Review: Spiced Roots, Cowley Road

Spiced Roots has been voted the UK’s number one Caribbean restaurant, received many accolades, and lucky for us, is situated right on Cowley Road in Oxford.

It comes as no surprise to me after eating here that when you search for Spiced Roots, words like “Best meal of the year” and “Impossible to beat” come up. Spiced Roots has been going for nine years – an impressive length of time for a family-owned independent – and is run by a father, son, and family friend. I’ve been meaning to try Spiced Roots for a long time, so I was thrilled to receive a lovely offer to come and experience the hospitality and food for ourselves.

The restaurant is relatively small, and the most prominent feature is the extremely well-stocked rum bar (over 100 in total).

The restaurant oozes holiday vibes, from its interior design – think rough, sand-like walls, paintings, and beach wall art – to its laid-back atmosphere.

There’s a mixture of bar seating for a quick bite and longer family tables for celebrations, making it perfect whether you’re grabbing a casual meal with friends or going all out for a big family get-together. The vibe is informal, come as you are, and somehow time just seems to slow down here.

The feast started with mango chow, the first time we’d had mango infused with so much savoury flavour and the perfect amount of kick. A tasty appetiser often enjoyed before meals in the Caribbean, it was a lovely palate cleanser that really got our taste buds going.

We ordered a Grapefruit Ting and a Lychee cocktail to kick things off and left it to the chef to choose a selection of dishes for us to try. First up were the Jerk Chicken Spring Rolls (£6.50), Trini Doubles (£5.95) (think flatbread) Saltfish Croquettes (£6.95), and the showstopper: the Grilled Octopus Salad with pineapple chow (£7.95), plus Pepper Whole Tiger Prawns with smoked pepper alioli (£6.50), and smoked Baigan and Tomato Choka served with a roti (£6.95).

The standout dish had to be the Octopus Salad – beautifully presented.

We’d never had octopus cooked this way: thinly sliced and fried until crispy without losing any flavour, paired with a tangy pineapple salad, avocado, and fresh salad leaves. Absolutely delicious and all the starters are such good value and great to share. The prawns, despite being a messy eat, were so incredibly flavoursome, coated in a gorgeous alioli and fragrant oil, lightly charred like they’d been barbecued. We also really enjoyed the Trini Doubles, mellow at first taste with chickpeas running through, but such a lovely texture and flavour.

For mains, we tried the Smoked Lamb Chops with tamarind and tomato dew, infused with rosemary, thyme and pimento (£19.50), Boneless Curry Goat cooked with 15 spices (£16.50), Slow Braised Oxtail served with Mac and Cheese (£19), a side of Ripe Plantain (£3), and a Fried Prawn Curry (£16.50).

Again, all the dishes were big hits.

It was our first time eating curry goat, and much to our surprise, we would have given that the top spot, it was so incredibly tender and packed full of spice and love. The lamb was again particularly tender and bursting with flavour. The fried prawn curry was a hearty mixture of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, green chilli and warm Indian spices – absolutely delicious. It was really hard to pick a favourite. We could have eaten a whole bowl of the plantain alone, the best we’ve had in the UK – sticky, sweet, and perfectly cooked. And the Mac and Cheese was out of this world. I would never normally order Mac and Cheese, but let me tell you, they’re onto something, the perfect consistency and a depth of cheesiness that’s just heavenly. All this was washed down with a beautifully presented (and tasted) Piña Colada – by this point, we thought we’d died and gone to heaven.

We literally couldn’t eat another morsel… or so we thought. But then we were told there was one more thing to come, and thank goodness dessert is a second stomach! We got a taster of their three homemade desserts: Vegan Banana Bread, Classic Rum Cake, and Coffee-Glazed Brownie, all normally £7 and served with a complimentary flavoured ice cream. By this point, I didn’t think you could convince me to eat much more, but the classic rum cake paired with rum and raisin ice cream – which, up until now, I didn’t even think I was a fan of – literally blew my mind. The richness of the rum cake with the punch of the rum in the ice cream was divine. A perfect end to a perfect evening.

Spiced Roots is something truly special.

It offers far more than incredible food – it offers a moment of pure escapism, where you’re wrapped in the most generous of spirits. From the warmth of the service to the lingering tingle of spice on your lips. Honestly, Spiced Roots should be prescribed on the NHS, we floated out of there on cloud nine.

Go and experience true Caribbean hospitality, enjoy 2-for-1 cocktails, and keep your eyes peeled for a newly launched lunch menu coming our way very soon.