Spiced Roots Restaurant — Restaurant in Oxford

First thing is first . I was down in Oxford for the weekend. I decided to Google Caribbean restaurants nearby. Being unfamiliar with the area , I went on Google to make my decision on what restaurant to order from. The Google rating is a 4.7 ??. so I thought the food would be decent but would soon live to regret that decision. I placed the order over the phone so my food would be ready for collection. I ordered Oxtail rice and peas , but was told that the oxtail came with Mac cheese and not rice & peas. Weird I thought so I ordered the rice separately. I also ordered jerk chicken and rice & peas with some plaintain as the side. Got to the place and had to wait for about 6 mins , not too long. . Time to pay £42.50, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. To add insult to injury when I got back to the hotel I could not believe what the hell I was looking at in this plastic container. Two piece of Oxtail. I said OMG . So that's £10 a piece. As the oxtail was £19.99. This was added with another slap in the face because it did not taste nice. It had a soapy taste, almost like the person that seasoned it has washing up liquid on their hands. The rice&peas was lacking coconut milk and essential seasoning..all I could taste was SALt. Too much salt is added to the food , the jerk tasted like BBQ chicken and had this overpowering smell. It was not authentic Jerk. The plaintain was so oily , straight from the fryer into the container.. The portions sizes overall in really stingy for what you are charging. The Mac cheese was edible but very dry. This hands down is the worst Carribbean restaurant I have ever eaten from. I can only say you guys are surviving and remain open because of the extortionate prices you charge. Trust and belief if this restaurant was situated in an area with afro Caribbean people, it would not last a year. I threw the food away and to see my money down the drain was upsetting. Please stop this madness, if you are going to continue to charge these prices,, cook your food the right way,or fire the chef. Stop with the heavy handed salting of food and use earthly provisions like thyme, ginger , pimento, scotch bonnet, garlic, onions , and the real coconut milk from the coconut or use the block coconut cream. The food needs flavour. I want all black businesses to really listen to feedback and do better. There are some good brands powder seasoning out there just avoid the ones that are high in sodium. In the future I will trust Uber eats reviews over Google because on Uber eats they scored a 3.7 which lets me know the...

I've been going to Oxford for 3 years now and in that time to be frank struggled to find a decent go to restaurant. I can now say with delight i've found my destination. I present SPICED ROOTS a little caribbean culinary gem. The fresh perfectly cooked food is absolutely delicious and gives off that home cooked by mummy vibe and is beautifully presented. The chilli and garlic prawns had my eyes closed Mark Weins style (if you know you know) so juicy with an incredible depth of flavour, the Trini doubles not only were seasoned to perfection they left you wanting more and the Jerk chicken spring rolls were an absolute triumph. For mains we had the ackee and callaloo Jerk Tempah (vegetarian) and the Jerk chicken. Both came with rice & peas, plaintain and salad. Not only were the portions huge the flavours of both dishes were just mind blowingly delicious. Then we embarked on dessert and had the beautiful spiced rum cake and a selection of 3 home made ice creams namely Coconut, Guinness and the old Caribbean favourite Rum and Raisin all recommended by the owner. It's at this point I feel compelled to speak about the rum & raisin ice cream. I've eaten this ice cream on numerous occasions at numerous locations in Jamaica over my many years and I tell you no word of a lie this was hands down the best rum and raisin ice cream I've ever tasted, it literally left us speechless. So to summarise, this place has great food, great music, great service and a wonderfully charming owner who's totally invested in serving great, incredibly tasty, authentic Caribbean food. What more could you ask for. Fair to say it was...

How the hell have these people been getting away with this?

This is the biggest rip off in the history of cowley Road.

The portions are far too small, the chef is heavy handed with the salt and the overall service is extremely slow.

A double rum cost one of our diners £14.50 the dash of lemonade chaser was an additional £2.00. A glass of house white was £9.00 It boasts its choice of rums yet the staff had little or no product knowledge of what was available.

This establishment advertises itself as serving Caribbean food with a modern twist. It is far from authentic and genuine, although the presentation was 'good'

Set in a poorly lit and decorated environment It was a very expensive disappointment that I could never recommend but rather warn you to avoid.

This place does not promote authentic Caribbean food to the experienced pallet but rather an embarrassing menu to the uncultured. Never ever again.

£450.00 down, I reluctantly award this...