I have lived in the West End for almost a decade.  I absolutely love it here.  We have so many wonderful food options, but I’ve always been sad that we were missing a great Jamaican place around here.

This summer I stumbled upon the Loft Lounge.  It was previously a pub and I have no idea when it switched over – who knows how long I’ve been sitting on this jackpot!

I love the vibes in this place!  The decor is funky – bit of retro, some beautiful artwork, lots of greenery and a great Instagramable wall with neon lights.  The views are of English Bay – I mean this is a prime spot!  My girls and I also loved the tunes.  I don’t know if it’s a nightly thing, but they were playing music from the late 90s, early 2000s and we were singing along and gasping “I haven’t heard this song in so long!” all night.

Let’s talk food and drinks.  I ordered their coco margarita.  This drink was made for me!  I love coconut anything and I’m a huge fan of margaritas.  Just a heavenly combination.  I ordered their spicy beef Jamaican patty and I added cheese to the patty for an additional $2.  So so good!  Yummy!  I also ordered the jerk chicken dinner which comes with plantains and coleslaw with rice.  The portion size was generous and the food was absolutely delicious!

Now for the service – when we went it was at a time during covid when almost all the restaurants were short staffed.  I am going to share my experience with you, but I feel like as times have changed a bit since the summer, this may not be the case now.  The staff was nice and personable, however, as I was the only one in my party to get an appetizer, my meat patty and meal came out pretty much at the same time.  While I was eating my appy, my friends were eating their main.  When I got to my main, it was a bit cold so I asked the server if she wouldn’t mind heating it up for me.  She took it away, but then forgot about me.  It was difficult to wave her down for a while because they were busy and very obviously short staffed.  When I finally did get my food back, my friends were close to done their food and then I felt a bit like I had lost my appetite with such a long wait between my appy and dinner and being the only one left at my table with food on my plate.  That being said, I thought that the server was friendly and I felt for her.  She was doing her best on a very busy night.

One thing I loved about this place is as it was getting later, no one was rushing us out.  I think this would be different if people were waiting for tables of course, but I loved the leisurely atmosphere of this place where they let us sit and chat and have our drinks.  Very island vibes!  I cannot wait to go back again!  I would love to try the rest of their menu.  Might just be my new hangout.

https://loftondenman.com/