Caribbay Soul

An octet of us booked a 6pm to try the Caribbean & Southern fusion place located at 35 North Front Street in downtown Wilmington. I had a hankering for this place ever since I walked by and noticed they had fried chicken and waffles. OK, to be honest the hankering started when I watched Throw Down with Bobby Flay on the Food Network when he did a cook off of this item with an old skool cook from Harlem.

Anyway, while my group thought and pondered, I knew what I wanted. So I just took in the atmosphere. The place is pretty groovy. The musicians at the front door really add to the vibe and make me think I am am in a hipper place where street musicians are viewed as adding cultural to a town. Anyway, I digress. The place does have that laid back, island feel. Our waiter, although not exactly prompt, was good and had the accent as if he was from the Caribbean.

I was rather dissappointed with the fried chicken and waffles. On the television, this looked like an amazing treat for my uncultured palatte. I was expecting greatness...or maybe I was expecting a little wow. The dish has the Southern twist so instead of a big hank of fried chicken, the dish is served with fried chicken wings. I was OK with that part. But the wings were barely palatable. They had almost no taste and one almost tasted, dare I say, a little rank. Ouch. The waffle tasted as if it was out of a box. Nothing special there. The 'real' maple syrup did not taste real at all. Failure on all three parts did not make me a happy camper.

Now with that said, my mates loved their food. They got dishes like Jerk Chicken which were just a popping flavor. Very tasty and very flavourful. The rest of the crew just ranted about their meals.

Since it was 7 good eating experiences to my 1 bad, I will have to give this place another try. Someday.