jerkbay in Hoofdweg e.o.

Passing through Amsterdam for my birthday weekend, I couldn't leave without trying Jerkbay. Passionate about Jamaica, its culture, and its cuisine, it was a must-visit for me. Result: no regrets whatsoever. The flavors are spot on, the dishes are perfectly spiced and incredibly generous. You can clearly taste the Jamaican inspiration, both on the plate and in the atmosphere. A truly blissful experience; I loved it from beginning to end. If you love Jamaican culture and great food, go for it without hesitation! 🇯🇲🔥

I had absolutely no idea what Jamaican food was like, and honestly, I loved it! The meal was delicious, the atmosphere very pleasant, and the staff were incredibly friendly. One of the waitresses spoke a little French, which was really nice. The playlist was really catchy and added even more to the restaurant's ambiance. There were a few little things that weren't entirely to my taste, but that's mainly because I'm quite picky 😅 Otherwise, the food was really good. I highly recommend it!!!!!!!!!!!

Like stated; real authentic Jamaican food. Waiting time for takeaway was >15 min. I tried the Mac and Cheese, Jerk Chicken menu (Rice w/ Peas) and the Salt Fish Fritters; enjoyed every bite. In hindsight; regret not taking the Jerk Prawn platter as well. Compliments to the chef and staff this evening. Will be coming again shortly...

Tasty and lovely jerk chicken!!

Let’s start with the positives. The restaurant was clean, the music created a relaxed vibe, and the food was generally good. The jerk chicken was flavorful, portions were typical for a Jamaican restaurant, and the mac and cheese had a slight oven taste, but it wasn’t bad. Where things fell short was the service. When we arrived, the waitress asked if we had reservations. I said no and asked whether reservations were required, and she replied “oh, definitely,” while rolling her eyes. That set the tone. The menu showed oxtails listed as a “weekend special.” We asked whether that meant the price was special or whether they were only served on weekends. The response we received was, “they are only sold on the weekends, like the menu says,” which came across more condescending than clarifying. Later, while serving a nearby table, the waitress commented on the space being tight and added that they should excuse her because she’s fat back there. It felt unprofessional given the setting. Overall, I might consider ordering takeout again because the food was decent, but the dine-in experience would benefit from more professional and courteous service

Truly enjoyed the authentic feel here. It gave me such a good Caribbean vibe right here in Amsterdam. From the decor, to the staff, to the music, I loved every bit of it. I ordered the Jerk chicken with Mac & Cheese and it did not disappoint. I also ordered a side portion of rice & peas which hit the spot. The chicken was grilled just right, with a nice level of spice. I loved the flavours of the Mac & Cheese, it was both smooth in texture and rightly cheesed up. The only miss was that it was a bit on the salty side which became a tad overwhelming the more I ate. Apart from that, solid Jamaican restaurant with great food options. Highly recommend!!

Great place. Best jerk chicken I’ve ever had 9/10. Service 8,5/10. I wasn’t amazed by the oxtail 6/10

Ordered a takeaway at the restaurant, service was quick and the jerk chicken meals (mac and cheese+rice and peas) was amazing. The staff members were welcoming. 10/10 would recommend. Vibe in the restaurant is great

Delicious food, friendly staff!

What can I say? It's a pleasure to stumble upon a good restaurant like this! The Jamaican dishes are delicious and, what's more, the price is excellent. For a small starter, I recommend the accras, and for a main course, the smoked chicken with mak and cheese, or the rice, which was perfect with the spicy sauce. Honestly, I have nothing to complain about, even the service was warm and welcoming.

The food was really, really good. Service was amazing. Super nice, making suggestions and making sure we had a fantastic evening.

Never been to a Jamaican restaurant where the food wasvso good we had to go back twice. Even a six year old enjoyed her food. Food was excellent, the staff super friendly 👌🏾 will definitely be back when visiting Amsterdam and visit the new location in Rottardam

An amazing well needed meal, service with a smile, casual and calm vibes, and the most delicious jerk chicken! We also tried the salt fish fritters (amazing!) and theMac and cheese which was hands down the greatest Mac and cheese I’ve ever had. Lord knows how much butter and cream went in but they knew what they were doing and I’d reorder that anyday! Thanks for the meal x We also asked the waitress and she informed us the chicken was halal💛

The price is affordable, food is tasty, friendly staff

The jerk chicken with rice and peas tasted good. The rice and peas had a nice coconut flavor. The chicken was a bit burnt, but the flavor was good. The portion size is good. The staff is friendly. The rum punch was unfortunately disappointing and not authentic. I got a glass full of ice with lemonade and too much rum.

Wow, what delicious flavors! The sweet and friendly waitresses, with their humor, and the great music made it a wonderful atmosphere. Definitely coming back!

