Reggae Rasta Styles | Santa Rosa - Sonoma County

For today's The Great American Takeout fundraiser for the Black Lives Matter global network and to support black-owned restaurants, I drove to Santa Rosa to pick up the lunch at the Reggae Rasta Styles truck. I had ordered and prepaid online in the morning. https://www.reggaehomestylescooking.com/ I was 30 minutes behind schedule, and got a friendly courtesy call as I was rounding the corner to the location.

At the pick-up window, Terry Ann Smith explained that everything for my order was prepared and ready to plate. I appreciated that she'd waited for my arrival to package my food.

The Thursday special is Curry Goat, $18. This was accompanied by fried plantains, rice and peas, and a peppery slaw. The curry was fragrant with fresh ginger root and spices, slightly piquant, and bathed in natural, unthickened juices. The bone-in pieces of goat were still a little chewy and trimmed of more visible fat than the recent plate I'd had from Menlo Park's Back A Yard, which is considered the gold standard for Jamaican food in the Bay Area. I enjoyed Terry Ann's version very much for the brighter and fresher taste, textural integrity of the chunks of carrot and potato, and especially loved the stewed-till-soft whole cloves of garlic in the mix. The long grain rice in the rice and red peas was not as soft and had the firm texture and individual grain akin to how a Persian or North Indian chef would prepare basmati rice. The rice was so good with the curry juices and mixed with the crunch of the peppery slaw. The plantains were well-caramelized to bring out the natural sugars and were not mushy.

I also got a Beef Patty, $5, and Sorrel drink, $5. The pastry of the patty was thinner and flaky, not at all doughy, and again tasted fresh and juicy, and not shop-worn. The hibiscus was barely sweetened and more concentrated than the jamaica agua frescas from Mexican restaurants.

Overall, the food was mighty impressive. I can't wait to try the jerk chicken and the ackee with salt fish.

Terry Ann was so welcoming. The truck has been in business for a while now, vending at farmers market and popping-up at wineries and breweries, but this venue on Roseland's taco truck row is new. She said she will be downtown next week for the scheduled demonstrations.

Reggae Rasta Styles truck
1659 Sebastopol Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
(707) 332-7973
Thursday to Saturday, 11am to 2pm

Rohnert Park farmers market: Friday 4pm to 7pm