Run2Patty

Address: 853 Boyd Ave, Ottawa
Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Fri); 5pm – 10pm (Sat – Sun)
Website: https://run2patty.ca/

I had been hearing lots of good things about Run2Patty on social media, so I recently made the effort to finally try them out. Hidden among a dreary swath of commercial/light industrial buildings just off Carling and Clyde, I came by to load up on protein before a blood donation at the nearby clinic.

Run2Patty has a more extensive menu than many of their Caribbean competitors. Don’t be surprised if you see the likes of shrimp po’ boys, fried lobster, and Philly cheese steaks on their rotating menu alongside fixtures like jerk chicken, ox tail, and rotis.

Since it was my first time there, I stuck to dishes I’m familiar with to get a baseline of their food. The jerk chicken platter ($10) was an easy choice, and I couldn’t not get their namesake dish, so I tacked on one beef and one oxtail patty ($2.50 each). And at $1 a pop, the cornbread muffins were a no-brainer as well!

My jerk chicken platter was comprised of rice and peas, pasta salad, a jerked drumstick and thigh, as well as small cups of jerk sauce and hot sauce. The chicken is finished on the grill, which gave the skin a nice crispness and added a layer of flavour to the jerk seasoning. I added a slathering of jerk sauce for additional punch and found it to be surprisingly sweet as well.

The rice and peas were plentiful, although chicken bouillon stood out as the predominant seasoning, and the rice was on the soft side. Some dashes of the wonderful hot sauce, whose fruitiness balanced the hit of spice, helped it recover.

My conscience would have been a better off with a side salad or even some plantains instead of the pasta salad, but the creamy carbs worked well as a palate cleanser for the spicier items in the platter.

Naturally, the patties were fantastic. House-made, with super flaky pastry and tons of rich flavours and mild spicy notes, they’re a steal at $2.50 for something this good and meaty.

The cute little cornbread muffin was as good as any I’ve had at American-style BBQ joints (their more common home).

On my second visit, this time post-blood-donation, I mixed things up with the oxtail platter ($15). I had been looking to get their fried chicken for my wife, but their fryer was being cleaned and I didn’t want to wait, so she got the jerk chicken. Also worth noting is that their lunch menu is much smaller than their daily dinner offerings.

The oxtail platter was a rich, saucy mess, and only differed in composition from the jerk chicken platter with the protein. The meat on each knobby bit of bone was incredibly tender, with a moderate level of spice that lets you know it’s there, but won’t melt your face off ala Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Ugly delicious

Naturally, we had to get a couple of beef patties, and they were as perfect as before. Seriously, don’t ever settle for mediocre Jamaican patties ever again.

After trying Run2Patty, I can confirm that they ‘ve earned both their name and their accolades! With both great food and prices, and a model that’s well-suited to the pandemic, it’s no surprise how many people are running here for their fix.