Taste of the Caribbean I

We came to Taste of the Caribbean I on a Sunday when there is coincidentally a lunch buffet! We decided to try the buffet as then there would be lots of options. I enjoyed trying it all and liked the cookup rice and stew chicken.
The staff were really kind and even took the time to tell me about each item in the buffet. They also brought out some freshly made roti for us! Delicious!
We were so full from the buffet but I got a pine tart for later and it was yummy! Overall, a great experience and I hope to go back to try other things next time.

I was excited to try the food here and I must say I wasn’t disappointed with the taste at all. The only thing I was disappointed with is the red snapper wasn’t available and that’s why I wanted to try the restaurant for the red snapper. Oh well. Instead of turning around and leaving I decided to purchase 4 coco bread 3 beef patty and 1 chicken patty and brown stew chicken. I made special specifications for extra spicy for the sauce but when I tasted the food there was no sight of spiciness and I was so disappointed. Even though the brown chicken stew i ordered was good it could have been off d hook with some spiciness. The coco bread was so soft and fluffy and tasteful! The beef patty was the best I’ve tasted expect for the ones you get from Jamaica, the chicken patty not so good compared to the beef patty.

I really like to support small local minority businesses, but I cannot support subpar Food! I visited this spot on a Friday night after 11pm, one of few eateries still open in the area. Ordered the Curry chicken dinner, w/​cabbage & peas and rice. I really wanted to like it, and forced myself to eat ¼ of it. Lets just say what was left got tossed into the nearest garbage pail! I can’t really explain the flavor of the Curry chicken put it was definitely not curry. I wish I would have gone to Wawa and go a sub sandwich like I originally planned.

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve only had the beef patties… I know what you’re thinking, I probably should hold off to write a review, but what I can say definitively is that the beef patties are really really good.
The service however, is not great. I’ve been 3 times to get beef patties and all 3 times it took 10 – 15 mins just to order it and get out of the door. It wasn’t because there was a long line or they were super busy, the ordering system is just wayyyy off. It’s like they can’t get to customer #2 at all until customer #1 has ordered and received their food. I don’t see any reason why I should be waiting 10 – 15 minutes for something that’s already prepared and sitting on the counter where you place orders. Sadly, I don’t think calling in your order will help because they won’t (in my experience) even speak to you until the person in front of you has gotten their food. Maybe they should hire more staff, that might free up the cashier to focus specifically on taking orders and greeting customers.
Of course, if I go back and I have a better experience I’ll update this review but until then this is what it is. Sorry Taste of the Caribbean.

I ordered jerk chicken which was not up to my standards. They put too much ketchup in the chicken that it tastes too «ketchupy «. To top it off, I asked for some curry gravy on the side but they obviously didn’t wanted to give it to me. I was there standing for over 10 minutes for the curry sauce until I told the cashier I need to go. I asked for it while I ordered my food so if they needed to charge me they should have. I honestly will not go back even do I live 5 minutes away.

The food was right on point… This is a place I’ll go for a little piece of home, Caribbean style. I recommend for big orders, to call first and order! The staff was pleasant, yes they are a little on the slow side, but it was worth the wait. My husband and I enjoyed our food…

The food at this place is the bomb around here. It tastes as good as I can make it myself so when I am in the mood for Guyanese food and I don’t have the time to make it myself this is where I will go to get it even though it is a hike from where I live. There isn’t another place in this area that makes this type of food like they do and their pastries are also very good, I won’t waste my money to buy the pastries anywhere else. If you want to taste it all dine in on Sunday when they have the buffet and they offer different dishes. Everything taste delicious. Their Pepperpot is the real thing.

I love it. The food is really good and cooked well. I come here when i dont feel like cooking ox tails or curry goat. i would recommend this to all my trini people lol

The whiting lunch special ($ 7.99) was okay. Nothing out of this world. The rice was the best part of the meal. The whiting was good for whiting, but as a red snapper fan, which they were out of or didn’t have yet for the day, I really didn’t have the foodgasms I was looking forward to. The doubles had a lot of curry so if you love curry, I would go for that.

The food is pretty good but the service could be better. They are very slow. The Guyana rice treat is very dry but has a good flavor. The jerk wing are a lil dry but great heat. The goat roti was a hit for and its the reason for the 3 stars. I would go back just for that. Service not so much

This restaurant is mediocre at best because of the service and food. I doubt that the employees enjoy the business or their customers. I do not eat where I do not feel welcomed.
There is nothing special about the dishes. The food tastes like the description on the menu, meh.

Good pan-​Caribbean food, with a focus on Guyana’s cuisine. Can’t say I’m an expert, but I’ve sampled a good selection of island food purveyors & think it’s quality. Oxtail, stew chick, & jerk chicken have all been decent. Customer service could be better. On weekend nights, the club is pretty fun. They do karaōke & a lot of old-​school reggae/​dub/​ska. Tasty Caribbean beers are a nice touch.

