The headline for last week's main review described El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery as bare-bones. I should have saved the adjective for today's Small Bites. Caribbean Delight, which opened in September by the intersection of Gravois Avenue and South Grand Boulevard, is as skeletal a restaurant as you'll find in town. Its single room features an ordering window at the far end, a few tables around the perimeter and a big empty space in the middle. <\/p>\n
You'll probably get your food to go your food is served in a to-go container regardless (hence the photographs included here) but get it you should. <\/p>\n
At Caribbean Delight, owner and chef Chrisanna Little is serving traditional dishes from her native Jamaica. As she told me during a phone interview, these are the recipes that have been passed down to her. <\/p>\n
This is basically how they're cooked, she said. <\/p>\n
There is jerk chicken, of course, grilled outside the restaurant, chopped into pieces and served over rice. The char-kissed chicken is appropriately spicy, but the real heat comes from the gravy ladled over the rice. <\/p>\n
An order of goat curry from Caribbean Delight. Photo: Ian Froeb <\/p>\n
Many of the other dishes on Caribbean Delight's menu Little stews and stews and stews. They cook for a really, really long time, she told me. <\/p>\n
These include oxtails, their abundant meat not quite falling off the bone but yielding easily to your plastic to-go fork. A definite, but not searing heat tinges the rich beef flavor. A clear standout is the goat curry, the tender meat's strong natural flavor sharply accented by chiles but also enrobed by more complex, warming curry spices. <\/p>\n
Your order should probably include a traditional Jamaican beef patty, an empanada-esque hand pie (though the patty's shell is larger and softer) with spicy minced beef. <\/p>\n
An important caveat: Caribbean Delight is cash-only. <\/p>\n
Not a caveat, though maybe an invitation: Every other weekend, Little said, Caribbean Delight stays open later than usual and plays music. That big empty space in the middle of the room might come in handy then. <\/p>\n
Where Caribbean Delight, 3526 Gravois Avenue More Info 314-799-1463 Menu Traditional Jamaican fare Hours Lunch and dinner daily <\/p>\n
A weekly treasure trove of tastiness, featuring reviews from restaurant critic Ian Froeb and how-to videos by food writer Dan Neman. <\/p>\n
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Original post:<\/p>\n
Small Bites: Goat curry highlights Caribbean Delight's Jamaican fare - STLtoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The headline for last week's main review described El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery as bare-bones. I should have saved the adjective for today's Small Bites. Caribbean Delight, which opened in September by the intersection of Gravois Avenue and South Grand Boulevard, is as skeletal a restaurant as you'll find in town Continue reading