Their website describes their take as 'dedicated to bringing the wonderful flavours, feelings and Caribbean way of life to the UK.' Did they deliver? Let's go through it categorically shall we..
My family and I chose Turtle Bay to have my Dad's Birthday meal at yesterday as my dad is a huge fan of Caribbean food, and we all love trying out new restaurants that are soaking up the hype in Bristol at the moment, and Turtle Bay is undoubtedly embracing lots and lots of hype.
We had a 7:45pm booking (booked about a week in advance as this place is extremely popular) and got there slightly early but were shown straight to our table. They seated us at a bar-height table, with 5 brightly coloured bar stools around it, and a table top decorated with old beer bottle tops. The interior decor can only be described in one word - Colour. There's literally no running theme to the decor, just anything colourful and Caribbean - we were sat just under a huge wall display of retro sound systems and speakers, the toilets are covered in retro poster displays, and towards the back of the restaurant are tables under an indoor wooden roof covered in fairy lights. But this is what gives it its charm, giving it a retro picturesque feel adding an endless novelty to eating there.
My family and I chose Turtle Bay to have my Dad's Birthday meal at yesterday as my dad is a huge fan of Caribbean food, and we all love trying out new restaurants that are soaking up the hype in Bristol at the moment, and Turtle Bay is undoubtedly embracing lots and lots of hype.
We had a 7:45pm booking (booked about a week in advance as this place is extremely popular) and got there slightly early but were shown straight to our table. They seated us at a bar-height table, with 5 brightly coloured bar stools around it, and a table top decorated with old beer bottle tops. The interior decor can only be described in one word - Colour. There's literally no running theme to the decor, just anything colourful and Caribbean - we were sat just under a huge wall display of retro sound systems and speakers, the toilets are covered in retro poster displays, and towards the back of the restaurant are tables under an indoor wooden roof covered in fairy lights. But this is what gives it its charm, giving it a retro picturesque feel adding an endless novelty to eating there.
We were handed our menus as soon as we arrived but not offered drinks as quickly as I'd have hoped as it had been a hottish day and the restaurant was quite warm. Soon after receiving our tap water we ordered quite a lot of food - some starters, sides and mains. For starters we ordered some things we hadn't tried and some we had had many past experiences of before; Trini Chickpeas, Jamaican Fried bait, Street Side Corn, Garlic 'n' Herb Flatbread, and Plantain.
I generally tend not to be a huge fan of chickpeas and find them pretty dry how they come, but these were fried, crispy and nicely salted and were extremely yummy. The Jamaican Fried bait was slightly crispy whitebait which my sister was slightly put off by as the eyes remained intact, but I found if you didn't look you didn't notice. The corn was delicious but was cut up into slices from the cob and each slice had very little actual corn on it. The Flatbread and Plantain didn't exceed my expectations of that type of bread and plantain (which I have had a lot of in my 21 years) but were still good food.
I was worried about going too crazy on how much I ate during the starters as I wanted a good appetite for mains, but I think the amazing taste of my main would have overridden any lack of space in my stomach. Here's what I had.
I generally tend not to be a huge fan of chickpeas and find them pretty dry how they come, but these were fried, crispy and nicely salted and were extremely yummy. The Jamaican Fried bait was slightly crispy whitebait which my sister was slightly put off by as the eyes remained intact, but I found if you didn't look you didn't notice. The corn was delicious but was cut up into slices from the cob and each slice had very little actual corn on it. The Flatbread and Plantain didn't exceed my expectations of that type of bread and plantain (which I have had a lot of in my 21 years) but were still good food.
I was worried about going too crazy on how much I ate during the starters as I wanted a good appetite for mains, but I think the amazing taste of my main would have overridden any lack of space in my stomach. Here's what I had.
