At the end of May I got invited along to the press night of the newest ‘eating and drinking spot’ to hit Sheffield – Turtle Bay on Holly Street, which is next to the City Hall. Turtle Bay is a chain of Caribbean restaurants that are scattered all around the country.
It was a great evening, spent with lots of fellow bloggers; drinking rum cocktails and sampling the food. I did come away slightly deaf as the live band where extremely loud. I found myself shouting to get heard on more than one occasion .
Ey’ up it’s ‘Nana Tracey’ here!
Some of the Sheffield Posse – Katie, me, Prue, Leanne and Tracey
Roll on a few weeks and I’d kindly been invited to attend the restaurant for a complimentary meal and drinks in exchange for a review.
So last Wednesday evening that’s exactly what I did. I made my way into town to meet my friend Lisa who was my plus one.
It was a beautiful evening, as always I arrived early. On my way in Lisa messaged me to say her train was running late! With 15 minutes to kill I plonked myself down on one of the a bench’s in Barkers Pool to people watch. I found myself drawn to a group of young boys playing in one of the water features. I’m sure they weren’t supposed to be. I did worry they might catch something , or turn a funny colour from the chemicals [ if there were any in there] … but they were having such a good time who was I to spoil it. Sunshine it just makes everything better doesn’t it? Sod the consequences!
Anyway I digress as always …
We were booked in for our meal at 6pm so I made my way inside and told Lisa I’d meet her in there. They seated me at our table , I explained I was waiting for my friend and then they left me sat there for 15 minutes with a menu. In all that time I wasn’t even asked if I wanted a drink . Not the best start … I mean I looked like I had been stood up . At least if I had a drink I could twiddle with that rather than my thumbs!
Ok so it was extremely busy [I’ll give them that ] but in the end I had to ask for a drink.
From here on in though you’ll be glad to know everything goes up hill and the food , drink and service from our lovely waitress Danni was faultless. Phew. We even bonded over our love of Love Island !
I ordered a ‘Rude Boy‘… [Uncle Wray overproof rum, Woods Navy rum, Barbados clove liqueur, bitters & fresh lime] just because I liked the name. Does anybody else do that?
It was buy one get one free [ or 2-4-1, same thing ] , so when Lisa arrived she had one waiting for her. I’m bloody good like that.
All cocktails are £7.15 and during Happy Hour it’s 2-4-1. The only stipulation is you must have the same cocktail. The Rude Boy is one of their strongest cocktails and both Lisa and I agreed – it’s simply fabulous
The menu is vast and having not really participated in any Caribbean food before I plumped for the Jerk Chicken [Pit grilled, served with coconut rice ‘n’ peas, sour orange chutney, coconut shavings & Caribbean slaw].
Lisa went for the Jerk Salmon – £12.50
It was jerks all round … [which when I re-read thought oh errrr maybe I should remove ? But you know me… it’s staying ! ]
Having never had this dish before I have nothing to compare it with but can confirm it was extremely delicious. My taste buds where having a fair old dance around in my mouth. It’s maybe the tastiest chicken I’ve ever eaten. Who knew chicken ,rice and peas and coleslaw tasted so good together.
There is a choice of jerk sauce – Classic [spicy] or Coconut [ creamy]. I had the coconut because in my mind I was thinking along the lines of a Korma . Love a Korma. You also get the choice of Half £10.70 Breast £9.90 or Whole £17.50. I had the breast.
I’d highly recommend this dish. In fact I can’t wait to go back and have it again.
Lisa advises me that the salmon was equally as tasty.
We were thirsty so we ordered a couple more drinks .Lisa had another cocktail – Vanilla & Passion Fruit Mojito and ended up with 2 as it was still Happy Hour.
As I was driving I went for a pineappleade [ Home-made with pineapple & fresh lime juice, topped with club soda] . I loved the presentation, it’s very instagrammable.
For pudding I choose Rum and Raisin Bread Pudding [Slow baked with dark rum, cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar. Served with vanilla ice-cream] washed down with a Cappuccino. You know how much I love my puddings and my frothy coffee.
It’s not a massive portion but again it’s extremely tasty and very more-ish . Cooked to perfection it melted in my mouth …
All the deserts cost £4.95 and there’s a varied selection to choose from. Lisa had Dark Chocolate Brownie which again was given a big thumbs up and devoured in no time.
I did note that there is an area to the front of the building ‘ The Rum Bar’ that is souly for drinking purposes ; so if you fancied calling in for a quick beer or cocktail that’s fine . It’s preferential to being seated amongst the diners which I personally don’t like.
All in all it’s a great venue , I especially love the atmosphere, soundtrack and the vibrant interior. It’s adds variety; something new and exciting to the Sheffield social scene.
The food is the icing on the cake…. and as for those ‘Rude Boys’ well they’ll keep me coming back for more for sure !
Until next time,
Tracey x
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Ohhh and if you happened to see 4 little wet boys running around town with green hair later that evening … I know nothing !
*The meal and drinks were complimentary in exchange for a review . As always all thoughts , wording and photographs are strictly my own. Thank you for having us*