Feelin' Irie At Coconuts

As an everyday foodie, I am always looking for a good place to eat. I was walking to my car after lunch with one of my "froodies" (friend and fellow foodie) in downtown Palo Alto. We passed by a Caribbean joint called Coconuts at 642 Ramona. This owned and operated by the well-reviewed and much liked Back-A-Yard in Menlo Park another great Caribbean joint. We decided to stop and check-out the menu and figured that any restaurant that serves "Big Tings", "Little Tings" and "Favorite Tings" required a visit. Happy Hour here we come! Now to note, we thought we would meet at 4:30pm for a bit of happy hour. Happy Hour starts at 5:00pm and the restaurant is closed between lunch and dinner, so we hung out and chatted for a bit until the black gate lifted and allowed us entry at 5:00. For those of you who know Palo Alto, this space used to be Hukilau and is across from the police station. So we belly up to the bar for some food and fun. There we met William (from St. Thomas so he knows his Caribbean fare) and not only was he our entertaining bartender, but he is the restaurant and bar supervisor as well. Happy hour is a fine way to spend an hour or two in this place. Draft beers were $2 which included Stella Artois. I know, I know we should have had the Red Stripe and we almost did, but at the last minute we switched our order. We also contemplated indulging in some tropical refreshments from their specialty island drink menu, but beer seemed the right choice with spicy food. Although, we did get a couple of small sample island drinks to try on the house. For happy hour three of the "little tings" were on special 50% off. And as every good foodie does...we ordered them all--Codfish Fritters, Irie Jerk Wings, and Jamaican Mini Patty Sampler. The wings, we, when asked, we ordered spicy and to that note, William gave us a little side dish of habanero sauce so we could kick it up a notch. We learned that they make their own jerk seasoning in house and they were some of the best jerk wings--ever! The Jamaican mini patties came in chicken and beef with a tomatillo catsup. Think of them as Jamaican empanadas and they were delicious--especially the beef ones. We put a little habanero sauce on these to add a little kick as well. Last but not least, were the codfish fritters. The decadent fried balls of fish and batter were very good and the Creole sauce they were served with was excellent on them. We were there on a Tuesday night and it was not too busy allowing us to relax and chat with fellow patrons as well as William. We are told that Thu-Sat nights are packed especially when the steel drum musician plays which I think is on Friday nights. I need to return to this little piece of Caribbean paradise and have some "big tings" and listen to some steel drum music on the patio under the lite-up plastic palm tree.