The Islander Caribbean Restaurant

On a street jumping with lots of young, hip joints—eateries, clubs, boutiques—Ernest and Addie Green’s unassuming corner restaurant seems to be a link to a rapidly vanishing time. It’s a modest place, black-owned and -operated, with simple decorative charms—a baby grand, a red rose on every table—and cooking that eschews anything that might be construed as either trendy or flashy. The inspiration for these deeply satisfying dishes is the Greens’ native Trinidad and Tobago, which means an emphasis on textured stews and curries, the best of which are the curry chicken and goat, with its layers of assertive spicing, and the oxtail stew, the Caribbean equivalent of osso buco, the long-braised meat clinging to its bones by the sheerest of gelatinous threads. Callaloo, that stewlike soup of okra, salt pork, and onions (the recipes for which the slaves brought with them to the New World during the Middle Passage), is also well-represented: The version here is earthy, rich, and sweetly vegetal. But not everything is so spot-on. A number of dishes—including much of the fried stuff and the disappointing rice and peas—can put you in mind of takeout. And although it’s a fine line between providing relaxed, unhurried service and being neglectful, the wait staff (both of them) has definitely crossed it. It can be infuriating, especially if you’re an efficient sort who likes to schedule dinner before a show, but you may as well just chill and order up another one of those terrific rum-based cocktails, or maybe a subtly creamy homemade ginger beer.
—Todd Kliman, August 3, 2004