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Rosie Campbell's

Myffy Rigby
Myffy Rigby

Latest revamp: Rosie Campbell's in Surry Hills.
Latest revamp: Rosie Campbell's in Surry Hills.Dominic Lorrimer

Caribbean$$

Welcome to the latest incarnation on the original Bentley Bar site. And oh, if those walls could talk. Even before hospitality dynamos Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt​ gave it a spit and polish and turned it into a beautiful wine bar, it was a dank, well-soaked gig venue known for bad local punk and even worse beers that very often tasted like they'd been poured from the drip tray.

After the Bentley shut its doors to move into the city, there was the short-lived Chow Bar and Eating House and now after a fairly lengthy pause, we've got Rosie Campbell's.

But how, for the love of Jimmy Cliff, Dr No, Bob Marley and Cool Runnings, does a Jamaican-themed restaurant/bar have no Ting? That is basically the equivalent of a pub with no beer.

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The island jerk salad.
The island jerk salad.Dominic Lorrimer

Ting, if you've been living under a steel drum-shaped rock, is a Jamaican grapefruit-flavoured soft drink you might see paired with rum. Ask for a "wray and Ting" the next time you're hanging out somewhere a little more specifically Jamaican than this.

Sadly, there's no Ting here. Apparently, there are plans in the works to bring it in some time in the future, but for now it'll have to be a spiked Jamaican ginger beer or a Red Stripe.

What they do have is a fairly enormous selection of jerked foods. There's jerk ribs, jerk fries, a jerk chicken burger, a jerk salad, jerk pork dumplings, jerk chicken wings and jerk chicken with rice and beans. (Insert your own hilarious reference to Steve Martin's The Jerk here.)

A plate of sweet potato chips.
A plate of sweet potato chips.Dominic Lorrimer
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But I don't really want to give the jerk foods on the menu too much oxygen - mainly because they're not all that great. The jerk chicken, for instance, is ah, very enthusiastically seasoned.

And while we only have ourselves to blame ordering a Cuban sandwich in a Jamaican restaurant, I'm always on the lookout for a good one, and will order said sambo any time I see it.

Sadly, this version does not buck the trend of uninspiring cheesy pork sandwiches - here, cold, tough slices of pork are layered with slices of unmelted plastic-tasting cheese on a flat roll. Boo.  

Corn in toasted coconut and spiced mayonnaise.
Corn in toasted coconut and spiced mayonnaise.Dominic Lorrimer

Interestingly, I'm here to tell you it's all about the vegetarian food, whether that's the gooey mac and cheese or the slices of corn bathed in toasted coconut and spiced mayonnaise, or the highlight - a bright, summery salad of black beans, (more) toasted coconut, coriander, mint, paw paw and deep-fried shallot.    

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Yeah, they're a little slow on the drinks and service is slightly up and down in general, but they're all very well-meaning and friendly, and I get the feeling if you were to put in some serious time at one of the zebra print tables (and look at all those pics of a young, fresh-faced Mick Jagger!) with a whole lot of Red Stripe beers, it probably wouldn't matter all that much.  

THE LOW-DOWN
Pro tip Pro brunch? So are these guys. Head down over the weekend from 11am for a pancake stack with smoked rum butter
Try this The sweet potato fries are a perfect prop for a few Red Stripes
Like this? Jamvybez offers a B-side (but much more authentic) experience, complete with catfish fry and dominoes. 72 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. (02) 9571 1158

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Myffy RigbyMyffy Rigby is the former editor of the Good Food Guide.

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