This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to London
My life has been a constant overlap of British and Caribbean cultures — and their cuisines. My grandparents are from Grenada, Trinidad and St Vincent and the Grenadines, and they filled our family home in west London with aromas of bay leaves, sorrel and crispy baked chicken. No Sunday dinner was complete without a square of my grandmother’s Trinidadian macaroni pie.
Ever since the Windrush era, the Caribbean’s complex combinations of freshly ground herbs and lively spices have influenced the British approach to food. While the two cuisines were once at odds, over the past 75 years their conventions have converged, birthing new fusions.
Nowhere is this more evident than in west London over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Every year, about two million people line the streets for Notting Hill Carnival. Participants play Mas in vibrant bedazzled and feathered costumes, parading on floats and waving their multicoloured island flags high. One of the world’s biggest street festivals cannot run without fuel, and more than 300 vendors serve up flavoursome delights. But the city is also a constant source of new and ambitious Caribbean cuisine, as exemplified in these five restaurants.
Bokit’la (Oval)
Oval Farmers Market, St Mark’s Church, 337 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4PW (plus locations in Hammersmith and Alexandra Palace)
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Prices: From £5
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Opening times: Wednesday, 11am–3pm; Thursday–Friday, 11am–9pm; Saturday, 10am–3pm
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FYI: Cash is still king here; while contactless machines are available, bring some notes to avoid tech-induced delays
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Website; Directions
Guadeloupe rarely gets a look-in when discussing London’s Caribbean food landscape. But the small easterly French island and its national dish of bokit — a fried sandwich made with dough — are slowly making their way into the capital’s culinary consciousness. This is much to the credit of Bokit’la, the city’s first French Caribbean street-food vendor, which was founded by brothers Thierry and Nico Baptiste in 2011.
The family-run food truck is stationed for most of the week at the farmer’s market opposite Oval station, but also heads to Hammersmith on Thursdays and north to Alexandra Palace on Sundays. “The positive response from customers has given us the fire to keep going,” says Nico. “People have tried Bokit’la and later travelled to Guadeloupe to learn more about our culture.”
The menu is straightforward: bokits are available in three sizes, stuffed with either chicken, salt fish or aubergine. Its bowl version has the same ingredients sans the glutinous shell. While Nico says there’s a clear bestseller — “the chicken bokit, especially with avocado and plantain as part of the meal deal” — there’s only one option for me: the dried and salt-cured white fish that reminds me of weekends at my grandparents’ home. The team also makes its own tropical fruit punch and tangy chilli sauces. Be warned: even the tame ones have a kick.
Fenchurch Restaurant (City of London)
Level 37, Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF
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Prices: Mains from £37; cocktail pairing, £65
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Opening times: Tuesday, 5–9pm; Wednesday–Sunday, 12.30pm–2.30pm and 5pm-9pm
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FYI: Don’t miss the Fish Tea, a demitasse serving of spicy fish trimmings with fiery fennel seeds and star anise
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Website; Directions
On the 37th floor of the City’s Walkie Talkie skyscraper, on a mezzanine of the glass-domed Sky Garden, award-winning chef Kerth Gumbs has brought a taste of his native Anguilla to Fenchurch Restaurant. Since 2022, he has blended British ingredients with island-inspired staples. “Using humble ingredients from my childhood, I express my passion for creating fine-dining Caribbean cuisine in an effort to challenge perceptions and introduce new techniques into traditional dishes,” says Gumbs.
His nine-course tasting menu features sweet-potato milk bread that is reminiscent of brioche, salt fish in a Scotch bonnet emulsion and plates of sunset-coloured heirloom tomatoes. “I aim to breathe new life into the memories of food I grew up eating by highlighting Anguillan flavours in subtle ways and allowing guests to be transported to a place they may have never been before,” he adds. And he’s done just that. Both the jerk salmon ceviche, with an onion and yuzu ponzu, and the barbecued quail took me to the palm-tree-lined beaches of Anguilla. Every bite was a faultless combination of dancing spices. I also recommend the cocktail pairings; the standout was the Bush Tea, a punchy mix of Beefeater 24 Gin, green Chartreuse and bubbling lemongrass foam.
The sweetener: an ice-cold, rum-infused gummy bear, served alongside refreshing soursop lollies. This is only the pre-dessert, promptly followed by a sumptuous sweet potato, caramelised white chocolate and coconut cake, plus salted milk ice cream and a warming coffee cognac, leaving me full (but not heavy), and deeply satisfied.
