Palm Bay Caribbean — Restaurant in Epping Forest

This is an updated review for 2025: The food has completely gone down hill! I have been coming here for many years now, around the time it first opened 2012/13? as a regular, but I don’t think I will not be coming back! The plantain is still stupid portion sizes (this was always my main complaint over the years) but this visit it was overcooked, dry and literally like rubber - see photos. The coleslaw is no longer amazing and it is not the same at all! They’ve changed it! The rum punch is just like a mocktail - no longer can you taste any rum in it whatsoever! Weird taste too! The waitress tried to tell me that people always say this but there is rum in it! I had to remind her I am a regular and have had the rum punch here many times and never had this been the case so maybe if others have said this they really have changed and are being stingy with the rum! The food itself tonight was very average. The person serving us, when we complained, dealt with it very wrongly! Charging the rum punch as a juice as that was what I said it tasted like and told her refused to pay for them, and after complaining about the inedible plantain and how the coleslaw was not the same, she took them both away, but only took off 10% from the bill, which amounted to less than £3 for 2 sides that were inedible! I can not believe how downhill this place has gone! They have made a name for themselves and seems to me now they’ve stopped trying - chefs, bar & waiting staff!! It is very sad as this was our go to place to eat locally. Between us as a group we spent in the £10-£20 per person range but would have had more drinks if they were like previous visits. We visited on a Friday night having reserved a table. Also it took a good half to pay the bill! I will be future visiting the other Caribbean eatery in the same postcode. Palm Bay - bad to mediocre food, staff with an attitude - it has to be a goodbye!

This was my previous review over a year ago! The food is sooooo good here! It’s a gem and we enjoy eating in here as it’s a pleasant decor. Staff are nice although we always seem to wait a bit too long to get our drinks. The coleslaw is the best you will ever taste - so creamy! For me on our last visit on Monday, as we’ve been many times, they got the plantain right as I always found it a bit dry before. My only criticism is their competition in the same postcode is much more generous with their portion of plantain, three tiny pieces is just not enough! The rest of the main meal is plentiful and delicious. We’ve tried most things on the menu. I would highly recommend the rum punch too!! Spent around £50-60...

All round, a good experience. We really enjoyed the food and the restaurant on the whole is clean, has a nice decor. Pricing structure is helpful to allow patrons to choose the amount of food and variety in multiple combinations. Prices are extremely reasonable!

A few points of note:

1. we noted many takeaway orders / deliveroo orders. We're not sure if those are processed over those dining inside, however, the wait for our food to be brought was approximately 40 minutes. As the place keeps a (correctly in my opinion) concise menu of options, it seemed a little bit of a long wait, but was welcome when it arrived
2. service was very attentive and to the right degree and polite, but it was a little slow. Some requests required multiple asks before being satisfied
3. the front door is in constant use and deliveroo are directed to the rear to reduce the impact of this but it is rather drafty for diners as a result
4. the staff increased the volume on the music to a degree where the conversation of diners was less possible. I appreciate that there's a desire to make an atmosphere in restaurants, and the other tables were full of people who prefer the company of their phones over their friends and family, but it prevented us from having the chance to converse properly
5. We really recommend trying this place, if in doubt. The food is very...

This review is a bit odd because the food was excellent, but the service was disappointing, which is surprising given that the restaurant seemed to be overstaffed.

Food The food was delicious, flavorful, well-portioned, and reasonably priced. The cocktails were also enjoyable.

Service

1. I had to call three times to book a table because no one answered the phone.

2. Upon arrival with my wife and three kids, we stood at the entrance waiting to be seated (it wasn’t that busy), but no one acknowledged us. It seemed like there was no clear assignment for greeting customers, and we had to approach someone ourselves.

3)The table wasn’t clean, so we couldn’t sit immediately.

4. We waited 15 minutes before anyone took our order.

5. It took 15 minutes to receive our drinks, which were just canned beverages that could have been served immediately.

6. Staff were eating behind the counter while other customers waited for their food.

7. They got our order wrong.

8. No one asked how our meal was.

9. It took an unusually long time to pay.

10. There was no “thank you for coming.” I said thank you as we left, but no one acknowledged it.

So, despite the great food, the service left much to be desired. This is one of those places that could really excel if they just focused on improving...