Sansimian

Reviews

• Nobu W.

  star star star star star 21 May 2026

  Best Jamaican Food in the East of the City. Family operated and no frills. Fantastic Ackee and Ox Tail/Rice and Peas/Jerk Chicken. In an out - cash only - support local and real food!

• Jane R.

  star star star star_border star_border 19 May 2026

  My co-worker said every Tuesday and Friday, they have fried chicken.  He said it's only available on those days and apparently it's the best.  When we went, they sold out already, granted it was already 8:30pm and their sign said they close at 8pm.  I'm just thankful to get food!  We got the oxtail and peas and it was filling and tasty.  
  
  The place itself is small, very mom and pops feel, which is cool.  They have a couple of tables on the side of the wall and it's cash only (according to my friend.  I didn't actually verify).
  
  The only meal that's above $10 is the oxtail, which is $11.75.  Pretty good place.  I'd come back here again.

• John G.

  star star star star star_border 11 May 2026

  This place looks like a hole in the wall (in all honesty, it is one) but you're not here for dinner and a show, you're here for some great Jamaican food. Prepared by a crew of seasoned women, the food draws locals like a magnet. Oxtail, fry chicken, jerk, everyone has their own version, and these ladies dish out some great stuff. Jerk chicken is one of my go-to comfort foods. The only way this gets better is if it's cooked in an oil drum. And the rice and peas is fabulous as well.
  Can't wait to come back.

• Bill W.

  star star star star star 9 May 2026

  This is the best Jamaican food in the city. Everytime I eat at another Jamaican place I always say "It's good but it ain't no Sansimian".
  
  It's a hole in the wall kind of place and the decor is non existent. There's 1 table with two chairs for eating. Basically don't bring your first date here. Save Sansimian for later when they're sleeping over and you grab something from Sansimian and bring it back and blow them away. Then after they've sucked the last bit of meat off their jerk chicken bone. They turn to you and say "I love you," and you say "Pffft, you don't love me, you just love my take-out."
  
  Jerk chicken is great. It straddles the line between wet and dry perfectly. The rice and peas are done right, I like mix the coleslaw into it.
  
  White people like me usually go for jerk chicken when they go for Jamaican food because it's safe. Who doesn't like chicken?
  
  You need to try other items on the menu here. You need to try their soups. They have a different soup of the day every day and every one of them I've tried feels like its renewing my life force. If you have to travel through a blizzard to get the medicine to the children, eat Sansimian's soup before you go. You'll make it.
  
  Their curry chicken with rice and peas is exactly what I wanted when I ordered it. Stewy and thick and spicy but not over powering.
  
  Most places oxtail is expensive and Sansimian is no exception to this. However at Sansimian the oxtail is actually worth the price because it's done right.
  
  Finally the fried chicken. You'll see other reviews talking about the fried chicken at Sansimian and  there's a reason for this.
  
  It's because the chicken is the fried chicken your mother never made. Their fried chicken is so powerful when you eat it you'll remember a childhood you should have had where your mom would effortlessly made this chicken instead of drinking and yelling all the time.
  
  It's a homemade style fried chicken, made with love. Then they squirt a little bit a BBQ sauce on top. The sauce is perfect with the chicken and you realize "Oh my god, they only do fried chicken Tuesdays and Fridays. How am I going to arrange my schedule and life around this?"

• Geoffrey W.

  star star star star star_border 8 May 2026

  Tasty food. Decent portions. It's a hole in the wall, a little on the dingy side, very small. This seems more like a place you go to pick up food then a place you go to eat.
  
  Still, the food tastes good, and their food safety record is decent. Nice rice and peas, jerk chicken, oxtail and curry goat. I haven't tried the roti or the fried chicken, and they were out of ackee & sailfish when we visited.