Why Sheffield's Caribbean-style bar and restaurant Turtle Bay exceeds all expectations - review

The restaurant/bar, located conveniently right in the city centre next to City Hall, is the perfect place to go for cocktails and a bite to eat before heading to a club.

The rhythmic music has guests dancing in their seats while enjoying the holiday-like atmosphere of the venue.

Their new specially curated playlists to “ramp up the island heat” promise good times and tunes while enjoying lots of cocktails and food.

Warm lights and different lighting elements provide an inviting ambience.

The service is quick and you can’t drink as quickly as the competent bartenders mix the cocktails.

With Turtle Bay’s new Late Night Eats deal, customers can get “island vibes until the early hours” Sunday to Thursday from 9.30pm and Friday and Saturday from 10pm with two starters or sides and four cocktails in their 2’4’1 cocktail offer for £23.50.

My partner and I opted for a Late Night Eats deal each and ordered variety of drinks and food to try as much as we possibly could.

The tasty Crispy Chilli Squid – strips of squid marinated in mildly spiced coconut milk, crumbed and crisped, with mango mole and mild jerk mayo – and the Jerk Pit Wings – chicken wings, marinated in Turtle Bay’s homemade rub, chargrilled, topped with fiery jerk sauce – were definitely our favourites.

The portion sizes were great for a late-night bite and offered some “great scran before a night out”, as my boyfriend referred to it.

The most surprising dish were the Mac ‘n’ Cheese Bites, which are little balls of macaroni, cooked in a cheddar cheese sauce, crispy fried and topped with sweet chilli mango mole.

We enjoyed them so much, we had to order more.

Another tasty option we tried were the Garlic Pit Prawns, which were inspired by Jamaican pepper prawns and come as whole grilled king prawns with chilli and garlic butter as well as grilled roti flatbread to wrap them in.

Sadly, the prawns haven’t found their master in me as I struggled to take off the shells without nearly throwing the prawn across the table. Definitely a tasty dish, but not made for unsteady hands in combination with drinking lots of cocktails.

For the drinks, we couldn’t agree on a single standout since we were fascinated by the taste of many.

For me, the Pineapple Daquiri, the Coconut and Grapefruit Mojito as well as the Virgin Passion Punch (alcohol-free) were the tastiest, as their fruity and exotic flavours revolutionised the traditional cocktails.

The Pineapple Daquiri is made with Jamaica Cove Pineapple Rum and triple sec, fresh lime and pineapple and comes as a new addition to the menu as does the Coconut and Grapefruit Mojito, made with Koko Kanu, white rum, fresh coconut, mint, lime and grapefruit.

My boyfriend’s favourite were the Strawberry Daiquiri – duppy white, fresh lime, berry and strawberry – and the Virgin Raspbery Reggae – Raspberry, pomegranate, fresh lime and lemonade.

Overall, our evening at Turtle Bay was definitely one for the books and we will be back very soon.