Our Story
Rooted in the Caribbean. Grown in Oxford.
Spiced Roots began with a simple conversation.
Where It Started
A conversation became Spiced Roots.
Why wasn't Caribbean food being spoken about in the same way as the world's other great cuisines?
Across the islands are generations of cooking, ingredients, techniques and traditions shaped by African, Indian, Indigenous, European, Chinese and other influences. Every island has its own story, and sometimes the same dish can change completely depending on where you are or whose family is cooking it.
We felt that deserved to be represented properly.
So in 2016, Spiced Roots opened on Cowley Road with a purpose: to give Caribbean food, drink and culture a platform in Oxford while keeping the roots of it alive.
The idea for Spiced Roots grew from conversations between friends in Oxford about Caribbean food and how it was represented in the UK.
Caribbean food wasn't missing. What was missing was the opportunity to show its full depth.
We wanted to create somewhere that could take the dishes we grew up with, respect where they came from and present them confidently in a restaurant setting without changing them simply to fit somebody else's idea of what Caribbean food should be.
That principle still guides the kitchen today: understand the tradition first. Innovation comes afterwards.
Why The Roots Matter
You can't understand Caribbean food without understanding where it came from.
Caribbean cooking tells the history of the region.
African traditions, Indigenous ingredients, Indian migration, European colonisation, Chinese influence and generations of island innovation have all left their mark on what is eaten across the Caribbean today.
You can see it in the food we serve.
The Indian influence running through Trinidadian cooking. The use of green seasoning across different islands and households. The smoking and seasoning traditions behind jerk. The importance of provisions, plantain, coconut, cassava, peppers, herbs and spices. And the differences between recipes passed down from one family to another.
At Spiced Roots, preserving those stories matters just as much as preserving the recipes.
We don't want Caribbean traditions to become names on a menu with their meaning forgotten.
We want the next generation to know why they're there.
Spiced Roots
Every dish carries a story.
Our Food
Tradition comes first.
Our approach to cooking starts with understanding the dish before trying to change it.
That's why fresh herbs, marinades, homemade seasonings, slow cooking and proper preparation are such an important part of our kitchen.
Our menu travels across the Caribbean rather than trying to represent the region as one single cuisine.
From Trinidadian doubles and choka to jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail and dishes inspired by islands across the region, the menu reflects something we have always believed:
There isn't one Caribbean food.
There are islands, communities, histories and families — each with their own way of doing things.
That's what makes Caribbean cooking so special.
More Than What's On The Plate
Food is only one way a culture tells its story.
The Caribbean is also rum.
It's Soca, Bouyon, Zouk and Jab Jab.
It's Carnival.
It's art.
It's family gatherings, Sunday cooking, recipes passed between generations and the debates over whose island — or whose grandmother — makes something best.
That's why Spiced Roots has grown beyond dinner service.
Our Soca Sundays celebrate music from across the islands.
Our Rum Masterclasses explore one of the Caribbean's most important and complicated spirits, its history and the people producing it today.
Our events, workshops and Roots Explained series give us different ways to share the culture beyond a plate of food.
Some people will discover the Caribbean through dinner.
Some through a glass of rum.
Some through music.
Some through a story they had never heard before.
All of those doors are open at Spiced Roots.
Spiced Roots
More than a meal.
Rum Has Roots Too
More than 100 bottles. Hundreds of years of history.
From the beginning, we believed Caribbean rum deserved the same respect given to the world's great spirits.
Our bar has grown to more than 100 rums, representing different islands, distilleries, production methods and styles.
But collecting bottles isn't the point.
We want people to understand what they're drinking.
Through our rum collection, cocktails and masterclasses, we explore the people, places, history and production behind the spirit — whether you're already a rum enthusiast or tasting it properly for the first time.
Grown In Oxford
Caribbean roots. Oxford home.
Spiced Roots may celebrate the Caribbean, but Oxford is part of our story too.
Cowley Road has been our home since 2016.
It's one of the things we love about being here: on any given day our tables can bring together Oxford locals, students, families, visitors and people from all over the world.
Over the years, we've worked with local organisations, businesses, artists, DJs, creators and members of the Caribbean community.
We've catered celebrations and weddings, hosted events, welcomed businesses for team meals and watched customers who first visited years ago return with friends and family.
Spiced Roots has grown with the people around it.
2016 — 2026
Ten Years of Spiced Roots
Ten years later, we're proud of what has grown from that first conversation.
Along the way, Spiced Roots has received recognition including Best Global Cuisine and Overall Winner at the Ox In A Box Food Awards, been named the UK's #1 Caribbean restaurant by Big 7 Travel, and previously reached #1 restaurant in Oxford on TripAdvisor.
We're grateful for every award.
But the purpose hasn't changed.
We still want someone to walk through our doors, eat something they haven't tried before, ask us where it came from and leave knowing a little more about the Caribbean than when they arrived.
What's Next
Keeping the Roots Growing
Spiced Roots is entering its next chapter.
We're documenting the stories behind Caribbean ingredients, dishes, rum, music and traditions through Roots Explained.
We're creating more opportunities for people from different Caribbean islands and backgrounds to tell their own stories.
We're continuing our events and educational experiences.
And we're working towards taking Spiced Roots beyond Oxford while protecting the things that made it worth growing in the first place.
Because growth should never mean forgetting where you came from.
The roots come with us.