Purple Hibiscus at the St. B. Grill

I’ve eaten at the Purple Hibiscus several times. The quality and excellent taste are consistent and delicious. Serving size is good and it’s not expensive and the food isn’t super spicy. This is authentic Trinidad and Tobago cuisine. The price is excellent especially at lunch. I’ve had the goat and beef rotis and the oxtail, all were great! All of the entrees come with a small but flavourful side salad. If you want to add some spice the tables all have some authentic Trinidad hot sauce. I hear they might be moving to a new location in future! I know I’ll be going back whether they relocate or not.

Great food. I would put 6 stars if i could. I had the lunch special (which changes) and it was great.
Don’t forget to try a roti!

I had the most awesome lunch from the Purple Hisbiscus! It’s always such a treat to taste such utterly delicious food and at such a great price. This place opened up fairly recently and focuses on Caribbean style fusion cooking. The restaurant is located in the St. Boniface Hotel, which is kind of unfortunate as the hotel is a bit scuzzy. It’s the type of hotel where you feel dirty from just walking through. Luckily, you don’t have to walk through the hotel to get to this restaurant!
I opted for the «weekly executive plates — chef’s choice with a Caribbean Flare.» It’s essentially a daily special designed for the individual with limited time for lunch and to give you a sampling of Caribbean flavours. I had the Friday special which was the Jerk Friday! You can get jerk chicken, pork or shrimp and it’s served with «rice and peas», mango chow, fried plantains, salad and corn bread. All this was for $ 11.20 after tax — like I said, what a deal! I asked for it to be extra spicy but it was still quite mild for my palate (just a slight heat that barely registered). That being said, I didn’t miss the heat because the jerk flavours were amazing! The chicken breast was soooo tender that I didn’t even need a knife. The strong jerk seasoning paired really well with all the sides. The rice and peas was subtle but very yum with the mixture of red kidney beans, yams and okra. The corn bread was perfect and not greasy at all. I didn’t think I’d like the fried plantains but they were perfect with all the flavours in the platter. The salad had green lettuce, tomato and sliced onion with almost no dressing but I was fine with that as it was nice to have some greens with the meal. My fave had to be the mango chow — it’s like a nearly ripe pickled mango salad with a light sprinkling of cilantro. mmmm… amazing.
This place serves up «regular» breakfasts as well as burgers and clubhouses. On the weekend they serve a Caribbean breakfast which sounds fascinating. The interior is fairly plain inside with an open view of the kitchen. There aren’t a lot of tables inside (maybe 6 – 8 tables that seats 4) but there’s a small patio outside as well.
Service is really warm and friendly. I’m looking forward to trying more of their Caribbean specials the doubles too!
If you head west on Provencher, make a left on Rue Saint Joseph and you will find the restaurant on Dumoulin & Rue Saint Joseph in this residential area.
Closed Mondays. Open for breakfast and closes at 9 pm Tues-​Sat.