Dinner and cocktails at The Rum Kitchen, Brixton

Did you know it was National Rum Day a couple of weeks ago? Well it was.

And I just so happened to pay a visit to The Rum Kitchen... the previous day. Ah well, not everything in life can be perfect.

With two well-established locations in London already, I was very excited to discover the newest Rum Kitchen was opening just a few minutes from my house, here in Brixton. And, naturally, I had to pay it a visit sharpish.

With a visiting sister in tow, we settled in for an evening of cocktails and Caribbean cuisine.

Despite being a Monday evening, it was busy. To be fair though, Brixton is always buzzing, regardless of the day of the week, which is one of the reasons I love it tbh.

I loved the interior - beachy with chilled, holiday vibes, if a little dark - and I enjoyed being able to watch the chefs rushing around whipping up delicious concoctions.

As I feel one must at the Rum Kitchen, we commenced with a couple of cocktails, but let me tell you, it wasn't an easy choice to make. Rum-based cocktails are my fave and the list is blimmin' extensive. They all sounded so good! Oh, and heads up: cocktails are £5 before 7pm so I suggest going then (and say hi to me as I'll probs be there...)

Holly and I have quite similar tastes so ended up choosing somewhat similar drinks.

I mean, stick a mini umbrella in anything and I'll feel like I'm on the beach.

This lovely-looking concoction was the Banana Banger (banana, Orgeat Monin, honey water, passion fruit juice, mango juice, coconut water, Mount Gay Black Barrel, Appleton VX and Trois Riviera) and my goodness, it was absolutely dreamy.

My dear sister Holly went for the Plantain Colada (coconut cream, plantain puree, mango puree, pineapple juice, Mozart dark chocolate liqueur, Plantation Overproof, banana liqueur and pimento liqueur) - it was also really good, but I have to say I preferred mine. Loved how it was served though.

And we felt as spoilt for choice with the food as the drinks - with everything from burgers and jerk chicken to salad via curry on offer, I wanted to eat everything.

We didn't eat everything, but we gave it a pretty good go.

For me, the halloumi burger, with avocado salsa, scotch bonnet mayo, lettuce and tomato in a toasted brioche bun. It's hard to go wrong with a halloumi burger and I loved it.

For Holls, the rainbow salad - jerk chicken, red pepper, mango, avocado and toasted coconut flakes in a mild scotch bonnet and lime dressing. Whilst appealing on paper, this turned out to be about 90% leaves, and we had - perhaps naively - not been expecting the chicken to be as spicy as it was, unfortunately.

We shared a selection of sides too and I thoroughly recommend you do the same as there are some crackers.

Chargrilled roasted sweet potato wedges with avocado and coconut flakes. We were really toying between this and the classic sweet potato fries (so many sweet potato options, I loved it), and decided to go for the wedges as they're a bit more unusual.

In hindsight, however, we should've had the fries. I liked the wedges, but to be honest I found the charcoal flavour too overpowering, which was a shame.

Charred corn with crispy bacon, roasted plantain and jerk lime dressing. We really liked this mix of flavours, despite the fact that the bacon wasn't actually that crispy. The bacon-infused corn was great though and I loved the whole sweet and salty vibe.

My fave side, however, was this - plantain with 'bang bang' chilli jam. I barely even touched the jam as the plantain was so good by itself. Crispy on the outside, fluffy inside... It was perfection. Gaaaad, I want to eat this again. 

By this point, my glass was empty so I figured it was time to try another cocktail.

Enter, the Rhumbarb - lime, Grenadine Monin, Pink Pigeon, Aperol and rhubarb syrup. It tasted like rhubarb and custard sweeties and was absolutely delicious.

Despite being pretty full, the puddings were too tempting for us to resist. And is any meal complete without pudding? I think not.

I had the banana cake, and it was insane.

Insanely good, that is.

Warm, sticky, walnut-studded banana cake - more like a sticky toffee pudding really as the banana flavour wasn't that strong - topped with rum caramel sauce and coconut ice cream. Oh my days, it was so delicious. 

It was meant to come with chocolate ice cream, but I personally thought I'd prefer coconut. The coconut flavour wasn't overwhelming, but it worked as the sauce was so rich. Oh, the sauce. I liked that it didn't taste alcoholic actually, and it was all just so good.

Holly went for the chocolate rum pot:

Chocolate and rum ganache topped with nut brittle. It was meant to come with summer berries too, but unfortunately they'd run out which was a shame as I think they would've been a welcome addition.

This was delicious too, but my goodness, it was rich. The chocolate was more solid than we'd been expecting, and there was just so much! We could barely get further than halfway through it, and anyone who knows what I'm like with puddings knows that's saying something.

Again, the rum flavour didn't really come through but we were OK with that. The nut brittle was, alas, too solid to eat really. Looked pretty though.

Wowzers, we were full. But it had been a jolly good dinner. 

Service had been speedy, friendly and generally good, although we could tell some of the staff members were still finding their feet. To be expected in a new place though.

I love the style of food and the fun vibe, and will definitely be back.

Holly and I were guests at The Rum Kitchen but I've been 100% honest in my review.