So recently there has been lots of coverage about the Turtle Bay chain of restaurants.

Having never experienced the outrage that people were saying, I decided to visit so that I  can form my own opinion.

I chose, however, to head outside of the London catchment area to have my experience.

My initial thoughts were, the service was amazing, attentive without being overly excessive… this may have been because  the restaurant was empty leading up to the lunch hour on a Tuesday Afternoon due to its location, however,  can only comment on my experience

The decor was pleasing and authentic enough, the food was presented well and the portions were appropriate for a wide range of choices.

As with most Caribbean, we are brought up with the homecooked taste of how our mother uses to cook and with that in mind, we are broken that all food should taste how mum used to cook.

It is then very diffucult for a food chain to buy into that and create the same taste that our mum used to make and as such diners expectations are not met, as lets be honest no one can cook like your mum with the love and care that goes into home cooking as it is not being cooked on a mass scale but for a family with love.

Whilst I did have an expectation that it would be how I cook and prepare my Carribean meals, I was nevertheless quietly surprised by the mix and fusion that was created whilst still keeping the essence of a traditional Caribbean dish.

Overall, I cannot fault the service or the food in my experience, and maybe if I visited one of the London branches my experience would differ, as with a large population of Caribbean critics the onus to create the perfect “Caribbean style ” dish is more intense as any addition or change is not necessarily welcomed.

I would happily recommend the Turtle Bay in Leicester and it would be interesting to see if my experience would be the same.

Until da next Tyme