Turtle Bay, Leamington 24/03/14

Happy Birthday to me!

I was turning 23, had just got got back from holiday and started a new job yesterday so I was pretty tired and didn't want to do a lot for my birthday night, but off course it had to involve food! Turtle Bay is somewhere I have been wanting to try for ages and what better opportunity that my birthday! It's a Caribbean Restaurant based in Leamington and Birmingham - we went to the Leamington one as its closer to home. It's a fun place with great atmosphere and if you go between 6-7pm or 10-11pm they do Happy Hour, where all cocktails are 2for1 - their cocktails are delicious too. It's a busy place, so make sure you book. Even on a Tuesday night it was full, which is always a good sign.

I was very excited to try the food - especially after just spending 10 days in the Caribbean, I missed the Jamaican food!

On arrival, the place is brilliant, full of atmosphere and people chatting at the bar. We got there slightly early so we sat at the bar and had some drinks whilst waiting for our table. Off course I had to have a cocktail! They are £6.85 for one, but between happy hour you get two for £6.85 - what a bargain! I went for the Hummingbird - white rum, Tia Maria, banana liqueur, cream, fresh banana & coconut.

After about 20 minutes, we were shown to our table - the service is very quick, the team members are attentive and quick.

The menu is pretty vast, many delicious sounding Caribbean options all served with either rice and peas or sweet potato fries. Me and my boyfriend, Tom decided to share two starters (Cutters as they call them.) I love sharing two different starters, its a great way to sample different dishes. All the Cutters are £4.95 - which I feel is a very reasonable price.

Pulled Jerk Pork - Slow roast pulled jerk pork, rocket, fresh butternut squash, 
mango, orange & coconut shavings.

Chilli Fried Squid - Crisp fried spiced coated squid, mango mole, 

fresh lime & coriander mayo

Both very good starters, they were huge! Definitely generous portion sizes for the price, I was actually pleasantly surprised how much food was not the plate, as £4.95 is a very good price. The pulled pork was delicious, tender and perfectly cooked shaved pulled pork on a salad which included juicy orange and mango - I don't usually like sweet and savoury together but the fruit really worked in this salad, it helped cool the spiciness of the pork down too. The squid was more Tom's choice - I find squid quite chewy most the time but this one was very good, it was cooked perfectly and was tender. The lime and coriander mayo was delicious, it complimented the dish so well and helped calm the spiciness down, however, not enough for me - I'm a big wimp when it comes to spice and this dish was a little too hot for me. But it was delicious and each component was tasty.

All the main courses were so good, I would definitely like to go back and try some more dishes on the menu. 

Jerk Ribs - Grilled jerk marinated pork ribs, honey bbq glaze, 

sour orange chutney, Caribbean slaw, rice ‘n’ peas, sweet potato mash or sweet potato fries.

£9.85

I went for this dish with sweet potato fries as they are my favourite! Just as the starters, I thought this was a very generous portion size, especially for the price. The mains range from £9.65 to £15.00 - which is very cheap. The quality and freshness of the food is faultless and the taste is just as good. The ribs were tender and falling off the bone, they were covered in jerk spice (a little bit too much for me!) they were delicious. I loved them, I couldn't even finish them they were so big. The sweet fries were perfect, crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle - yum, yum, yum! This meal was faultless, I couldn't say a bad word about it and I loved it. I definitely want to go back.

You wouldn't think I had room for dessert and to be honest, I didn't but it was my birthday and Jayne agreed to share one with me. All the desserts are £4.85 - again very reasonable.

BBQ Pineapple - Grilled sugared pineapple, rum caramel sauce, coconut 

shavings and coconut ice cream 

Another huge portion, thank god we decided to share! This was soooo good, 100% my favourite part of the meal. It was BBQ grilled, warm pineapple served with lashings of caramel sauce and topped with smooth coconut ice cream. There isn't enough descriptive words in the dictionary to describe how good this dessert was! The pineapple was so soft, fresh and juicy, the caramel sauce was perfectly sweet and creamy and the coconut ice cream was exceptional, each component went perfectly together and it was heaven in a bowl! Delicious…

 Well, my first visit to Turtle Bay was very successful, brilliant service, yummy cocktails, delicious food and that dessert! I definitely want to go back again, hopefully very soon.