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Caribbean and American Delights: Caribbean fare at mom-and-pop joint

If you're bored with typical restaurant fare, try the Caribbean and American Restaurant in north Stafford.

By NEVA TRENIS
The Free Lance-Star

Date published: 11/1/2001

THE FREE LANCE-STAR If you're one of the folks who longs for more diversity in local restaurant fare, Caribbean and American Delights may be just the jolt your bored palate needs.

The restaurant is a modest, tidy place on U.S. 1 north of Garrisonville. The walls of the dining room sport the peppermint pink of the islands; kitschy Jamaican paintings and decorations are sprinkled around the comfortable room.

On a recent evening, the restaurant's lone waitress, a native of Trinidad, greeted customers and described unfamiliar dishes.

Our first inquiry was about roti. All over the Caribbean islands, she said, people eat roti, a grilled flat bread with an inner layer of finely ground split peas and spices served filled with a curry.

The Jamaican chef-owner makes the bread himself, then wraps it up like a gift with a tender, flavorful filling of turmeric-laced potatoes and chick peas ($3.75). He'll add chicken, beef, goat or shrimp for a modest increase in price.

Make a meal of roti, or buy one to bring home for the next day's lunch--it comes to the table wrapped in wax paper and reheats beautifully.

Another curiosity was the "patties" ($1.25-$1.75) which our waitress told us are also island favorites. The baked pastries are filled with finely ground beef, chicken or vegetable stuffing and resemble English pasties. The turmeric in the pastry crust turns the little bundles deep orange.

Both the roti and the patties go well with Guinness, which the restaurant has on tap. Heinekin and Jamaican Red Stripe ($2.75) are also on the menu as well as American beers ($1.75).

Caribbean and American Delights also offers exotic-sounding homemade juices such as mauby (made from the bark of a tree), sorrel, carrot and island punch ($1.50 or $2.75 each), as well as sodas, hot chocolate, tea and coffee.

The restaurant offers American standards such as fried and barbecued chicken, spare ribs, tuna salad and pasta for lunch and dinner.

But who has time for those when you can try saltfish, jerk pork, cornish game hen, steamed red snapper or curried oxtail?

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Date published: 11/1/2001