I was thinking the other day about all the restaurants I’ve visited across Europe – what haven’t I eaten yet? I’ll admit I couldn’t think of anything, but coming up with something I hadn’t written about instead was a little easier. Caribbean cuisine was one of those foods which I’ve eaten my fair share of while growing up and happily get my jerk fix from the not so glamorous New Covent Garden Market – they have a sort of car boot/market on every Sunday and some of the food is fabulous (although not for the health & safety conscious). That said when I got asked to come down to Cottons in Camden, I couldn’t have been happier – especially considering the place has been here for 30 years. Surely they must be doing something right? Inside décor wise it has two very distinct areas – the very lovely looking part (above) which is hidden downstairs at the back next to the kitchen, and the other part which if I’m honest looks a little cold and bland – I think it’s those dark brown floor tiles which really don’t do it for me.
Forgetting those brown tiles, the food here is actually very good and much to my surprise. I’ve no idea why, but although I saw some lovely looking dishes popping up on twitter, I still had my reservations about this place. Thankfully my first mouthful of the tempura tilapia fillets & king prawns sitting on a sauce of tamarind and guava was absolutely delicious. Albeit it didn’t really look spectacular but that batter was full of flavour and the fish and prawns were cooked so perfectly that everything remained juicy and soft – the tamarind guava concoction of a sauce was beautiful too. Even better still was another ordinary looking plate of barbecued chicken pieces smothered (quite literally) in a barbecue sauce and pineapple mango chilli salsa. The BBQ sauce was honestly mouth-watering, rich, deep and very smoky but with a lovely touch of sweetness. The chicken was most importantly very moist and each morsel really was a pleasure to eat. I love it when simple food tastes this good.
I was supposed to be on a diet when I visited Cottons, which as you can see didn’t really go to plan. Healthy is not part of Cottons vocabulary either. First up of our main courses was probably the less succesful of the two, but certainly by no means bad. Marinated grilled pork drenched in jerk barbecue sauce and served on a bed of root vegetables and side of rice ‘n’ peas. The meat was full on blackened and while it gave an absolutely gorgeous depth of smokiness, it also meant it became just a little bit dry. The jerk barbecue sauce was yet another stunner, with all those sweet flavours and spices tickling the back of my throat. A little better execution and this dish could be great – in fact I’ve no doubt it probably is nine times out of ten. Steak was a real winner here and again much to my surprise. A lovely well cooked piece of peppered rib eye steak with cassava fries, shoestring onion rings and thyme jus. I wasn’t a big fan of the casava fries (a little dry for me) but those shoestring onion rings – I had to officially end my diet there and then for these baby’s. Photo quality – I’ll apologise, but it was pretty dark downstairs and as always, the moment you sit down, the restaurant always dims the lights.
The dessert menu here wasn’t greatly unusual, but instead filled with simple dishes such as the Caribbean trifle laced with dark aged rum – though it turned out to be much more accomplished than it sounded. All the elements of a classic trifle were there, but accentuated (mainly with lots of rum) and given tons more flavour, making for a trifle I’d happily eat over the British variant any day.
Visiting Cottons on Jamaican Independence Day (did I not mention that) turned out to be a real treat too. Not only did we get to divulge is some rather good Caribbean food, but the band and wonderful vocalists upstairs made for an excellent vibe during or evening here. Cottons isn’t perhaps the best restaurant in London, but it probably is the best Caribbean restaurant in London – well as far as I’m aware of anyway. Would I come back? Yes I would – for a few cocktails, good piece of steak and a trifle to finish me off. It all represents very good value too.
7/10
I was invited to review
