Cheap Eats 2007: Caribbean Sea

Reviewed by Cynthia Hacinli , Michele Kayal , Todd Kliman , Ann Limpert , Don Rockwell

Caribbean Sea Seafood Market & Restaurant

6869 New Hampshire Ave.
Silver Spring/Takoma Park, MD
Phone: 301.891.3497

Cuisines:
Seafood, Caribbean

Wheelchair Accessible:
No

Nearby Metro Stops:
Takoma
Fort Totten

Price Range:
Inexpensive

Dress:
Informal

Crowd:
West Indian expats, locals grabbing takeout. Weekends tend to be livelier.

Noise Level:
Chatty

Reservations:
Not needed

Best Dishes
Escabeche; brown stew fish; Blue Mountain-style shrimp; fish n' chips; Festival fritters; rice and peas; deviled lobster; housemade juices, such as pineapple-ginger.

Price Details:
Appetizers about $3.50; entrées $8 to $25.


From the reggae-rap on the sound system to the laid-back vibe, this fish market/carryout/restaurant has the feel of a family-run eatery on some sunny island.

Brother/sister owners—Yvonne cooks, Auley runs the place—have fashioned a menu of seafood stews, curries, and fried fish evoking the tastes of Jamaica and the West Indies. Brown stew dishes made with shrimp, conch, snapper, and lobster are king—the long-simmered sauce is a soulful gravy you’ll want to soak up with thin wedges of fried cassava called bammie.

West Indian–style fish curries, thinner than Asian and Indian varieties, are done well. A small salad and rice-and-peas fragrant with coconut come with each entrée. And don’t miss the crisp little cornmeal fritters that are aptly called festival.

There’s no alcohol, but you may not miss it with such house-made juices as the tart ginger beer, an ideal foil for the spicy cuisine. Dessert can be iffy—sometimes it’s available, sometimes not. Chalk that up to island charm.

Open daily except Monday for lunch and dinner.