The Star Ledger Reviews Mandeville Flavors

Flavors of the Caribbean in Orange

By Peter Genovese
April 08, 2010, 4:28PM

Photo: Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerKingston oxtails with sautéed vegetables and rice served at Mandeville. Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger

Restaurant reviewers are supposed to be cold, bloodless types, but we’d be lying if we didn’t confess to a pang of regret or sorrow when a favorite restaurant closes.
The Chronicle, situated in the former Chronicle newspaper building in downtown Orange, was a striking dining space, with hardwood floors, brick walls, even a grand piano at the entrance.
________________________________________
Mandeville, 15 S. Essex Ave., Orange; (973) 672-2900. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.mw. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. Website: mandevillenj.com.
________________________________________

The Chronicle, alas, didn’t last long — on my two visits, my friend Alison and I were the only ones there — but Mandeville, its replacement, hopes to change the dining dynamic.

The space is the same, but the menu is steadfastly Caribbean, compared with the soul/Southern/Caribbean/Cajun/CreCreole melange at the Chronicle. A little Johnny Osbourne and “No Ice Cream Sound’’ on the sound system in Mandeville, and you’re halfway to Kingston.
The restaurant, named after a town in Jamaica, offers live jazz on Thursday nights and a Sunday brunch. Will Mandeville outlast the Chronicle? Time will tell. But the initial signs are promising.

The Island Breeze salad, with romaine, carrots, roasted pecans and red onions ($6.75) didn’t break any new greens ground, but the citrusy avocado dressing is a delight.

The jerk chicken and avocado sandwich ($6.50), with tomato and lettuce, packs just enough spice to get your attention. The pulled pork sandwich ($6.75), marinated in herbs and spices, may be a distant cousin to the Southern barbecue standard, but it’s a lovable one.

Sandwiches come with a choice of French, plaintain or yucca fries; go with the yucca, deep-fried and thoroughly irresistible. Bet you can’t eat just one — or even 10.

The Maracas Bay chicken is simmered in a creamy coconut sauce with a dash of curry ($11), but all the flavors seemed masked, muted.

No such worries with the Governor General’s fish ($15), a whole parrotfish steamed in okra, ginger and onions, with smashed plaintains and crisp carrots.

Another hit: the Kingston oxtail stew ($13), a tender, tomatoey, stewy surprise.
Other dishes include jerk-seasoned uptown lamb chops ($20); Guyanese curried chicken ($9); reggae snapper ($14); Spanish Town salmon ($11); jerk pork ($12); a vegetarian black bean burger ($7.25); and a roasted corn, black bean and fresh mango salad ($6.50).

Dessert? The tropical bread pudding, with grilled bananas and a hard rum sauce ($6.50) manages to be as pleasing as a mid-morning breeze, but it’s no match for the triple chocolate cake ($8).

It’s rich, dense and liquidy. I shared the rest of the takeout order with colleagues, but not that cake.

I found Johnny Osbourne and “No Ice Cream Sound’’ on YouTube, put on my headphones and rocked out in sweet chocolate ecstasy.

Where should Pete eat next? Call him at (973) 392-1765 or e-mail pgenovese@starledger.com.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2010/04/flavors_of_the_caribbean_in_or.html