As welcome as a Caribbean breeze

“I need some kind of 12-step program for this place,” says a woman waiting for her takeout order at Ackee Bamboo, a Jamaican cafe. “I’m here all the time.” She reviews the menu with another customer, explaining that she’s “working her way through” the nightly specials (Tuesday: curry chicken; Friday: fish brown stew) but that she can’t wait to try the oxtails.

It’s less than two weeks since the place opened its doors on Degnan Boulevard and already folks in the Leimert Park neighborhood are making a habit of stopping by after work and picking up dinner instead of cooking at home. Why compete with a sure thing? And Ackee Bamboo’s home-style dinners with Caribbean flavors are reliably good.

The dining room, with its apple green walls, small marble-topped tables with fresh flowers and large picture windows draped with transparent pale yellow fabric, is a lovely place to linger. But though there are a few of us eating in, the real action is at the counter and the sleek, tailored couch where to-go customers hang.

The single guys -- young, old and in-between -- are in and out quickly. One after another they order a Ting ginger beer, or a Power Malt or other Jamaican soda along with a couple of patties, golden-crusted Jamaican turnovers filled with highly seasoned beef, chicken or vegetables and greens. There’s a hot box of patties behind the counter that empties rapidly; the kitchen gets to work making more. Some of the guys, held up by conversation, can’t resist the urge to nibble before they’re even out the door.

Moms and dads, with and without kids, have a more complicated session when their turn comes, consulting with other hungry family members by cellphone and invariably leaving with half a dozen Styrofoam containers.

Beautiful snapper

“HOW’S that fish?” one man asks as he passes our table and sees my dining companion take an early bite of a beautiful whole red snapper, fragrant with herbs and spices, its moist and tender flesh flaking perfectly from the bone. “I’ve had it steamed, but not jerked yet.” Assured that the fish is delicious, he gives a satisfied nod. He’ll be back.

Proprietor Marlene Sinclair-Beckford, in pink jeans, a newsboy hat and dramatic big earrings, patiently explains the menu throughout the evening.

Brown stew is rich, not too spicy. You can get Jamaican stew peas, a homey bowl rich with beef bits, on Fridays and Saturdays. Gongo soup is made with pigeon peas (originally African; also called gungoo peas or Congo peas), red field peas slow-simmered into a thick, aromatic soup, rich with bits of beef and sweet potatoes.

Everyone’s curious about ackee and salt fish, considered the Jamaican national dish (reference the Harry Belafonte song: “Ackee, rice, salt fish are nice ...” ). It combines ackee, a tropical fruit that’s soft and rather bland, with sharp salted cod in a mild comfort food dish that looks and tastes like a breakfast scramble.

Like other main courses, it’s served with mountains of rice and either red peas (those pigeon peas) or a tasty and peppery vegetable combination of steamed cabbage, shredded carrots and green bean slivers.

Curry goat, another Jamaican favorite, is lean and tender, braised in a sauce that’s spiced with mild Jamaican curry, peppery rather than fiery, with a base note of cumin. It’s served with huge hunks of meltingly sweet caramelized plantains and crisp little hush puppies. You can also get jerked chicken and fish, curry shrimp, beef short ribs, oxtails and other specialties.

The kitchen’s touch with seasoning is confident; the flavors are assertive enough for spice-lovers but deftly managed. Jerk spices on juicy chicken thighs don’t blow away the other flavors on the plate, but they’re hot enough to make clear the appeal of the what-else-could-you-drink-it-with sweet vanilla Jamaican soda called Irish Moss (it foams in the glass like Guinness).

Entrees can be ordered in large or small portions; we found the small orders big enough for two. A bowl of hearty soup renders you incapable of making headway on your main course, so be prepared, until you get the hang of ordering, to join the takeout customers in walking out with a Styrofoam carton.

Of course, as we discovered at a couple of next-day lunches, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

*

Location: 4305 Degnan Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, (323) 295-7275.

Price: Breakfast plates, $6.75 to $11; lunch plates, $6 to $7; daily specials, $5.95; dinner plates, $7 to $12.

Best dishes: Gongo soup, jerk chicken, whole red snapper, curry goat.

Details: Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Street parking. Major credit cards.