It's summer, which means trying out some food from a tropical place makes perfect sense. Cottons is situated next to Vauxhall Bridge alongside the Thames. There is a big outdoor space, where in the sunshine, cocktails, and music would be a ball, but this is a British summer, so it was a bit nippy, and a risk of rain! Instead, we sat inside the spacious establishment. While looking over the menu, we figured out it was happy hour, which meant two-for-one cocktails. That meant two of the same for the price of one, not two different cocktails for the price of one. And that is how we ended up with two cocktails each: An Exotica Sour, and a Rum Punch. Both delicious, and vaguely deadly.

We started of with a starter each. My wife choose the salted cod fritters, and I had the jerk chicken spring rolls. The spring rolls were served with some salad and a sweet chilli sauce. They almost had an Asian flavour to it. The salted cod fritters were served with a spicy tomato sauce.

Mains wise, my wife picked the curried mutton, served with rice'n'peas. The flavour had a good depth to it, and although it was a little spicy, it wasn't overpowering. The meat was soft and tender. As my main, I selected the pork ribs and fried chicken combo. The ribs came in a fairly spicy sauce, which worked well. The red and green chillies that were sprinkled over them, did not add much heat. The fried jerk chicken was a little too salty to my liking, but the sauce that was coating the ribs fixed that soon. Some fried plantains and rice'n'peas completed the meal. The sweetness of the plantains helped with balancing the heat.

We were quite full after this, and decided against pudding while finishing the last of our (second) cocktail.

The restaurant has a good atmosphere, the service was speedy and attentive, and the food delicious and affordable. It's a great spot near the river, and if the sun comes out there will be a Caribbean atmosphere too.