Tobago’s barely fits as a nearby restaurant and a restaurant as it is a half block outside my willingness to walk radius and has only two tables. Yet the extra effort was worth it for the carryout I decided to pick up.
I chose chicken curry. You are given a choice between vegetables and rice or plantains and rice with this dish, I chose vegetables. In a few minutes of ordering I had about 3-4 large bits of chicken, vegetables, spicy rice, and beans crammed into a tin carryout platter ready to go.
The vegetables seemed to be crispy cabbage, carrots, and maybe carmelized onions in a brown slightly sweet sauce. All the vegetables were thinly sliced and made for a crispy salad. There were two green things, they might have been bell pepper, but experience has taught me when dealing with cultures known for their spice, avoid the green.
Somewhere in the brownish colored peppery (think black pepper, not red pepper) rice were some beans. I could taste them, but I couldn’t see them. They completmented the chicken and the rice.
The main portion, the curried chicken was very good, or I was very hungry. No, it was good. The dark soft green or brown coating wasn’t spicy but it was flavorful. The chicken was well cooked falling off the bone at times. The downside were the bones, small bones, bone particles, and other hard bony bits I kept picking from my mouth. Understandably, the bones gives the dish it’s flavor, but it is something to be aware of.
Outside of the meal a small downside for Tobago’s are their hours. They are open Tuesday through Thursday & Saturday from 11:30 to 6pm, Friday they stay open 1 hour later till 7pm. This is not so great for the residents of Shaw who may get back to the hood a bit later. Yet the lucky people of Howard University and those who work in the surrounding area have a good and tropical lunchtime option.