Peppers & Spice

Such tasty Caribbean eats. I got the curry goat over rice & peas with a side corn salad for £6.50 (large). The small size is £5.50. Big chunks of mutton, though you still have to be careful with the shards of bone in the stew. Portions are big enough for a hefty meal or two lighter meals.
The oxtail is also delicious, and I’ll have to go back to try the ackee & saltfish.
The small line out the door moves quickly, and there are plenty of parks nearby to eat your food.

What a shame.
Peppers & Spice, before receiving my meal, had all the makings of an excellent Caribbean food spot:
Cramped hole-​in-​the-​wall space– Check
Real Jamaican staff and cooks– Check
Throngs of Caribbean customers willing to wait 10+ min in line?- Double Check
I screened for the best Caribbean food spots in London and Peppers & Spice came up frequently; consequently, my excitement and expectations were high.
I ordered the jerk chicken meal (with rice and peas, a side salad) and a beef patty. The beef patty was… cool. Tasty for sure, but not greater than the ones I’m used to in NYC.
For such a heralded Caribbean joint, it would be fail-​proof to order jerk chicken and revel in all its traditional staple goodness, yes? That’s at least what I’d hoped.
I opened the to-​go tray and saw this thick, medium-​brown sauced over the chicken. «Ummm this doesn’t look like the jerk I’m used to.» I bit into it… chicken is cooked well, but the sauce tasted like a high fructose corn syrup condiment you’d find at an Angus Steakhouse (ew). No spiciness, no «twang,» nothing that remotely resembles the true taste of jerk chicken (I’m half Caribbean… I know these things).
I’m not sure if they’ve modified the spice and flavour for the tame British palate, but it left this Caribbean-​American highly disappointed.
Jerk City (in Soho) is better… and you can dine-​in.
I’m in no rush to return :/

stopped at this place when walkng by. huge line going out the door so figured it must be good. portions are huge. food is tasty. and very cheap!

Nice little Carribean take away in Dalston, sellling the usual yummy Carribean food!
Lovely pasties, Jerk chicken, rise & peas, plantain, different daily specials, roti, goat curries, Ackee Saltfish, salads, to name but a few.
There is that lovely Scotch Bonnet Pepper kick to their dishes and the staff are always pleasant, giving the place a family/​homely feel.
Gets pretty busy at peak eating times, but worth checking out if you are in the neighbourhood & fancy some nice spicy & flavoursome Carribean food!

Would cruise by this place on the bus and always see a line of people.
Decided to give it a shot and went for the patties — chicken & Beef MMmmmm me like it!
No wonder it’s popular!

This is by far the best Jamaican take away

neva ate nethin like ackee, salt fish and goat curry b4. but this stuff was really good. i mean it was serously good. the place was nice and staff were freindly. definately going again.

Value for money jerk centre with good food which is a local for me now

I went twice in the last week — Monday night the jerk chicken was dry and the mac and cheese tasted like it had been reheated too many times, but Friday night it was great — spicy and moist jerk chicken and delicious curry mutton, curry chicken and oxtail. I think the salads (pasta, potato and cole slaw) are preprepared stuff but they’re decent — would recommend the greens and the fried plantain over the salads. Maybe just avoid it on Mondays?

This place ALWAYS has a line out the door. it’s a bit intimidating when you don’t know what to order. therefore I will make your decision for you. plantains, mac and cheese, jerk chicken. amazing.

OMG, this place is DA LICK!!!
It’s like having Jamaica on my doorstep!
I like to get one of the saltfish or veggie patties when I’m in a rush but for a meal its either Escoveitch/​stew fish with rice and peas (you can have plain rice if you prefer), or ackee and saltfish with hard food (yam, potato, green banana) and either some fried or boiled dumplin’.
For the meat eaters out there it seems the oxtail is a firm fave but they also offer a range of Jamaican classics e.g. jerk chicken; stew chicken; Caribbean coleslaw; salad and macaroni pie, as well as plantain, and festval (a sweet dumplin’) if you have a sweeter tooth.
The drinks are always a must and you can try anything from the refreshing, fruity Bigga soft drinks; the creamy, smooth (and equally refreshing) punches e.g. peanut, carrot, Guiness; or the fresh, homemade Sorrel or Ginger natural juice drinks. Whatever takes your fancy.
Overall, this is a place you have to eat at if you love Jamaican cuisine. The food is always fresh, the service fast and polite, it’s value for your money (remember, we’re not out of the credit crunch YET!) and the queue’s always out the door, day or night! Try it! I swear you won’t regret it.

