A taste of sunshine from Monty’s Caribbean Kitchen, Barnstaple

Drawn in by the Caribbean beats, the sunshine and the amazing scents wafting down the street, my friend Hannah and I stumbled across Monty’s Caribbean Kitchen almost by accident.

I’d often seen the make-shift sign on the roundabout in Roundswell, Barnstaple, advertising the Kitchen’s presence from 5pm until 8pm every Saturday, but I’d never really gone to investigate.

We’d decided to walk to Sainsbury’s to get something comforting to cook for dinner, but on the way we came out right next to the trailer on Old Bideford Road and we couldn’t resist how amazing the food smelt!

The Kitchen arrives each week with a new menu, and up this week was jerk pork, jerk chicken, goat curry and a sweet potato curry.

I asked what was gluten free and was told everything except the goat curry, which has dumplings in. I was a little sad because I tried goat in Uganda and loved it, but the rest looked so amazing I was over it pretty quickly!

We decided to geta  regular portion of each of the jerk chicken, pork and sweet potato curry, which comes with rice and peas and salad.

When we were handed over the portions I couldn’t believe how generous they were – they were positively bursting! I think it was a severe case of ‘eyes bigger than stomach’ but at only £16 for these three meals it was an absolute bargain.

As Caribbean food just eminates sunshine, it was only right we ate it in the back garden and enjoyed it with some fruity smoothies!

The jerk chicken and pork were amazing – full of flavour! I preferred the pork, it’s one of my favourite meats and I don’t get to eat it as much as chicken, and it was so tender!

The sweet potato curry provided a bit of sauce to mop up with the rice, and it was sweet with a spicy kick. Again, I just couldn’t believe the flavour bursting from these dishes. I’ve always wanted to try Caribbean food and now I’m desperate to get my hands on a good cook book!

There’s something about it that just makes you feel warm inside – the fiery kick and the combination of flavours just makes this possibly the happiest food around.

The rice and peas were also delicious – though there was so much rice! We ended up eating about half of the rice and I think the three dishes could have easily stretched between four of us!

Finding Monty’s Caribbean Kitchen was definitely the best suprise of the night and the fact they are a small trailer hidden off the main road makes it even more of a treasure trove.

I can’t wait to get back down there in a few weeks and see what else they’re cooking – might be another blog post on the way when I do!

Monty’s Caribbean Kitchen also cater for parties – to find out more visit their website here.