In the words of the great Bob Marley, "One Love! One Heart! Let's get together and feel all right." This song, and others like it, greeted us last night as we sat down for a meal in the fairly new Garden of Sheba, an Afro-Carribean restaurant located just past the Downtown Mall on East Market Street, across from the parking garage.
We walked up to the restaurant very disappointed that we could not sit in the courtyard dining area due to the torrential downpour. It was a secluded, tucked-away jungle filled with intimate tables and Christmas lights draped on the many trees. However, we decided to ditch the rain and sit inside. The restaurant is fairly small, with approximately ten small to medium-sized tables.
The walls are decorated with African artwork of pencil/charcoal sketches on the wall of an Ethiopian prince. The Ethiopian flag graces the welcome table and a Jamaican flag flutters from the ceiling. The restaurant has a very open feeling with high ceilings and two walls of windows, partly opened because of the warm evening air.
The menu is fairly concise but it offers a variety of different flavors and unique dishes. The menu also targets vegetarians, with no meat dishes, only fish, vegetable and tofu. Our waitress was extremely helpful in explaining dishes and offering recommendations. We began with three appetizers, all very inexpensive. First, we tried the plantains ($2). They were baked and seemed like a bread substitute, with a slight sweet potato flavor. It was a generous portion; however, we felt that it needed a bit of a kick. Perhaps they would have been nice accompanying our meals.
The tostones ($3), our next appetizer, was our favorite. The tostones were friend green bananas with garlic. While this sounds like an odd combination, it was amazing, and we had never tasted anything quite like it. The bananas were soft, with a mushy texture, but with the blends of spices and garlic we never really tasted the banana until the after-taste. It was a surprising blend of salty and sweet and satisfied our taste buds.
Our last appetizer was the Cod Fish Fritters ($3.95). These were baked and had a tough outside texture with a chewier inside. The fritters were complemented with a "soynaise" (a substitute for mayonnaise) that included hot peppers. Excellent.
After the appetizers and getting comfortable with the atmosphere (singing along, dancing in our seats), we were anxiously awaiting our entrees. Some friends had decided to join us for dinner and between four of us, we tried four different entrees in hopes to sample a little bit of everything. We ordered the Jamaican-Jerk Salmon ($11.95) -- marinated, grilled salmon seasoned with fresh made jerk sauce. The salmon had a smokey flavor with a bit of a kick. It was tender and cooked to perfection. It was served on a bed of rice and beans, also slightly spicy, and a side of cabbage. The Caribbean Curry ($7.95) was a plate filled with chickpeas and mixed vegetables stewed in a potato curry sauce. It had a spicy after-taste and the stew-like substance was very filling.
The next two entrees were two versions of the Garden of Sheba's "Soul Plates." Each soul plate was served with sides of sweet potatoes, collard greens and basmati rice. The first version of the soul plate was the "Fish of the Day." This night's fish was a lightly battered and fried catfish, seasoned to perfection with salt and hot pepper with added lemon juice for zing. The next soul plate was barbeque tofu. The barbeque sauce was sweet with a General Tso-like flavor. The collard greens were a pleasant surprise and the sweet potatoes, with a touch of butter and cinnamon were mouth-watering and left us wanting more.
With such satisfaction with our appetizers and entrees, we couldn't pass up trying the desserts. We ordered two to share with the whole table. The Banana Bread, topped with warm caramelized bananas ($3.95) and the Chocolate Cake, topped with chocolate syrup, fresh strawberries and blueberries ($3.95), were both served warm and with a side of vanilla ice cream for an extra dollar. Both desserts were the perfect ending to the meal.
Garden of Sheba is a family establishment that has graced Charlottesville with its presence for only a short six weeks. It is vegetarian friendly and health-conscious. They have live music during the weekend and this Saturday they're holding a culture festival for the entire family, free of charge. At the beginning of the meal we thought the service might be a bit slow, but turns out our waitress was just waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. If you're looking to be submersed into a new culture, with a different, relaxed atmosphere and new, exciting cuisine, we highly recommend Garden of Sheba.
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