8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
There’s a reason new kid on the block Kingston 21 is making waves in Abu Dhabi’s thriving culinary scene.
The restaurant opened doors mid-April, and prides itself on being the first authentic Jamaican restaurant in the capital. That's because although there are a handful of Caribbean restaurants in Abu Dhabi, Kingston 21 is the first to be Jamaican-owned and run, complete with Jamaican chefs, a menu featuring authentic dishes, and hard-to-find ingredients imported directly from the island country.
The menu offers a blast of nostalgia for anyone who is from Jamaica or has visited in the past, and is craving a taste of the nation's hearty fare. On the menu are all the favourites: jerk barbecue wings and jerk chicken, curry goat, plantain chips, oxtail stew and traditional toto – a wholesome coconut spice cake.
Meanwhile, brunch lovers can sample some ackee and salt fish – Jamaica’s national dish – or sip on the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.
Even the space pays tribute to Jamaica. Enter and you’ll find a laid-back and casual ambience, with reggae posters plastered on the wall while the outside seating area features plenty of water views from its Al Raha location.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Kesian Bennett, 28, who noticed that Abu Dhabi didn’t have any Jamaican restaurants when she moved to the capital in 2018. However, with a career in teaching, it was the pandemic that drove her to discover a dream of opening her own restaurant.
"Being indoors all the time in 2020 made me quite sad. I'm a home chef, so I ended up doing a lot of cooking," she tells The National. "My Instagram page became full of my cooking and I started a YouTube channel for it, too. That's when I revisited the idea of launching my own restaurant."
The Jamaican national worked with the chefs to recreate dishes she had grown up eating. There has been a purposeful focus on keeping it as traditional as possible, with ingredients such the Blue Mountain coffee brew, imported from Jamaica, and the use of traditional cooking methods and spices (the restaurant even has a charcoal grill for jerk chicken).
However, the chefs have also tweaked some items, as a tribute to Abu Dhabi’s multicultural community – the oxtail ragu and pumpkin risotto being prime examples.
Even its name, Kingston 21, stems from the fact Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, has 20 postcodes, and the 21st is their hypothetical extension of the capital in the region.
The hard work and effort is also paying off.
“The response has been phenomenal,” says Bennett. “The people of Abu Dhabi are very much open to trying new things. We have a lot of locals who are very interested in the coffee, and we’ve picked a great location where we’re getting a lot of curiosity over the menu.”
The love from the community is the icing on the cake, she adds.
“I ventured into this to find myself and find my passion. But it’s amazing to be able to add value to Abu Dhabi, and share my culture and food with the people here.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
FA Cup fifth round
Chelsea v Manchester United, Monday, 11.30pm (UAE), BeIN Sports
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