Loved this place. I’m of Caribbean descent so Jamaican food isn’t anything new to me but I can be particular about it. This place lived up to my families cooking which was extremely unexpected considering it’s the Netherlands. The vibe of the restaurant was amazing and the music reminded me of home. I will 100% come back to Jerk Bay for another meal.

We had a great meal and also thought about other options because I didn't like the rice with beans. Good vibe, nice music and the hostess was super sweet.

Saturday afternoon we just showed up and they squeezed us in because otherwise it was fully reserved. We were not disappointed! We had the chicken and the Ox-Tail and the meat was succulent and delicious for €~25 each. The staff were attentive and the mood was giving good vibes. Recommend!

Ordered the Jerk Chicken with rice and peas. The chicken was good but the rice was disappointing: too dry and really below par. Service could also be better. Do not think I would recommend it and come back another time.

Best Jerk Chicken in the Netherlands, by a distance!

Jerkbay is a small, cozy restaurant where you immediately feel welcome. The waitresses are friendly and create a warm, relaxed atmosphere. After my vacation in Jamaica 🇯🇲, I was looking for a place where I could enjoy authentic jerk chicken again 🍗 – and Jerkbay absolutely did not disappoint. The taste is exactly as I remember it from there: wonderfully spicy, tender, and truly authentic. Although I live in Spijkenisse, I love traveling to Amsterdam just to eat here. Their mac & cheese is also highly recommended; unfortunately, it wasn't available last time, but I'm forgiven for that because of the rest of the menu. In short: an absolute must for anyone looking for authentic Caribbean flavors.

We were recommended to come here and this place did not disappoint last night. Shout to the chef. Definitely worth a visit

I already loved the music from Jamaica, and now I've discovered the people and the cuisine. I ate there twice in a week 👍 I'll definitely be back.

Love it..food was good, will def. come back...if d Price is still right🤣 We didnt get to try d street G's drink, because they didn't have it.

Why offer online order for pick up if its not possible? Third time overall that order is denied.

Delicious food and cocktails Great service and atmosphere

Top is definitely recommended. The staff are nice and friendly. The food is ready in 15 minutes. Tastes amazing! Never had such delicious chicken, BOMBACLAAA! The atmosphere in the shop is simply authentic!

Best Jamaican food in the Netherlands

Great service from owner/manager and waitress. They kindly found us seating when the restaurant was fully booked. The food was great with good sized portions. Price is a little steep. They forgot our mac and cheese but they did end up making it for us so we had to wait for this, but it’s nice to know they’re making it fresh!

I went to this restaurant with my colleagues last Saturday. The atmosphere was good, but the service left a lot to be desired. It wasn't customer friendly, and we ordered an oxtail and a lamb curry to try. There were two small bowls; you could count the pieces, and we were charged €25 for one small bowl, a total of €50, which was a real shame. It was the first and last time for us. Too bad, too bad.

Love the food here! Just a heads-up don’t bother ordering online, because they never seem to check the website. It’s faster to just go in and order directly.

Delicious food, a bit messy but that's part of it.

Great vibe, staff and food. RealJamaica authentic food. 100% recommend visiting, they did not disappoint 🇯🇲

Incredible chicken, proper jerk in Amsterdam. Would be great if they delivered

I had two very unpleasant phone interactions here - on both occasions the staff were incredibly rude, even though I only asked simple, normal questions. This put me off so much that I cancelled my reservation without ever trying the food. It’s a pity, because I usually enjoy supporting restaurants like this, but I cannot support such poor service. A reminder: customers have choices - you need us, not the other way around.

Amazing food and great vibes—what else could you want

The oxtail is fantastic and the atmosphere is so fun with the best service! I will definitely be back!

What can I say? Go here and enjoy. Great food, friendly service.

New to the Netherlands, was recommended by a local and let me say YALL DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Ill be back.

Jerk Bay – delicious food with Caribbean vibes 🍗🔥🥭 What a fantastic restaurant! The food is fantastic again, just like last time. Everything is fresh, full of flavor, and truly authentic. The drinks are also excellent and complete the experience. The price is a bit higher, and especially if you have to sit outside due to crowds, it feels a bit off, but the quality of the food more than makes up for it. The service is friendly and fast, but the chef with dreads could be a little less flirty with customers, because ultimately, you're staying in a restaurant. Inside, it can get very busy, especially with larger groups, so the music and noise quickly become overwhelming. Outside, they could also pay more attention to ensuring guests aren't excessively loud or smoking near the entrance. Despite these minor drawbacks, Jerk Bay is still highly recommended because the flavors and atmosphere are simply fantastic. Food 5⭐ Service 5⭐ Atmosphere 4.5⭐ 🍹🍗🎶🌴🔥🙌

The taste of home in Amsterdam that was missing from my trip, family own and run with freshly made seasoning in the right spot that hit the spot ...whenever your in Amsterdam try jerk bay it's a taste away from home...awesome

Service and atmosphere was good but food was not authentic Jamaican , covered in pepper to hide that it had no taste and was burnt

The food was delicious, but it made me very ill. I'm gluten and lactose intolerant, and my boyfriend asked when ordering the jerk chicken menu if it was gluten- and lactose-free. He was told it was. But apparently not. I got really sick. Tip for the restaurant: please be careful and make sure you have an allergen list, and for anyone ordering with a similar intolerance: be warned. The food was certainly tasty; I have no other complaints about it. There were a lot of burnt pieces, which I removed.

