The Reef - Caribbean Food Done Right

That's right. I spelled Caribbean wrong and had to correct it by crossing it out. I'm not ashamed.

Misu, Nature Girl, Cherry Blossoms, and I were wandering down Main Street in search for a cool place to eat. Everywhere we went to had at least an hour wait so we ended up finding The Reef.

The Reef was bustling with a live DJ but there was no lineup so we spontaneously decided to have a Caribbean food night!

Most of us ordered the Ginger Beer ($3.50) based on Nature Girl's request and boy were we glad we listened to her!! The Reef makes their ginger beer in house and it was the coolest, most refreshing, yet spicy drink I've had. EVER. The essence of real ginger kicks you (wonderfully) in the throat after ever sip. It was magical.

Just like other restaurants that serve bread before the entrees arrive, they served us Johnny Cakes. These were deep fried balls of dough which went perfectly with butter and some hot sauce (ask them for it). Not the best for your waistline, but they sure were delicious.

Nature Girl chose the Mo Ca Burger ($14) with a side of yam fries. We were all pleasantly surprised by the freshly cut wedges of sweet potato which nicely showcases the 'made-in-house' concept they have adapted in the restaurant. The burger won her over, and she'll be having it again when she returns.

Cherry Blossoms had the Tobago Wrap ($12) with a side of yam fries and she absolutely loved it. The wrap was light and filled with delicious curry & lime marinated chicken breast, fresh tomato salsa, organic greens, and a avocado yogurt.

Misu ordered the Chana ($8) which consisted of a warm garam masala curried chickpea salad, roti, and dahi. I only tried the chickpeas but they were fragrant and perfectly spiced.

The Trini Roti w/ Jerk Chicken and Potato ($12) which also came with a side of coleslaw. To my surprise, the coleslaw portion was quite large which made me a VERY happy girl. It was also lightly dressed without being flavorless.

The jerk chicken and curry was absolutely freakin' delicious. The wild combination of ethnic spices worked well together and gave a little bit of a kick without being overly spicy. The West Indian style roti was nice but acted more as a bread to soak up the curry and was not entirely exceptional on its own. Nevertheless, it worked great with the overall dish and held all of the chicken/potato components nicely in.

All in all, I highly recommend The Reef for Carribean food because it blew my expectations out of the water with its house-made ginger beer and freshly cut sweet potato fries. Not to mention their jerk chicken is moist and delicious.

Service Rating: 3.5/5
Food Rating: 5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!