Lately I’ve noticed a few new eateries popping up in the neighbourhood which pleases me greatly. With anything, we all have a tendency of becoming creatures of habit and be a little reticent about being adventurous with food. So why not support the lesser known restaurants and give them a try? Well this is what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks and thought I’d share!

Having Caribbean roots, I was most excited when my friend Dot called me up to say there was a new place on the Richmond Road selling Creole cuisine. No sooner had I put the phone down, Michael was sent off in the car to get us some tasters. Once home with the goods (apart from the dumplings he ordered which he left by accident because he was talking too much to the lovely lady who served him), we tucked into our meals of jerk chicken, curried chicken accompanied with rice and peas. It was so good but a word of warning, get there early as it runs out quick.

Then another night, we met up with a friend and had dinner at Poor Boys located in the former residence of Hands Music Shop (still sad that it had to close). This new restaurant was vibrant and fun and served the best chicken wings ever. It was difficult to choose what to eat but wasn’t a struggle was ordering a massive ice cream sundae to finish us off. My eyes were bigger than my tummy that evening so take my advice and pace yourself.

Finally, I need to mention Lallapolosa Baking Company on Bloomfield Road – a fantastic local bakery run by a husband and wife team which sells the most scrumptious breads and cakes. My favourite is either the carrot cake (as good as my own!) and the peanut butter brownie. Seriously, I’m a hard one to please when it comes to baking, but this place is brilliant and has a real local, community vibe whenever you walk in.

So, there you have it. You can thank me when you next see me!