Restaurant review: Dublin's AA Caribbean is good food, made with love and passion

"A nation’s food can tell us so much about a place, and what makes me love Eamon’s food is how strange yet familiar it is..."

Sun, 13 Aug, 2023 - 12:59

Leslie Williams

AA Caribbean
Bow Lane Social, 17 Aungier Street, Dublin 2, D02 XF38
Tel: 014789489
Instagram: @AACaribbeanDublin
The Tab: A delicious dinner for two including a large shared main and several small plates, two desserts, cocktails, beers and wine cost €151

In preparing to write this review of the joyous Trinidadian food of Eamon de Freitas, I found myself re-reading sections of C.L.R. James’s beautiful memoir Beyond A Boundary.

James grew up in Trinidad and his book is supposed to be about Cricket (it is frequently called ‘the best book about cricket’), but it is mostly about life.

A nation’s sport and a nation’s food can tell us so much about a place, and what makes me love Eamon’s food is how strange yet familiar it is given its diverse list of Caribbean and Irish ingredients mixed with African, Indian, European and Amerindian influences.

Eamon was born in Trinidad to an Irish Mam and a Trinidadian Dad – she got to choose the names (his brothers are Colm and Killian).

His first venture was ‘The Window’ selling beef patties and jerk chicken to his neighbours during covid and in April 2022 he created the AA Caribbean food truck (AA stands for Auntie Ann, his Mam’s name), which was conveniently parked near my house for a while.

This summer he has been located in Bow Lane Social on Dublin’s Aungier Street but this residency will likely finish at the end of the summer so best to follow his Instagram @AACaribbeanDublin.

Bow Lane’s menu is split into small plates (‘Cutters’) and large ones and to stop me ordering the whole menu I asked Eamon to pick out some dishes for myself and the Physicist.

The BBQ grilled prawns were spanking fresh, sweet and spicy.

‘Pepper Shrimp’ (€12.50) was BBQ grilled prawns rubbed with garlic, ginger, sesame oil and chilli – spanking fresh, sweet and spicy, and so good we ordered two portions (next time I’m ordering the €25 ‘Bottomless Shrimp’ – all you can eat in an hour).

Next the ‘Beef Patty’ (or Jamaican Patty) – not a burger but a yeast-risen pastry pocket filled with utterly delicious minced spiced beef. Eamon’s are supremely crisp with a fiery, beefy, umami, spicy concoction inside – order two.

Later you should Google “Jamaican Patty Documentary” about the time Canadian food inspectors caused a diplomatic incident over this wondrous food.

The pastry for the Beef Patty is also used for the ‘Coco-Curry Chana’ Aloo Pie (€11), the crispy light dough filled with perfect nutty, creamy chickpea curry – there is also a prawn version.

Curry Crab Dumplings (€14) were doughy soft boiled dumplings filled with an Irish Crab ‘Gundy’ (paste) and served with a tangy lightly spiced curry sauce made from roasted prawn shell stock with ginger and coconut.

After some of this chilli heat you need some Pholourie (€6) on the side – split peas fritters/doughnuts served with a sweet green apple anchar chutney – the rich sweet-spiced chutney taking these simple fritters and making them transcendent.

Jerk Chicken Leg (€17) is ‘the working man’s dinner’ Eamon told us and we struggled to finish the generous portion.

Tender lightly spiced chicken, crisp Coleslaw, nutty fried Plantain and grilled pineapples – pineapple is served with every dish in Trinidad – and of course Rice and Beans, the staple food of all the cool parts of the Americas, from Brazil to New Orleans.

For drinks, there is “Bottomless Frozen Margarita (to go with your “Bottomless Shrimp”) but we wimped out given that it was only 6pm.

Instead, I had “Aaaamon’s Rum Punch” (€12.50) nicely balanced between sweet, sour and fruit flavours, while the Physicist’s “Tequila Me Softly” (€12.50) was a sort of jazzed Margarita with added spiced mango for a pleasing chilli kick.

The beer list is disappointingly conventional but pints of Lagunitas (€7.40) helped calm our palates pleasantly enough. The wine list is short but fairly priced starting at €28 – my glass of Ramon Bilbao Rioja for €9.50 (bottle price: €37) was as good as ever.

For dessert, my Peanut Ice-Cream (€5) tasted of fresh lightly roasted peanuts and was pleasingly creamy while the Pina Colada Ice-Cream Sando (€7.50) turned out to be ice-cream in patty pastry but with a pleasing tropical citrus cut.

I can’t recommend AA Caribbean enough, food made with passion and skill but also with love, a lot of love.

The Verdict: