This was an interesting food blog, we went to a garden centre believe it or not for dinner! It's a garden centre in the day time but on the evening they have a restaurant open; Akamba. I had never been before but my friend Laura went a couple of weeks before and recommended it to us. Laura, Jayne, Sam & I decided to go one evening.
The decor is so amazing-its all laid out like a rainforest with trees and animals everywhere, its very dark inside and has such a good atmosphere. It feels as if you are actually sat in the middle of a rainforest! On a Thursday and a Sunday's they offer a Caribbean BBQ where you can have 2 or 3 courses. Depending on how many courses you have you get different objects to distinguish who's having what and when you get your starter they take away the first object, etc.
Me, Jayne & Sam decided to for 3 courses and Laura had 2. I can't remember the exact prices but the two courses was about £12 and three about £14. They only have one choice for starter so its best to hear the starter first before you decide how many courses you have. They also have an unlimited salad bar where you can go and help yourself to as much cold salad as you like to have alongside your meal. There wasn't loads of choice but it was very fresh and there is a choice of 3 sauces to have with your salad.
Caribbean Vegetable Soup
You only get a very small bowl of soup and excuse the terrible pictures-the lighting was awful! You pretty much eat in the pitch black. The soup doesn't look too appetising but it actually tasted very good. I'm not usually keen on vegetable soup but as this was Caribbean it had a slight spicy kick to it and the vegetables were cooked perfectly and the soup itself tasted very good. A very good starter and not as heavy as soup usually can be as it was a small bowl. But having the salad alongside fills you up a bit more.
The main course is then a buffet, you have to go up with your main course object that the waitress gives you. You hand it over to the person serving and chose what food you want. This stops you trying to use the main course object as many times as you like. It''s not like a normal buffet where you can go up as many times as you like, this one you only get to go up one time so fill your plate up if your a big eater! They offer many Caribbean dishes, Goat Curry, Sweet Potato, Jerk Chicken, Rice & Peas etc..
This is the plate I had. Again, the lighting was awful so the picture doesn't do it justice. It was very colourful and looked delicious! I had rice and peas, sweet potato, chicken dumplings, breaded fish, jerk chicken & BBQ chicken. I didn't even have every meal on offer and there was still loads of food. You do definitely get a lot for the price you pay. You wouldn't get as much food at a normal restaurant so even though you can only go up to the buffet once you get enough food to fill you up. I couldn't even finish my plate. All of it tasted so yummy. The rice and peas were actually delicious, I don't really like rice usually but this one tasted very fresh and the rice was fragrant, the sweet potato was SO yummy and creamy, as mash should be and it went so well with the other elements of the meal as the Jerk Chicken was quite spicy so the mash helped calm it down. The chicken dumpling was very tasty, I think we should've been allowed more than one dumpling if I'm honest as the dumpling wasn't very big and it was very tasty, but I'm always a greedy person! The breaded fish was very tasty too although slightly dry, I think the buffet needs to offer some sort of sauce to go alongside the meal as the chicken and fish were quite dry and therefore it got difficult to eat near the end. The only real sauce was the BBQ sauce on the chicken and it wasn't exactly covered in sauce. They were my only slight criticisms with the whole meal and it had nothing to do with the taste of the food, just personal preference. The service is good, slightly slow getting us more drinks and clearing our plates but they were very friendly and helpful. The price is very reasonable and you get a lot for the value. The atmosphere and interior is very good and I loved the whole rainforest feel. Very clever and inventive.
They don't offer loads of desserts and they weren't anything to do with the Caribbean, they have chocolate cake, Victoria sponge or cheesecake. This disappointed me slightly as I felt they should have desserts that are linked to the theme. However, I went for the chocolate cake (I couldn't take a picture as it was so dark!) and it was very tasty but it did remind me of normal chocolate gateau you get in supermarkets.
Over all, very good meal and such a different experience as it isn't like a normal restaurant at all and the food is very good and nothing like you get in restaurants locally. You should definitely go if you like Caribbean food!
No comments:
Post a Comment