We visited Ting Irie (Caribbean Food Restaurant) a couple of Fridays ago, and was pleasantly surprised........enjoyed the food, but not swept off our feet from the "Friday Brunch Option".
Myself and Mrs BTR were slightly confused by the Friday Brunch option, as we were informed you can pick "3 items from starter and 2 mains, and 2 from dessert" - we were thinking "Great, we can get 5 different dishes each and share between us".........what this actually meant was that we can get 5 dishes between us. HOWEVER, what was strange (but also good as we kept ordering) was that we could then keep ordering as many times of those 3 items - the Nachos, Mini Burger and Caribbean Shawarma.
The Mini Burger, Caribbean Shawarma and Nachos were all delicious. Nicely sized (Tapas sized) portions meaning we could share 3 dishes between us and also allowed us (well....me to be honest) to order an extra portion of the Nachos and Burgers. Meat was good quality, and the food was all very yummy. Verdict - Excellent start!!
For the main course options we opted for the Jerk Chicken, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Coleslaw and Coconut Rice. As stated at the start of this review - Ting Irie was good, but doesn't sweep you off your feet or scream for BTR to return urgently like some restaurants do in Dubai. The Jerk Chicken was well flavoured, but not the greatest of portion sizes, meaning I had to order another portion and wait for this to be prepared - slightly annoying!
Butter Milk Fried Chicken - I was excited for this dish and hoped it would demand I ordered more, but unfortunately it was quite greasy whilst eating and very picky to find meat that was worthy of eating. I did not order any extra of this dish.
The coleslaw and coconut rice were both very nice side dishes, and almost tip the starters as the best. The coconut rice was light, a full of flavour, whilst the coleslaw was fresh and not thick and overwhelmed with too much mayonnaise.
Desert - We had a Caribbean Funnel Cake (which was actually a deep fried doughnut - and very greasy at that) - which was a shame as the chocolate sauce that came with it was VERY yummy. Our other desert was a Chocolate brownie with Lotus Biscuit Sauce - which was actually VERY MOREISH!!!
Overall Verdict - Ting Irie is a pleasant enough bit of grub if your in the Downtown Dubai area, but doesn't send shockwaves into Dubai's very competitive restaurant market. Having eaten Caribbean Chicken from many outlets across London and at music festivals in the UK Ting Irie does not match up to the quality or flavour BTR has previously enjoyed.