Carib Vibes, Cardiff city centre Caribbean bar and restaurant review

When is a Wetherspoons pub not a Wetherspoons pub? 

When it's become a Caribbean bar and jerk grill. 

Located in The Crockerton on Greyfriars Road in Cardiff city centre, I reckon the interior of Carib Vibes must have hardly changed since its previous guise as a Wetherspoons pub. Because, well, it still looks exactly like a cavernous Wetherspoons pub.

There wasn't much of a vibe at 6pm on the Wednesday evening we visited. In fact, we were pretty much the only people in the place apart from someone watching Coronation Street reruns on their mobile phone. But, I bet it’s absolutely bouncing at 2am on a Friday night when they have one of their regular Dancehall, Reggae and R&B events.

Carib Vibes serves a range of Caribbean classics, including curry goat, brown stew chicken and ackee and saltfish. On the day we visited there were no wings or plantain available – a shame as we’d probably have ordered both.

To go alongside the Caribbean cooking, there’s a tasty sounding selection of cocktails. Mrs G enjoyed a totally tropical Pum Pum Rock (£8), a fruity and coconutty mix of vodka, Malibu, dark rum, triple sec, pineapple and cranberry. I swigged a pint of malty and slightly sweet Red Stripe.

To start, Stamp and Go (£4.95) were beautifully crisp, golden and grease free. The lightly chewy dumplings were well spiced and flecked with flakes of salt cod. The friendly member of front of house was aggrieved that the chef hadn’t cooked him some too… shortly after he gleefully re-emerged from the kitchen with his own bowlful.

Onto the mains, and tender, fat-rich pieces of oxtail (£15.99) fell off the bone with ease and were bathed in a meaty, warming spiced gravy alongside soft butterbeans. But, there wasn't that much meat once Mrs G had picked through the bones. The dish was accompanied by lovely coconut fragranced rice and peas and a slightly odd mango slaw, which was more like shredded cabbage topped with mango chutney.

Jerk chicken (£15.99) was served with the same accompaniments. The commendably tender pieces of bone in chicken thigh and leg were coated in an aromatic jerk-spiced gravy. Whilst it lacked the lick of barbecue smoke and fiery chilli heat that I was expecting, it was still a very tasty dish.

Overall, we had an enjoyable dinner at Carib Vibes and the front of house staff were super friendly. If you’re looking for Caribbean vibes in Cardiff city centre then it’s worth considering.

The Details:

Address - Carib Vibes Bar & Jerk Grill, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff CF10 3AD

Web - https://www.caribvibesbar.com/menu

Telephone - 029 2252 0413