Reviews for Pon Di River Caribbean Bar and Bistro in Columbia, SC
Long post : I called to order a pick up. I ordered two coco burgers one I wanted to substitute the fries for plantains and the... other with fries and the man said okay. I also ordered a sweet tea. I was told it will be ready in 10 minutes. I gave them 20minutes before I arrived. When I got there I waited. The girl behind the bar gave me my receipt and I saw they charged me for aextra side of plantains for $3.15, I explained that i didn?t want extra plantains I wanted to substitute it for the fries. shehad an attitude and stated we don?t do substitutes so I said okay fine. I waited another 10 minutes still no food. Clariesacomes out and I asked her to please give me accurate wait time next time because I?m on my lunch break. She looks at me with anattitude and says you ordered two burgers it takes time do you want un-cooked burgers we only have one cook. She walked and theback and started talking about me very loud I can hear her over the music they were playing. I started to just walk out becausenow I don?t trust her with my food. A tall man came out of the kitchen and asked if I wanted something to drink while I waitedand I said sure. He never did come out with the drink. (Strike 1) When I finally received my food the burger and coco bread wereburnt (Strike 2) and I had two orders of plantains (Strike 3). I tried to call the restaurant to talk to a manager but theyblocked me or forwarded all calls. I am very disappointed. I will not be back. The food is expensive and small portions. Iusually don?t do this but I was not treated right. Read more
I am sorry to say I no longer consider this restaurant Caribbean and further more I will not return or ever recommend it again.... I?ve given it numerous try?s. I?m sad to say but the food is no longer good. I ordered the king fish because I was tempted bydescription and the picture on menu and was excited to try it. But when it arrived at my home it looked completely different.The beautiful vibrant red sauce with peppers in the picture was completely MIA. It had a very strong fishy smelly (I knowit?s fish and it?s supposed to smell like fish but what I mean is that it didn?t smell fresh or at least recently frozen fresh)plus It was very-very over cooked in a very dark brown almost black sauce With a couple of mushy potatoes and carrots that hadno peppers no spice. The collard greens and cabbage were, a good portion but blah, flat. Which is a double disappointmentbecause when this restaurant initially opened their color greens and cabbage were awesome! They had different delicious flavor(different from the usual southern flavor) they had a perfect mix of acidity and spice. They used to be so good that I used tocall to order pick up double order of each and just eat that but that?s all over now. It?s a real shame because realCaribbean(non Americanized) food is absolutely delicious so flavorful and colorful. So long, and peace to you Pon di River. Read more
I really had a wonderful dining experience today here. I ordered the oxtails, macaroni and cheese and cabbage with lemon pepper... wings and ranch. Everything was delicious except the cabbage. It wasnt as neatly as good as it normally is and was really bland.However, my server Kenya was amazing and she replaced it with the collard greens which were delicious. The service was overallfantastic and I definitely will be back again. Read more
Wow, bloody wow, what an experience. Just found this incredible place in Columbia, SC. The wife and I love Caribbean food so we... thought we?d give it a go. We ordered the jerk chicken platter with all the trimmings. So authentic it?s like mama?s ownkitchen. Talk about a circus in your mouth when you leave the place. Very inexpensive also. Our tab was just $25 for all that weordered. Just a cool , casual place with great reggae music, lovely atmosphere and the service was top notch as well. Highlyrecommend if you are in Columbia. 3 Thumbs Up ???????????? And 5 Stars ?????????? from us. We will be back. Still plenty totry out on their awesome menu ???? Read more
Rather different atmosphere. Ordered at the bar and was no distancing. I kept my mask on. The waitress/barmaid was friendly but... busy. I had no idea what to order, but she directed me to a curry chicken special. It was wonderful. Well spiced and cooked. Redbeans and rice, and Mac n cheese. The Mac n cheese wasn't the best, but edible. The red beans and rice were just right. Read more
Much better experience this time, than my last time when I ordered something from there. It was super super super salty. But... this order was perfect! The waitress was super helpful and generous. Gave a good discount due to being 1st responder.Iappreciated that???? Read more
We ordered delivery. Flavor of the food was awesome! Got stew chicken and jerk chicken with a couple sides. The only let down... was that we didn?t get our collards and instead got cabbage ???? otherwise, food was great. Will try again in hopes of tryingthe collards!! Read more
Decided to give this place a try for my birthday(11/8) and was disappointed. The food wasn't as fresh as I would expect it to be... with the amount they're charging. We had more sides on our plate than meat. We ordered curry goat and got a lot of bones. Ourdrinks never made it to the table. The temperature was kind of stuffy so we didn't stay too long. We definitely won't bereturning. Read more