One of the things I love most about blogging is getting to try delicious new foods and drinks to come up with content for my readers. When I get invited to try food for free, it makes it even better and I love giving an honest review to you all. When I was invited to the press event for Turtle Bay, a new restaurant opening on Swan Lane in Norwich, I couldn’t wait to try it out before it officially opened to the public. I brought James along with me as a helping hand with the photography and also as chief taxi-man. I couldn’t go home without trying a cocktail or two of course!
We arrived at 7pm and were greeted with a delicious rum punch, James was driving so he opted for an apple juice but they also had plenty of mocktails on the menu for him to choose from too. We were given the chance to have a wander around the restaurant and take some photos. The décor is absolutely amazing, the centre display of a camber van split in half and made into a seating area is like nothing I have ever seen before. The vibe and atmosphere was great, the music was chilled and not too loud. The lighting was dimmed with fairy lights and neon signs dotted about. We were served some fried garlic chickpeas and sweet potato fries, both delicious!
I met up with Hannah and her partner and we chose to all sit together on a table of four, it was nice to catch up. We opted to have another cocktail, the Jumbled Julep which consisted of white rum & passoa, fresh strawberries, mint & apple. It was lovely. Cocktails are 2-for-1 between 10am-7pm, then 10pm-close. Turtle Bay is open until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights where they close off the restaurant area and keep the bar area open. I would love to come back here one evening for cocktails, especially during happy hour!
When we were seated we were promptly served our starter, a Beach Food Platter which costs £12.95 and is great for sharing. Originally they put one board on our table of four, whereas tables of two were getting one board to share! Thankfully Hannah’s partner said something to the waiter and we got another one! I am glad he had the courage to ask. The platter consisted of spicy jerk chicken wings, pepper roti, sweet corn fritter and garlic and herb flatbreads. My favourite thing on the board was the sweet corn fritter, it was absolutely delicious. The platter was a really nice way to introduce us to the types of food Turtle Bay has on offer.
We were then served a selection of mains, firstly the curried goat served with rice and peas. The marinated goat was cooked in curry spices, scotch bonnet, sweet potatoes, citrus and ginger. This was also served with Caribbean dumplings which were really tasty. I have never tried goat before and I actually really liked it. The curry wasn’t too spicy and was really full of flavour. The meat melted in my mouth. This dish costs only £9.70.
We were then served a plate of Jerk Chicken with Caribbean slaw. The chicken is marinated for 24 hours then grilled with orange chutney and coconut shavings. The jerk chicken had a kick to it and the orange chutney really complimented the spiciness of the marinade and cooled your mouth down. The slaw was delicious, not too creamy and not too sour it was the perfect accompaniment to the dish.
For pudding we were served a selection of mini samplers of what Turtle Bay has on offer on the menu. My favourite was the banana and toffee cheesecake. This triple layered cheesecake was absolutely delicious, I wish there was more of it! We then tried the Zesty Lemon and Lime Tart which was drizzled with a passion fruit sauce, this was indeed very zesty and refreshing. We then tried a piece of chocolate brownie which was nice, but tasted like your standard brownie. I really enjoyed the Caymanas Rum Cake which was smothered in a rum caramel sauce which had an amazing punch to it. Lastly we got to try the Rum & Raisin Bread Pudding. I don’t usually like bread pudding but this one is slow baked with dark rum, cinnamon raisins and brown sugar and was also covered in a strong rum flavoured sauce. It was an absolute delight.
*I received this meal free of charge as part of the press event.
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