MANCHESTER’s biggest Caribbean restaurant has been positively hyped over the last few months.
It looks like a wonky doughnut someone has plonked in the deep fryer. The chickpeas contain more old fashioned curry powder than my mum’s larder.
Friends have described it as ‘Buzzrocks with more choice’ and ‘really, really fun’. And this professional outfit actually lived up to its reputation this week, serving up some of the best jerk in town and the kind of party vibes that you’d be pushed to find in Kingston.
Chilli, pimento, coriander and ginger are turned up to eleven across beach snacks and jerk dishes inspired by the cuisines of the Caribbean. Vegan-friendly ‘one-pots’ provide a kind of balance – although the menu is still very jerky - with coconut, sweet potato and coriander lending a tropical edge to comfort food. Starters mix things up a bit with curry ‘doubles’, salt fish and yet more of the chain restaurant’s famous jerk.
We were lucky to secure a walk-in slot on a Saturday night. Weaving past old Coke crates, driftwood and rasta-inspired colours to our table, I suspected there would be a homage to Bob Marley somewhere. That somewhere is the bathroom, which includes enough cubicles to please an all-girls sixth form college. It’s a big place.
Turtle Bay
Turtle Bay
It would be all too easy for Bob to dominate the stereo but reggae beats are interspersed with more upfront sound-system tracks and underground sounds. Tapping along among the birthday parties and young lovers that fill the two floors, I find myself nodding in agreement with the whole vibe.
A starter of doughy bara roti bread with chickpea curry and some fresh salsa could double as a light lunch (Trini Doubles, £4.95). It looks like a wonky doughnut someone has plonked in the deep fryer. The chickpeas contain more old fashioned curry powder than my mum’s larder, with shavings of dried coconut and chilli on top. Yet it comes together perfectly. Hailing from Trinidad, the dish is thought to have been imported and modified by Indian migrants over the years and owes something to breakfast in Delhi, where flat breads and channa are a staple.
This wouldn’t be the Caribbean without saltfish which we tackle in pasty form (£4,95), with a drizzle of scotch-bonnet mayo.
But mains are the real draw. Half a jerk chicken (£9.95) arrives blackened in some places, gooey in others. Surely one of Manchester’s finest takes on this classic, the generous rub is packed with aromatic allspice berries – that sweet, smoky, herbaceous flavour that makes this dish so distinctive – and comes perched on sides of rice and peas and a grapefruity coleslaw. Cue such intense umami that I am loathed to share at all.
Saltfish patty
Jerk chicken with slaw
Across the table things are equally solid. Juicy carrots and sweetcorn wheels come together in a sweet coconut sauce as part of Rastafari Run Down vegan one-pot (£9.65). Sweet potato fries provide crisp counterpoint until I add a bit too much of Aunt May’s volcanic pepper sauce.
In fact, there are excellent condiments across the board but desserts aren’t a strength. We round things off with a promisingly-named dark chocolate pie (£4.85), which turns out to be a simple brownie sliced in half. I’d probably go for the BBQ pineapple with coconut ice cream next time, or just settle for the pleasingly frothy coffee.
Judging by the merry crowd at the bar, cocktails are popular and largely of the mojito genus. My first order is Caribbean Pimms (£6.85) over sweetened with strawberry, orange and passionfruit. The Marley Mojito with Appleton rum, Midori, mint, watermelon, homemade ginger beer (£6.85) is better in taste if not in name.
Turtle Bay bar folk
We tried the rum tasting board too (£18), although I can’t say that was a great idea. There are four rums per tray, with a can of Ting in the middle and some ice and lime. Blackwell rum is the house standard, a Jamaican standby owned by Island Record’s Chris Blackwell and perfect for any mixing occasion, while El Dorado five year old comes from the banks of the Demerara river in Guyana. It’s the real deal.
New to me was Santa Teresa, a Venezuelan blend with orange blossom aspects, and Pyrat OX dark rum blend, aged up to fifteen years. Again, this one is orangey and reminded me of Tia Maria. It was all too easy to decimate the tray and once you’ve got rum on the tongue, it’s hard to decipher different styles. Drinks are on the pricier side compared to the food, where nothing slips over £10, but with 2-4-1 cocktails everyday from noon-7pm and 10pm onwards, you can save by going large at 6.55pm.
Bob shows up, naturally
Turtle Bay is not perfect, but perfection isn’t what this fun and friendly restaurant is all about. The basics are in place: mains that pile flavour (clove, pimento, chilli, barbeque) upon flavour, reminding you that your traditional English diet is profoundly bland, there are loads of rums and – and here’s a big bonus in a high turnover place like this - staff are uniformly excellent, in particular the lady Maitre’d who could move directly to a three star joint as far as I’m concerned.
If spice ain’t your thing, you’d best steer clear. Otherwise, good times await at this hot spot in the city centre.
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Turtle Bay, 33-35 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 4BH. 0161 236 4101.
Rating 13.5/20
Food: 6.5/10. (Trini Doubles 7, Saltfish 6, Jerk Chicken 8, One-pot 7, Chocolate 5)
Service: 4/5.
Ambience: 3/5
