The space restrictions of this issue of the Faculty Voice limit my report to one restaurant. It's one that has been a source of pleasure for me on at least half-a-dozen occasions, and perhaps it will be for the reader too. The restaurant is...Caribbean Delight (7811 Riggs Road, Langley Park, 301-439-1270/1): From campus drive west about one mile along University Boulevard to Riggs Road; turn right, and then immediately right again into the parking lot). This small, primarily take-out restaurant calls itself "The Taste of the Caribbean Under One Roof." The owners are a married couple, Dennis and Marlene Adams, he's from Guyana and she's from Trinidad; the four cooks from Guyana, Trinidad, and Jamaica, have worked as food-preparers in their home country or on a cruise ship.
I've enjoyed all of my meals at Caribbean Delight. My most recent outing, in mid-November, featured ochr, rice, and beans with goat, plus a small lettuce- tomato-cucumber salad. The main dish was quite tasty and ample; the salad was a nice compliment but not special. While there, I met a customer from the Caribbean who lives and works in New Carrollton, about twenty minutes away. He told me that he often makes the drive to the restaurant because he likes the food so much. During my forty minute mid- afternoon stay, there were about fifteen other customers; that's a good sign of popularity. If my voice recognition skills were adequate, then all of the customers (myself excepted) were from the Caribbean or Africa.
The typical breakfast menu includes ackee and saltfish, smoked herring, pancakes and eggs, and corn meal porridge. Here's a list of what, over time, ordered or at least tasted from a friend’s plate: smaller /cheaper ( $2.25 or I items such as beef patties Guyanese Jamaican style, pine tarts, salt fish cakes fried plantains, and cassava pone (bread); such soups as cow heel, corn, and chicken feet ( at $ 2.50 for the regular size and $4.00 for the large); the roti dishes with a choice of beef, goat, chicken, shrimp, potato, vegetable or channa for about $5.00; and larger dinner-sized meals such as jerk chicken ($7.00), Guyanese style creole rice served with chicken or oxtail ($6.25), king fish stew with dumplings and banana (this large, steak-like fish said to be a member of the mackerel family; $ 7.50), ochr and rice with a choice of beef, goat, chicken or oxtail ($6.75), and pepper pot ($6.25). Among the beverages are West Indian punch, peanut punch, and Mauby. Often, there are special dishes of the day.
I've only spent a few weeks of my life in the Caribbean, but if memory serves me well, the dishes at Caribbean Delight are quite authentic. I give this restaurant very positive rating; my only disappointments (perhaps a matter of personal taste) have been some patties that seemed to be a bit tired by the time I ate them. The restaurant is open Mondays through Thursdays from 8.30 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight, and on Sundays from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
William John Hanna is Professor of Urban Studies as well as Director of Langley Park Project. Suggestions future dining columns should be sent to him at bhanna@bss2.umd.edu.