TURTLE BAY - BIRMINGHAM

THIS post should have been written a few weeks ago when I had my first culinary experience at the brand spanking new Turtle Bay located on John Bright St. in Birmingham. Due to a string of successes, they now also have restaurants in Bristol, Leamington Spa, Leicester, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Southampton, which tells me that they're doing something right.

 As soon as you walk in you notice a real warmth to the atmosphere, the music is definitely someone's Summer playlist and the staff are all smiling and very welcoming; that's all before you've even tried the food.

There is another word next to 'Laid'..I just can't remember what it was.

Something to note: It's almost always Happy Hour there! There's pretty much every (Rum) cocktail you could ever think of and that, added to the Caribbean beach hut feel of the place, really sends you away with the beach fairies.

YES you bar of rumtastic delights.

The minute our food came, I was won over. If you can smell your food before it's even placed in front of you [and it's not a smell of the bad kind] it's always a good sign:

Get.In.My.Belleh.

I went for the Curry, Shrimp and Mango which came with 'rice 'n peas' and a whole load of incredible spices. By far on of the tastiest curries I have ever had the pleasure of devouring. One thing I will say is that the there wasn't much of the curry at all [something you can't really tell from this photo] and I could have eaten another two portions [at least], but I may have just caught someone on a bad pot-filling day as other photos I have seen tell a different story.

I've never seen a burger look so happy.

My garcon went for the Pulled Chicken Bun which came with rocket, Caribbean slaw and fries, all of which were devoured in about five minutes:

F E A S T.

We also went for some Jerk Pit Prawns which were cooked perfectly [and not somethered in sauce so you could taste the real flavour of the pit, which may or may not sound nice to you], some sweet potato chips with CHEESE and spices and some crunchy chick peas. These are something I have never had before but they're pretty moreish and crunchy. Very crunchy.

For some reason the decor really reminded me of Disneyworld's

Blizzard Beach. WEIRD.

I will most definitely be returning to this restaurant, a brilliant addition to the new wave of eateries gracing us in Birmingham, to try the rest [the entirety] of the menu. It is very reasonably priced, produces good quality, fresh food and makes me feel like I am on holiday. Did I mention it's almost always Happy Hour?

STANLEY