One can only dream of a picture perfect paradise, white sand beaches, clear blue sea and coconut palm trees. A new beach shack inspired restaurant has opened it doors in Carnaby Street.
Nested on the first floor of Kingly court just above Cha Cha moon. The second branch open it’s doors. The only times I’ve eaten Caribbean food is at Jerk Chicken Station in Bethnal Green, and Rhythm kitchen in Stratford.
There’s more to life then chicken, peas and rice. The Rum Kitchen offers a selection of Caribbean classic food.
Waiting for my companion to arrive, I checked out the cocktail menu. The Rum kitchen has a selection of over 100 rums. 8 cocktails were listed, and my chosen poison was Calypso Cola. I ordered the calypso cola, immediately it took me back to my childhood. Have you ever drunk those clear square juice carton drinks that you need to poke with a straw?
As I waited for my drink to arrive, someone came over and told me the owner developed her own cola, as normal coco cola ruined the good rum they use. It was surprising clear compare to the super dark brown/black drink global sold. It tasted sweet, with a slight hint of rum.
The menu is simple 5 starters and 7 mains on offer. I wanted to try some roti after a failed food marathon trip down to Brixton. I longed to try some goat curry and roti. My friend “K” ordered some sticky ribs for starters. For my main I wanted something light but filling and opted for the rainbow salad with jerk chicken. “K” had curried mutton.
The meals came super fast and piping hot, my roti came with tiny pots of dips. I couldn’t taste any of the aubergine. The burnt tomato and garlic was addictive.
The sticky ribs slathered in BBQ sauce, fell off the bone a little chewy but flavoursome. Sweet potato fries are a weakness to me, the bright orange julienne strips cooked to perfection didn’t once flop down as I picked each and everyone up.
“K” didn’t really enjoy the curried mutton; it came piping hot with steam radiated from the deep bowl. Don’t get me wrong the mutton melted in my mouth, the curry didn’t have much of a taste and was quite powdery.
The show stopping “rainbow salad” arrived and two pieces of the juiciest chicken thighs parched on top of the tropical colourful bed of greens and veg. What I love about Caribbean style salads is the mix of sweet tasting fruit and mushy green ripped avocados and leafs.
Moving on to desserts, not a lot of choice a selection of sorbets or two cakes. Ice cream I can have anytime, and the idea of chocolate rum cake was appealing. I had a hard choice of picking the banana cake or the rum one; lucky for me “K” had the banana one.
Again, the desserts came to us so fresh to death, very moist and packed with flavour. Oh my, the banana cake was the most heavenly thing we tried in our lives. The BEST banana cake I ever had, moisten caked top with a slight crust, the caramel sauce drizzled down slowly.
My chocolate rum cake, matched the moist consistency and hints of rum deepen the flavour of the chocolate the vanilla ice cream hit the spot.
Overall the meal was good value, everything served piping hot not warm, dim lit casual vibes and the banana cake is the best I ever had. Cocktails are tasty and a huge selection of rum.
