Fiyahside Jamaican Cuisine

Caribbean fare has joined African American soul food and barbecue in the Northwest Side's take-out trade. Fiyahside Jamaican Cuisine (3709 W. Villard Ave.; 414-204-8740) is at least the second Milwaukee establishment where the cuisine of reggae's home island is served from behind what could pass for an antiquated bank teller window. On a recent mid-afternoon visit, curried goat and fish were sold out for the day, but the jerk chicken was a satisfactory substitute. Unlike other Jamaican eateries in the city, the spicy sweet sauce for the bird was offered on the side for diners to apply themselves. Tasting the jerk flavoring on its own brought out its resemblance to Chinese American sweet-and-sour sauce and the influence Jamaica's Asian immigrant population may have had on the island’s dishes. The large order of chicken was plentifully satisfying: a mountainous portion of white rice deliciously enhanced by beans and stewed cabbage flecked with carrot slivers giving the appearance of warm, coarsely cut coleslaw. Fiyahside's painted signage on the wall of the gas station with which it shares a building could be more prominent, but once found, a haven of dependably fine eating beckons. Just don't expect to nosh on premises.