Caribbean food has finally arrived in the city centre. Tim Hughes popped along to see if they know their patty from their plantain

Caribbean cooking is one of the world’s great cuisines, but, is criminally under-represented among our restaurants.

Away from the obvious big city Afro-Caribbean heartlands, there are precious few places to try this wonderful food.

While I have never visited the Caribbean I have done the next best thing, living in Brixton (before it was hip), and grew to love the rich flavours, interesting textures and, mouth-watering aroma of its homely, tropical delights (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve been to the Notting Hill, or even Cowley Road, carnival).

So when a Caribbean restaurant opened up in Oxford city centre, I was at the front of the queue to try it out.

If you haven’t yet found Turtle Bay, that’s because it’s well hidden – down pokey Friars Entry, off Magdalen Street, in what used to be the Far From the Madding Crowd pub (always sad to see an independent boozer disappearing, though even its most loyal drinkers would have to admit it was under-used).

The restaurant is part of a chain of 25, but doesn’t feel like it. Making the most of its location, it has strung up festive-looking lights and planted trees and greenery to give a holiday feel to the otherwise dreary alleyway. It’s a long way from the tropics, but it is an improvement. It also sets the tone for the funky interior, which is done up like a Jamaican beach shack – all driftwood, hand-painted signs prompting ‘One Love’, moody club-lighting and a shabby-hip bar/serving area, where impossibly cheery waitresses exchange banter with chefs before heaving heavy platters aloft.

The good humour is infectious and is most definitely not forced. They genuinely do seem to be having a good time – and that rubs off, whether you like it or not, particularly after a rum cocktail (£6.95) or, in my case, a cheeky Carib beer (£3.85).

The menu has all the usual Caribbean suspects – jerk chicken and pork, goat curry, plantain… but also plenty of options for those who can’t cope with spice, or meat and fish – which make up the bulk of the menu, obviously.

We were advised that the best way to negotiate the menu was to choose starters to share – with the Beach Food Platter (£12.95) being very popular. This formidable slab of wood came with fiery jerk wings, pepper roti, sweetcorn fritters and garlic flatbread. Being a fan of seafood, and on the recommendation of our jovial waitress, I also called in chilli-fried squid (£4.95), jerk pit prawns (£5.95) and fried dumplings (£2.35).

In retrospect, that was possibly an over-order, but the portions are not excessive, and it all went – with the exception of the dumplings, which we found to be way too stodgy.

The clear winners were the squid (which had bite without being rubbery, and came with a lovely fresh lime and coriander dressing) and the whole shell-on prawns, which were wonderful, being just spicy enough not to overpower the sweet shrimp taste. It was a delicious, messy, fishy affair and I was glad of the finger bowl.

The jerk chicken was good, if completely different to the variety found at, dare I say it, more authentic Caribbean joints, being coated in a thick chilli sauce rather than the crisp, dry barbecued meat loved by generations of carnival-goers. Good and hot though.

Oxford Mail:

The same was true of the mains. My goat curry was pleasingly served in a cooking pot with potato and carrot, on rice and peas. Again, it was absolutely delicious, but very different to the family recipe served up beside your favourite reggae sound system, or by West Indian friends. At £9.65 it is also, perhaps, a little pricey, though comes as a meal in itself. Spice lovers may want to make use of the (very authentic) hot sauce on offer.

For something milder, I can vouch for the Mo’Bay Chicken (£9.85) – a creamy, subtly-flavoured concoction of meaty breast, onion and plantain.

If you don’t fancy rice and peas, substitute it for sweet potato – either mashed or sliced into fries.

If you can fit in a pudding (all £4.85), and you probably owe it to yourself to try, there are some totally tropical picks including a BBQ pineapple, and banana cheesecake. Best, but stodgiest, is a rum and raisin bread pudding, a moist brick of a sponge – Groan!

A lighter, but naughtier, desert is its already-notorious rum tasting board – a choice of four tots of its 15 aged and richly-spiced varieties, plus a can of Ting for £18 (the Angostura Reserva, seven-year-old, in particular, is a wonder of buttery fruit with a hint of orange zest). It didn’t last long.

Again, it’s not cheap, but it all makes for a great alternative to the usual city centre options, is huge fun, and is a lot cheaper than a trip to Brixton – let alone Jamaica. One Love!

Turtle Bay, Friars Entry, Oxford. Book online at oxford@turtlebay.co.uk