Monday, usually the first day of the working week, but not this week, this week I had Monday off. What would I do with my day? Have a lie in, watch some terrible TV, maybe go to the pub. When it comes to doing nothing the possibilities are endless. In reality of course the bonkers British weather had other ideas for me. The sunshine in the morning meant I felt too guilty to stay in bed, and the apocalyptic dust storm in the afternoon made me think the end of days was upon us. But, in between the sunny morning and the President Trump coloured skies if the afternoon, I did manage to do something. I wandered to the bottom of the High Street and tried out the food at Mr Caribbean Kitchen.
Mr Caribbean is a new comer to the High Street, located next door to Oxfam and opposite the International Supermarket. The shop is pretty small, with most of the unit being taken up by the kitchen (they offer a caterings service), but there are a few stools inside and a couple of tables and chairs outside. The shop says they sell food with true, authentic flavours so I was looking forward to giving it try. Now, I’m by no means an expert, but my neighbour cooks a wicked goat curry, and my friend is a bit of a genius with rice and peas, so Mr Caribbean had a lot to live up to. And you know what, they didn’t disappoint.
The menu is small but has everything you would want from a Caribbean cafe. Rice & Peas, Jerk Chicken, Curry Goat, Ackee, Saltfish, Roti and Plantains. Prices are pretty reasonable with medium mains costing £6.50 and large £8.00. We ordered one medium Curry Goat, and one Curry Chicken, both were served with rice & peas. The dust Apocalypse hadn’t started so we ate out food on the tables outside, and it didn’t disappoint. The goat was tender and flavoursome, and the chicken curry was just the right side of hot, not a mouth burner, but enough heat to tingle your taste buds. Word of warning though, the medium portions are pretty big, so make sure you are proper hungry before ordering the larger size, as I imagine it’s a bit of a gut buster.
As I say, I’m no expert on Caribbean food, but what we had was good. The guys in the shop were friendly and seemed up for a laugh, and the prices were reasonable. If yesterday had of been the end of days, as the cloud of Saharan dust in the afternoon indicated, then I would of been happy to have had this as my last meal. You’ll find Mr Caribbean at No 4 High Street, and you can read more about them on their web site.
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