Veronica’s Kitchen

Mmm! The best jerk chicken I’ve ever had. Such a blast of intense, spicy and savory flavors on top of meat that just falls off the bone. Also loved the flavor-​soaked rice, soft collard greens and peas. The guy working the cart was also super friendly and service was extremely fast. There was no wait because I made sure to go at 11 am when they first open.
Warning: Getting a small is PLENTY. I ate half of my bowl and felt stuffed. Also at $ 7 with one meat and two sides, this lunch is definitely a steal (especially in FiDi). I’m so happy I finally tried this cart! I can tell from the saltiness and spiciness/​general heaviness that this is definitely not a good place to frequent, but I’m definitely coming back once in a while for an indulgent lunch!

First time having jerk chicken and collard greens. and I loved every bite! The jerk chicken, as others have said, is a bit on the salty side… but the spice was perfect! Collard greens, were perfect. The rice and peas, I was a little hesitant because I don’t like green peas (it’s the only vegetable I don’t care for but I will still eat it if I really have to).but these peas were different, almost like a bean! It was so good as well. As for the amount of food, for $ 7 you get a small which is perfect… lots of rice, a bit of greens, and 2 chicken thighs. I ate all the chicken and collard greens and have leftover rice that I will use for another dish. Overall I really like this place, but if the salt was cut back I would give it a 5 and be a frequent patron!

Hadn’t been here in a long time but the mood struck and I ventured out for some excellent Jamaican cooking. On a small cart on Water street and Pine is a great value and delicious, albeit, messy food. I got he large chicken curry with spinach rice and plantains. Nice and spicy and cooked beautifully. $ 9 for a massive plate of lunch. Please not the chicken curry was on the bone but it so tender that you do not need a knife. I recommend a bib and lots of napkins as you will want to gnaw on those bones. Please patronize this hardworking cart.

I was looking forward to it for months after discovering it on Unilocal,so maybe my expectations were ridiculously high, but I was so disappointed when I finally had it last week. The Jerk Chicken was all hot and no sizzle, the rice and peas were nothing special, and the mac and cheese was bland with no taste. If you like spicey Jerk with a kick then this place is for you but aside from the caliente factor I would not bother with it.
Very nice staff though and good portions for the price.
Get there early or they will run out of stuff like sweet plantains and Stew Chicken because they are massively popular. Also, cash only.

The stew chicken was a little too «browned», I won’t call it burned, for my taste. Went back the next day for BBQ chicken, collards and sweet potato. That was the ticket.
Nice walk that’s good for me but not to far to discourage me from going back. 7 bucks fills you up nicely you won’t need a large unless you have your own office with a door so you can take a nap later that afternoon.

Can’t even explain how much I loved the food here!!! Amazing flavor and very generous servings! Tried the goat curry and jerk chicken… loved both… Even my parents, who usually stick to Indian food enjoyed it a lot! Price is good and very fast service… overall impressive!

I was very, very pleased with my meal. For $ 7, I got a decently sized «small» meal, which included a main meat option and two sides. I had the BBQ chicken, candied yams, and fried plantains. If you’ve never eaten BBQ and yams together, do yourself a favor and try those flavors together in one dish, the taste is amazing. The meat is attached to the bones still, but is so tenderly cooked that it falls right off – next time I’m trying the ox tail!

I love to go here to get my roti fix. They have great vegetable roti and the price is great ($ 5 for vegetable roti, $ 6 for the meat ones, I think). Cheap, delicious, and convenient. There are often lines from noon-​1pm, so you may have to wait, but it is worth it for a nice sample of authentic Trinidadian food. Cash only.

Cash only and lines normally deter me but this place is worth the wait. Tremendous value in terms of $ per amount of food and taste!
I found a small order of jerk chicken with spinach rice was filling and really flavorful. Was like $ 7!

The jerk chicken was delicious! By far one of the best that I’ve had in the states. Beware though, it is very spicy, so don’t get it if you have no tolerance for spicy food. I got a mixed veggies + rice for my 2 sides. The mixed veggies were soggy and mediocre. I got them because I wanted to be somewhat healthy, but I ended up just abandoning them. The rice was great for soaking up the flavors of the chicken. I just wished there was more! $ 7 for 4 big pieces of chicken + 2 sides is definitely a great deal. I can’t say this is a place I’ll come to regularly for lunch since the food is quite heavy, but I’ll definitely come back in the future for more.

Love Veronica’s foods! I have had the jerked chicken (3x), curry goat (2x), and stew chicken (2x) so far.
–My favorite is stew chicken, always tender and flavorful.
–Curry goat is good but I didn’t like the after taste of the goat the second time I got it.
–Jerked chicken is a bit salty sometimes. But if you love spicy, go for it!

I tried Veronica’s Kitchen on Governor’s Island and I liked it! I believe the prices are a bit higher on the island versus the set-​up in Manhattan. We saw a fairly long line for it so we assumed it must be good and it was. We ordered a small jerk chicken with mixed vegetables and rice and beans. She added some jerk sauce which gave it an extra kick. The small is enough to feed two comfortably. Hugh portion and worth it. The chicken was well flavored and tender. The rice and beans were perfect and the mixed vegetables weren’t bad, but not my favorite. All in all, I would definitely come back to try other combinations. Good price, good amount of food and certainly lots of flavor.

