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Opened less than a month, The Green Coconut Tree in Lakewood already has a steady packed lunch crowd. The tiny joint serves Chinese, Vietnamese and ... yes a full complement of Jamaican cuisine.

Green Coconut Tree offers many of the dishes one might find in Jamaica: curried chicken, curried goat, curried potatoes, jerk chicken, beef patties, fried plantains, roti, oxtail and beans and rice. The ripe plantains, sliced thin and sautéed with butter and a bit of sugar and salt, come on the side of most plates or can be ordered à la carte. The curries are spicy but not too hot, and the goat in particular is very flavorful.

The jerk chicken sandwich was delicious, if a little small. The saltfish, however, excelled on all fronts - perfectly cooked and spiced, mixed with butterbeans, green onion, tomatoes and fresh thyme, and served with a side of plantains.

Of course I ordered a couple ginger beers to wash it down.

I'll report on the Chinese and Vietnamese dishes next time. Pho noodle soups, rice dishes, chicken curry, Kung Pao dishes, lemon grass chicken, pan-fired noodle dishes, rice vermicelli noodle soups and bubble tea await.

[Green Coconut Tree, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, 8813 Edgewater Dr. SW, Lakewood, 253.473.4444]