St Mary’s Kitchen – restaurant review

The colours of the Jamaican flag painted on the outside of St Mary’s Kitchen are a welcome attention grabber as Cheltenham Road becomes Gloucester Road close to the arches.

Once inside, the theme continues. There is a brightly painted wall, adorned with Caribbean-themed artwork, and Mysterious Girl by Peter Andre on the stereo.

The clean, modern interior, with comfy leather sofas and trendy metallic lighting, seamlessly combines with the more traditional Jamaican touches.

The menu is simple but exciting, drawn onto a whiteboard in black marker pen, reminiscent of street food stalls. A selection of different meats, including chicken, lamb, oxtail, goat and fish, runs down the left-hand side with the option for a regular (£7.50) or large (£8.50) size depending on your appetite.

Each meal is also served with rice and peas, as well as the option to add festivals, plantain and coleslaw (£1 each).

St Mary’s Kitchen on Cheltenham Road is proudly run by a Jamaican-born mother and son team

As someone who grew up in a small, countryside town in the Midlands with a Jamaican stepdad, our Sunday lunch table stood out like a sore thumb among the more traditional British spreads.

Instead of roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and boiled sprouts, suitably smothered with a ladle full of thick meaty gravy, the fragrant smell of jerk and coconut escaping from the kitchen was enough to have us racing down the stairs to take our seats at the table, long before the customary ‘lunch is ready’ reverberated around the house.

Although I’m not Jamaican myself, I’m lucky to have been exposed to the culture’s traditional foods and cooking methods from a young age, and I like to think I know what a good plate of coconut steamed rice with soft, nutty peas and a juicy side of plantain tastes like.

The vegetable curry is vegan and packed full of flavour

During a visit to St Mary’s Kitchen in what used to be Convikt Cafe on a recent Tuesday evening, my companion and I decided on a large portion of the veggie curry each and a sharing plate of plantain and dumplings.

The restaurant is yet to start serving alcohol but the pineapple and ginger juice was an enticing substitute.

Both young men serving quickly arrive at the table with a carafe of water, ice and lemon, two tall glasses and a bottle of soft juice to share. It’s sweet, but counterbalanced by the spice of the ginger, which instantly reminds me of my stepdad’s favourite dark gingerbread cake.

Within 20 minutes, our food arrives. A generous portion of okra, butter beans, sweet potato, Pak Choi and spinach reaches the table first, followed by a deep bowl of rice and peas each, and mouth-watering sides.

Tangy, sweet and with a hint of cinnamon, the crispy dumplings are perfect to dip into the curry sauce. Fresh chillies swim in among the main attraction and although not incredibly spicy, there is the option to add a splash of chilli sauce, which is sat bottled on the table.

The flavours are beautifully balanced flavours and the curry sauce complements instead of engulfs the natural taste of the vegetables.

I mop up any stray sauce with a chunk of plantain, suitably crispy on the outside, with the sweet and soft inside perfectly paired with the creamy consistency of the sauce.

The pineapple and ginger juice is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy

There’s talk of dessert as they clear the table – with fresh cakes atop the exposed wooden counter – but with no vegan options, we kindly decline.

As I get up to pay, I hear one of the young men at the front shout: “Mum!” towards the kitchen, before reeling off the most recent order, and if the sense of family isn’t already clear, it certainly is now.

St Mary’s Kitchen serves authentic, traditional and delicious Caribbean food with a family-run vibe.

St Mary’s Kitchen, 212 Cheltenham Road, Bristol, BS6 5QU
0117 924 1684

www.st-marys-kitchen.business.site

Read more: Your Bristol Favourites: Caribbean food