Finding a place that’s cheap and flavorful in the financial district is difficult, so when I saw Veronica’s on Unilocal,I couldn’t say no.
Finding a food truck on Unilocal is always risky — you never know how accurate the directions or hours are. But when I walked down to front street and saw a line about ten people deep, I knew I had found it.
Fair warning, the line is somewhat heinous. I ended up waiting about 30 minutes for my jerk chicken, plantains, and mac’n’cheese.
But man, was it good. The jerk chicken was phenomenal! Nice and spicy, but not overwhelming the flavor. The mac’n’cheese wasn’t as gooey as I had hoped, but it worked well to soak up the chicken juices. The plantains were also great (although it didn’t go with the meal; I should have gone for something else).
I hear this place does deliveries. That’s probably for the best, I couldn’t imagine waiting in line for that long day-​to-​day. Although I imagine if I worked down here, I’d probably have serious trouble staying away. It’s amazing.
If you’re downtown, go here, and grab some food. You won’t regret it.

I can see why this truck has been called the best in the area. Authentic food, delicious and good portions.
Tip: Get there early because they run out. I wasn’t able to try the oxtail which I wanted or sweet plantain but I did get the last of the jerk and they threw in some bbq chicken

Being surrounded by by almost a hundred different Caribbean restaurants in Brooklyn/​Queens, this is the first time I’ve ever encountered any Caribbean food stands in Manhattan.
Veronica’s Kitchen serves up a number of dishes infused with Trinidadian flavor. Everything on the menu looked very appetizing but the stew chicken seemed like a pretty good staple. For under $ 10 you get decent size serving of stew chicken with 2 sides. Rice and peas and mac n’ cheese is usually the way to go but they have many other sides to choose from (collard greens, sweet potato, etc.).
Trinidadian stew chicken is usually made by burning brown sugar as its base, so it’s blackened in color and yields a bitter flavor, which you can really taste at Veronica’s. For some reason, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the stew chicken, rice and peas or even the mac n’ cheese. The macaroni was just OK and the stew chicken was a little too bitter for my liking. OR maybe it’s because my heart was set on the BBQ chicken and I may have made an impulse decision. Whatever it might have been, I think I need to revisit Veronica’s Kitchen.

Came here for the Jerk Chicken. Will return for more.
It’s certainly not the healthiest food, but it certainly warms the soul. The portions are pretty big (2X).

YEAAAA!!! I DID IT, I GOT THE OX TAIL FINALLY!!!
Must be my lucky day, the line was short when I got there! when it’s my turn to order, I play dumb (my heart was pounding) and just casually asked «you guys got ox tail?» and the guy casually said yea, BAM! and at that exact moment I did a jump, the one that Super Mario would have done in front of the cart (jk, I did that in my head tho) and I giggled like a kid.
That ox tail was no joke, it was bursting with flavors! super tender and the meat comes right off the bone. I killed my meal in less than 5 mins. I tried to savor each bite but my mouth wouldn’t let me. My only complaint is the portion, I only got like 6 pieces total (they are not that big) but it’s okay, that only forces me to suck on the bones!
I feel like I accomplished something today so thank you Veronica for not running out of the so darn tasty ox tail!

A great find for variety here in FiDi, first time I see a West Indian food truck in the city amid all of the halal food trucks this was a very welcomed change. Lines are pretty long though during busy hours (12 – 1:30) So I normally come either around 2 or 11:30 when they start selling. Coming in later runs the risk of them run of few items as with all food trucks so I think earlier the better.
I had the Ox Tail Stew coupled wit rice and collard greens. I thought the sides were really salty though especially the rice but I think could be I’m more used to the Asian bland rice taste. They must have cooked the meat in a slow cooker or something to get the meat so tender and falls right off the bone. For a large order it was a lot of food I would say more meat than the usually $ 6 – 7 Chicken over rice box you get from halal trucks. Price is bit higher than competitors ($ 9 for the ox tail + 2 sides) but since they have the upper hand in offering something unique I think its worth it once in a while.
Next time I’ll be sure to try their Jerked Chicken and the yam as well for the sides. But I definitely recommend this place for anyone looking to try something new and different.

At first I was told it was Jamaican. Now I believe it’s Trinidadian.
It’s a food cart sitting in the middle of Water St. Sometimes you can expect long lines but on average it’s relatively quick. They have items from curry goat and ox tail to jerk chicken. Their sides include Mac n cheese, yams, potato salad to collard greens to name a few.
Jerk chicken is good but spicy as hell and salty.
BBQ chicken is not your typical Southern style BBQ. They make their own sauce which is thinner and more subtle.
Their best is probably the curry chicken. It’s similar to Chinese curry where it’s not too spicy, more salty than it is sweet.
Mixed veggies consist of only cabbage and the collard greens are good. Since I try to be healthy, those are my standard choices. I hear the best sides are the yams and Mac n cheese.

I would never think such a shabby looking food truck produces such awesome food! I was a bit skeptical at first but I was truly impressed by the food here. I have tried their Jerk chicken and Curry chicken so far and both are fabulous! The side dishes such as candied yam and mac and cheese are winners too.
I am usually satisfied by a small order. If you are a huge eater, you should get the big one for sure. I am going to try their Ox Tail next time!