Flambo Caribbean/Indian Restaurant - Center City

I went with another person for restaurant week. The lunch special was $20 a person for an appetizer and entree. For both of us, it came up to $87 adding soft drinks, dessert, automatic gratuity and charge if not paying with cash. The entree is a regular lunch portion, but appetizers and dessert were surprisingly small. The spinach fritters included two, each smaller than the size of a golf ball. The server was pleasant. With so many good Indian restaurants offering the same menu selection, why pay more for less?

A hidden gem! I couldn’t recommend this place enough. We stopped in prior to a wedding for a quick bite and everything to do with it was perfect. The food we ate here was cooked to perfection, and hit the exact spice levels we asked for! The service was an amazing balance of attentiveness and providing space for us to enjoy the food and the people we were with. And the atmosphere was such a great balance of chill vibes with a very cool clean look! 5 stars!

My husband and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary this week. We had a massage at the one of the hotels close by and decided to pick up take out at this restaurant on our way home. I should have known from the moment I walked in to walk out. We get home and I couldn’t believe what we received for $60.00 worth of dinner. I sent these exact pictures to a friend and her response was “where’s the rest”? Moral of this review, this place is trash. Don’t waste your time or money.

This "new" location is much better suited to the easy going Trini "liming" culture being fostered at Flambo. Right in the gayborhood, reservations on date night are probably recommended. Convenient parking on the street and an neighboring lot. There's a small bar near the main door that has standard tropical drinks, top shelf liquor and Caribbean beers (Carib and Red Stripe). The main dining area has several high top and regular tables that accommodate two to eight easily. Warm, subtle decor hints at the tropics but the music that draws you in is 90% Trinidad and Tobago. The staff is attentive and willing to answer questions about the menu. Many of the dishes are made to order which distinguishes Flambo from the other Trinbagonian restaurants in the area. This takes a little time but the happy hour "menu " comes out faster. The happy hour is typical with half priced drinks and appetizers. The pholourie is very pale but the taste is there even with the one tamarind sauce. The pepper sauce is hot! The made to order rotis are silky, a good size and excellent for scooping up the curried meats and veggies. The Chinese food is flat out too salty. All of it. The fried rice, the chicken, the pork belly cutters. The other dishes are pretty good. Philadelphia needs a nice sit-down place for Trinbagonian foods. Flambo is that place.