Miss Lily's in Soho has actually been "open" for nearly a month now, with Serge Becker, the restaurateur behind the always-a-party La Esquina, feeding classic Jamaican delights to a fantastically beautiful, invite-only crowd. Finally, just this week, Becker and crew started letting the rabble (like us) into this terrific-looking Jamaican restaurant space in NYC–the front is total tropical diner; the back a dimly-lit loungy room with, for example, tables embedded with reggae records–to join the festivities and, as it turns out, tuck into some first-rate island-ish cooking.
We stopped by Miss Lily's NYC last night on the way from one thing and to another–located as it is on Houston and Sullivan, right on the Soho/West Village border, ideally situated for such a stop–and though we're a bit worried that attitude will soon triumph over friendly service, for now the Jamaican food, the music, and the decor make Miss Lily's well worth a visit. We tore through four dishes (the menu is short but focussed and appealing), and enjoyed every bite.
Miss Lily's Spiced Pumpkin Soup was a satisfying starter, thick and lively and studded with toasted seeds. Even better–and, as soon as it finally starts warming up for good around here, even more appetizing–was the glass of Red Snapper ceviche, a crazy generous amount of melty fish soaked in a coconut-lime marinade, with pickled onions and celery and coconut bits and plantain chips for a nice textural balance.
For our entree at Miss Lily's Jamaican restaurant we went with the Curry Goat (though the Oxtail sounded good, too…), and the on-the-bone meat was tender and spicy and filling and reminded us of late-nights at this place we used to go to in our youth, up on 100th Street. The finish on this evening was Banana Cream Pudding (mostly because they were out of the Rum Cake with Toasted Coconut Cream), which was a sloppy, sweet-and-bready tropical delight, topped, of course, with the requisite Nilla wafer. Good stuff, all around. A return trip to Miss Lily's in NYC is already in the works.
Miss Lily's NYC Details
Miss Lily's Jamaican restaurant is located on the north side of Houston Street, just west of Sullivan Street, and is open every day from 6:00 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. For reservations, please see the Miss Lily's website or download Miss Lily's menu.
I visited Miss Lily's last night with a group of friends. We had a 9.30pm reservation, and our mains were served at 11.45pm. In the words of our waitress, this may have had something to do with the fact that she was "so stoned". It is the most disappointing and arrogant service I have ever experienced.