Nakisaki Restaurant:
138-89 Francis Lewis Blvd.,
Rosedale, 527-7355

Cuisine: Jamaican/Chinese

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m.-midnight, Saturday noon-midnight, Sunday, 1:30-10:30 p.m.

With island music playing ever so softly in the background, Nakisaki restaurant’s soft-peach walls and uncovered wooden tables is one of the most inviting places to unwind at the end of a busy day. The Jamaican/Chinese restaurant, founded by Earl Lyn, a Jamaican-born immigrant of Chinese extraction, has been serving the Southeast Queens community for over 15 years.

Sipping an exotic fruit punch, I studied the varied menu and debated between a Jamaican and a Chinese entree. With choices such as sweet-and-sour chicken, chicken lo mein, sweet and sour shrimp, shrimp in tomato sauce, oxtail and beans, curried goat and fish in various styles, moderately priced from roughly $10 to $20, choosing was a struggle but I finally decided to try the escoveitched snapper.

I declined the fried plantain suggested by Junior, my waiter, and instead, ordered the "stamp-and-go." This ambiguously named appetizer is actually a simple recipe of salted cod fish mixed into flour, seasoned and deep-fried. It is more commonly known as saltfish fritters and widely known as fish cakes.

As I munched on the cocktail-sized goodies, I occupied my time with the extensive drink list; but while there were the requisite wines and champagnes that run the price gamut from the $13.00 Balatore Spumante to the $130.00 Dom Perignon, it was the imaginatively-named mixed drinks that held my attention.

Never mind that Jamaica’s favorite son’s preferred vice was the ("ganga") smoke not the drink, there is the perfunctorily-named "Bob Marley Express," a mixture of coffee liqueur, Myers rum, orange and pineapple juices and milk. Then there is "Hurricane" and "Hibiscus." However, it is the quencher named "Multiple Orgasms" that is the stand out here. This punny concoction consisting of coffee liqueur, Irish Cream, Amaretto, Tequila and milk must have been named after one-too-many tastes by its creator.

I did not indulge my curiosity, but I’m sure I was still blushing when my dinner — preceded by a crunchy garden salad — arrived. A medium-sized snapper deep-fried to a golden brown covered with onions, carrots, pimento, hot pepper and various other tropical spices sauteed in white vinegar. Served with a bowl of rice and peas on the side, this entree is definitely not for the faint-of-palate.

The aroma alone is enough to foretell you’re in for a spicy treat. But it is inadequate preparation for the actual taste! Long-dormant taste buds were joyously awakened and clogged sinuses were freed at last as I chowed down greedily. Uummm!

The ambiance of the Rosedale-based eatery while neither overly tropical nor Asian is light and airy. However, for those too busy to care about ambiance, there is also a busy take-out and a catering component to this mini-chain (there’s another in Hempstead) and a full-fledged bar right off the dining room.

Furthermore, the restaurant’s liberal policy offers customers the option to order combination entrees on equally-priced items too. For example, a customer can order a curried goat/oxtail combo. "It is a great way to sample without additional expense," remarked Laura Johnson, a diner at the next table.

In addition to taste, portion counts with me and "Naki" fulfilled that fantasy too. Alas, I was too full to indulge the tempting carrot and cheesecake desserts - but I forced myself and had it — "to go."

— Marcia Moxom Comrie