A Review of the Turtle Bay Vegan 2017 Christmas Menu

When it comes to Christmas dinners, vegans often draw the short straw and end up with very limited options or nothing at all. Although veganism is on the rise in the UK and more restaurants are doing their part to keep up with the trend, the traditional Christmas dinner is still one meal that many restaurants haven't found alternatives for. Turtle Bay has always been one of my favourite restaurant chains - their interiors are vibrant and welcoming,  the atmosphere is always fantastic and their menu is perfect for those with dietary requests.  With this all in mind, I was incredibly happy to see not just one, but several vegan options on the new Turtle Bay Christmas menu and even more delighted when I was asked if I wanted to try it out.

For those who are not familiar with the brand, Turtle Bay is a Caribbean restaurant chain with over 40 restaurants nationwide. Their menu is inspired by flavours found on the Caribbean islands, featuring a plethora of jerk and coconut based options. During the summer, the Turtle Bay menu had a vegetarian and vegan revamp, adding several new dishes to their existing menu and this has followed through to Christmas menu, which features two vegan starters, two vegan mains and a vegan dessert.

There are three options for the Turtle Bay Christmas menu, a three-course lunch meal priced at £15, a four-course all-day menu at £25 or a platter menu priced at £9. The menu consists of a few Turtle Bay classics such as sweet corn fritters and flatbreads but also has a few new Christmas inspired options such as the 'Trini Spiced Chickpea curry'.

For my starter,  I decided to have the sweetcorn fritters which is one of my favourite dishes at Turtle Bay. The sweetcorn fritters are lightly battered, soft in the centre and the outer layer has a delicate crunch. The dish is served with a West Indian sauce and pickled onion and herb salad which adds a wonderful tangy flavour to the dish. My husband opted for the other vegan option, the  'Trini Doubles' which consisted of two 'puffed up' roti flatbreads topped with curried chickpeas and a cucumber and mango chutney.

There were two vegan options for the main course, which was lovely to see. I decided to try the new 'Trini Spiced Chickpea Curry' and my husband went for the 'Spinach, Aubergine and Sweet Potato Curry'. The chickpea curry was really well seasoned and quite spicy, whereas the spinach and aubergine curry was more fragrant. Both dishes were incredibly filling and left us struggling for the room for dessert.

  

Although we felt rather full, we decided it was dessert was too tempting to pass up. We initially ordered the dairy-free ice-cream which is listed as the only vegan option on the dessert menu, but they had run out. The chef, however, told us that without the ice-cream the brownie is in fact vegan, which was a fantastic surprise and we ended up ordering that instead. The brownie was soft in the centre, gooey and everything that a brownie should be. It was delightfully rich, but not overpowering and was the perfect way to end our meal. My only complaint is that the brownie isn't listed as vegan on the original menu - I'm sure a lot of vegans like myself would be ecstatic to see that they are able to order it.

Overall I was really impressed with the Turtle Bay Christmas menu, not only for their fantastic food but the fact that they have made an effort to please a variety of dietary requests including gluten-free, at what is possibly the hardest time of the year to find free-from alternatives. Turtle Bay still remains one of my favourite high-street chains and I'm pleased that I will be able to head there for my Christmas celebrations too.

Have you dined at Turtle Bay before?

*This meal was complimentary, but all views are my own.