Some of the uk's best jamaican food is being made in a old trafford back garden

IN BETWEEN TERRACES ON AN ALLEYWAY IN STRETFORD THERE'S A RESTAURANT SERVING UP CLASSIC DISHES FROM JERK CHICKEN TO CURRIED GOAT TO FRIED DUMPLINGS 07:11, 01 Jun 2025 It's just

after lunchtime in Old Trafford. The sun has broken through heavy cloud cover and is beaming down on a warren of terrace houses. Walking around this labyrinth of residential houses, not much

separates one from the other, but on an alleyway wedged between Powell Street and Alphonsus Street, lies something that you can't help but taker a closer peek at. Amongst green bins,

storage units and hanging baskets you'll find an assortment of garden furniture, and fold-out tables and chairs all alluding to some kind of gathering or party. In fact, it's just

the overspill from one of Greater Manchester's best Jamaican restaurants, which just so happens to be operating out of someone's back yard. The man in charge is Albert and

he's run his restaurant, Butty's Booth's, from the back of his house for around five years now having previously worked at the popular Manchester Caribbean restaurant Jerk

Junction. Article continues below Run alongside his wife and a small team of cooks behind the stoves, it's become something of a social media sensation in recent months with food

bloggers flocking to this tiny corner of Old Trafford to try some of his lamb chops, curried goat and jerk chicken. Head through the gate and down through the yard towards the red-brick

terrace house and the smell is sensational - rich barbecue flavours cause your nose to wrinkle in delight. A covered shed boasting the restaurant's menu extends down to the back of the

house, while the other side of the yard separating the houses is painted in a Pillar Box red shade, with a fold-out table pushed up against it and decorated with vases and small potted

plants. Take a nosey around the back of the shed and plumes of smoke engulf the open grill where chicken thighs are cooking away, taking on a crispy, dark char. Within the shed itself, more

seating, almost conference style, and a large, sparkling birthday banner hangs above a TV - presumably for taking cover when the weather is more Manchester than Kingston. Looking out onto

all of this, the kitchen window at the back of the house is kept slightly ajar so customers can come up and place there order. Craning your neck slightly to converse through the hatch,

orders are swiftly relayed to the back of the other end of the kitchen which leads onto the rest of Albert and his wife's home. We headed down this week to try the food for ourselves

after seeing numerous videos appear online singing the praises of this Greater Manchester hidden gem. It begs the question, is anything really a hidden gem anymore though? Social media

platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and more recently TikTok are full of 'secret' or 'lesser-known' food spots to try, and venues that genuinely were hidden soon become

part of the mainstream. That said, it's clear from the line forming outside of Butty's Booth's and spilling out onto the alleyway, that their customers - many regulars from

the chit chat happening - that whether they heard about them through word-of-mouth, or from an oracle-like figure on social media, that this is the place to be. Tradesmen, tourists and

families were all in the queue alongside us as we patiently waited for our food. Only the size of a postage stamp though, we decided to take our food into the alleyway so not to feel like

we're spare parts or getting in the way. You can phone or text ahead, but we ordered at the counter, and waited less than 20 minutes for a fresh portion of jerk chicken with rice and

peas (medium portion £7, large £9), and lamb chops (same price). Prising open the polystyrene boxes, there was an instant aroma of smoke and spice wafting up towards us. Hunks of chargrilled

chicken doused in thick, flavourful jerk sauce - that unmistakable blend of allspice and Scotch bonnet - making us salivate before we had even taken that first bite. Though crispy, charred

bits of skin melted in the mouth, giving way between my teeth as the tender chicken, marinated for hours and cooked on the grill was juicy and tender. Scooped up with rice and peas coated in

the sweet and smoky sauce, there was a smooth heat to the meal that isn't overpowering. It's a mellow but aromatic take on the classic dish and goes down a treat with the coleslaw

and side of authentic Jamaican fried dumplings that arrived shortly after. At 50p a pop, these puffy golden brown concoctions are simply dee-fried balls of dough, typically made with flour,

baking powder, butter, water and salt. Their crispy exterior crunched away in our hands to reveal a soft inner, torn and swiped across the bottom of the polystyrene container to mop up what

was left of the jerk sauce. Paired with everything from chicken and ackee to fish and stews, they went down a treat with our second dish, the lamb chops. Coasted in a rich, flavour dense

sauce, these chunks of lamb fell apart in the mouth, a beautiful lingering taste that lasted the rest of the afternoon. Our lunch was just scratching the surface really though, there's

a plethora of dishes on rotation here - from oxtail, steak, curried goat, brown stew chicken all with rice and peas, to fish dinner, pepper prawns and ackee (national fruit of Jamaica) and

saltfish. Article continues below Sides are extensive too, with mac cheese, salt fish fritters, ground food and porridge of the day all on the boards from £1 to £4. Then there's the

drinks - some like the Guinness punch (£4) are delicious but wow they certainly make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. While we were there, two customers tried to convince the

boss to slip them his recipe for the punch, but he remained tight lipped. I didn't blame him, if I hadn't of been drinking I'd have downed the whole thing. There's no

handing over time-worn recipes here, just Albert and his team behind the stoves day after day, serving up some of the best Jamaican cuisine around to a queue of punters - some old, some

likely new - patiently waiting for their next fix.