Windor’s happening High Street is fast becoming one of Melbourne’s top food destinations. Turn off the oncebustling Chapel Street to find a melting pot of cuisines – top pub grub at The Smith, home-style Italian at Neptune and in the former digs of Vietnamese powerhouse Hanoi Hannah you’ll now find Liam Whiticker and Ben Rosenberg’s take on Caribbean dining, Queen Vee’s.

Pink flamingo wallpaper along with hanging wicker lampshades and an undertone of urban beats set the tropical beach-shack vibe when you enter the 50-seat diner.

Chef Whiticker, meanwhile, has turned his Spanish pan-rattling skills, honed during his time at Movida, to the many-layered cuisine of the Caribbean. The menu can be tackled two ways: cherrypick share plates, and perhaps team them with a bucket of Red Stripe (Jamaica’s national lager), or make a meal of it and choose five dishes for $85.

The cornbread is a must, as a snack or to mop up the robust and rich oxtail stew, perhaps. Either way, you’ll find the jerk butter slathered on top a wondrous thing.

Chicken, fish and jackfruit all get the jerk treatment (and vegans have their own dedicated night every Tuesday). The bird, Queen Vee’s signature dish, packs some heat, which is nicely tempered with bites of pickled cucumber, sweet grilled pineapple and green tomato pickle.

Alongside a largely local wine list, rum is a big player in Queen Vee’s cocktail game. The Painkiller, for instance – like a piña colada without the slick of heavy cream – sees pineapple juice and spiced rum punch through coconut cream for a refreshing tropical drop. And a rum punch is one of the $40 jugs on offer.

If you can’t manage a ticket to the Caribbean, you can enjoy the next best thing right here in Melbourne.