The Best Chinese. Part A

We all love Chinese food! I believe this is a world phenomenon.

We all have our favourite Chinese dish: spring rolls, fried wonton, chow mein, lo mein, saday beef, special fried rice, etc., etc., etc....

These strange words have even permeated our vocabulary and here in Jamaica their use is as current as patties and salt fish.

I recently went with a couple of friends to a fairly new restaurant at the Liguanea Post Office Mall. We really enjoy going there, because, out of the different Chinese places that I have visited in Kingston, this one really has a cozy and friendly atmosphere.

All the dishes that we have tried at Shan Hai are up to par. Well, I have to say that Chinese flavours are something that cannot be altered enormously.

Without any intention of being rude, I compare the local Chinese culinary experience with going to the local supermarkets. You may find some good prices at Loshusan, which are completely different from the good prices that you could find at the Sovereign or even at John R. Wong. No pun intended, if you know what I mean.

Coming back to Shan Hai...

Sitting there with my friends, I gave myself the task to find the BEST Chinese restaurant and when I say BEST, I mean one that has a large variety of GOOD dishes, which will certainly avoid the jumping from one Chinese restaurant to another to get a decent dining experience.

并且, this experience ought to be a complete one: a good selection of dishes + quality food + excellent service.

Shan Hai has the vast selection, like all Chinese restaurants, and up until last time, the quality of their food had always been fair. But there was something in my last meal there that will keep me from going back.

I tasted everyone's dish and it was the same flavour ALL OVER. The shrimp and the beef were the SAME. If I had to make a blind tasting, I would have failed at recognizing the flavours.

Shame on them... I was so happy with their performance until then.

On top of that, the cozy became noisy and the poor pianist suddenly drowned in the uncontrolled screaming of a big party of 10 sitting at a distant table... the irony of this is that they were Chinese... and among them, the OWNERS!

BAD experience... and BAD food. What a lethal combination!

I might consider to give Shan Hai another chance, because I remember the good times and food. But I will leave it for last.

拜拜

Keep on eating.... WELL!

Down with CHEZ MARIA!

Marrying different kinds of food in one place is often times a very hard task to achieve...

I believe that what makes a fusion place successful is not only the combination of food on their menus, but the coherence of their particular concept throughout that facility.

People visiting a fusion restaurant must be able to read that particular food concept from the minute they set foot on that place. They must see it on their décor, their ambiance and, needless to say, on their menu.

This is the case of CHEZ MARIA. They have a fantastic Mediterranean menu, which is truly representative of that region. But I personally think that they have failed at delivering this concept throughout their restaurant.

As soon as you enter CHEZ, you are hinted at the golden days of this place. Two bars, inside and outside dining, servers posted at the door to welcome the clients and mellow music.

Unfortunately, Chez Maria’s good 'ole days are gone and their brazen disregard is showing. Poor quality food, smelly napkins and tablecloths, plastic chairs, slow service, careless servers and disregarded clients.

My LAST meal there was a disaster. I was sitting at a big table with friends and we were not all served at the same time. I was really distraught at seeing that the place was almost empty and the servers were not efficient enough to take good care of ALL the guests… and there were quite a number of these SERVERS! This is clearly a management error and I would not want to imagine what would happen if the place were at least half full.

Although I think that their hummus is the best in town and that they are able to do better than my last experience, I prefer not to visit CHEZ MARIA again for a long time.

They need to have their place overhauled. We should not settle for less than better service and servers, better attention to detail and concept coherence all the way through.

So, my dear blog readers, when thinking to go to Chez Maria, think it twice. There are other options in Kingston where your dining experience will be far better.

Let CHEZ MARIA's people know that they have to take their business seriously or they will keep on losing clients.

Keep on eating ...and reporting!