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| - Say what you will about the valley's supposedly bland, predictable, chain-dominated culinary scene. That may indeed be the consensus amongst the more sophisticated foodie types. But if you use Yelp as much as I do & know how to find those rare diamonds in the rough, chances are that even your own hometown can surprise you. Did you know Phoenix has restaurants that specialize in hard to find cuisines like Bosnian, Iranian, Scandinavian, Ukrainian, Malaysian, Australian, Ethiopian, Peruvian, Lithuanian, & even Nepalese? If you're handy with a Yelp app & have an interest in food discoveries like me, chances are you already know the valley has lots of tricks up its sleeve. Take Caribbean Cuisine, a place specializing in Jamaican (hard to find in of itself) & Trinidadian cuisines (even harder to find). On my way home from work, I ventured here for an early dinner to satisfy my curiosity & my belly.
On the east side of 67th Avenue just a few blocks north of Bethany Home Road, you'll find Caribbean Cuisine nestled in the middle of a mini strip center of businesses. Parking isn't ample & the restaurant itself is pretty small (seating for maybe 20 tops). But once you walk inside, your ears perk up immediately as a makeshift stereo & speakers in the corner blast festive fast paced Reggae & other Caribbean music styles that surely would've had me dancing in the restaurant (if I'd had some liquid courage in advance that is). Its a relatively simple operation here. Step up to the counter & peruse the menu, then give them your order. I believe the male owner is Jamaican while the female owner is Trinidadian. Today the female owner was running the show (I think her name was Addy) and I asked her to give me some Trinidadian cuisine 101, to which she happily obliged.
The one item that apparently is as close to a national dish of Trinidad as it gets is Roti. Roti itself is a relatively simple flatbread that originated in India, but in Trinidad it gets a unique twist. Here at Caribbean Cuisine its served Dhalpuri style, stuffed with ground cumin, yellow split peas, garlic & pepper. Its then cooked with oil & served almost like an oversized quesadilla. While the Roti here is pretty solid on its own, its primarily used as an accompaniment. And for my curry, the owner recommended I go with their Curried Goat. A hearty stew filled with potatoes & tender chunks of goat meat with veggies & seasonings that create a deeply satisfying broth. That Roti I talked about? It's used to sop up the juices or can be used to hold those chunks of potatoes and meat. Altogether its a complex assembly of different flavor profiles that works really well together. The Roti portion was huge too. I also got a side of fried plantains. Came out to me still piping hot in aluminum foil with a slightly candied sweetness. To wash it all down I was going to get a bottle of Solo (a Trinidadian soft drink concoction) but they were out. So instead Addy recommended I try their homemade Mauby. What is Mauby you ask? Basically a drink made of tree bark extract (yes really) along with sugar and aniseed. Its a tough drink to describe, but I would characterize it as having the flavor equivalent of a slightly bitter sweet tea that has almost aftertaste (if that makes any sense). It was actually quite pleasant and easy to drink, just unusual. Total cost for the drink, food & tax came to $17.
Ah, but we're not done yet! Just when I was getting full, Addy had a surprise for me. Out of nowhere she brought out a plate of Stewed Ox Tail over a bed of rice and black eye peas (and an extra plantain for good measure). On the house! Wowzers, thank you Addy. I had told Addy earlier that I never had Ox Tail before & she was pretty clearly excited for me to try it. And she was justified in her excitement. While Ox Tails don't have a ton of meat on them, the meat on this was insanely tender & juicy. Fell off the bone easily and those rice & peas were perfect for soaking up those juices. I thanked Addy profusely for her hospitality, but now that I was explosively full I needed to go before she put more food in front of me.
I will echo one point of criticism from some of the other Yelp reviewers. There were two items I had originally requested (a bottle of Solo as well as a side dish called Festival), but that they were out of. Sounds like this is something that just happens here more than it should. I came well before the dinner rush hour so I was confident they would be fully stocked for the evening, but not quite. Thus why I can't quite give it a 5 star rating. Aside from that, coming here was a really fun & enjoyable trip. Off the beaten path both in terms of location and cuisine, but a comfortable hole in the wall spot with great music, a friendly owner, & great food. And the valley is full of fun food discoveries just like this one. All you need is an open mind, a sense of adventure, and a hungry tummy.
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