Before meeting me and our mum for dinner in Croydon at 6:30, Alf had necked a frankly astonishing four pints with his teacher colleagues in Kilburn…on a Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, he merrily wolfed down his meal at Big Mike’s Calypso Kitchen, although he also needed to pee a lot, which was a problem since the establishment is literally in a shipping container in Croydon’s Box Park (and therefore had no loos).
Big Mike’s is mainly a takeaway (we sat on benches fashioned from wooden pallets), and we were the only customers who ate in. But while a stream of JustEast drivers and Croydon locals buzzed in and out, we were able to enjoy a tasty, if somewhat simple, dinner.
As far as we could tell, Big Mike’s is London’s only dedicated Bajan diner. So, with no prior knowledge of the West Indian nation’s food, we were intrigued to see what it would be like. What we ended up eating was hearty and homely, if a little uninspiring.
To start, we ordered Bajan fish cakes. Dense, deep fried and delicious, they went down well dipped in chilli sauce. For good measure, we also asked for a mac and cheese which was thick, glutinous, and carby – it felt like the kind of thing that would stave off hunger for days (although possibly not heart attacks). We got fried plantain too – sweet and a little tangy.
For the mains, I got a curry goat roti – goat stewed in a chickpea sauce and wrapped in flatbread. Mum got jerk chicken, rice & peas, and Alf got curry goat on rice. It was all… fine. This being a takeaway, no one expects mind blowing standards, and the food was decent enough. However, other than the Bajan fish cakes, most of the food seemed more or less identical to food you’d get in London’s countless general Caribbean restaurants, so if you’re keen to try specifically Bajan cuisine, I’m not sure it’s worth trekking to Croydon. They also didn’t do any pudding, which is a shame.
Score: 6.5/10
Cost: £40 for 2 starters, 3 mains and 3 soft drinks
Location: Unit 34 & 35, Boxpark, 99 George St, Croydon CR0 1LD
The A to Z of World Food in London 
This reported mediocre Bajan has scored impressively highly, given it was dense, uninspiring and lacking of desserts. Given all discussed, what was the main takeaway of your experience?
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