Pepper’s Island Restaurant — Restaurant in Tampa

A Disappointing Experience at Peppers Island

I recently had the misfortune of ordering from Peppers Island in Tampa, Florida, and I am compelled to share my utterly disappointing experience. As a lover of Caribbean cuisine, I was excited to try their offerings, but what I encountered was nothing short of a culinary disaster.

Upon calling in to place my order, I was informed by the owner himself that my food would only be prepared once I arrived. This initial inconvenience set the tone for what was to come.

I ordered goat curry and three doubles. To say the food was subpar would be a gross understatement. The chickpea filling (Chana) in the doubles was bland and watery, devoid of the rich flavors one expects from authentic Trinidadian cuisine. I had specifically requested Tamarin sauce on all my doubles, but this simple request was blatantly ignored. The lack of attention to detail was appalling.

The goat curry, priced at over $18, was an absolute rip-off. The portion size was laughable, barely enough to feed a child. To make matters worse, the majority of the portion consisted of bone. Essentially, I paid $18 for a few bites of meat and a lot of bone. The gravy accompanying the goat curry was a greasy concoction of water and oil, with an overwhelming spiciness that masked any potential flavor. It was a far cry from the rich, balanced flavors that define good Trinidadian curry.

Overall, Peppers Island served me one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. The food was low quality, poorly prepared, and lacking in flavor. This was not a reflection of authentic Caribbean cuisine, but rather a disgrace to it. I would strongly advise against dining at Peppers Island if you value your taste buds and your wallet. Save yourself the disappointment and find a restaurant that respects its customers and their...

Hearing about a Trini restaurant coming to YBOR I was so excited because we are from Trinidad. I took my whole family of 10 today to hopefully enjoy! But sadly was very very disappointed. The representation of trini culture through people was not there. It was very American until we met the chef which had us questioning right away how good the food tasted. Nothing against American people but when entering an authentic trini restaurant, we want to see trini people talking to us about how delicious the food is and hearing those lovely accents and that was unfortunately not the case. The kids painted a nice mural and the place is comfy which is a positive. On Sunday they had allooe pie, doubles & pallouri balls so we were again really excited but felt a huge let down after spending $$ to not feel fulfilled and we waited about 45 minutes for food to be ready. The dough was not seasoned at all. No yellow to it at all. The doubles were thick like bake when they are supposed to be thin and delicious but again no flavor in the dough. Chickpeas were decent. Allooe pie was mild flavor but better than the double and the pallouri balls were flavorless. Tamarin sauce was decent. It was upsetting because we love our island and this was just not it and on top of everything, when we looked disappointed we were not offered any benefit, and we’re told “well this is a soft opening” from then on the attitude and energy shifted and it looked like they were waiting for us to leave. We hope you can implement our review and make some things better. The energy in the space was not of a trini style restaurant aside from the music. Bring more of the chefs family and culture out to the people! We need more of this...

Super excited to try this new restaurant. I am indian Trinidian and my main focus was the doubles. Small place in quiet part of Ybor...clean, simple establishment. Few dishes per day and was greeted warmly and friendly. Cook is from Trinidad and family owns Trinidad restaurant back on the island. We ordered doubles ($2.50 each) and curry goat with roti ($18) Doubles review: This particular dish to Trinis is important and special...for reference its like a good bagel to Americans. The bara ( 2 outside flat pastry-like) was rubbery, thick and tasteless. The channa ( curried gabanzo beans) was non-existence ( see pic). What little was there, was bland and dry. There was little to none peppersauce or tamarind sauce, ( we asked for plenty pepper and sauce when ordering). Glad we had asked for extra to go, which allowed me to taste the homemade peppersauce...and its a huge "NO". Its a lime pepersauce which goes awful with doubles. Tamarind was ok. I know there is not much competition here in Tampa like Fort Lauderdale/Miami or New York but with this quality and pricing you will NOT make it with trinis here. As a Trini I am ashamed this would be our representation here because its not authentic, tasty or true doubles. Curry Goat spices and flavor was good and roti was also good. We had Chunk pieces of goat meat on top and bone with grizzly pieces on the bottom that should have never been served. The goat was tough in texture, you should not have to use a steak knife to cut meat off bone. I do not know if their other dishes are good, but prices and quality will make this a one try place for me and unfortunately I would hesitate to reccomend this Trinidadian restaurant to family...