Welcome to the Louisville Restaurants Forum, a civil place for the intelligent discussion of the local restaurant scene and just about any other topic related to food and drink in and around Louisville.
User avatar
User

Robin Garr

{ RANK }

Forum host

Posts

22984

Joined

Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:38 pm

Location

Crescent Hill

Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

by Robin Garr » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:39 am

Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

Caribbean Cafe’s cabrit et sauce: stewed goat with Creole seasonings.
Image

As autumn marches toward winter and colder weather wraps the region in its frigid embrace, thoughts of the sunny Caribbean dance in our heads like visions of sugar-plums and other happy things.

Mention the Caribbean, and chances are you’ll think of white-sand beaches, cruise ships, sun-tans, strong drinks served in coconut shells, and balmy relaxation. Tourism, after all, is the No. 1 economic driver for the region, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and the people of the 700 islands that make up the Caribbean archipelago are working to recover from the damage dealt by Hurricanes Irma and Maria this summer as quickly as they can. For Puerto Rico, Barbuda and a few others, sadly, that’s going to take a very long time.

While we wait, here’s good news: Caribbean restaurants are blossoming in the metro, so at least we can enjoy their bright, flavorful dishes without having to buy airline or cruise tickets. Here are three to put on your list: In the West End, Roof Top Grill (at 708 Louis Coleman Jr Drive, 785-4069) offers us a taste of Jamaica. Clarksville’s Naila’s Caribbean Cuisine (1370 Veterans Parkway, 725-0399) serves up pan-Caribbean fare with a touch of the immigrant flavors of India that light up the cuisine of Trinidad and other Caribbean nations. In Beechmont, please welcome Caribbean Cafe, a recent arrival that cooks up the food of Haiti with warm welcomes and friendly smiles.

I hope to get around to all three before long, but thought I’d catch up with Caribbean Cafe first, both because it’s Louisville’s first taste of Haitian food, and because of its inviting location on the lovable block of Woodlawn Avenue between South Third Street and Southern Parkway, which is surely one of Louisville’s most intriguingly diverse communities.

Caribbean Cafe’s good-size storefront room is painted in bold greens and yellows, with folk art on the wall and two flat-screen televisions, one usually turned to CNN with the volume up, another to soccer with the volume off. Pale-green tabletops and comfortable wooden chairs fill the room, and you place your order at a high counter at the back of the room.

The menu, by the way, is in English, with some additional information in Haitian Creole, which is close enough to French that with a bit of background en Français, you can generally figure it out. Not that there’s a need, as the helpful staff all speak American English.

Almost twenty main dishes come in generous portions and include abundant sides of fried plantains, rice and beans. ...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/carib ... vers-haiti

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly’s Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Caribbean Cafe
317 W. Woodlawn Ave.
434-7711
Facebook: http://bit.ly/CaribCafe-FB
Robin Garr’s rating: 85 points
no avatar
User

James Natsis

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1055

Joined

Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:34 pm

Re: Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

by James Natsis » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:48 am

Sounds pretty good. Its about time we got some Haitian food in town. I wish them well and hope to stop off sometime soon.
James J. Natsis
User avatar
User

Robin Garr

{ RANK }

Forum host

Posts

22984

Joined

Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:38 pm

Location

Crescent Hill

Re: Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

by Robin Garr » Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:29 pm

They're really exceptionally funny and hospitable folks. We enjoyed them and the food.
no avatar
User

Iggy C

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

558

Joined

Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:33 am

Re: Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

by Iggy C » Wed Nov 22, 2017 2:27 pm

I just heard about this place yesterday! Looking forward to trying it out this weekend. I’ve never had Haitian good before. That goat stew sounds good.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 31 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign