Sue's Place ,The Caribbean Calypso in Bangalore

Cricket in the Caribbean is more than just a game, it is calypso, conch shells, conga, catches, collapso and clichés that gets fans over the boundary. The West Indies started the Calypso party by registering an emphatic win over Pakistan. The Indian calypso fuelled by a multitude of television channels and media houses turned into a collapso for the Boys in Blue in the match against Bangladesh.

But I won’t do a minute-by-minute tracking of the collapso collapse action first and then the huge win against Bermuda, which was tailor made to regain the lost confidence. Rather take you to an oasis of culinary diversity from the Caribbean islands right here in Bangalore. If you are visiting or living in Bangalore, you must try this place: Sue's Food Place, incase you have not done that.

It's a simple Caribbean restaurant located in Indiranagar much like a bistro in Paris that run the gamut from unpretentious neighborhood joints to the smart ones managed by super chefs. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, a bit homely to put it straight. The walls are decorated with Caribbean memorabilia and Caribbean music genre, reggae history, t-shirts and colorful headgears from the islands.

The owner, Susan John called Sue is from West Indies and has set up this little cozy nook that you must experience sometime. Quite a popular joint, it was packed when we went for lunch and even saw a good crowd from the Caribbean right here in Bangalore for a weekend lunch. Apparently, it's a must visit for the West Indian cricketers, diplomats and business people from the island when they are visiting India. Apart from the regular Banglorites, the small community of Trinidadians who have settled in this city frequent this place.

Though the buffet lunch was priced at a reasonable rate of Rs 225 per head, we were treated to a delicious spread of about six to seven salads. To name a few there was egg mayonnaise mixed with capsicum, chicken salad, pan fried broccoli, beans and carrot, picnic potato salad, etc. There was soup, which was mouth watering, but I learned about it when I was halfway through the main course and felt kind of upset ;)

For the main course for the curries, there was crab curry, mushroom and corn curry, delicious fish cutlets, roasted chicken, Trinidad chicken curry and a yummy vegetable baked dish, among other stuff. In the post-slavery era, Indian cooking culture was introduced in Caribbean food recipes and still remains an active part of the Caribbean cuisine. You can realize this, once you have tasted the food as most of the curry powder recipes tastes are directly derived from original Indian cuisine. Like for Indians, rice is a staple item in the Caribbean menu. But since, flavors from all over the world have found a home in Caribbean food through countless generations and the flow of history, I even found two other allotropic versions of rice items. There were lots more, for sure but I didn’t have the appetite for more after two servings of crab curry. There was light music in the background ranging from native West Indian music to reggae hits but Bob Marley remained staple.

Everything on the island is like a fiesta and there is confusion and fun and it is clearly reflected in the warm environment of the restaurant where one won't be surprised to see small kids just run around here and there and be picked up suddenly by Sue and then cuddled and pampered while the parents ate their food. Sue either cooks or co-ordinates the preparation for all the food and has a vivacious personality. She is more than willing to explain the ingredients and how the food is prepared as I saw many guests asking her about the preparation methodology for few of the items.

No liquor is served, but they have some exotic sounding drinks, which I didn't try. I was happy with my normal water, though people at the neighboring tables were trying out some interesting custom made drinks. The cooking was just fine but it was the savoring that the crowd was enjoying the most.

Treat yourself with the rum cake, pudding and the fruit salad to complete the final lap.

Some call it minimalist food art, others see it as tweaked nouvelle cuisine. Whatever, Sue’s passion for fine cuisine, peppered with some peppy music makes it worth another visit anytime.

Those who want to try this place, the address is
Sue’s Food Place,
#4, Subadar Garden, Sri Krishna Temple Road,
Indiranagar, Bangalore – 560038

Till then Bon Appetite.

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