What: A casual restaurant serving refined but unfussy versions of Caribbean staples like goat curry, jerk chicken, escovitch fish and fried plantain. Located near Ladbroke Grove tube and Portobello Road Market, Marvee’s Food Shop is inspired by its chef’s childhood and the ‘characterful, often chaotic’ Caribbean food shops scattered across London.
Who: The chef in question is Dom Taylor, the star of Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef, which was released on Channel 4 and Netflix in 2023. Winning the show - which was hosted by Michel Roux Jnr. - bagged the Deptford-raised chef a 10-month residency at The Langham (where Roux Jnr. oversees F&B). Serving elevated Carribean food, The Good Front Room was well-received.
The food: Named after his mother Marveline — affectionately known as Marvee — Marvee’s Food Shop has a comparable philosophy to The Good Front Room. “My mission is to make Caribbean food more accessible. It is a food culture that’s often been underrepresented or boxed in,” he told Restaurant when we paid him a visit earlier this week. Taylor isn’t afraid to play around with recipes and culinary traditions. For example, rather than serving fried plantain straight up he tosses it in a punchy lime and maple syrup dressing spiked with chilli. And though the food is far from fussy, more attention has been paid to plating than at most other Caribbean venues. Ranging from £18 to £19, main dishes include dark rum and raisin glazed pork belly; boneless curry goat with coconut and garlic sauce; and Taylor’s famed jerk chicken with plantain jam. Sides include a mac ‘n’ cheese made with three different cheeses; spicy pumpkin rice; and roast pineapple and heritage tomato chow. There are just two desserts: roasted plantain and molasses soft serve; and old skool cake and custard, a highly effective take on the school dining room classic topped with strawberry jam and shards of dehydrated coconut (pictured above).
To drink: Most of the drinks are provided by Marvee’s Food Shop’s host venue UNDR, but the kitchen does offer three varieties of milkshake punch (carrot juice, pineapple punch and peanut punch).
The vibe: UNDR’s bar and restaurant area has been partly refurbished, with the section nearest the kitchen featuring vibrant 1970s-inspired wallpaper of the sort Taylor presumably wasn’t allowed to adorn his restaurant at The Langham with and artwork from Yvadney Davis, an award-winning Black British contemporary portrait artist from South London. While Taylor clearly hasn’t got a big budget to play with, he has managed to make his mark on the 60-cover space.
And another thing: Anyone visiting the restaurant should be aware that in the Caribbean plantain is pronounced ‘plan-tin’. Pronounce it like ‘mountain’ at your peril.
UNDR, 3 Thorpe Close, London W10 5TZ
