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Wednesday 23 September 2015

Turtle Bay

Review - Turtle Bay (Derby)

We went out for dinner with friends. I have been to Turtle Bay in Nottingham and Leicester and I enjoyed the food, so was so excited when this opened up in Derby. The food and drinks were great at every previous visit.



Like the others in the chain, the decorations are really playful and cool. I love the speaker wall with the rum bar neon sign. Turtle Bay has great music and a chilled vibe.

We went on a Thursday, and the restaurant was not overly busy. The service was very slow, we waited an age for  our order to be taken and just as long to receive our drinks.

I shared the Jerk Pit Prawns (£5.95) with my wife. They are whole shell-on jerk pit grilled king prawns, herb, chilli & garlic butter, flatbread. These were divine. A messy, tasty dish with a great sauce and the spring onion and lime give it a fresh finish.


Our friends shared the Jamaican Fried Bait (£4.95). A Lightly spiced & crisp whitebait with fresh lime & coriander mayo. I tried some, and these were too "fishy" for me, My wife did not even want to try them because of the smell. Our friends liked them, so it just comes down to individual taste. 




I had the Jerk Lamb £12.50 which is Grilled jerk marinated & glazed lamb steak, fresh green seasoning, Caribbean slaw & sweet potato mash (I replaced the mash for "rice 'n' peas"). The dish was average. The lamb was tender and the green seasoning gave it a fresh taste.





My wife had the Mo’ Bay Chicken (£9.85)

Chicken breast, creamy jerk spiced sauce, onions, plantain and dressed salad. With rice ‘n’ peas, sweet potato mash or sweet potato fries. She chose the sweet potato fries. The fries were crispy. The presentation was average. The dish was however nice and creamy with just the right amount of jerk flavour. It's the taste that counts and she said she would have it again.






One of my friends had "Our Curry Goat" (£9.65)

Marinated goat, potatoes & carrots, rice ‘n’ peas, sweet onion chutney & flatbread. We loved the presentation. The dish was nice (I had a cheeky taste). I would have ordered this but I had it last time in Leicester.




My other friend had the Jerk Chicken (1⁄2-£9.95)

12 spice & herb jerk marinated & grilled, sour orange chutney and Caribbean slaw. With rice ‘n’ peas, sweet potato mash or sweet potato fries. There is a fine line between perfectly charred and burnt, unfortunately this one was the latter. For my Jerk Chicken recipe see here. It was a good sized portion and tasted nice.

I prefer a bit more "kick" in my food so was glad to have the hot sauce on the table.
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I enjoyed a nice cold Red Stripe (£3.95) with my meal.



The delay described above, actually worked in our favour.  We managed to hit the 10.00 p.m. happy hour. I do love the cocktails at Turtle Bay, and love them even more during "happy hour".

We had the Marley Mojito (£6.95) Appleton Special rum, Midori, fresh mint & watermelon, home-made ginger beer  (2-4-1 during happy hour). This was amazing! I loved it and will recreate it at home.

We were all full, but both couples had a dessert each... it's rude not too! We ordered the brownies and ice cream. Brownies were average, the ice cream was nice.


It's still early days at Turtle Bay Derby, I know it will get to the same level as the others in the chain. Will be back for some food and happy hour drinks soon.

What they say:

 RUM...REGGAE...JERK

Turtle Bay Website


1 comment:

  1. We went here after you recommend the cocktails , managed to get the 2-4-1 offer , drinks were great loved the variety on offer . Had a couple of bar snacks ,fried bait was ok,very strong taste . Thanks fat food guy 👍

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