Last weekend a big group of us went out for dinner to celebrate my friend Helen’s 25th birthday. We went to a Caribbean restaurant called Guanabana in Kentish Town. It’s a fun, lively place with excellent food and best of all, it’s bring your own booze! I’m happy to pay above the odds for good quality food, but paying £15 for a bottle of wine you know you can buy for a fiver in your local off license does seem a little unreasonable, so I’m always a big fan of BYOB.
We ordered from the party menu, so had starters to share and a main course all for £20 (including corkage). The starters consisted of nachos, calamari, chicken wings and spicy sautéed potatoes. They were all good enough, but none particularly stood out. Although after my guacamole rant in my review of Navajo Joe’s I must point out that the nachos had plenty of toppings! For my main I ordered goat curry, which was delicious. The sauce was incredibly rich and thick and the meat (mutton not goat) was so tender it fell off the bone. The curry was served with rice & peas, which I realize is hardly haute cuisine, but they are seriously yummy. The rest of the food also looked great; I tried my sister’s chickpea stew which sounds pretty uninspiring but in reality was fantastic. The chickpeas and spinach were in a lightly spiced coconut sauce and was also served with rice & peas, if I go again I’ll definitely think about ordering it (although the lure of jerk chicken will probably be too much!). Alongside the traditional Caribbean fare, they also serve burgers, salads and fajita’s. Aisling ordered a jerk burger with a sweet potato rosti and mango chutney, which looked amazing!
My only complaint was that the staff seemed a little over-whelmed; the restaurant was fully booked but I’m sure this is standard for a Friday night so isn’t really an excuse for poor service. I’m a recent convert to Caribbean food, but from what I could gage the food was really tasty and reasonably priced. The atmosphere is always great and there is a spacious garden which is lovely in the summer. Despite a few issues with service, it’s a great restaurant and perfect for large parties.
Goat curry - YUM:
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