Turtle Bay Cathedral Quarter Blackburn 13th July 2019

Turtle Bay is a Caribbean restaurant chain in the regenerated Cathedral Quarter, a stones throw from the railway station and five mins from the bus station.   The restaurant is light and bright inside, with plenty of colour and a great vibe for informal dining, with outside seating for the days when we are lucky to see some sunshine.

Turtle Bay offers a good selection of vegan options, from starters, salads, mains, lighter dishes like salads, sides and dessert.

I ordered Island pilsner labelled vegan on the menu, alongside many other vegan drinks, but such a shame there are no vegan wines on the list, this is something Turtle Bay need to change.

I chose supervital salad (not on the online menu) with sweet corn fritters for Steven and I loved the sauce collection on the table to add to dishes, the jerk sauce was scrumptious and fiery and just to my taste.

The salad looks simple, yet with a zingy lime dressing, crunchy pomegranate seeds, chick peas and creamy avocado, it was pretty spot on for me.   The sweetcorn fritters were a generous portion and Steven thought they were fabulous, especially drizzled with the assortment of sauces.

Mains were chickpea and callaloo curry and aubergine curry for Steven (although I forgot to take photos of his).   The curries are served in a big bowl with loads of steamed rice, with flatbread and were absolutely delicious.   The chickpea curry had scotch bonnet chillies in and is quite spicy, so not for the feint hearted and as much as I loved it failed to finish it all, though not for the want of trying.

Steven ordered chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream to finish and I had a pot of mint tea, the brownie was as it should be, sticky and gooey.

I would definitely revisit Turtle Bay, I was impressed with the quality of the food, the selection of vegan options and hope they continue to add to the vegan offerings.   Turtle Bay is perfect for impromptu dining out with friends and family, where you need a place catering for dietary requirements and their allergen information is also spot on.