‘Impeccable vibes’ restaurant chain with 50 branches is a surprising UK favourite

From quirky bistros with famous clientele, to beloved chain restaurants like Dishoom, UK diners are spoilt for choice. With almost 200 Michelin starred restaurants, we’ve got fine dining covered, and you can’t go wrong with the street food to be found in the likes of London’s Borough or Liverpool’s Baltic markets. But a new ranking of the UK’s top 20 restaurants revealed that we Brits are harbouring a quiet obsession for one chain in particular: Turtle Bay.

According to new data by Google Maps, four Turtle Bay branches made it into the top list: Oxford Road Manchester (10), Birmingham (13), Northern Quarter Manchester (14), Leicester (20). The ranking was worked out via searching through online Google reviews to find the places with the highest number of reviews and ratings of more than four stars. Each of the Turtle Bay locations listed have an almost perfect score. And with gushing comments from diners, it’s clear Brits love the place.

‘Every dish was bursting with flavor and perfectly seasoned,’ wrote one Google reviewer. While another said the place has ‘impeccable vibes.’. Turtle Bay has more than 50 branches across the UK, serving up Caribbean-inspired food. According to the menu, their jerk dishes, such as jerk beef rib (17.50) and jerk chicken half (£15.20), are ‘expertly seasoned’ in a ‘secret spice rub recipe and marinated for 24 hours.’.

PR 🌺 Turtle Bay’s REGGAE ROAST, you can also go bottomless too, for the babes on the vibes! ✨ #sundaylunch #roastdinner #turtlebay #reggaeroast #manchester #restaurants. 1. Dishoom Shoreditch, London. 2. Royal Nawaab Perivale, London. 3. Circolo Popolare, London. 4. Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, Stratford, London. 5. Ave Mario, London. 6. Govinda’s Pure Vegetarian Restaurant, London. 7. Dishoom Covent Garden, London.

8. Hard Rock Cafe, London. 9. Gloria, London. 10. Turtle Bay Manchester Oxford Rd, Manchester. 11. Dishoom Carnaby, London. 12. Jacuzzi, London. 13. Turtle Bay Birmingham, Birmingham. 14. Turtle Bay Manchester Northern Quarter, Manchester. 15. Duck & Waffle, London. 16. Vasantha Vilas – East Ham, London. 17. Royal Nawaab Ilford, London. 18. Jollibee Leicester Square, London. 19. Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, Manchester. 20. Turtle Bay Leicester, Leicester.

Source: Google Maps. The restaurant is born from a trip to Barbados, after founder Ajith Jayawickrema, was visiting the island and looking for authentic Caribbean food. He stumbled across a beachside hut called Surfside, where he enjoyed snacks and cocktails. It was such an amazing experience, that Ajith wanted to recreate his experience back home. The first site opened in Milton Keynes in 2010, and it’s been a firm UK favourite ever since.

‘Food is delicious!’ wrote one TripAdvisor reviewer who visited the Brixton branch. ‘Great flavours, with the right spices – highly recommend the curry goat. Drinks are amazing.’. Another said: ‘I would recommend this to any friend or family to eat here. The curry goat was the highlight of the night and the jerk wings were full of flavour.’. Meanwhile, visitors to Manchester’s Oxford Road branch were equally thrilled. ‘Food was amazing, drinks were delicious. The vibes in the restaurant were excellent.’.

The bottomless brunch (which offers two hours of booze plus one main for £37.20pp) was also praised, as were the staff, with reviewers raving about their servers across the country, adding: ‘The people make the place.’. The main criticism diners did have of the chain though, is that it’s not authentic Caribbean food. ‘I wouldn’t go there looking for “authenticity”,’ one Redditor. ‘But it’s still tasty food and a good atmosphere.’.

TURTLE BAY 🍹🌴 pr invite I know I know, Turtle Bay hasn’t had good reviews in the past. But as a vegan, my friend and I REALLY enjoyed this meal from start to finish. I couldn’t fault anything! They have recently introduced their brand-new menu, curated by Jamaica’s most award-winning chef Collin Brown. Inspired by his life on the islands, the menu now has over 42% plant-based and includes an introduction of 12 brand new dishes, 4 elevated dishes and 2 delicious ‘beach board’ sharing platters.  I felt like I could taste that so MUCH effort has gone into this with them putting a huge focus on fresh and classic flavours as they have introduced some of the island’s most vibrant and healthy ingredients to their dishes, elevating the menu to include even more REALLY tasty vegetarian and vegan options.  I will definitely be going back and not just for the drinks but to also try the other vegan options they have to offer. Because whew 😮‍💨 there was so much to choose from. Thanks for having me @turtlebayuk & Chef Collin Brown and for letting me be one of the first to try the new menu 🫶🏾 #turtlebayuk #caribbeaninspired #foodinlondon#thingstodolondon #foodreview #turtlebay #turtlebaybottomlessbrunch #turtlebaybottemlessbrunch #turtlebayvegan #vegan.