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Laylah's Reggae Kitchen

It's pretty far out El Cajon Boulevard. Not quite all the way, but 58th and ECB is a good jog. The brightly painted facade of the restaurant features a smiling Rasta chef and the inside is likewise decorated with imagery from the reggae pantheon. Jamaican music plays softly from the house stereo. The tabletops are even painted with maps of the island nation that identify local landmarks.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/10/22616/

The dish to order is the jerk chicken. "Jerk" refers to the dry rub of allspice, scotch bonnet peppers, and other spices, but it can also refer to the method by which jerk chicken is smoked. Laylah's jerk chicken can be made into a sandwich, served on a salad, or as a dinner plate that also comes with rice, beans, steamed veggies, and fried plantains. The plates ($10 for a small or $12 for a large) contain relatively massive portions of food. I ate all of mine, but I was really hungry. Normally, a small plate would probably be enough for one person with a normal appetite.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/10/22622/

To look at it, the jerk chicken seems to have been cooked to oblivion. But the black outside is really just the smoked out spice rub. Inside, the meat has been colored a deep pink from the penetration of the smoke. The chicken is falling apart from the long, slow cooking, and it's a little bit dried out from the low-n-slow heat, but the chicken has undeniable flavor.

In addition to the chicken, the restaurant sells plenty of "oda meat" that includes fish, goat, and oxtail. And there are also some interesting side dishes like "festival dumplings, rum cakes, and a breakfast menu that's served when Laylah's opens at 10 in the morning (which is a pretty late breakfast).

The restaurant is attached to a Jamaican convenience store that sells drinks and a variety of imported, Caribbean foods.

5712 El Cajon Blvd
619-241-2948
M-Th 10-8
Fr-Sat 10-9
Sun 10-3

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It's pretty far out El Cajon Boulevard. Not quite all the way, but 58th and ECB is a good jog. The brightly painted facade of the restaurant features a smiling Rasta chef and the inside is likewise decorated with imagery from the reggae pantheon. Jamaican music plays softly from the house stereo. The tabletops are even painted with maps of the island nation that identify local landmarks.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/10/22616/

The dish to order is the jerk chicken. "Jerk" refers to the dry rub of allspice, scotch bonnet peppers, and other spices, but it can also refer to the method by which jerk chicken is smoked. Laylah's jerk chicken can be made into a sandwich, served on a salad, or as a dinner plate that also comes with rice, beans, steamed veggies, and fried plantains. The plates ($10 for a small or $12 for a large) contain relatively massive portions of food. I ate all of mine, but I was really hungry. Normally, a small plate would probably be enough for one person with a normal appetite.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/10/22622/

To look at it, the jerk chicken seems to have been cooked to oblivion. But the black outside is really just the smoked out spice rub. Inside, the meat has been colored a deep pink from the penetration of the smoke. The chicken is falling apart from the long, slow cooking, and it's a little bit dried out from the low-n-slow heat, but the chicken has undeniable flavor.

In addition to the chicken, the restaurant sells plenty of "oda meat" that includes fish, goat, and oxtail. And there are also some interesting side dishes like "festival dumplings, rum cakes, and a breakfast menu that's served when Laylah's opens at 10 in the morning (which is a pretty late breakfast).

The restaurant is attached to a Jamaican convenience store that sells drinks and a variety of imported, Caribbean foods.

5712 El Cajon Blvd
619-241-2948
M-Th 10-8
Fr-Sat 10-9
Sun 10-3

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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