Callaloo — Restaurant in Lancaster

So this was the first time we have tried Trinidadian food. We were not sure what to expect but a little research gave us a reasonable idea of what was to come.

What a fantastic surprise! The food was well-spiced but not "spicy", so we were free to experiment with their various sauces and add-ons.

I ordered the Buss-Up-Shut Curried Chicken dinner special. Buss up shut(roti) is basically a bread similar to Naan, but with the flexibility of a tortilla and similar taste (unique and tasty on its own). With it came a Curried Chicken mixed with diced potatoes, chickpeas and other chopped veggies all within a cool little personal sized cast iron pan!

The chicken was tender and easy to pull apart, and basically melted in your mouth with each bite mixed with potato. It was amazing! Using the buss-up-shut, I scooped up bits of chicken and curry then shovelled like I hadn't eaten in days!

The pepper sauce. They make their own hot pepper sauce, available on the table to eat with your dinner. It reminded me of a hot sauce I had while on vacation earlier this year, where it actually had flavor AND heat. It was excellent, so excellent I bought a bottle! They bottle it on demand when you request it in the kitchen!

Lastly, the service! This was the cherry on top of an already excellent tasting meal. Our waiter, Scott, was our savior in an unknown place. We were kind of just ordering what seemed familiar, but Scott helped explain the dish and what to expect! He knows the food and will help you navigate this cuisine if you're new to it like we were. He even brought out different sauces for us to try, not because we asked but because he thought we might like it! That's the kind of personable experience you should have at a restaurant of any kind, high end or not. They better keep him around!

Unfortunately, we live four hours away so we may not see this place again for while, but if we are ever close, we know where we are stopping for lunch and...

So my husband and came here unplanned without reservations..luckily they had two spots at the counter available. At first the server wasn't too attentive when I sat at the counter and turned me off a bit but once she saw we were settled she was very nice and attentive and not in an annoying way.

Oh and We hadn't realized, but it's actually BYOB, which is awesome.

Favorite drink: LLB (lemon lime bitter)! It was so good! Could definitely be a cocktail.

For the appetizer I had the guava wings. They were really good but a bit undercooked. Not sure if that's how it is supposed to be. Just wish there were for pieces instead of three since it was to share. Other than that, simply delicious with the mango salad! .

For the main dish, I ordered the spicy beef tenderloins and my husband had the fish, shrimp and curry dish. Both served with Jasmine rice. I will tell you, I thought I could handle my spices but I guess not. It was super spicy for me, but hey, it says it on the description. Even with it being spicy and me downing so much water, I just could NOT stop eating it! It was so good! Absolutely Delicious! But I had to take it home and am eating it little by little. My husband liked his dish as well, but again, too spicy for him as well.

Dessert was the best bread pudding I have ever had! (Actually the second one j have ever had) Like, it's not something I would normally be excited about, but I wanted to try it and honestly I can't wait to have it again. The flavors mixed with the dulce de leche was yummy!

I'm excited for my next visit (with a reservation) with friends and family, and of course the wine.

P.s. since we were at the counter the chef had passed by and said hi quickly, which I thought was nice...

P.p.s the music he had in the kitchen was the best! 90's reggae? I mean hello! I wish it was playing...

Having never ate Trinidadian Food, I was excited to try out this place. And they did not disappoint. The vegetable curry had a lot of weight to it, was very well seasoned and flavorful, and went amazing with the buss shut up. The curry wasn’t mushy at all, and was truly a great dish. The curry wasn’t watery and was quite thick.

The Spicy Pepper Beef was also very good. I wouldn’t say it was spicy, but was sweet and also exploding in flavor. While the beef was slightly chewy, the sauce it is in is truly amazing. Eating rice and the buss shut up in the sauce was my favorite part of the meal. Another amazing dish here.

Along side the entrees, they gave 3 sauces. The habanero sauce was the spiciest thing here, but I wouldn’t eat it with my two entrees since they are already strong in flavor. The garlic sauce was nice and creamy. But I honestly couldn’t remember the third sauce.

Overall I truly enjoyed my first time here, and would gladly eat here again. Especially to try the jerk chicken and whatever specials they offer.

Update: This has been one of my favorite restaurants in Lancaster. The Pork Belly with Kimchi Fried Rice is another great dish. Tender juicy pork over rice was really good. The pork was well seasoned and the rice was loaded with pieces of kimchi.

But their Korean Fried Chicken was easily their best dish. Only offered as a special, I got it three times and enjoyed it each. With no other places offering Korean Fried Chicken in the area, it was nice having it as a option here. Super crunchy, a sweet and spicy sauce, juicy hefty pieces of chicken made it my favorite here. Easily one of the best dishes I’ve had while living...