Buster Mantis (Deptford)
3-4 Resolution Way, London SE8 4NT
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Prices: Mains from £7.50
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Opening times: Wednesday–Thursday, 6pm-11.30pm; Friday, 6pm–1.30am; Saturday, 5pm–1.30am; Sunday, 1.30pm–6pm
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FYI: Sundays are reserved for roasts. If you’re looking to try the main menu, visit on another day
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Website; Directions
Named after Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica’s first prime minister, Buster Mantis is an industrial yet elegant hideout under two railway arches opposite Deptford train station. Opened in 2015, the restaurant is the originator of the city’s Jamaican roast dinner, which owner Gordan McGowan considers to be “the perfect marriage of my Jamaican heritage and London upbringing”.
Expect sizeable portions of chicken, lamb, pork belly and the vegan pumpkin-stuffed cho cho, served with seasonal vegetables, rice and peas, a large and fluffy Yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes and gravy. “We’ve seen many imitators now offering their own take on the Jamaican-British Sunday roast,” McGowan adds. “It’s flattering, but we still think ours is the best.”
The main menu, meanwhile, boasts throat-warming pepper shrimps, salmon and crab cakes with pineapple salsa, and oxtail croquettes. To enhance the experience, I opted for a homemade rum punch, packed with Wray and Nephew, pineapple and ginger.
Fish, Wings & Tings (Brixton)
Granville Arcade, unit three, brixton village, Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8PR
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Prices: Small plates from £5; big plates from £14.50
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Opening times: Sunday–Tuesday, noon-9pm; Wednesday–Saturday, noon–10.30pm
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FYI: If spaces are scarce, take a seat over at Veg & Tings, which is owned by the same family and allows customers to order from both the meat or vegan menus Their third restaurant, Danclair’s Kitchen, is also in Brixton Village
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Website; Directions
Brixton is a well-established hub for British-Caribbean communities, selling tropical produce at its markets and offering a variety of island-inspired restaurants. This reputation plays a large part in why Trinidadian restaurateur Brian Danclair established his first eatery, Fish, Wings & Tings, in the Brixton Village arcade 12 years ago. “Brixton is part of me,” he says. “It’s the perfect spot for the restaurant I envisioned many years ago. It’s got the energy.”
The menu has all the essentials, known as “big tings”: jerk chicken slathered in tamarind barbecue sauce; curry mutton with rice and peas and a dollop of sticky mango, pineapple and ginger chutney; and creole fish stew. I went for the coconut curry prawns. The sauce was thin yet flavoursome, but my serving of five small prawns was unsatisfying for a main meal. However, they were meaty and fresh, and the accompanying coleslaw was a delight: a less creamy take on the mayonnaise-drenched side dish, with red cabbage and carrots.
Of the “small tings”, “our codfish fritters have always been a favourite”, says Danclair. “People say they’re like a high-five from Jesus.”
Jam Delish (Islington)
1 Tolpuddle Street, London N1 0XT
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Prices: Small plates from £9.95; mains from £18; eight-course set menu, £36
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Opening times: Tuesday–Friday, 5pm–11pm; Saturday, noon–11pm; Sunday, noon–8.30pm
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FYI: Arrive early or make a reservation, as most tables fill up less than an hour after opening
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Website; Directions
Angel in Islington has reliably great eateries aplenty. One you may not know about, however, is Jam Delish — a vegan Caribbean restaurant just off the main drag of Upper Street. It was launched in 2020 by siblings Jordan and Chyna Johnson as a series of pop-ups, and this is their first permanent venue, combining “our love of plant-based food with our Caribbean roots”.
Veganism is common in the Caribbean, and Jam Delish attests to the power of it done right. The extensive menu includes nibbles, small and big plates, and desserts. The succulent jerk pepper aubergine zings with homemade aioli, while the plantain fries are dressed in a barbecue jerk sauce and garnished with pomegranate seeds, spring onion and pimento. The big plates are generous and sing with freshness. The chargrilled “chicken” skewers look and taste like the real deal, accompanied with saffron rice, and washed down with a can of ginger beer.
To finish, the choices range from rich, warm banana cake, topped with crisp caramelised banana slices, to chocolate pimento festivals — sweet and starchy deep-fried dumplings.
Where in your opinion does the best Caribbean food in London? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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