Marvelling at Usain Bolt catapulting his body down the Olympic track at Rio de Janeiro last month, I couldn’t help but admire the Jamaican’s superhuman speed. Was it down to genetics? Or, could it be that some of Bolt’s herculean speed comes from the island’s cuisine?

Jerk chicken, goat curry, rum – and lots of it – is probably the trio of things that enter your mind when you try to define Jamaican flavours, and while there’s no evidence either are Bolt’s secret, thankfully, these wonderful inventions take pride of place on the menu at Ting Irie. All except the rum, apologises our waiter, an amiable Jamaican who gesticulates expressively with his hands as he leads us through the menu. The liquor license for the Souk Al Manzil restaurant is still pending, though when it does come through, you can expect Red Stripe beer on the menu and the island’s famous rum infusing the mocktails, allowing diners to “really feel what Jamaica is about”, according to the waiter.

Not that we mind, as the mocktails are equally delicious sans booze – a special shout out must go to Ting Colada, an iced coconut and pineapple fused virgin piña colada served in a coconut shell with dehydrated lime and a maraschino cherry. Dreamed up by Jamaican-Chinese chef Craig Wong, who earned his stripes at some of the toniest Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, (that would be Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris and Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in England), Ting Irie aims to highlight the island-fresh cuisine that might ordinarily be consumed with your toes in the sand. With reggae as the soundtrack, the island vibes are there in spirit, and the kitsch, psychedelic interiors, accented by gold rooster statues, flamingo fairy lights, and portraits of Bob Marley (as expected), set the tone.

Split into Likkle Bites and main courses, Big Tings, we start with pulled oxtail dolloped into cocobread (a sweet bread made with coconut) with Jamaican coleslaw, which is sweeter than the traditional version. The tender meat folded into the puffed bread is too easily wolfed down, as are the empanada style “world famous” beef patties, which we dip into Ting Irie’s special “Ting Ting” sauce, infused with scotch bonnet, the Caribbean’s legendary spicy red peppers.

It’s difficult to appear sophisticated when scarfing down the Spit fiyah jerk chicken, though no one seems to mind, and the waitress brings out a bowl of lemon and mint water to rinse fingers. Coated in a spicy rub, the flavour permeates the tongue, the tender rotisserie meat fatty and flavourful. Fish ‘a’ Mon, sea bass cooked sweet yet sour “escovitch” style (the Jamaican way of saying escabeche) is next, served with thinly sliced capsicum and onion, and  “festivals” – doughnuts found throughout the Caribbean – on the side.

The sheer size of the funnel cake, one of the signature desserts, shocks us at first, but we soon dig into the gigantic coils of crispy fried dough topped with soft-serve Madagascan vanilla ice cream, strawberry compote (made with reduced with sugar and hibiscus tea) and caramel white-chocolate sauce drizzled on top. It’s an epic dessert, and I shudder to think of the sugar consumed in one sitting, but calories aside and overall, I cannot fault any ‘ting about this atmospheric newcomer. And besides – the fastest man on the planet can’t be wrong.