It’s never been hard to find cheap ethnic cuisine in the D.C. area — from Burmese to Ethiopian to Middle Eastern via the Netherlands. Still, despite our miserliness and our search for interesting new foods, DCist has been looking over one of the long-time staples of cheap eats in D.C.: The Islander, possibly the only place on U Street where you can hear live music and enjoy authentic Caribbean cuisine. And with the prices decidedly within our Miller High Life-level budget, the temptation to visit the Islander was irresistable.
We headed to The Islander on two of the colder nights in recent memory, prior to some local shows. The restaurant’s location, spitting distance from the 9:30 Club, the Black Cat, DC9, and The Velvet Lounge, makes it ideal for pre-show dining. The choice of Caribbean cuisine (not exactly from winter climates) on a brutally cold evening was an interesting but surprisingly smart choice.
