Conch fritters, lobster a hit with diners

Next level vintage vibes and creole cuisine welcomed patrons at R&C Taste of the Caribbean restaurant at the waterfront, Sandy Point Beach Club Hotel, Crown Point at Restaurant Week Tobago.

Restaurant Week took place across Trinidad and Tobago from September 15-24, with restaurants showcasing culinary offerings - international and local cuisine with a fixed price point for an inclusive menu.

R&C Taste of the Caribbean was one of two participating restaurants in Tobago. The restaurant offered a mouth-watering range of sweet and savoury dishes including jerk chicken wings, conch fritters, prime beef steak with pineapple rum sauce, pasta alfredo, grilled lobster with garlic butter and sides such as creamy roasted garlic mash potatoes and provision gratin. The dinner was topped off with a special Taste of the Caribbean cheesecake and icecream.

Patrons gave glowing reviews of the jerk wings, described as well seasoned with the perfect amount of zing, while the conch fritters elicited the praise that they were perfectly crunchy with light notes of conch.

A five-course entree menu was available for order and all options are served with two sides and complimentary wine. The menu offered steak, fish, lobster, chicken and vegetarian options. A crowd favourite was the lobster with garlic butter.

Adrian Cumberbatch, captain of the Trinidad and Tobago National Culinary team and Executive Chef of Cook Caribbean Inc, described the dinner as “fantastic.”

“I enjoyed the conch fritters, they were very crispy and the sauce was nice. The lobster was also very delicious,” he said.

Chef Richard Clarke, in an interview with Newsday Tobago, noted that challenges with transportation on the sea bridge affected attendance at the event.

“It (inter-island problems) affected booking by, I think it is about 70 percent,” he said, adding that the restaurant tried to use groups on social media to spread the word about Restaurant Week but it did not bear much fruit.

“Last year we had about 60 to 70 diners per night, this year we are doing about 20 to 27. It is pretty poor for this year. I had a lot of bookings from Trinidad but they said they had a lot of problems getting to Tobago,” he said.

Responding to a concern about slow service for diners, Clarke said he intends to improve on service delivery and not give up on improving quality.