Sugarcane BK — Restaurant in New York

Wow, I am sad. This place used to be our favorite spot. My friend and our 2 teen girls have been coming here, 2x a year minimum as we live in CT; we would faithfully take the 2 hour commute to BK for the past 4-4 years. We never cared about the 3.7 rating on Yelp or the 4.0 on google. We didn’t care about the comment about it being overpriced- good food cost as our party of four always spent $400+. We didn’t even care about the reviews about the service because we had never had “those” experience……. Up until about 2 years ago. It was 5 of us one night, waited an hour for water and which came the same times as our appetizer. Food tasted dry and old. Then we waited another hour for dinner by then we was ready to leave, as we had the 2 hour drive, 30 min looking for parking and now 2 hour waiting to eat. Mind you this place is the size of my living room. 10 tables maybe 11. We also noticed that we charged an extra 18% gratuity because we had a 5th person, but the first person was a 10 year old. Came last night and we are officially DONE! They kept bringing us water with white things floating in it. Until we requested bottle water. It was a slow night maybe half capacity. We order all food and drinks. 20 min later appetizer came, jerk wings. No forks no napkins, as we watch our waitress hang out in the back near the cook. We managed to get attention of another waitress and she nodded. But never provided anything infact she damn near shooed us as if we annoyed her. Mind you our table was by the bar she could have grab it. So my friend had to lick her fingers clean and pour water from the bottle we paid for to clean her hands of jerk sauce. No we’re an hour in no cocktails made it to the table, again we’re the table by the bar we peek over and see our drinks. 20 min later after I got up to go back near the cook /kitchen to tell the waitress we didn’t have forks or our drinks she then brings it to us. But we were still missing one drink. My sister and my friend ordered oxtails, them things were cold as ice. They sent them back to warm. We reminded the waitress of the missing drink and it arrived as dinner is ending. So we are officially done with this place although they comped the drink. We spent $350, and realized now it’s a 20% gratuity for tables of 2 or more! Not 5 or more! What madness? Doesn’t everyone come in group for 2 or more! Yes the food is good and I have no problem paying for good for but if the service don’t equate to the food then I can’t spend my money. Bottom line, if you want good food, this place is it as there are not many Trinidad restaurants- but if you expect the service to equate to the prices then you will be highly unhappy. Also groups of 2 or more will be added 20% gratuity which is probably the reasons why on our last two trips we had horrible service; what’s the incentive to work for your tip of now everyone will be charged gratuity no matter what! Stop incentivizing lazy and unattentive employees all your doing is punishing the customer to have mediocre service at best at a higher premium. Unfortunately we will never be back...

This was my third visit to Sugarcane BK, and unfortunately, each experience has gotten progressively worse.

My first visit was great — I went on a Thursday evening and was warmly welcomed by a male manager who was attentive and friendly. I ordered the oxtail, macaroni pie, and callaloo soup — everything was flavorful and well-prepared.

However, on my second visit (a Tuesday), the service was noticeably lacking. I waited over 20 minutes without being acknowledged by the server. I had to flag her down just to order a seltzer, which didn’t arrive until my food did — a delay of about 15–20 minutes. Despite the poor service, the food was still good, which is why I gave it another chance.

Unfortunately, my third visit — which I was excited to share with a friend — was the worst. We arrived on a Thursday night and were seated quickly, but then ignored for over 20 minutes. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so the delay felt inexcusable, especially as we watched staff laughing and chatting with other tables. I had to flag someone down to even find out who our server was. He apologized and finally took our order — oxtail, callaloo soup, macaroni pie, rice and peas, and calypso wings, along with two Remy with Coke.

Then came another long wait — over 20 minutes — just for our drinks. My friend nearly walked up to the bar to get them himself. When the drinks finally came, there was no apology for the delay. The wings came out cold and tasted old, like they had been sitting out for a while.

When our main dishes arrived, the food was lukewarm at best. The oxtail was tough and gamey, not tender at all. The callaloo soup lacked any real flavor and also tasted like it had been sitting too long. My friend didn’t receive his macaroni pie initially, which had to be followed up on.

To top it off, as I was eating, I found an eggshell under one of my oxtails. When I brought it to the waiter’s attention, he brought over the bartender — who also turned out to be a chef. He apologized and offered to remake the dish, but by then the entire experience had soured and I declined.

He asked that we not leave a bad review and encouraged us to come back, but during the remainder of our time there, we were ignored while the staff focused on another table of women — laughing, socializing, and even giving out shots.

We eventually flagged down the waiter to ask for the bill. The only gesture made to remedy our experience was comping one oxtail dish — not enough to make up for the repeated disappointments throughout the night.

I will not be returning, and based on my experience, I cannot recommend...

This is a nice after work, casual date or weekend spot. When my friend chose it and I saw it was Caribbean I wasn’t particularly enthused about eating there. Thankfully I was able to look at some pictures of their meals and determined I’d be able to find something I’d like. The establishment is a nice size with a bar in the front and dining towards the back and sides. It doesn’t feel tight and the ambience is chill, the clientele friendly. The background music wasn’t loud and I couldn’t even tell you what was playing. The seating space was adequate and the chairs were comfortable. I started with a rum punch which I had red was delicious and they didn’t disappoint and it was a full glass serving. Now let’s get to the food..... Let me tell you Google how surprisingly delicious my food was! Omg! I called the server over to rave about my meal while my friend explained how much of a picky eater I am. I ordered the Jambalasi Shrimp w/ Chandon-Bennie Garlic Butter with a side of rice and peas and steamed cabbage. I don’t know what’s in that sauce but I’m going back and I’m taking my husband! He’s a huge Caribbean foodie and I need him to experience their food. Now I know there’s more offerings on the menu but when a restaurant has you at the first meal a lot needs to be said. The shrimp were tender and on the large side. That sauce was so good I had my friend taste some and she was equally impressed. My rice was perfect, as was my shredded steamed cabbage. My friends oxtails looked like they were made with love and please know I don’t give that compliment lightly. You know the chef(s) in that kitchen take a lot of pride and put much care into their food. It wasn’t salty at all, everything was flavorful and spoke to my soul. Can you hear my joy Google? Lol. The ONLY downside was when I went to pay they didn’t accept Discover and that was the only cc I had on me and it was NOT a pay week 😒 so a sister was running on fumes. Thankfully my friend was able to cover my...