The colourful beach huts are the first thing you see surrounding the restaurant, an unusual sight in Wembley.
As you enter the industrially designed and yet colourful restaurant, with reggae music and bright lights illuminating the atmosphere, you certainly forget where you are.
Before going through the food menu at Sugar Dumplin Caribbean BBQ and Bar, my partner and I got started by choosing a cocktail each.
I went for the pornstar martini (£8.45) with Skyy passion fruit vodka, Licor 43, pineapple juice and “a shot of bubbly” and he had a Bahama mama (£9.45) with Old J spice rum, bananas, coconut and tropical juice. The tropical fruit flavours in each were perfectly balanced, without being too sweet.
With the intention of sampling as many dishes as we could we ordered one main and several small plates between us. First was salt fish and vegetable patties served with salad (£4.95 each) and, while the filling was nicely flavoured, they lacked a little heat and the pastry was a tad too dry.
The tropical salad (£4.95) on the other hand, was a winning dish. Made up of mixed leaves, pomegranate, passion fruit, mango, melon and orange, it was both sweet and cooling on the tongue, a welcome relief from the spice of our main, jerk chicken with rice and peas (£11.25 for half a chicken).
The rice and peas was the nicest I’ve had outside of the home (other people’s that is, not my own). I suspect the chicken, while being wonderfully cooked, was simply smothered in sauce rather than marinated in it which was a slight disappointment.
Also from the small dishes we chose fried plantain served with house spice and coconut (£3.45), which was cooked perfectly, and festivals (£2.95), sweet dumplings that are a heavier option which compliments the other textures and spices perfectly.
We finished with two more cocktails, both choosing the Bob Marley (£10.45). I was a little dubious of the description, or lack thereof, simply described as “Jamaican colours and Jamaican rum to make you go crazy. However I was won over by the promise of a shot off “flaming Wray and Nephew rum”.
This came placed on top in an empty passionfruit shell and it certainly looked nice. Unlike the previous cocktails, this was strong and sweet. The perfect replacement for a dessert, considering how full we were already.
While some of the dishes weren’t quite what I had hoped for, others were better than expected. Combining this with wonderful cocktails, fabulous service and a holiday atmosphere, it is a great place to pop into after shopping, or before seeing a band in the Welmbley Arena, as you will certainly have a good time.
Sugar Dumplin Caribbean BBQ and Bar, Upper Floor Unit 106, London Designer Outlet, Wembley, HA9 0FD. Details: 020 3744 4229
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