For this month’s food spotlight, I found myself in Alexander City with my co-workers trying something I had never had before. We ate at the famous Carib Kitchen, known for its southern take on Caribbean and Trinbago cuisine.
This was something I had never had before, and probably never really even thought about. I usually stick to what I’m used to, but I’m sure glad I didn’t in this case.
Carib features a buffet table and you really can just pick whatever you want. In my case, I got one of every single thing on the table. That featured carib fried rice, stir fry cabbage, red beans, and three types of chicken. There was stew chicken, jerk chicken and even fried chicken.
It was the first time Carib had ever made fried chicken for customers.
For me, the carib fried rice was the star of the show. I tried it both with and without the homemade hot sauce, and it was good either way. The hot sauce, however, was a game changer. It turned my meal from a 7/10 to a 9/10. It was perfectly hot – I like spicy – and unlike some hot sauces, it actually added flavor to the meal.
I enjoy cabbage, and theirs was good. At the end of the day, it was cabbage. If you don’t like it normally, you likely won’t like it here either. The red beans were cooked well and seasoned great. They were the perfect amount of softness and were not too mushy.
The chicken was good. I put hot sauce on all three of my pieces of chicken and they were great. I especially enjoyed the jerk chicken, and it lived up to its name. It was spicy and flavorful, and it was even spicier once I added the sauce. It was some of the best chicken I’ve had in a while.
The fried chicken was just fried chicken. It was their first time selling it, and for me, I wouldn’t get it again if I was to go back. I thought it was fine, but nothing special in comparison to other chickens they had.
All in all, this was one of the better restaurants I’ve done a food spotlight at. It was cheap at just under $15 for an all you can eat buffet, and everyone inside the restaurant was extremely nice.
I don’t know how often I’ll get a craving for Caribbean food, but if I do, I know where I’m going.
