Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood can be a gold mine for fiery island food — but it can take some effort to find the best bites. Luckily, local favourite Randy’s Take-Out has been dishing out the best Jamaican staples for nearly 40 years.

Family owned and operated since the late ’70s, Randy’s has been our longtime go-to for patties and spicy curry-on-rice plates. The menu is concise, and there’s often a lineup of regulars out the door.

Patties
Randy’s reputation was squarely built on the restaurant’s incredible line of Jamaican patties. There are three varieties that do not hold back on the heat, with intensity from Scotch bonnet and black pepper notes. Regulars will argue over which patty is best: beef, veggie or chicken.

Whereas most patty places dish out mediocre chicken patties, Randy’s has — hands down — the best in the city. Tender, flavourful chunks of curried chicken are wrapped up in a perfectly flaky crust.

Meanwhile the beef patty, spiced with pepper, is set to burst if you bite into it straight from the counter. The real winner, however, is the vegetable patty, which contains a mouth-watering mash of peas, spinach and corn.

Curries
Although the patties are excellent, the rest of Randy’s menu demands equal praise. The kitchen pumps out dozens of takeout containers each lunch hour, featuring a mix of slow-cooked meats served with rice and peas.

If you’re lucky enough to go with a few other hungry mouths, be sure to order all the selections. Solo mission? Get the curry goat with rice and peas. The tender pieces of goat fall apart with each bite. There’s a formidable amount of heat, though the rice morsels serve to absorb some of it. 

Next up: oxtail. Good luck finding a restaurant that can produce a better tasting mix of marinated, slow-cooked oxtail than Randy’s. It’s all in the browning, seasoning and spice of the meat. These folks have perfected the technique.

All dishes come paired with a vibrant cabbage slaw that adds acid and sweetness to the fiery curries.

Randy’s Take-Out, 1569 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-781-5313