Cocktail Kitchen

We were dining at Castaways across the bay. (Lovely view and decent food). We asked one of our many servers there about her favorite restaurants. She highly recommended CK. The name had put me off so I was intrigued. The menus looked pricey but kinda cool. We went early because we love to sleep well which means eating early. When we arrived the place had a few tables occupied on the patio but we were the second table seated inside. There were at least 5 staff in the small dining room /bar. The waiter had potential… personable vibe; quick and articulate…. He poured us our water, He dropped the menus, got our drink orders, revealed the catch and announced the missing items and left ….5 air conditioner heads, all set at 20 we’re keeping the place… considering the location…too cool. I mean if you’re dressed to walk there you’re underdressed for blowing 20 degree air. My wife said to our server aren’t you cold? But he had slacks on. No hint got... 5 minutes (? I was no yet paying attention) …he dropped some nice spiced popcorn. He’s gone. Outside? We’re taking in the room but our mood has begun to get critical because it’s cold and it’s taking too long in a (nearly) empty room. The drinks were now sitting on the bar. My $22 rum punch… so close. We debated getting them ourselves but we know the vibe (such a precious element of a successful restaurant experience) would then be unrescuable. Then we were studying the room: nice sounds reduction design, textured wallpaper nice ; too bad about the seams, art kinda cold but different, lights over the bar were kinda different…. We broke. We told the lovely hostess 25 minutes for drinks was too long. She said she understood and would let our server know. I think I caught a glimpse of him as we left. Guys… look at your prices! You are setting up an expectation of not even adequate but excellent service. We were very...

To me, Cocktail Kitchen is unassuming in its glory. You’re walking through St.Lawerence gap, you’re looking for someplace to lime, Cocktail Kitchen has this very relaxed chill vibe, you know, those places you would go to for the drinks and never want to leave until the wee hours of the morning because you’re having such a good time?

Then you get hungry, there is a food menu so you order a dish, you take your first bite and then it happens, your mouth just burst with flavor, your eyes roll to the back of your head and that’s it, you’re hooked on this place!

The items on the menu give you the hint that you didn’t just walk into any restaurant, there is breadfruit on the menu, yam on the menu, like seriously, what restaurant do you go into and these are options you can choose from!?

I didn’t know what to expect when I selected the pan seared Coconut and Ginger crusted Catch with a coconut curry yam puree, but despite not having expectations it exceeded what I could have ever envisioned!

Look, I will always love my grandmother’s style of preparing local dishes but Cocktail Kitchen has elevated our food to a level that is fitting for any fine dining experience in the world!

I believe the concepts can be taken internationally. They have definitely stepped outside the box and have proven that Caribbean food can be just as diversed and suitable for any palate.

If you’re visitor to the island this will be a unique way to try local foods.

If you’re a local you already know how good our ground provisions can be so when you taste what they have done with our food, you just won’t get...

So let's start with the things that are wonderful here. We began our dinner with the breadfruit nachos, and despite neither of us caring for avocado normally, the avocado sour cream was the perfect mix of creamy and tangy. The cheese on the nachos was an amazing choice and the breadfruit crisps were fried exactly right.

Next we both ordered the market catch, which on the day we were there was barracuda. The sample of roasted vegetables served with it was so good we ordered an extra side of them, and the fish was very nicely seared and seasoned along with a very nice mash. My only complaint is that I prefer a lemon-caper butter sauce to have much more acid than this one did, but that's a matter of taste, if you prefer your sauces creamier this will be to your liking.

We finished with separate desserts: I had the bread pudding while my wife had the toffee pudding. I can't speak to the toffee because I recoil from foods described as "sticky," but the bread pudding was very well done. The cream anglaise was lovely, although the sorrel-stewed pineapples were a bit cloying.

Service was a bit hit or miss; while Akeem was very attentive and kept our water glasses full, the kitchen seemed a bit understaffed or overwhelmed, as the wait for food was longer than I would have expected. Definitely worth the wait but don't show up expecting instant gratification.

The decor of the place is very interesting, featuring local artists, but the music is louder than I would care for, especially if I want to have...