Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area features one of New York City’s most spectacular restaurants: Kokomo Caribbean Restaurant. You absolutely have to experience it if you love food. But this praise comes with a caveat: you will enjoy it so much that you’ll be compelled to return repeatedly to try everything on the menu twice. It has a pan-Caribbean, Asian, and African vibe in its decor and flavors, but the chef’s roots are firmly rooted in Jamaica, and the inventive cuisine reflects it.
There is seating outside in its dining shed, but the inside of the restaurant is gorgeous. Soft, unusual lighting, a skylight in the main dining area, and tapestries and wallpaper all work together to forge a magical dining experience.
The Main Event
So, why is Kokomo so remarkably delectable? Let me recount the many ways… For starters, the food is cooked to a point of unbelievable tenderness. Red Peppa Jerk Chicken is as soft as butter, and the Coconut Lime Salmon Filet is perfectly balanced between crisp and tender. Rice and peas are coconutty warm and just the right consistency. Vegetables are neither too crisp nor too soft, and are presented in big, generous, chunky servings. But the sauces! Wow! The coconut lime sauce on the Coconut Lime Salmon Filet is almost beyond description – it’s that good. It’s bursting with flavor to pair with the salmon, and quite unlike anything you usually encounter. The Red Peppa Jerk Chicken sauce is spicy but not overpowering, dark and flavorful yet still balanced with the soft, fresh chicken.
Check out the other main course offerings here, which include vegan offerings, pasta, lentil meatballs in curry sauce, Oxtail, Rosemary Curry Shrimp, KoKo’s Chicken & Waffles, Red Snapper, an organic grass-fed Angus Burger, and much more: all inventive and masterfully cooked.
Savory Starters + Sides
Appetizers such as the Gochujang Wings and Seafood “Cake” with chadon beni remoulade sauce are rendered 5-star due to their sauces. Flatbreads are inventive, including New Zealand grass-fed Oxtail Flatbread and Wah Gwaan Flatbread with ackee, grilled shrimp, tomato confit, and drizzled scotch bonnet cilantro sauce.
Jackfruit Tacos, Coconut Curry Mussels, and Crispy Fish Tacos are also delicacies on offer as appetizers, along with Roasted Stuffed Sweet Plantains and many more delicious small bites. Sides include Mac + Cheese, salad, seasoned fries, sweet potato fries, plantains, and rice + peas.
The Sweet Finish
Save room for desserts, which include Fruit cheesecake, Sorrel cheesecake, Bailey’s cheesecake, Apple Crumb cheesecake, and Pistachio cheesecake — all served as a circular cake with whipped cream and artful crusts, as well as ice cream – black cake or vanilla, and Rum Raisin Bread Pudding.
Fresh Libations
Kokomo’s signature cocktails are highly recommended and creatively named and concocted, but even the Virgin Mojito mocktail was tall and flavorful, garnished with greenery and refreshing. Virgin Pina Coladas and juices are on the menu (pineapple, orange, cranberry) along with sodas, Red Bull, coffee lemonade, tea and more.
Kokomo’s Awesome Chef Story
Chef Omar Loney learned how to cook alongside his mother and quickly developed his own techniques for creating dishes like roti and dahl, assisting with his mother’s catering business. In Jamaica, he embraced his new career as a chef with true passion. After completing his Culinary Arts Certification, fortunately for us, he moved to New York City. For the past eight years, he has secured Executive Chef roles at several notable Caribbean restaurants such as Negril, Footprints, and Savvy, Bistro Bar and Lounge, just to name a few. He’s passionate about his native Jamaican cuisine and takes pleasure in teaching it to others, balancing old customs with cutting edge techniques and trends. He melds traditional Jamaican cooking with international cuisines from Asia and Africa. Adventuresome in the kitchen, he prepares extraordinary yet familiar food that thoroughly delights both the eyes, the spirit, and the appetite.
Questions answered & facts: HERE.
Get There!
Kokomo Caribbean Restaurant
65 Kent Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11249
Phone: (347) 799-1312
Take the L Train to Bedford – it’s a quick walk from there.
Google map-it: HERE
Hours
Thursday 4–10:30PM
Friday 11AM–3:30PM / 5–11:30PM
Saturday 11AM–3:30PM / 5–11:30PM
Sunday 11AM–3:30PM / 5–10:30PM
Monday 4- 10:30pm
Tuesday 4–10:30PM
Wednesday 4–10:30PM
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