Ducked out for a walk in the late evening from Stanley Park following the Sea Wall to Vancouver Convention Centre and it's wonky lights, then on a whim headed to Commercial Drive for dinner before my graveyard shift at the Crisis Centre.
I'd been to the Reef on Commercial Drive (1018 Commercial Drive, 604.568.JERK) a long time ago, for the Jamaican national dish, Ackee and Salt Fish (which is interesting food if you've never tried it, but nothing so tasty you absolutely have to have it). This time I just sort of eyeballed the menu and chose the Trini Roti.
On a Wednesday night, past 8:30pm, the patio was pretty packed, but the inside was deserted -- a plus if you want to cool down from the still-hot summer day, as you had the pick of seating and could choose to be more or less right under a fan.
The Trini Roti for $10 was about the size of two fists put together. I had the one with Jerk Goat, and the curried meat was moist but not gooey wet, very tasty, spicy but not tongue-burningly hot, and very tender. As mentioned in the Georgia Straight article, the 'roti' portion was like a huge tortilla shell, so purists looking for a West Indies roti may raise an eyebrow at it.
It came with a serving of coleslaw that was about half the size of the roti. The smell and taste of the coleslaw was a bit strong -- is this because it'd sat in vinegar all day and wasn't freshly prepared? Or just the style?
The server also brought a bottle of their Reef hot sauce -- a bit too hot for myself, so I didn't use more than a little sample of it.
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