A steep price for fairly basic comfort food. The chicken was quite burnt. Very friendly staff.

The food was absolutely amazing and service was great will 100 percent come back regularly and will recommend to anyone

Friendly service. You can see the BBQ in the kitchen. Beautiful, tasty meal with plenty of spice. Cozy, cozy atmosphere, very relaxed.

Everything about this place is out of this world!

An incredible meal that brought back memories of my trip to Jamaica! I recommend it for its cultural richness.

Today I visited Jerk Bay for the second time. We actually came for the curry goat and oxtail (which are 10/10), but you can only order those on weekends. We ordered the jerk chicken. The jerk chicken is also good, but the jerk wings were really burnt. I wanted to say something about it, but I felt intimidated by the hostess. She treated me like she was irritated. This unfortunately made it a bad second experience for me.

Best spot in town for a good relaxed quality Jamaican meal. Amazing jerk prawns!! The chicken is really consistent and legit. Friendly staff and great ambiance with Jamaican music at a great volume. Going back evychance I get.

The food is amazing!! The people are nice and the vibe with music is on spot!! I loved it

Small but cozy and apparently always full. It didn't take long to calmly finish your drink and then eat. The food was delicious!

The best Jamaican restaurant ever!!!!

Friendly and cheerful staff. Delicious food. 100% delicious.

Best experience ever in a spots in Amsterdam

Lovely restaurant, friendly staff. I had a delicious meal. I forgot I wasn't home because I almost ate the bone, it was so good. Everyone was friendly. I will definitely eat there again.

The food was delicious, but it was a shame there were so many bones in the ackee and saltfish. The service was slow, but friendly. The atmosphere was nice.

Food is amazing! I recommend the jerk chicken or the oxtail 10/10!

The food and cocktails were amazing!! The only thing I missed was a bit more service. Not once were we asked if we wanted another drink, etc. But otherwise, a top-notch restaurant!

Delicious food, excellent value for money. Jerk chicken and red snapper were delicious. There's a wide selection of drinks, and the mocktails were delicious tropical combinations. The pineapple cake was good, but the carrot cake was disappointing. We made a reservation in advance, which is highly recommended! It was quite busy, so we had to wait 20-30 minutes for our food, but the service was friendly. I'll definitely be back to try the oxtail or curry goat.

Too Notch, best place in 020!! No joke!!! Haven't had something that good in Dam in a very long time, worth every penny Had the Jerk Chicken btw for take out.

Love this place so much. The food is great, just like being in Jamaica. My only ask is more plantain!

The chicken was tasty, but definitely not jerk chicken; the flavor just wasn't there. It was more like BBQ chicken. The saltfish fritters didn't have enough cod in them. The rice and peas on the menu were fine. The rice and peas as a side dish were disappointing. Almost no beans. The coleslaw was also very tasty but seemed a day old. The plantains were great. All in all, a mixed review. I think they skimped on ingredients like jerk seasoning and saltfish. Because it should taste different. This was a one-and-done, unfortunately.

Best place in Amsterdam for Caribbean food!! The hostess & chef are so welcoming and hospitable the caramelised plantain are to die for! Highly recommend!!

Quality, friendly staff and great location!!

Great food at a very good price! Would definitely recommend

Delicious Jamaican food and beer

The chicken was a bit black, and they forgot part of my order. I had to pick it up again instead of it being brought to me. The service wasn't good because of that. The chicken did have a nice Jamaican spice, though.

Super tasty food, nice reggae music in the background and nice, fast service

The beautiful woman at the front is such a vibe she is so sweet and welcoming!! The food was amazing - I don’t review things usually but the whole experience was 10/10

Great place, amazing food!! Me and my date walked in on a Wednesday evening with no reservation, this was my third time eating there but it was his first. We both had the jerk chicken with rice & peas and it was A-ma-zing🙌🏼 The flavors on the jerk seasoning were just right, the plantain was perfectly soft and sweet, chicken was falling off the bone, the flavors in the rice were so warm and rich, we enjoyed our food so much that we both could have kissed the chef😂 The cherry on top was the kind service from our waitress. We’ll definitely be coming back❤️

Very authentic Jamaican food! Chicken was well flavoured and juicy! One of the best jerk places I have ever had!

