234-04 Merrick Blvd,Queens,California
4 (1517)
Reviews
This was an amazing spot. The food is phenomenal, and I mean phenomenal!!! It was not a party atmosphere as we'd usually like, but it may have been early when we arrived. But the service is ON Point. Great service, amazingly strong drinks, and the food is beyond amazing. We will definitely be returning.
You only get one chance at a first impression, and disappointed doesn’t begin to describe the impression Caribbean Soul left. My sister made a reservation on 9/4/2023 to use their private dining room for her 30th birthday on 10/8/2023 at 8pm for a group of 17 people. The issues with this place began even before we got there. On 10/2/2023, less than a week before the dinner, she was contacted and told that there was a “scheduling error”, and they would have to move our reservation from 8pm to 9:30pm in order to accommodate another group. They already had our money, of course, and given that we didn’t have enough time to find an alternative spot, we obliged. Things only went downhill once we actually got there. Management allowed the previous party to run past their end time so that, when we arrived at 9:30, our decorator was still setting up which created a delay. The room itself is nice enough. It’s clean and had a private bathroom for our use, but the utensils were comical. We had plastic plates with plastic forks and plastic knives. For a sit-down dinner with a bill exceeding $1700, plastic utensils are unacceptable. Because of the delay, there was also a long wait to get the food. The two staff members assigned to our party were also assigned to food prep, so there was little if any interaction with them because they were often in the kitchen, and by kitchen I mean the small room you can see on your way to the bathroom where Chef Mike (the microwave) dutifully reheated our dishes. The lack of any dedicated waiter/waitress is baffling. The food was served family style, and on the plus side the portions were quite large. On the negative side the quality was all over the place. For appetizers we were served jerk wings, bang bang shrimp, mac & cheese and lollipop lamb chops. The shrimp was well seasoned and came with a delicious sweet/spicy sauce, the wings were okay but Chef Mike didn’t heat them up well. The mac & cheese had what seemed to be Kraft’s three cheese blend on the top. Since this doesn’t melt well, it gave you the ability to feel each individual strand of cold un-melted cheese which was nice (it was not). The lollipop lamb chops were awful – saucy but bland, with a taste that can only be described as “old.” I also had to remind the staff that we didn’t have anything to drink, but 30 minutes into eating our appetizers they were generous enough to bring out some water. For entrées we were served their red wine braised oxtail, Portland jerk chicken and chicken soul pasta (basically rasta pasta) with sides of white rice, rice and peas, steamed vegetables and plantains. Chef Mike did a great job with the rice and peas, and white rice. The jerk chicken and oxtail were actually okay but again not evenly heated. Huge portions like this do not do well in a microwave, I feel like this should be obvious to a restaurant. The chicken soul pasta was overcooked too soft, and the sauce was bland. Also, given the delays, we received our entrées well past 11pm, at which point we were asking for to-go boxes. “Fancy” Caribbean restaurants like Caribbean Soul are few and far between, but if their feeling is that they can skimp on quality because our choices are already slim then that’s a shame. I spent less at Ruth’s Chris for a similar party size, had a dedicated waiter (who wasn’t pulling double duty in the kitchen), with freshly made dishes that tasted amazing. Do better.
We had our supervisor's surprise, Farwell dinner party there, and OMG from the start to finish they exceeded my expectations. The ambiance of the place was cozy and so inviting. The food was amazingly delicious. I didn't try the drinks, but the rest of the party had the rum punch, and they said it was good. The service was great. I can't say anything negative about this place. Also, a lot of photo ops to capture your moment. I totally forgot to take pictures of the food, but this is what we had for the appetizers , we had the pine jerk wings & lollipop lamb chop with fried plantains Our Entrees were red wine braised oxtail & pineapple salmon , peas and rice with steamed vegetables. Everything was delicious
I just watch my whole review got deleted lol. Anyways this would have gotten 5 stars if the food was good but I can’t say it was. We didn’t like our food very much. However, the waitress, ambiance, and drinks was very very good. We would definitely go back but not for the food. Most like it would be for the ambience and the drinks.
Called the day before to make reservations and inquire about the Father's Day menu. The employee was not very informative. She did not mention that the full menu was not in effect. She just stated that they would not be having brunch. I was turned off by her stating you must zelle $20 per person for a reservation of nine. I explained that I wanted an early seating of 12 noon, and she replied that we open at noon and don't take reservations until 12:30. After giving it thought, I said ok, I would like to reserve. I provided my name and number, and she agreed to send a link with zelle information, which I never received. I called back to inquire if that money was deducted from my bill at the end. The response was unclear. When we arrived, there was no reservation or name. Thankfully, there was plenty of seating. We all arrived on time. Our order was taken, and our food did not come until approximately 150 pm, and we ordered appetizers. I don't recommend the codfish fritters they are all dough and were undercooked. The food was tasty, but after the wait, my appetite was lost. We sat in the rooftop area, which was hot and has no view. We asked if the heat was on only because of a noise coming from an exhaust. Not to mention, I said 9 they set the table for 8. This was my first time. I may try again on a non holiday to compare food and service. If you read to the end, please like my comment.