There are a number of landmarks in this city, but none of them appear in the stretch of Washtenaw Avenue between Hewitt and Cornell. With basic polygonal buildings a certain height that adhere to a strict color code of gray and brown, the area has very little to draw your attention. While driving, distinct shapes of this landscape tend to run together, filling your car windows with a monochromatic blur on the way to campus or Depot Town.
It is the misfortune of G’s Caribbean Delights to occupy this section of road. Not only that, but it also sits between a liquor store and Lover’s Lane. The only thing is, most people don’t seem to linger long enough to get a bite after they buy their whiskey or dildos or whatever their preference. The general rule is to walk briskly to your car with your conspicuous purchase, making eye contact with no one.
It really is a shame they don’t stop in after chasing their vice, as this is a very good restaurant.
The interior of G’s Caribbean Delights is about as modest as the façade, but I urge the customer to have some faith. While the scant, Island-themed decorations might seem tacky at first, they foreshadow a real experience. Waves of balmy heat from a large blackened stove and the mysterious scents of meats mixed with vague spices erode all cynicism and transport the diner to the tropics. In no time I was bouncing along to the constant reggae and calypso music, taking eager bites of my food at the completion of each drum loop.
The food I was rhythmically munching on came at a reasonable price, as well. A small dinner, complete with choice of meat, rice, macaroni pie and fried plantains, came to $7.42. Some might feel suspicious at the modifier “small” before dinner. But I assure you, after eating one I was quite content and even a little sleepy.
Curried chicken was the first thing I tried when the dishes arrived at my table in white to-go trays. Despite the curry, the meat was not intolerably hot. The spices allowed a fresh juicy chicken to do most of the work, exerting their influence only later by filling the diner’s mouth with a mild, lingering burn.
This sensual tingle remained throughout the whole meal and added new layers of taste to everything that followed. The ghostly undertone of spice seemed intentional since most side dishes benefited greatly from its presence. It helped to cut the tart sweetness of fried plantains and added depth to the savory macaroni pie. The latter looks exactly as it sounds. In some engineering miracle, the macaroni is gathered up into a perfect cube shape while the faint outline of elbow pasta courses like marbling throughout.
A combination of sweet and spicy appears to be a central theme of this type of cooking, whether in an entire meal or a single dish. The jerk chicken represents both the Yin and Yang by itself. Its red, almost candy-like coating, is a lot less threatening than the brownish-green tinge of the curried counterpart, but be forewarned. An initial cinnamon flavor is followed closely by a very intense spice. Still, the preceding taste is good enough to draw me again and again into self-abuse, until the chicken is devoured.
All other items on the menu remain a mystery, since G’s did not have them in stock. It is a pity because many of the printed foods caught my interest. They had curried goat, which I was assured tastes just like lamb; oxtail soup; something called callaloo and mauby, a drink made from the bark of a small tree.
“We try to keep things like beef in stock, but by the end of the day…” co-owner Kim Carrington said as she shrugged. “We try to go with the flow.”
But the slight inconvenience came from a good place. Of primary importance is the freshness of the food, so keeping some of the more obscure options in a distant freezer to appease adventurous customers is out of the question.
One can still have his strange demands satisfied by calling in an order and allowing time for the restaurant to secure all the ingredients.
Though disappointed that my latest attempt to eat a goat had been foiled, the larger situation only added to the atmosphere. It was only appropriate that a Caribbean spot should take such a relaxed view toward business. But the easy-going attitude isn’t reckless or irresponsible; in fact, there is an amount of integrity to it. It is a refusal to profit off of the flash-frozen shortcuts that every other restaurant counts as common sense. They either serve the best they can manage or nothing at all.
