Great meal and friendly service. Definitely worth the ride from anywhere to get the great foodread more

Great service! Excellent food! Truly from the Island... got some food for my Mom and all she could…read moresay was "wow" while eating. This place was highly recommended by a friend and I can see why. I recommend this place too.

Brand new Jamaican restaurant in Middletown! I had a lunch…read moreportion of ox tails and rice along with a coconut cookie for dessert. The food was so delicious. I'm thrilled to have this restaurant in town. It was a beautiful Spring day, so I took my food to go to eat outdoors, but there was plenty of inside seating. The gentleman who did my order was great, explaining the sizes. Looking forward to returning!

Excellent meal. I had the jerk chicken, along with peas and coconut rice. Spicy but not too much…read morefor my wimpy taste buds. Looking forward to going back and trying the ackee for breakfast! Check it out.

In this food bar, stainless-steel food trays inside a glass case enable you to view exactly what's…read moreon the daily menu. You choose to fit your appetite. The large combo platter comprises your choice of seven dishes, the medium platter is five choices, and the small is three. The five items depicted in my photo of my medium-size plate are, clockwise from the top, grilled tofu, steamed broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, sautéed green beans with red peppers, and curried potatoes. The above descriptions double as the simple names of the dishes. The food does not masquerade behind pretentious titles, nor does it appear flamboyant or pretend to be fanciful. What you're served are affordable and generous portions of delicious and nutritious food. Real food. Americans call this natural food. In the Rasta lexicon, natural foods are redefined as Ital foods. As you might adduce from the photo, the café's two owners are Rastas, and their cuisine is authentic Jamaican Rastafari Ital. "Ital" is derived from the word "vital." To provide "vitality," Ital food on your plate differs little from how it looks on the farm. Ital food is usually vegan, but not always. Only four of the five Rasta cafés in Connecticut and nearby Worcester are strictly vegan. As there is no Board of Ital Cuisine to issue certifications, Ital cooking does vary with the territory. The Ital food served at Caribbean Style Vegan is, as its name attests, always vegan. It also is always nourishing, colorful, and skillfully prepared. Nothing is ever too spicy or too salty or too sweet or too oily or overcooked or undercooked. Grilled in a spicy barbecue sauce, even the jerk tofu is humanely spiced. With just the medium platters, I always feel satiated but never bloated, evidence of the frugal use or total absence of oil. Never drowned in oily sauces, the veggies remain visually recognizable and inherently flavorful. Caribbean Style Vegan stands as my favorite of the seven Ital cafés in which I have dined both stateside and in Jamaica. At the two Ital cafés that I visited in Kingston, neither served any mock meats. Yet at some cafés in the U.S., their varieties of mock meats almost equal their numbers of veggie dishes. I am mystified that in our corner of New England they serve so many highly processed mock meats, a concession to the American lust for meat. In contrast, Caribbean Style Vegan upholds a higher standard. It serves only a single mock meat. Grains, beans, greens, and root vegetables predominate. Most veggies are steamed; a few are sautéed; none are deep-fried. My kind of food. For in-house dining, you'll find two sunlit tables along the south-facing wall of plate glass window. Still, the café is more conducive for takeout. I have witnessed a steady flow of regular customers who sometimes place multiple orders of takeout meals to deliver to their families waiting at home. Yet even when other customers wait in line with you, the wait is always short. Their social media accounts is seldom updated. So view only their website. Yet, the website menu is viewable only during open hours. To place an online order or simply to view the website menu, you must wait until 12 noon, Wednesday to Saturday.

The best food! It's so hard to find good vegan food with big portions at a fair price and these…read moreguys hit the mark every time without fail. We always have full, happy bellies with leftovers to enjoy the next day. The food is consistently amazing and the staff/owners are wonderful! We choose this place over any local vegan option nearly every time and happily make the 30 minute drive without hesitation! A must try even if you aren't vegan

I'm extremely picky when it comes to food , even more when it comes to door dash it takes me…read moreforever to pick and order ! I have to go on web sites and research everything! Service was extremely fast , arrived still hot . The food was best I've had in awhile, jerk chicken, curry chicken, cabbage and veg , Rasta pasta, rice and peas , plantains . Me and my wife really enjoyed all of it . It was very spicy, but not so much that you done keep going back for more ..I've eaten in many restaurants in the Caribbean and this is just as good or not better than what I've had .. I will definitely be eating here again!

