EVERETT — It’s the calypso music playing in the dining room, the spicy Creole sauce on the barbecued ribs, the satisfying pelau and Jubie’s big smile.
These are among the reasons my colleague Mary Downes and I will return to Jubie’s Barbecue and Caribbean Delight, a great new Everett eatery.
Located in the former seafood market at the corner of Hewitt Avenue and Marine View Drive, Jubie’s offers food from Trinidad and Tobago.
Owner and chef Hunan Lindsay (that’s Jubie) is from Tobago, where he learned to cook from his mother. Lindsay moved to Snohomish County 20 years ago and for many years ran his own electrical company.
“But I’ve been cooking all my life, and I wanted to sell my food,” he said. “I wanted to carry on my mother’s traditions.”
Open only a few months now, Jubie’s already has loyal lunch and supper crowds in its small dining room.
Jubie’s uses natural ingredients and spices, Lindsay said, guessing at the popularity of his place. “It’s about the quality of the ingredients.”
An Afro-Tobagnian, Lindsay said that some of his recipes were passed down from his ancestors who likely came to the islands as slaves.
So far, my favorites at Jubies are the barbecued ribs and chicken pelau.
Pelau is made with beans, rice, vegetables and chunks of barbecued chicken. Order a plate (for $8.50 at lunch) and you get a side dish. I recommend the crisp and creamy potato salad.
The ribs ($8.50 per big hunk) are tender and flavorful. You can get a barbecued chicken hindquarter for $6. In the evening, the generous barbecued chicken plate with two sides is $12.50. I have yet to see the barbecued salmon listed on the menu.
On occasion, Lindsay cooks up some other items or he rotates dishes in and out of the daily menu lineup. I enjoyed curried corn on the cob ($4.25).
Mary, who grew up in Hawai’i and has a thing for food from warm climates, likes the oxtail stew served over saffron rice ($8.50).
“The oxtail stew was succulent, moist and so full of flavor, with the meat falling off the bone,” Mary said.
Jubie told her that the oxtail is first pressure-cooked, seasoned with his special blend of spices and then further braised until “meltingly tender.”
“The stew was essentially cooked down to a dark finish and served generously over the rice,” Mary said.
Another occasional menu item is the fried plantains, another ($4.25) side dish.
“Fried plantains were the perfect accompaniment to the stew,” Mary said. Like “white sweet potatoes, they were perfectly cooked to a near-creamy consistency and served plainly with a sprinkle of parsley garnish. They didn’t need anything more than that.”
On another visit, Mary had a green banana salad. The potato-like salad was made with half-ripe bananas.
“It was different, quite good and unlike anything I’ve tasted in Everett,” Mary said.
Next to the water cooler are bottles of hot sauce to add to your plate.
“The habanero-mango sauce is Jubie’s hottest sauce,” Mary said. “The heat of the pepper is tempered by the sweetness of the mango. It’s excellent on the ribs and chicken.”
Jubie’s Barbecue and Caribbean Delight
Located: 2831 W. Marine View Drive, Everett
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Lunch specials available: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday
Orders to go: 425-349-0164
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