Turtle Bay

Good food, nice space. Was recommended by a friend and we enjoyed it (but weren’t blown away by it).

We visited early in the evening to catch happy hour, no food, just drinks but I am inclined to come back and try the food.
Th décor is bright and interesting and it is surprisingly large inside, plenty of room for the large cocktail bar and restaurant with open kitchen (yes, you will see flames… often).
The staff didn’t really have their heart in it, lots of little chatting groups of waitresses and waiters who seemed to be having a good time. Unfortunately they were largely oblivious of people who could have been asked if they wanted another cocktail or maybe upswell some bar snacks… oh well, maybe they are more focused when the place is busier.
Happy hour is an excellent deal, two cocktails for £7…but…they have to be the same cocktail, so you either queue them up or find a friend who likes the same as you. Or just get a free one when you both order what you want, drink it, don’t drink it, who cares it’s freee!
The quality of the cocktails is ok, the strawberry daiquiri made me want to gnaw on the table… so much lime! I also had a cocktail involving apricot jam and heavily spiced rum which was quite good.
All in all it feels as if they are still finding their feet, few rough edges and some staff who perhaps need some more mixology and/​or service training. But I am sure I will be back at some point in the future to try the cocktails left on the menu.
— great happy hour offer for cocktails
— cool décor and a good atmosphere
— inexperienced staff
— didn’t try the food, it looked good tho

Initially I was excited to hear that after all these years, a Caribbean food restaurant would be opening in Bath, which is in desperate need for cultural culinary diversity. So in my excitement during a visit to Bath I thought I’d give it a go, and support the cause.
Upon arrival I was greeted by a managerial/​Supervisory type host, who seated me. Then another dude who looked like he just came back from a Zen/​mediation retreat took my order. Initially I was impressed by the ambience, well more so the selection of music they had, a mixture of ‘conscious’ reggae artists such as Chronixx and Queen Ifrica, old skool 70’s Dub (not to be mistaken for dub-​step), ska, and some contemporary ‘U’ rated dancehall.
As I sat down waiting for my drink, I looked around and observed the vybez, the set up, the staff, the island styled cocktail bar, which a couple sat at for the duration of my visit, they obviously weren’t there for the food, thats for sure!
I saw some middle aged/​OAP white middle classed (typical Bath demographic), having a meal, enjoying the ambience.
The staff all had smiles on their faces and seemed quite jovial.
HOWEVER — the food!
I ordered the King Prawns/​Jerk Shrimp — and found myself adding condiments on to the shrimp to give it that umph it needed for the sweet/​smokey balance of flavour it was lacking in… (wasnt impressed) but the shrimp was cooked well, served hot — just the way i like my food to be… it definitely weren’t jerk shrimp, more like pan fried with some sort of salty brown looking sauce, served with some sort of spongy bread thing which wasn’t mentioned on the menu!
The main course which I ordered was a ‘brown stew chicken’ or some sort, which came served in a rustic tin, which reminded me of my grandmothers old-​skool metal tupperwear collection in the 60’s. I wasnt sure how to percieve this way of serving food. Was this meant to be a represenation of how people from the Carribbean serve food to their guests? How does one attempt to eat chicken with a spoon? Aside from being quite fiddly, the rims of the tin were an obstrction to the tucking in process of the food. The food itself wasnt all that great. The chicken was spicy, but a little bit too salty, there was no sweet undertones which you get in traditional stew chicken which balances out the spiciness… However again the food was served piping hot — which I like (much prefer to have to wait for food to cool down, then have to send it back because its not hot enough)
When looking at the chefs, I didnt see one Jamaican/​Carribean Chef, which kind of explains why the food wasnt ‘authentic’, these cooks, look like they were doing their own spin on stew chicken adding potatoes in with the stew chicken — which I never had before I went to Turtle Bay in Bath, which is funny, since I’ve eaten enough brown stew chicken for a lifetime.
They served my drink (Limeaid) in a tall bottle, which I wasnt able to finish (due to time constraints as it was lunch time), so when I took my unfinished drink and was told that the bottle is «in house only», I was slightly baffled as to why they didnt just serve it in a glass. (too many gimmicks and props)
The menu was lacking many typical foods you’d expect to see on any Carribean menu for example;
–salt-​fish fritters
–fried plantin
–festival
–Ackee & Saltfish
–Caliloo
— «Hard food»
–fried chicken
–Macaroni Cheese/​pie — depending if your Bajan!
–coselaw
–potatoe salad
–Bammy
Infact their vegetarian section was quite poor considering how many Rasta’s follow the Ital dietry requirement — so if your an Ital Rasta avoid this chain of restuaruants
I spent £24 altogether on a starter, main course and a drink I wasnt able to finish due to time constraints, and lack of takeaway flexibilty on the Staffs part.
Definately would not recommend this place unless you have no prior experience in Carribbean/​West Indian cuisine, and have a tendency to be satisfied by novelties rather then flavour!
Just for the record, I heard through the grapevine, that this place was a disappointment to people well versed with West-​Indian cuisine, before trying it out. But had to see for myself… Well now I know :(