Island Wing Company

Island Wing Company has been on my radar for a while. I kept hearing about their take on Caribbean flavors and was intrigued.

I went with my brother and two of his coworkers for lunch on a Wednesday. I ordered the Hawaiian BBQ nachos as a starter. As promised, it was huge.  It was more than enough as an appetizer for at least 6 people.  With my group of 4, it was too much.  The server suggested getting the "rum sauce" on the side because he thought it made it too sweet. That brown stuff you see on top is the BBQ chicken. Instead of chopped to pieces like that, I would have liked it to have been shredded. It was given me a less mushy texture. The lettuce did give it a fresh element. The "rum sauce" looked like a pineapple cole slaw. Much of the elements like the BBQ sauce and pineapple made it an overall a more sweet than savory dish.  If that's more your cup of tea than you will like Island Wing's take on nachos.

I have been craving fish tacos.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the mahi fish tacos.  You get three flour tortillas piled high with a cole slaw, mahi and pineapples along with a side of yellow rice, which I replaced with a pineapple coleslaw. The fish was cooked perfectly. It was flaky and seasoned well. However, I think it might have been a little lost with all the toppings. Everything on it made it a touch sweet for me. I would have liked to see smaller bits of pineapple instead of the large chunks. It did give a nice citrus vibe to it though.  

The pineapple slaw was good.  It was in a mayo based slaw.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if my main dish was not so pineapple heavy.  Overall, I felt like my meal could have been a dessert.

While I went with seafood, my brother was all about getting a burger.  He chose the mushroom swiss burger.  It looked very promising when it came to the table.  I had a bite of my brother's burger. The meat was nice and juicy but bland. It needed a good dose of salt and pepper.  My brother doesn't typically add more salt to his meal but he had to this time.  In the end, he just ate the patty and fries.

My brother's coworker had the Jamaican jerk chicken tacos. He was expecting a good amount of kick and was sorely disappointed. He says there was little to no jerk flavor.  He asked for more jerk sauce. What was brought to him was not what he expected. He got what looked and tasted like ranch with a minimal amount of spice.  He said, he would not recommend ordering this if you were expecting authentic jerk flavor.

Another one of my brother co-workers go the shrimp and rice bowl.  When I asked him what did he think about the meal, he shrugged.  I do know he didn't finish the meal.  I don't know if it was because it was too much food or it was not good.  Take that as you will.

When I think about "island" flavor, I don't always think of pineapples and coconut.  I think of good seafood, some tropical flavors but also a good jerk sauce.  I was not something adapted to suit the American palate.  I am not giving up on Island Wing though.  I want to return to check out their baked wings.  I hear it is good.

To check out Island Wing Company's website and menu, click here.