Sugar Cane Rum Village — Restaurant in City of Mount Vernon

My college friends and I reserved a table at Sugar Cane Rum Village for dinner on a Saturday night at 6pm!

We were 30 minutes late (coming from Jersey City) but the restaurant still was able to accommodate us. Street parking only so make sure you leave some time for that. They also take walk ins on a first come, first served basis.

We were seated towards the back where it was booth seating + a couple of stools. I loved the ambiance of this spot as it definitely gave off Caribbean vibes. At 6pm, it's not packed just yet since they open at that time.

Of course we had to start off with the drinks! We all basically ordered the sugar cane margarita which you have the option of 3 flavors; strawberry, mango or prickly pear. Since they did not have prickly pear, I ordered the strawberry with Patron and WOW it was delicious AND they did not skimp on the alcohol.

For starters, my friend and I ordered the ackee & codfish spring roll which was a 10/10! My other friends ordered the shrimp spring roll and sugar cane wings which they loved. After our starters, we all ordered another round of drinks. We asked for strawberry but was given mango. The mango wasn't my fave but I stuck with it. Definitely prefer strawberry.

For our mains, my bf ordered the fried lobster tail which we didn't hear from him the entire time we were eating LOL he was devouring his dish. I ordered the penne alla vodka with shrimp and my friends ordered the oxtails. The portion of my dish was well worth the money but I wish the sauce had a bit more flavor. My friends liked their oxtails but wish more came in the pot. On the side, we all ordered the Jamaican bammy fries which we thought were steak cut fries with seasoning but they tasted like churros to me. We were all unfamiliar with bammy fries so my friend actually sent them back for regular fries which were crisp!

Of course we ordered another round of drinks. We felt like the drinks became weaker and weaker as we kept ordering them and they line the rim of the cup with liquid sugar cane which drips down all over the cup and gets on your hands. We were constantly asking for napkins to wipe off the excess sugar. After the 3rd margarita, we stopped ordering drinks and decided to order hookah. Hookah was $40 cash (not included on the bill, need to pay separate person) and refills are $20. They have a bunch of flavors on the menu so we went with a blueberry mint.

By this time it was around 9:30pm and we already spent 3 hours here, we were having so much fun! The restaurant started getting more packed and the music was a 10/10! We appreciate the waitress letting us stay longer than the 90 minute limit.

Since we already finished up our food and drinks, our waitress let us know that the tables are only for people who are ordering food and drinks. Also, if another big party arrived we would have to leave the table. Since we still had the hookah, we asked where could we be placed. They set us up a smaller stand up table next to the waiting area which was tight for 5 people to fit but we made it work until it was time to leave. We wish we were able to relax here all night since we drove over an hour and it was pouring rain but understand the need of tables.

The bill came out to a little over $500 which included 18% gratuity and an additional $20 for using card.

All in all, I would visit again! Perhaps on a less busier day since the other reviews state Fridays and Sundays are less rowdy. I don't mind a rowdy crowd when I'm sitting but since we were standing towards the end of the night, there was a lot going on between people trying to get around us, people trying to sit in the waiting area and being bumped by people from surrounding tables.

Note: They stop serving...

So we walked in to a party scene basically because we had to get pat down at the door when all we wanted to do was go in, have dinner, and leave. When we entered after being pat down and having our bags checked, we found seats on our own because there was no host/hostess to seat us…

It was extremely too loud. Way too loud to the point where we couldn’t even interact with each other when we were right in each other’s faces. It made no sense to have my ears piercing and ringing while attempting to enjoy food.

My advice for this establishment: Not trying to tell you how to run your spot, as it is not mine, I would just consider those who aren’t seeking a party vibe. Some people just want to come have dinner. Nothing more, nothing less. And if you wanna keep that party vibe going with the hookah and whatnot, please see to it that the levels of the music aren’t unbearable for your customers. We ended up going to another Caribbean food spot closeby with a tolerable music volume. Literally, human ears are not supposed to tolerate music THAT loud…then it’s like we complain down the line about deafness when it can be avoided. Smh. Would’ve loved to try to dishes but it just wasn’t worth it. Maybe...

I don't know what's going on with the food lately at Sugar Cane, but they changed the menu and removed my favorite items. The new items are smaller portions for the same price or more expensive. They removed the shrimp and lobster meal and now only serve a lobster meal for almost the same price. They removed breadfruit fries/chips from the menu, and the lobster tacos were removed from the menu. They removed the brown stew snapper. They aren't serving grilled jerk anything, everything is done in the oven. Atp it's just underwhelming. In my last 3 visits, I've been trying to find something else that I love, and I haven't found anything.

I had oxtail on July 27th, and it was really tender but salty, and it wasn't slow cooked it was done in a pressure cooker pot. So the gravy wasn't nice, thick, and rich in flavor.

I had the plantain shrimp boat, which was good, but the tails were left on the shrimp, making eating it unnecessarily inconvenient because you have to dissect the meal to remove the tails, then reassemble it.

I will say that I absolutely love this place, but they need to get it together like yesterday. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to eat elsewhere before I go...