I'm no expert at restaurant reviews, I tend to review them to friends and family so admittedly I did forget to take a photo BEFORE I started eating ...as you can see. So me, my Dad and my sister ordered the Mo' Bay Chicken with Rice 'n' Peas and actually my mum would have too but decided it was silly to all get the same dish. My 12 year old sister ordered the 1/4 Jerk Chicken with Rice 'n' Peas which was supposedly a 'Lunch 'n' Light' meal but was barely light. In fact it was bigger than the rest of our mains and she isn't the biggest of eaters, she also found it quite spicy. My mum had the Trinidad Curry Chicken served in an oven-type dish which looked quite hard to eat out of, but she seemed to manage fine. We all absolutely loved our meals, and my youngest sister was able to take her leftovers back in a take-away box which was useful as I think we would have been there until closing otherwise (1am on Saturdays).
We also ordered some yummy sides; Dressed Salad, Sweetpotato Fries and Fried Dumplings. As with Plantain, me and my family have had many a dumpling in our lives, but these were among the best - so soft and fresh but the perfect degree of sweet too. The sweetpotato fries were also lovely and are a refreshing change from the ordinary fries that seem to come with meals in every other restaurant on the planet. I didn't have any of the salad as my dish came with salad which was accessorised with mango strips as well as the normal components of a salad, not to mention some (but not quite enough) Caribbean Slaw.
We also ordered some yummy sides; Dressed Salad, Sweetpotato Fries and Fried Dumplings. As with Plantain, me and my family have had many a dumpling in our lives, but these were among the best - so soft and fresh but the perfect degree of sweet too. The sweetpotato fries were also lovely and are a refreshing change from the ordinary fries that seem to come with meals in every other restaurant on the planet. I didn't have any of the salad as my dish came with salad which was accessorised with mango strips as well as the normal components of a salad, not to mention some (but not quite enough) Caribbean Slaw.
Another pretty great feature of Turtle Bay is their 2-4-1 Cocktail Hour which actually is about 8 hours a day (!!!), but irritatingly we had booked our table in just the slot that the cocktail hours take their break so I was unable to experience these. As far as I know they are very popular, so I decided to go for a drink that was less talked about; Iced Chocolatey Coffee. Apololgies for the rubbishly dark photo but at 9pm they dimmed the lights and lit candles on every table, but in case you can't tell from how yum it looks the drink was deliciously refreshing and the perfect blend of both ingredients (I'm not a huge coffee drinker). My mum and dad also had this and they too loved it, and they are massive coffee drinkers. My sister and mum, and the rest of us tried it too of course, had the Rum and Raisin Bread and Butter Pudding which came with Coconut ice cream which was really rather yum and moist but I was feeling far too full for a dessert and aren't particularly big on coconut so I stuck to my drink.
We were very well attended to and served by the very friendly and warm Uke who didn't know I was writing a review either, helped by 2 other waitresses who occasionally popped over to clear plates or top up our tap water. The service was great and meals came round very quickly (but not overwhelmingly fast) all served up in quite traditional-style dishes. Uke checked the food was okay regularly enough and it wasn't annoying either, and was very chatty with my sometimes-shy 12 year old sister which was appreciated.
We finally left at about 9:30pm and the place was still busy with people seated around the bar gathering their cocktails up and chit chatting with their friends, and people still eating their meals, people from all backgrounds and ages, as the restaurant is very family friendly. A very recommendable place even before you start eating, and I too would recommend it as you can probably tell. Their timing in launching the restaurant couldn't have been more perfect either as we currently enjoy an actual summer in Bristol and people are off out in the sun to spend their money in exciting new restaurants and bars.
We were very well attended to and served by the very friendly and warm Uke who didn't know I was writing a review either, helped by 2 other waitresses who occasionally popped over to clear plates or top up our tap water. The service was great and meals came round very quickly (but not overwhelmingly fast) all served up in quite traditional-style dishes. Uke checked the food was okay regularly enough and it wasn't annoying either, and was very chatty with my sometimes-shy 12 year old sister which was appreciated.
We finally left at about 9:30pm and the place was still busy with people seated around the bar gathering their cocktails up and chit chatting with their friends, and people still eating their meals, people from all backgrounds and ages, as the restaurant is very family friendly. A very recommendable place even before you start eating, and I too would recommend it as you can probably tell. Their timing in launching the restaurant couldn't have been more perfect either as we currently enjoy an actual summer in Bristol and people are off out in the sun to spend their money in exciting new restaurants and bars.