Waiting is worth it...sooo be quick to lick your fingers ❤️❤️🔥

Very tasty and very nice people

What a lovely dinner! Jerk chicken was amazing, so was the oxtail. The sides were just as exciting as the mains and complemented them perfectly. Can’t wait to come back to try the goat curry! And everyone there was so friendly and welcoming. Highly recommend! Cocktails were also very tasty and nicely strong.

Man this spot is 🔥🔥🔥🔥. Oxtails was amazing

Delicious food and cozy atmosphere.

We had a great experience here, the music and vibe was perfect! The food was so good, we both had the mutton and festivals which were delicious. Really good service too, we would definitely come back!

Really good jerk chicken! I've had better sauce, though—but that's just nitpicking! Friendly, helpful staff, and the 25-minute wait was OK, too.

Just wow nothing more nothing less

Truly excellent (Jamaican) food served in a small nice restaurant and good atmosphere. The rum cocktails are delicious.

Incredible restaurant, if you want quality food, excellent service and a taste of real Jamaican culture in Amsterdam, look no further than Jerkbay my sister and I had an amazing time and will be back again!! Thank you for everything!!

It is already the 5th time in 2 months that I come here from Haarlem to get an oxtail menu. While there is also a Jamaican in Haarlem. That says more than enough! Too bad they only sell it in the weekend

Amazing jerk chicken & Mac n cheese. If you have 20e to spare and want something special—give this spot a go.

We already picked up a meal here, this time we thought let's have a nice meal there. Well we won't do that anymore because the service is very bad our cutlery was just thrown on the table, they never checked with us if everything was to our liking! As for the food the rice and peas was very tasty and the jerk chicken too and not to forget good cocktails. In contrast to the shrimps that were not tasty seemed as if they were not cooked properly and also had no taste and lastly the mac n cheese didn't know what this was supposed to be but this was 3 x nothing looked more like a soup with cheese and macaroni. Very unfortunate

Chicken so smoky. Mac n cheese so goood! All Halal

It smelled delicious on the way home. But when we opened the containers there was only Burnt jerk chicken really too bad. Also way too salty. The Curry goat was tasty but almost only bone. As if we got the leftovers from the pan. We really felt cheated, with all that burnt food. All really too bad because she wanted to give a good review. Atmosphere when picking up in restaurant was very stressed and barmaid looked like a farmer with a toothache.

Large portion with a good price, highly recommend the oxtail and jerk chicken. The service is great too.

Cozy restaurant, super friendly staff. Unfortunately, when I ate it, I missed the really spicy jerk flavor on the chicken.

Really tasty food but we ordered an hour and half ahead and still we had to wait 48 minutes after we got there. Not fun but the food was really yummy

Yes! I came back. After having a bad experience over a year ago. Today it was DELICIOUS. Friendly staff and nice food. 5+ stars. See you soon! Blessings Rasta

The restaurant was booked and had reserved seats, so we ordered a takeaway instead. The wait was long.

The food looked amazing - wouldn’t know! Waited an 1hr 10 just to be told they forgot to put the order in. Went home to eat peanut butter on toast at 21:45. Appreciate they gave us the drinks on the house but that was our one date night and 70 quid wasted on a babysitter. No excuse really.

OoooooohmmyGod! The BEST Jamaican food I’ve ever had, and I’ve lived in central Florida for a very long time, and had great Jamaican food there. You should make reservations as the place is packed (doesn’t feel packed though.) We got extremely lucky to find a free table that the staff accommodated us with. They were so, so, so nice! We ordered jerk chicken, curry goat w/ rice&peas (which came with sweet plantains) and got Mac & cheese (which is made fresh to order (wait time for that is about 30 minutes.) The portion was plentiful, the prices worth the portion, the service, and the OMG taste!! I want to go back all the time but that budget is not my current budget. lol! Go check it out! It’s soooo worth it.

Authentic Jamaican jerk dishes. Sometimes translated too literally. Because what is jerk in Dutch?

Waited over an hour for stomach ache

🍽️Full review on Instagram: joelthefoodie

This place was a huge surprise to me. Just walking around and walked in. Extremely friendly waitress arranged a table in no time even though it was fully reserved. The food, I repeat The Food. 10 out of 5 stars. Extremely good. The Jerkchicken the fantasy the plantains the rice and beans the mango salad and the cocktails. After eating they should have beds available for rent. You will see me often guys

I'm surprised to see bad reviews on here, we've been eating here since 2021. Sometimes you have to wait, that's all because the food is cooked fresh and good things come to thise who wait. This is the best jerk chicken in town and a lot of places. Believe me we travel a lot and this is again the best jerk and the curry goat is amazing. ❤️