I ordered on grubhub and it came in 45 mins. The jerk sauce taste like bbq which I personally do…read morenot like. Without the sauce it is ok. I would order again but a different dish next time.

Nice set up, fire pit outside live music regularly, friendly staff. My food was good. The menu…read morecould be expanded a bit, not much to choose from. Too bad, super good vibe otherwise. The food DOES taste good, just too small a menu. I usually don't mid a small menu done right, but this is too small. There will be customers who don't see anything on the menu that they want.

Spicy and petty fast for the large servings they give loved the rice and beef patty will go back…read moremost likely

Pretty good, i got the oxtail and the Rasta pasta. The oxtail was good, they gave a nice amount of…read moregravy. The Rasta pasta needed flavor though. The sauce was bland.

I ate the food so quickly because it was so good! So happy to have found this spot. I purchased the…read moremedium sized oxtails dinner with cabbage and rice and peas. I will definitely be back.

Sandra's Next Generation has been my absolute staple in the community for over three decades…read more Sandra Pittman has been cooking in this same location since 1989, and I've been eating here consistently since 1995. It is, without question, the best soul food in the state. I have no problem running down I-91 from Hartford just to get my food because the quality and taste are on a level that nobody else can touch. Don't let the neighborhood fool you; this is a masterclass in authentic cooking. Sandra and her husband Miguel have been running this place for over 30 years, and that level of dedication shows in every single dish. The food has the kind of soul and precision that defines the elite dining scene in Connecticut. If you want the real deal--the standard that every other soul food spot is measured against--this is the only place to go. It's a class act that has stayed true to its roots for over 30 years.

The food was excellent but we went into sticker shock when it was time to pay up. We looked at the…read moreonline prices and EVERYTHING was substantially higher than the prices listed online. Shante's Plate was $3.50 more, extra fried pork chop was $1.00 more, plain deviled eggs were $2.50 more, dark meat chicken was $1 more. Our three meals came to $14 more than we were expecting based on the online posted prices, this is almost a whole meal and on a bill of what should've been about $70 total this is a 21% increase!! I know the price of food has gone up significantly lately, but clearly no one has updated the prices on their website. Bad business practice.....

Friendliest service I've seen for a business of this size gave me a piece of oxtail because I said…read moreI never had one before so generous and proud to be from Jamaica which was so cool always smiled and the food was really juicy ans fatty almost fell off the bone

I'm new to the area and I decided to place an order. The food was generously served and…read moreexceptionally tasty! Flavor tun up! Blessings Sister Maxine

I was excited to have a Jamaican spot in East Haven, but Hot Roostah was just... meh. I've tried…read morethe jerk chicken, Rasta pasta, oxtail dinner, and beef patties nothing really stood out. I love Jamaican food, but with other great options nearby, I'm not sure this will become a favorite.

I tried the oxtail Rasta pasta prior to this visit and explained to the cashier that the amount of…read moreoxtail was not enough the last time and I also explained for this price of $15.99 each, they should be giving more since there's only one size! I also said I'd pay for more oxtails if anything! She claimed to understand but nothing was different. This place is over priced and the food has no taste! I'm from NY and normally I'd throw the food back at them! I have a family to feed and I definitely will never go back there!

Another amazing meal. We have been coming to Olea since it's opening…read more It was and has remained our absolutely favorite restaurant in New Haven! We always celebrate our anniversary and birthdays here. We have always had amazing meals and wonderful service. We prefer the tasting menu which offers smaller portions of multiple dishes allowing us to enjoy the great variety of chef Manuel Romero's wonderful creations. Each time we come the experience is amazing. Over the years we have enjoyed each new dish as it is presented beautifully. Flavors meld creating real enjoyment. There is nowhere I would prefer to dine. Service is attentive without hovering. So glad we discovered this gem all those years ago and so happy to have been able to be there as the menu has continued to be varied and always delicious. Thanks to all of the staff for the wonderful experience over the years

I was on a road for a week and lucked into this place in New Haven. It was absolutely amazing. The…read morewine list...the food...the service. It was just incredible. Definitely go here.