Roti Joupa

  
We haven't been to Trinidad before, but this Trinidadian takeaway Roti Joupa definitely made us feel like we had stepped off the streets of Clapham into a whole tropical world of exotic beaches, soca vibes and sunny islands. 

We ventured into Roti Joupa around half 12 on a very hot sunny Saturday. The seating area of Roti Joupa was already very packed, it seemed like this place was a hot spot for the local Caribbeans! The friendly afternoon bustle coupled with the soca music playing in the background really did set the Caribbean vibes, you just had to get up and get your groove on! 

One of the customers kindly told us that Trinidadian cuisine is rooted from India. The dish 'Hot Doubles' is a typical Trinidadian dish. He was brought up in Trinidad and hot doubles were served in carts for lunch at school, or as a home comfort food.  We couldn't wait to try them! We just had to order a hot double each, and on a spur we decided to try the Pholourie between us as well. 

Hot Doubles £1.50

A Hot Double is a popular Trinidadian street food, made from two fried flat breads which are filled with curried chickpeas. 

We both ordered one each and were given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We went for medium to be on the safe side. 

We wanted to take advantage of the sunshine so we took our food to Clapham Common Park. 

The hot doubles were delicious, starting off not very spicy at all until we got to the curried chickpeas where the spices kicked in with a vengeance. However, once we got used to the spices it was delightful. They were definitely worth the wait (we had to wait around 15 to 20 minutes for our order) and the only thing we underestimated was the size of the hot double. It was not very filling so in the future we would definitely buy two!

Pholourie £1.50

Pholourie are deep fried balls made from split pea flour and traditionally come with a chutney.

For the Pholourie we were again given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We chose medium.

The Pholourie were soft and tasty to start off with but they were heavy and filling despite their size. They were also very spicy, almost too spicy to enjoy properly! We would not get them again.

Overall we really enjoyed our trip to Roti Joupa, we will definitely be visiting this little gem again, keen to try out the other dishes they serve, we highly recommend it. :) Tongues blazing, sun sweltering, we were definitely on fire that day!

Atmosphere  10/10

Service           10/10

Food               9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 9.5/10

On this occasion we only ordered from the Sides Menu but the following photos are of the rest of the menu showing you what else is available to eat at Roti Joupa!