Wadadli Style Bakery & Restaurant

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 🇦🇬

In recent years, the Antiguan family that runs this Jersey City shop has been back home, giving the reins to others who were cooking a similar menu. Within the past few months, they have returned, taken down the signage with its temporary name, and returned the restaurant to Wadadli Style Bakery & Restaurant.

The word "Wadadli" is another name that is sometimes used for the island of Antigua and is generally accepted as the former name before colonization. The restaurant has a newly printed menu which puts their first founding at 2001, and a new awning should be showing up soon.

With a name like Wadadli Style, they do not disappoint with traditional Antiguan fare. Open Tuesday through Saturday, they have a different daily lunch special that focuses on these foods with Antiguan seasoned rice, bull foot soup, pepper pot, ducana, and fungi, amongst other things.

The first time I was able to have a meal here was 3:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, the day of pepper pot. Unfortunately this is not an ideal time to come any day, and the daily special had long been sold out. Their normal Caribbean go to dishes are all solid though, a small plate of stewed chicken ($8, above) hit the spot. Any lunch or dinner order comes with rice and peas, macaroni, and steamed cabbage. It is difficult to imagine what a "large" order is if this is a "small."

The homemade patties here are unbelievably good. Both the chicken ($2.50, above) and the beef ($2.50, not shown) are excellent, full of spice and so flaky on the outside.

The restaurant also makes homemade juices like passion fruit, sorrel, and sea moss for $3/each, all of which were tasty. Sea moss is apparently an "enhancer," if you were feeling less than yourself any certain day.

The fish ($14, above) is a whole red snapper first fried and then stewed, served with the same sides. I enjoyed this on a Tuesday, and unfortunately because of the snow they had decided not to do the daily special of seasoned rice, which is like a Caribbean version of biryani, meat and all.

If you have never tried it, aim for the ducana on Friday, a sweet potato dumpling of sorts that is cooked similar to a tamal, except inside of banana leaves.

If you do not feel like walking, the 87 bus from Journal Square drops you off right in front of Wadadli Style. See you there!

🇦🇬🇦🇬🇦🇬

JERSEY CITY New Jersey

475 Martin Luther King, Jr Drive