Dining for $25 or less: Island Quizine

By Karen Nitkin | Special to The Sun

April 17, 2008

I've rarely felt more welcomed at a restaurant than during my recent experience at Island Quizine. Seeing that we were chilly, our charming waitress hurried to us as soon as we sat down and asked if we would like a bowl of seafood chowder to warm us up while we decided what to order. It arrived on our table in a matter of seconds. Then, when we asked which was better, the jerk chicken or the stewed chicken, she brought out steaming hot samples of both, so we could decide. (We wound up ordering both.)

The cozy and colorful restaurant gives off the vibe that it is being run by an especially loving and cheerful family. The chef occasionally popped out of the kitchen to express his opinions about the political scene, while our waitress shared her insights about parenting. Yet we never felt intruded upon.

This is a restaurant with a happy vibe but also a serious work ethic. The food arrives promptly and is delicious. That chowder, for example, was creamy without being heavy, and loaded with fat chunks of shrimp and salmon.

Island Quizine is on a shady, cobblestoned street, in the spot that was, until recently, home to Ras Doobie da Chef, a wonderful Jamaican restaurant with a similarly welcoming heart.

When the space became available, Kim Ingleton, who opened her first Island Quizine restaurant on Liberty Road in Windsor Mill less than a year ago, took over the Penn Street space as well, opening her second Island Quizine in November.

She didn't change the interior, instead choosing to keep the tropical-colored paint and the antique wooden bar with its stained-glass accents. And customers craving jerk chicken, coco bread, curried goat or other Caribbean standards can still find the dishes here.

If you liked Ras Doobie, you'll like Island Quizine. And if you've never been to Ras Doobie, you might want to check Island Quizine out anyway. The food is fresh-tasting, with the complex-yet-sunny spices that characterize good Caribbean dishes.

One of the best entrees is the stewed tilapia ($13), which starts with an excellent piece of snow-white fish. It is deep-fried so it stays moist, then topped in a sweet-and-sour sauce made with vinegar, peppers, carrots and onion. The sweetness of the vegetables combines with the vinegar to create an intensely flavorful accompaniment to the mild fish.

Like all entrees at Island Quizine, the tilapia is served with a choice of two sides, plus slices of fried plantain, sweet but not overly so. One of the most popular sides is peas and rice, actually made with red beans, not peas. Though the combination is savory, the rice is cooked in coconut milk to add a hint of sweetness.

A good veggie option is steamed okra, cooked until just tender and served with nothing more than butter and salt so the fresh taste of the vegetable shines. Stewed chicken ($11) in a rich brown sauce uses chunks of meat still on the bone. It's harder to eat than boneless chicken, but the meat is more tender and richer in flavor.

A jerk chicken sandwich ($7) is stuffed with perfectly cooked chicken coated in the signature combination of spices. It comes on the slightly sweet bread known as coco bread.

If the orange-pineapple cake ($3) is available during your visit, get it. The cake is sweet and unbelievably moist, with a drizzle of orange-infused glaze on top.

Though we were shivering when we walked in, the warmth of this restaurant had infused us by the time we left. Island Quizine is a ray of sunshine.