“It’s more about flavor than making it hot,” is what Robert Knight says about his Jamaican food. It’s also probably the most accurate statement about the downright lovely dishes leaving the kitchen at Malakhi Lounge & Jamaican Restaurant.
The restaurant is huge, with big, cushy booths and ample floor space with a mini stage for anyone inclined to move around while a DJ or band is there. Brick is painted in a vibrant primary-color yellow with red and green accents. A grand opening banner hangs outside a few months after it debuted (April), adding signs of life to one of the many nondescript strip malls outside of downtown Manassas.
Abide its welcoming offer.
Jerk wings should start the meal. They’re meaty and saucy and herby and peppery, and Knight swears there’s no vinegar in there, but something pops. Like Knight says, there’s heat, but it doesn’t overwhelm the many punches of flavor.
Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx from age 12, Knight started in the hospitality industry as a DJ while stationed in Georgia. Working in the military can be a 9-5 job, and he spent his weekends at Island Breeze, a Jamaican restaurant. He moved from music, to waiting tables, to working in the kitchen, to managing the front of house. After retiring in 2017 with 20 years in the Army, he started to put Malakhi together last summer. Knight recruited Romaine Messam, a trained chef and friend from Jamaica, to help in the kitchen and continue to toy with the recipes Knight, 42, has been developing for a lifetime.
Rasta pasta is built for flexibility. It honors the traditionally vegan diet of Rastafarians and in this version features the Caribbean spinach-like callaloo and the tropical fruit ackee, whose creamy structure and pale yellow coloring make it reminiscent of a scrambled egg. The dish is a little spicy and a little brothy, thanks to the juices leftover from the canned ackee.
The fruit is also folded into Jamaica’s national dish of ackee and saltfish: hints of fish mingle with the custardy ackee, with onions and peppers in a savory, of-the-island combination. Even better are the long and slow cooked meats. Curry goat reveals tender chunks of meat, a feat not easy when it’s often tough and gamey, and the sauce itself is silky and radiant. A dish of oxtail, served with plump butter beans, is darker, more complex. It is in this dish—a homey, hearty presentation—that proves someone in the kitchen knows exactly what they’re doing.
But it doesn’t end there. There’s fried chicken, spiced but not spicy, lightly dredged in flour that is just as good as any in a Southern restaurant. There’s escovitch, a classic Caribbean dish of fried fish dressed in pickled onions, carrots and peppers turning what could be a heavy, fried plate into something bright and funky and spicy.
Guests get to pick sides for each dish and sure, rice and peas are fine, but the fried doughs are what will make you want to return. Festival is aptly titled, a long, twisted piece of dough, made with flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt, and fried to order. It’s just the vehicle to scoop up the thick sauces, though eating it on its own is pleasure enough. The round dumplings, similar in taste, but more like the best hush puppy, are just as good.
Not everything is always available, and on multiple visits the kitchen didn’t stock the ingredients for almost half of the appetizers listed on the menu. (Service is another area that needs polishing and reflects on the fledgling status of the restaurant.) Knight says he’s still ramping up to a menu that is bigger than what his kitchen is ready to do, and he’s already planning to add more Jamaican dishes, including making dessert in-house. For now, there’s a banana rum cake from a Maryland-based bakery that is moist and boozy and will leave you as happy as a sunny day on a faraway island.
Notes:
Malakhi Jamaican Restaurant & Lounge
8910 Mathis Ave., Manassas; malakhilounge.com
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday
Appetizer: $7-$14; Entree: $9-$22