What can you tell us about The Rum Kitchen?
It’s a Caribbean kitchen and rum bar in Notting Hill. The head chef Nickie McLeod launched and ran the kitchen at the well-known Cotton’s restaurant in Camden previously. Food is served up in ‘beach shack’ surroundings created by the graphic design teams I LOVE DUST and 44th Hill who have also jazzed up the interiors of Meat Liquor and Ping.
DJ Fast from The Fun Lovin' Criminals and Reggae collective ‘Reggae Roast’ have been hired to create the music play lists and you might even catch them spinning tunes in the downstairs nightclub on occasion. On a Monday night we dined to the chilled out sounds of The Harder They Come soundtrack and Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Who's it suitable for?
First and foremost rum lovers, and anyone wanting a colourful meal in ‘pick me up’ surroundings. It’s an inviting place and we’re sure all ages are welcome although we expect this will appeal largely to a younger crowd. If you’re into your music, you like cocktails and fruity, flavoursome cooking then this is a place for you.
Where should I meet for a drink first?
The Pelican pub on the corner of All Saints Road is a well to do boozer or it’s a two-minute walk to Portobello Road where you can take your pick from hotspots like Electric Diner and Trailer Happiness. Or you can meet at The Rum Kitchen bar and start working your way through the extensive rum collection made up of over 100 West Indian varietals and a cocktail list you won’t find anywhere else.
And where should I sit?
Choose one of the booth seats at the back of the restaurant if you want to look out onto the restaurant action. During summer, the seats by the open windows will catch the summer breeze, and the separate bar area with stools is the place to perch if you just want to sup some rum.
Is bread included?
No but this isn’t really the cuisine to have bread with. If you feel like you need to fill your plate up, you can order a side of rice ‘n’ peas.
And what should we order?
To start we tried saltfish fritters with chilli jam and grilled lime (£8.50), which were good but very dense. We also sampled some jerk chicken skewers (£7), which were covered in a lightly spiced seasoning. The starters were served up with a brilliant homemade swamp (pepper) sauce, which was fiery as hell and added a powerful punch to both dishes.
Over on the mains, “Spiced Up Chicken Supreme” comes with yam bubble ‘n’ squeak, chill butter and jerk gravy and other classics include seafood Gumbo and mutton curry. We had jerk lamb cutlets with guava sauce and island veg (£16.50). The lamb was tasty and so was the sauce but we found the yam accompaniment a bit tasteless. Our pan-fried sea bass with butternut sofrito (£15.50) was a nice light dish with sweet, soft complementary flavours.
To finish, we shared a caramelised banana pudding with butterscotch sauce (£6). This was more like a heavy banana cake. It’s hard to find fault in butterscotch sauce but the cake itself would have been unexciting without it.
The Rum Kitchen will also be serving up brunch. The cheery sounding menu includes pulled pork sandwich, honey and coconut with toasted muesli and banana yogurt, a Caribbean take on the fry up, and their version of a Bloody Mary using jerk seasoning and rum instead of vodka.
What about drinks?
The cocktail list is entirely rum based. Choose the sherbet blue coloured Sharman Cox daiquiri if you want to get noticed; the Rumbustion is their take on a classic pina colada; and the Rattle Skull Punch which was served up in an enamel cup with lashings of fresh mint goes down a little too well.
You can also get other spirits with mixers or wine and champagne starting at £19 for a bottle of house white or red and £29.50 for a bottle of prosecco.
Overall thoughts?
Overall, this is a jolly place to meet up with some mates for a meal and drinks. It’s worth travelling to sample the extensive rum collection and some of the good time Caribbean vibes. They apparently have plans to start bottling and selling the pepper sauce and if that happens we’d definitely cross town to get our hands on a bottle. We hope it’s a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
The Rum Kitchen- 6-8 All Saints Road, London W11 1HH. 020 7920 6479. Find out more about The Rum Kitchen
Written by Jo Aspin - follow Jo Aspin on @ilovechilli and on her blog.
Prices were correct at time of writing. Hot Dinners were invited to eat at Rum Kitchen.
