HOW odd? As I sit at my laptop to reflect on the vegan jerk jackfruit I’ve just eaten in Affleck’s Palace an email arrives randomly offering me a link to ‘The Seven Best Restaurants in Anguilla’. Crazy.
It was in enthusiastic response to a ToM review of Turtle Bay, about whose underspiced food I was a mite lukewarm. Caribbean newcomer The Beach Hut is around the corner in the Northern Quarter and isn’t trying to replicate the Turtle’s Reggae and Red Stripe fuelled brand of hedonism.
This tiny cafe/takeout follows a different path – fruit smoothies and Acai Bowls not alcohol, then a plant-based interpretation of Rastafarian ‘Ital’ cuisine’. It’s Vital without the V and cements the Rasta faith in food as pure as their beliefs.
The colourful decor is simple and vibrant, the number of covers as short as a menu based on soups, Jamaican patties, veg protein curries and jerk jackfruit (plus vegan cakes, but there were none around during my visit), all remarkable value
Taco or rice was my option with the jerk (£6). I went rice, which was brown and ample inits carton. Jackfruit was there, as usual in the plant-based palette, to provide a meat-like texture, so it was up to the jerk seasoning to add oomph. It didn’t. Not unpleasant but lacking spice and herb with its basic chilli heat. We’ll try the curry and the patties next time as we seek to prolong the joys of Veganuary and support indie projects.
The Beach Hut, 2nd Floor Afflecks, 52 Church St, Manchester M4 1PW. Afflecks also boasts Vegi Hut cosmetics next door and Manchester Vegan Cafe on the ground floor.
