I was actually singing along to Dawn Penn’s reggae classic “No, No, No”), the walls are festooned with album covers and the telegenic staff is extremely friendly. You’ll feel like you’re in the islands—at least, until you walk back outside, and Chicago traffic and pedestrians bring you back to reality.