The Time I Was a Plus One.

Antillean, fine dining Pan-Caribbean Restaurant & Bar located near Southwark Underground and Waterloo in London from Chef Michael Hanbury.

Plus 1 Has All the Fun

It might not be wise to say this, but I think the ‘plus 1’ has all the fun. Follow me on this, your friend (A London Story in my case) gets an invitation to try a fabulous new London restaurant in exchange for a social media review. The deal is, they have to photograph the restaurant, food, and drinks all while taking notes on the ingredients, cooking methods, chef’s cv, and more, but the ‘plus 1’ gets to show up and……. eat.

Easting is exactly what I did at Antillean, the Pan-Caribbean fine-dinning restaurant a stone’s throw from Southwark Underground Station.

The brain child of chef Michael Hanbury, Antillean’s menu takes inspiration from the French, African, Spanish, Indian, Dutch, and Chinese influences of the Caribbean. You’d think that would make for a confusing mix but it all moves so seamlessly from start to finish that it all makes sense.

A_London_story and I were offered the Signature Menu, which is a six course set menu for £65 per person and includes a glass of Champagne. We started with an amuse bouche of Sardines on toast with chilli mayo & herb-lime vinaigrette followed by the raw course featuring mojito cured grouper.

The third course was a trio of sharing plates, mackerel esovitch with julienne pickled vegetables, chicken skewers with tomato and mango salsa, and the most amazing grilled octopus with mango, cucumber, mint, and a gorgeous scotch bonnet emulsion. Each dish was delicious but the octopus - slow simmered for 4 hours, marinated then grilled - was outstanding. After the small plates, he had the perfect palette cleansing sorbet while we waiting for our trio of large plates.

The trio of large plates are full size servings of three popular menu items - flying fish with cou-cou, and plantain sofrito, braised Oxtail on sweet potato puree with au jus, and roast Achiote tamarind chicken with an amazing Antillean BBQ sauce & a serving of peas & rice. Lastly, but certainly not least, was dessert - two scoops of Guinness punch ice cream, plantain tarte tatin with rum macerated raisins, island chocolate tart garnished with passionfruit and mango, and carrot cake with pineapple. Everything, EVERYTHING, was delicious and served by a very friendly staff.

The Signature Menu has an optional rum pairing for an additional £40 which makes for an amazing dining experience with friends.