Island Shack — Restaurant in New York

Friday at 8 pm, my dear friend and I came to try out this new-ish Trini restaurant, one of only a few southern Antilles spots in northern Brooklyn, aside from Sugar Cane as a close neighbor. The interior looked cute, and who appeared to be the owner’s friends drank Stag at the bar, not making her much money. The waitress had to shout over the loud music to take out orders and get them wrong.

Blaring like it was 1 AM at KC’s Hideaway in 2004 was an uncurated ramble of mostly unpopular soca from the last few decades. A good Destra song was cut off by a Red Plastic Bag oldie, then a classic parang by Scrunter, too long an Iwer George, and back to today with Lyrikal for only 45 seconds. Why not just turn on Triple 9 or a properly mixed DJ set from Soundcloud? Ent! The fun now start!

The seating in the front was so awkward that we had to climb over other diners to get to the one available table because the space wasn’t designed with enough room for the tables to be walked behind. The couple we interrupted never finished their meals, which was a sign of things to come.

Fried plantains and mango chow were ordered as appetizers. The maduros were deep-fried, and the ends were dark, hard, and crusty. The cost was $1 each. I tried as hard as those plantain edges to not get vexed thinking of how I could have bought 3 whole plantains for $1 and cooked them right myself. The chow didn’t come until we were almost done with our entrees—after they went across the street to Mr Mango and bought an unripe mango to smother with too many Scotch bonnet peppers. The cook must have no tastebuds or sense because the resulting dish was inedible.

My Indian Rasta Bowl dish came with rice even though twice I stated I did not want rice. The waitress never read back to us our orders, during which time she could’ve clarified that. My dining companion opted for the curry chicken roti since they were out of oxtail. By this point, we had closed the glass French doors between us and the bar so we wouldn’t have to yell at each other over the loud mess of music. No one else was coming into the restaurant, not even delivery guys picking up orders.

As we tried to eat, the roti my friend had was dull and leathery in the center, but hard at the edges. He grew up making roti and buss up shot at his family‘s roti shop, so he was offended by this lack of quality. The chicken was ragged and dry. My food also was stale and old, since nothing seemed made to order and had been sitting for too long. No amount of seasoning could hide how tough and flavorless the carrots were. The chana were so overcooked they were softer than mashed aloo.

The sorrel was overpoweringly sweet, perhaps made by the same person using pepper as the main ingredient in the chow. And all of this was overpriced and unbalanced, like the fake glowing reviews. Save your money and mood by eating better food at Gloria’s and Ali’s, without...

I wanted to try and support this new business that replaced the great Peaches that was at this location. I am highly disappointed, first of all my account was charged twice then I had to wait for a longer time than expected because they didn’t have any of what I ordered ready!…no problem payment was taken care of and fine I’ll wait!

I get home and take my food out and it’s nothing worth the amount I paid, so I say hey let’s taste it, might make up for it in FLAVOR! Gosh was I wrong…ha!

My curry shrimp with white rice order was not good at all! Shrimp was over cooked, rice was undercooked! Vegetables were barely cooked! My jerk chicken with rice and peas order where I asked for extra ox tail gravy on the rice was even worse! The chicken was undercooked and taste like they just threw “jerk” sauce/seasoning on it. Rice and peas were dry as can ever be as well as my side order of curry shrimp, dry! I had to put my own sauce from home to try to enjoy it

Not Every Caribbean/Jamaican spot can cook/make good food.

They all fake

Real food people know flavor and great food when they taste it

I definitely will tell my people not to eat here because they will waste your time! And your money!

Not to mention that they didn’t even know what type of salmon they serve (filet or steak) when I asked the greeter/waiter he went and asked the “owner” and he came back and said steak, then I said ok I don’t want that because it has bones then he said there’s no bones it’s filet! Dude which one is it? How do your employees don’t know what’s on the menu and how do you not know as a owner and you give your employee false information to a customer!

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The presentation of the place looks like they're still building it I wasn't even sure if they were open. Then I saw a young lady not sure if she was the owner standing in front of the door holding a broom as if she was trying to block me from coming in so I asked is this place open? because I wasn't sure if they were done building it I just heard loud music playing. She did not respond she just pointed at the door so I said I'm sorry I can't hear you because the music is so loud she pointed out the door again and said what does that sign say?which I feel is rude instead of say ing hi welcome yes we are. I brushed It Off and she asked me if I'm staying in or taking out I told her staying in. I asked if I could sit outside she told me that's not part of the restaurant if I take out I can do it but her whole vibe was kind of off,I don't know but was definitely not feeling her energy it wasn't very welcoming. So I sat down and ordered assuming they might add a little twist onto their meal options. Unfortunately they're its no better than the next restaurant if anything for a lesser price I could have bought a better meal at another Trini restaurant. I would not recommend this place to anybody even if you like trini food. The food is not good the pictures probably look nice in the reviews some ppl posted but it is just plain tasting and lacking flavor. Definitely had way better trini food from cheaper...