Better service than most Caribbean shops but pricey with a lack of fresh ingredients.
When you eat the original food in the Caribbean you can taste the fresh herbs and spices in every dish, unfortunatly the chef in Peppers and Spice can’t be bothered to walk 5 minutes to Ridley Rd market where every ingredient is avaliable.
Every dish comes out of a jar!
It’s not acceptable to cut corners when charging the amount they do and it gives new customers the wrong idea about what this food is all about!
It’s all about FRESH ingredient’s, good portions, good PRICES and service with a smile,
Peppers & Spice never seems to cook what you would get in the Caribbean but people keep going back for more, maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe they have never tried the real thing!
I hope they take note because I really want a good local place to spend my hard earned money, but not until they stop trying to hustle me!!!

Peppers and Spice is a Caribbean take-​out spot on Balls Pond Road in Hackney. Whenever I enter the shop or pass the shop, there is always a long line of people. I am not surprised, the food is awesome! Every day they offer a variety of specials, they also have items that are on the menu daily. My favourite is the beef patty with a side of callaloo. Most days, when I pick up a beef patty I’m so ravenous that I am stuffing the beef patty down my throat as soon as I leave the shop. The best part is that the beef patty is so good, I’m always sorry that I didn’t get two, but I know that that would be gluttonous, so I stick with one beef patty. When I finish the patty and callaloo, I’m happily stuffed!

Absoltely delicious Caribbean takeaway that serves up really good traditional food.
This used to be on Kingsland Rd, and i used to live just around the corner so would visit a LOT, especially when i was feeling too lazy to cook. ow it and i have moved, so i don’t go as often, but i still like to treat myself to their huge salads. Seriously, this is a FAB place if you’re a veggie. Stewed plaintain, beans, delicious corn salads, the food is divine and oprtions are seriously hefty. This is definitely soul food.

I’ll freely admit it: Since a dodgy goat curry that got the better of me at Carnival, I’ve had my doubts about Caribbean food. I live on a Hackney street with two West Indian takeaways: Granny’s at one end and Aunty Fatty’s at the other — not names to conjure up a sense of great cuisine eh?
But Peppers and Spice is the real deal. Recently relocated from Kingsland Road just up Balls Pond Road towards Highbury, there is invariably a queue snaking out the door at mealtimes, and you can expect to wait to be served — but that’s as far it goes with bad news, I’m afraid.
The changing menu features such dishes as red pea soup, cow foot curry and steamed fish with callaloo (a type of spinach). The permanent fixtures include deliciously more-​ish Jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, Guinness punch, and of course the ubiquitous side dishes of coleslaw, bananas, rice and peas. Even the patties –normally cheap imitations elsewhere — are good. All this is served up to a reggae soundtrack by a friendly, chatty, smiley, family team. A hunk of jerk chicken is three quid and large meals, which are very large, go for 6 – 7 pounds.
Yup, ‘Peppers’ as regulars call it, is the place to start if you need edumacating about the pleasures of Caribbean food.

A gem in Dalston as this place serves up seriously good food. Why 5 stars? Because the food is fresh, tasty and unbelievably cheap! Every time I have been there is always a good sized cue of people and that speak volumes. I always get the meat patties but my favourite has to be the dumplings to mop up all that scrummy curried oxtail.

Great no fantastic, food,.alas due to the new railway being constructed it has had to move, it is now in Balls Pond Road, which is not far from its origionally location, just hope it continues to pull the customers, im certain the food will remain the same great quality. love the oxtail, Sorry not now moving till end of month.

here you can experience the delightful taste of caribbean food like ackee and salt fish, curry goat and rice and peas, fish and many many more dishes.
U can also get bread and soups, porridge and patties an drinks. This is a nice clean and friendly place to get some food and the staff are friendly.

Best Jamaican PATTIES i have tried so far, you can buy any caribbean dish for a reasonable price. the only disadvantage is its only take away.