Places To Eat In Deal: Soul Chef Kitchen @ The Port Arms

Ages ago, I started following a Jamaican guy who was cooking (and his wife delivering) home cooked meals in Deal during the pandemic on Instagram. Now, Soul Chef Kitchen is in residence at The Port Arms on the seafront, and now I’ve been for lunch, I can’t find anywhere better to recommend for a casual meal with incredible food by the sea to recommend this summer.

There is a big main menu of meats, curries, salads and sides, but each month they do specials, which in June it was a starter and a main for £15. Yes, I know it no longer June, but all these dishes are on the main menu, and you won’t want to miss any of them (you can tell I’m very enthusiastic about the food, right?) The saltfish fritters (served with a spoonful of tropical salsa and on a swoosh of creamy jerk mayo) were crisp, light and with the most incredible, almost pillowy texture inside and with a good flavour. The Sticky Fried Chicken bites made up for the fact they could have been a little moister with a lovely barbecue-wood smoked flavour and a fantastic, addictive sweet sauce.

We both went for the jerk for our mains, both portions of which came with rice and peas (though we could have switched that out for chips), a spoonful of salsa, and a small portion of rainbow slaw, of which we ordered an extra side bowl. Again, everything was delicious: the slaw light and refreshing, the rice and peas tasty without stealing the show, and whilst the chicken had a great flavour it was the pork I was particularly excited about. With a good outer-flavour of jerk seasoning and with a good sauce, the belly strips themselves were perfectly cooked so the fork just fell through them, the fat melting rather than tasting like, well, strips of fat. If pork is your thing, you can’t miss out on this jerk pork!

You can book a table, but I’d recommend just turning up unless it is a particularly sunny weekend. Or, if you either live in Deal or you’re just visiting (this is where else I’d recommend you eat in Deal!) you can find them on JustEat!

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