A taste of the Caribbean in Huddersfield

Discovery Bay is a small locally owned restaurant that brings a taste of the Caribbean to the backstreets of Huddersfield. The restaurant enjoys a secluded location at 12 Wood Street in the centre of Huddersfield, next to Coffee Evolution, and is surrounded by plenty of on-street parking which is free after 6:00 pm.

We arrived at the restaurant at 7pm and it was already quite busy with half the dozen or so tables occupied by people already enjoying their meals. We were greeted by the very pleasant staff who invited us to the upper mezzanine bar area at the rear of the restaurant, with comfortable leather sofas, where we enjoyed a drink whilst choosing from the menu which included a wide range of traditional food including curried goat, jerk chicken, fish and vegetarian options.

Prices are very reasonable already but between Monday and Thursday they offer a midweek special where you can order two courses for £9.95 or three courses for £12.95 from a subset of the main menu. However, we must have caught them on a bad night because they had already run out of goat meat and fish for the main meals, which severely limited the choices under the midweek special if you wanted anything other than chicken or vegetarian dishes.

Debbie chose chicken wings to start, followed by vegetable curry, both from the midweek special. Andrew chose ackee and saltfish followed by oxtail, both from the main menu. However, the waitress did offer a reduced price to account for the limited choice that evening, which was a reasonable gesture under the circumstances.

The chicken wings were coated in delicious spices and set the tone for the spicy vegetable curry to follow which was served with a side salad and generous helping of rice and peas. The ackee & saltfish was a tasty mix of salted cod, sautéed sweet peppers and blue mountain herbs and was served with a fantastic little dumpling. The oxtail was served on the bone and also came with rice & peas and a side salad and, whilst there wasn’t much meat content, the meat was very succulent and full of flavour.

Both meals were filling, though, and so we decided that we would share a dessert, choosing the ginger and lime cheesecake, which turned out to be the pièce de la resistance of the whole meal. We thought that we had tasted the best cheesecake ever from Junior’s in New York’s Grand Central Station but this was every bit as good and very quickly left the plate.

The restaurant is fine for able bodied diners but, because it is situated on three levels, may not be ideal for the disabled visitor because the bar area is on an upper mezzanine accessible via steep stairs and the toilets are in the basement down another steep flight of stairs.

Discovery Bay opened in 2006 to rave reviews and, whilst the food is excellent, the décor is starting to look a little tired and the ambience, which is helped by a good soul soundtrack, could be described as being a tad on the gloomy side. So, if you’re looking for a cosy romantic venue for two, Discovery Bay might not be for you, but if you’re looking for excellent food in a relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere then it definitely is!

Discovery Bay, 12 Wood Street, Huddersfield. Telephone 01484 300211
Open: Tue – Sat 5:30pm – 11:00pm; Fri Lunch 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm
Offers: Midweek Special Tue – Thu 5:30 to 7:30 pm; 2 courses £9.95 or 3 courses £12.95

Visit their website: www.discoverybayuk.com

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