The Rolling Roti — Restaurant in Hartford

I had the potato roti wrap at Riverfront in Hartford. 6/10. Decent. Nothing great, but not bad. However, customer service, when I questioned the charge, was rude and insulting. The young woman took my credit card, said $12 (which was the advertised price), and swiped it. The alert email I got from my credit card company a minute later said $13. I went back and questioned the charge. The young woman said it was sales tax. That seemed odd because at 6.35% (the CT Sales tax rate), the price should have been $12.76, not an even $13. In any case, my point was that if you going to charge $13, then say $13 and charge it… don’t say $12 and charge $13. She also said that if I had used cash, then the cost would have been $12 which made me think that this was not tax but a credit card surcharge. Then a young man appeared and reiterated it was sales tax. He then asked me “how long have you lived in this country? Don’t you know we have a sales tax?” – I couldn’t believe my ears. How rude and insulting. I reiterated my point that I have no problem paying sales tax or a $1 surcharge for credit card purchases (which is what this was I think), but just that they should be upfront with customers as to what they are charging. As I was leaving, out came a senior gentleman who showed me his credit card swiping machine; he showed me that when he entered $12 and tried to swipe, the machine charged $13… he too said it was a State of CT thing. Does this really have to do with the State of CT? I doubt it. This seems like a $1 surcharge instituted by whatever company they’re using. In any case, they were not listening and didn’t want to accept that they should simply be upfront with their customers as to what exactly they are charging when they swipe their credit cards. I ate there to support a local business. Sadly I won’t be going...

I really wanted to like this more, but the issues here really boiled down to the safety hazards of small bones.

I’d never tried Guyanese food but I was really interested in the combination between Indian and Carribean flavors. I tried the Goat Curry on a roti because you seldom find goat, and it can be quite tasty. The spices were pretty good, but there wasn’t any heat. He said he’d include hot sauce but didn’t. No biggie. The roti was fresh but lacked flavor. I’m not sure how roti is typically (it was my first time trying it) but I think a bit of salt in it would’ve helped!

The main issue was the goat. My meal contained three times as much bones as meat. There was literally only about three bites of meat. Not only that, many of these bones were extremely small and sharp. This was almost $20 for one food truck meal!

Can you imagine the medical fees you might get after swallowing a bone that’s shaped like a nail (I had one in my food)? Or of crunching one between your teeth and chipping a tooth? I wish I’d taken photos but I was with friends and trying to have a good time.

Sometimes there are bones in food, that’s okay. What is not okay is 75% bones, 25% meat. What is also not okay is sharp, dangerous bones in each bite. Buy more expensive cuts of goat, or remove it from the menu! It’s not safe and you might hurt someone who is just trying to be adventurous and enjoy...

For anyone considering eating here, I just want to say Google is free and do research about Guyanese food before leaving a review. Because this food was authentic, delicious, and plentiful--any real Guyanese knows it.

We ordered goat curry, veggie plate (spinach, channa, double okra instead of potatoes), roti, beef bowl, and chowmein with jerk chicken. The goat curry was perfectly cooked. It had a beautiful blend of spices and soaked wonderfully in the roti. The meat was halal and fresh, and it was coming right off the bones as it should be. The salad that came with the chowmein had a delicious homemade dressing, and the jerk chicken was nice and spicy.

We had the food with pepper sauce on the side so we can control the spice, but you have to ask for the pepper. The roti?? Ooh I got emotional eating that roti it was so good. Light and flaky, but not too much. Held the food and sopped up all the flavor. Had an extra piece with tea later in the night.

100% will visit...