One bite of the jerk chicken, rice and peas, and I felt like someone doused my mouth with pepper and was on stand by with a match to set me on fire. The woman who took my order did not know I was ordering festival/​fried dumplings even though I described «fried bread.» She just smiled politely and avoided eye contact. After taking my food to the car, I had to go back inside and request a full serving of the cabbage. I am a grown woman who eats full size servings of vegetables. What they put in my box left me wondering if I should laugh or feel like I was being cheated. The second lady who I asked to provide me with an adult-​size portion, was cold… icy. I will never give them my money again. They evidently do not need it. (immediate thoughts).
I took the food to my husband who moved here two years ago from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He stated the food was okay, but it was not that good. He said it had too much pepper and not enough spices.
Needless to say, another one bites the dust… Will the quality Jamaican restaurants please stand up???
BTW: The rice was mushy. One of my pet peeves. If you are going to serve rice, don’t over cook it and then smother it is jerk sauce. I didn’t know if I was eating rice with peas or soup in a carry-​out box.

I thought I knew of all the Caribbean spots in the area, until someone told me about this place 3 weeks ago. I’ve been 4 times since. It’s nothing fancy, think takeout with tables for you to sit down and eat. No waiter service. Also think «island time,» every Caribbean restaurant I have been to outside of NYC has the same, «I’m doing you a favor» attitude when they are taking your order. This is not a Jamaican restaurant this is a Guyanese restaurant. This is the only place in the area that I know that can REALLY make a roti and make it right. So right that I had a roti every time I went. Goat beef, and chicken. I wished they wrapped it though. My only complaint is that they do not have the prices on the wall menu. Everything is up there. Doubles, patties, palouri etc. But if you buy plenty of things you may be surprised by the total price. Not saying that its expensive, just wish I knew how much something cost before I decided to order it. Either way hands down the 2^nd best tasting Caribbean food that I have ever had in this area. The first was run by Trini’s in Hyattsville but they have since closed down which makes this my new #1 spot.

SSoooo I am now working close to this spot and thought I would venture out to see what kind of food this neighborhood has to offer. I stumbled across Taste of Caribbean and immediately got excited. I’m thinking; woohoo Oxtails, jerk chicken, beef patty all within walking distance of work.
I went during lunch time (12:30) and it wasn’t crowded at all. Got the Jamaican jerk chicken lunch special and a spicy beef patty. I asked for chili sauce on the side and I was told to add it to my food. I was a little perplexed and asked «you don’t have small containers for the sauce?» and was told «um yeah, but you’ll have to pay for it». I didn’t feel like getting into anymore so I decided to add a dab of sauce to the corner of my food. When I opened the container the first thing I noticed was a leg and a thigh. I’m like WTH?!? When I see jerk chicken I immediately think of drum/​wingettes. But ok, I digress because it may be really good.
Get to work, dig in and ugh I am so disappointed. The chicken tasted like it had BBQ sauce with a hint of jerk spice and a bunch of spicy (cayenne) pepper. Cabbage was actually pretty good and the rice and peas just wasn’t seasoned well.
When I see «Caribbean» I think island, seasoned, yummy food… this place was a strike out. I will not be returning UNLESS it is to buy Tylenol, Advil, or something to drink. No more food because I was not impressed with it.
If you have a car and the time I would suggest you drive over to Muffin Man in Lanham. Just because the food is priced at a fair cost doesn’t mean the quality of the food should suffer. Any good island cook knows this and knows how to make it work in the kitchen. Unfortunately this is not one of those places.

I rate the food here a solid B. After eating here you probably wont crave it, but if you’re hungry and you want Caribbean food on a Monday (when most other shops are closed) it’s a good substitute.
This is a Guyanese restaurant. The oxtail needs to be pressured longer because the meat was tough. The curry good was okay, but not memorable. The menu is mainly Guyanese with Jamaican options thrown in here and there. As someone who grew up on Jamaican food, I can tell that the Jamaican dishes weren’t up to standard. The flavors were a bit off and just not there– kinda bland. So, if you’re craving Jamaican food and there are higher rated options, I would go somewhere else. I’m not sure of how the Guyanese options are, so maybe they are more impressive.
I would only go back under very special circumstances.

Let me clarify: Unilocal should really consider a quarter point system. I would get the Taste of the Caribbean a solid 3.75.
The service was a little cold, but business like. She was singing though!
The food was really good. But not great. I had the lunch special jerk chicken with coco bread. And the man had the stew chicken and coco bread. The bread was good… in places. It was soft… in places, and hard… in places, tasty, but not extraordinarily flavorful.
The jerk chicken was good, but not great also. And then it seemed like the chicken was 2 pieces, but it was a thigh cut into two. The stew chicken was the best. I should have eaten his instead. And he had a whole leg and a thigh. The rice and beans were tasty.
I’m gonna go again. I will definitely order some new stuff too.

Oh… My…God!!! I was having a craving for jerk wings. I really don’t like Negril and the Muffin Man Caribbean Café’ closes early on Saturdays. I did a google search and stumbled on to this spot. Actually it was a tie between driving up to the jerk pit in College Park (which i’ve never been to either), or going here.
Let me just say, they had the BEST jerk wings I’ve ever had in my LIFE!!! This was my first time here, but you better believe, it won’t be the last. Now I’m anxious to try everything else. I wanna try the oxtail and curry goat in particular.
Excellent food!

My fav is curry shrimp and bust up. d best Caribbean rest in MD!!!

Best Curry Goat and Roti in the DC area. Love stopping by here. I will go out if my way to get their food.