A new LOUNGE in town!

The latest vogue in bars and restaurants is what people are calling a lounge. What defines a lounge bar or cafe is the type of ambiance provided by the seating arrangement and style and, of course, the music.

Lounge music ranges from beautiful instrumentals to modern electronica: chillout or downtempo. Despite the style, this music always maintains its focus on retro-space-age cultural elements.

Lounge music is a form of mood music, intended to create the feeling of another place such as a jungle, an island paradise, or even space.

This new trend of cafes and bars is present in most capital cities and it’s been around for quite a while. It was time that Kingston had its own lounge bar and this was recently inaugurated at the MarketPlace last week under the name of Fiction Lounge/Bar.

The first sensation that you get when you enter Fiction is the same that you can feel when you set your foot in a bar of these sorts in Europe, the States or even in big citiess in Latin America. But Fiction is really arty-crafty. Wide lounge filled with blown out luxury pictures, white sculptures, private booths, two bars, stylish stools and tables and even an elaborate tapas menu. No soul.

It's visible that the owners really made their research and you feel it in the cool vibe to it.

Nevertheless, there are some details that they need to pay attention to. Lounge bars and cafes are defined by their style. Although Fiction décor is eclectic, their leitmotiv is missing and this makes this bar extremely pretentious, which can be judged by their cover charge of $1,000.

Do not get me wrong. I do not want to say that it is bad to be pretentious. I just want to make clear that it is bad to be pretentious and not be up to par.

The waiters are misinformed about their menu selection and neither are they able to explain nor to pronounce what it’s written on those booklets. Poor things the menu is in itself very confusing.

Since you are starting, get people interested in your lounge by charging a lesser cover. It could be kind of a Christmas offer or even better, include a drink with such cover. Welcome drinks are always nice baits!

Your bartenders can create a drink bearing your name…what about that!

But my critique wants to deal with the food. I tried it. Food is great. Albeit a little bit too pricey for what you can get, again pretentious, flavours are very well organised and thought of.

I would have made them all bite sizes… this is a lounge not a restaurant! It is very uncomfortable to eat this kind of food in the lounge seats.

My friends of Fiction, the more you promote your place and make of this an experience for the customer, the more successful you will be to make out of your name a brand of style in the city.

So far, it seems a little bit improvised. Let me say that paying a thousand dollars for listening to the audition of a DJ does not cut it for me. It was not a GREAT experience.

My dear blog readers, if you go to Fiction, pay attention to these details and let me, and them, know. In terms of the food, try everything, because their chef is doing a great job in that kitchen. She should rethink size portions… that’s all!

A piece of advice to you, customer, do not eat on the lounge seats! Ask for a table.

I want to take advantage of this post to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My best wishes to you all!

Keep on eating!

Nothing express about KATANA EXPRESS

I was passing by Loshusan Shopping Centre and I decided to try KATANA EXPRESS, which is located inside the supermarket.

I had been here several times before and it seemed to me like a fair and nice option for a speedy lunch time. What gave this place the attribute of NICE was the service they provided because it was friendly, efficient and EXPRESS.

Well, those are things of the past. They have neglected their service and the quality of their food under the very same supervision of the owner.

I entered their little space at 12:35 PM and I was seated by the entrance. Suprinsingly, it took them approximately 10 minutes to come to my table and throw their menu at me. No explanation provided. Then, it took them around 15 minutes to come back and ask me if I was ready to order.

Finally, I did place my order and the food arrived 25 minutes later. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out why the waitresses were so disorganized and why the owner, or who I supposed it is the owner, was peacefully sitting at a table in a corner without noticing the disdain and carelessly attitude of her staff.

Food wise, I have to say that Katana’s rolls were not really worth the price I paid for them and flavour was not outstanding at all. If they meant to be any kind of side option for East at the Marketplace, they have lost heir mark.

What really surprises me is that they were not able to maintain their service standards for the time they have been in operation. Although it has never been top quality sushi, it used to be a nice lunch experience... after all.

However, somewhere in that process, they dropped the ball.

Shame on them!

I do not recommend KATANA EXPRESS at all and I really encourage its owner to pay more attention to details such as dirty cutlery and plates, servers attitude and speed… after all they want to call themselves EXPRESS.

So, my dear blog reader, keep on eating!

Thanksgiving Galore!

There I was, getting in late for my Thanksgiving dinner invitation at Susie’s. I have to say that I was kind of excited about Susie’s Bakery new phase. I had been to the bar and I was content with the experience, mostly because the service is outstanding. You see from the start that there is an interest from the ownership to satisfy the customer.

When I saw they were going to participate in KRW 2008, I was kind of puzzled because I was accustomed to the idea of Susie’s as a bakery. Although I knew about their lunch service on their both locations and even their very famous breakfast service on Sundays at Southdale Plaza, the idea of seeing Susie’s participating in the same category as East, Aubergine, Jewel of India and Strawberry Hill disoriented me a little.

From what I heard and the look at the menu that I took, their offer was remarkable and people’s comments were good. Everybody was recommending Susie’s as the new hottest spot in town. Therefore, the Thanksgiving dinner invitation was really the best opportunity to see Susie’s at its best.

Well, the menu, which I would have preferred to see in writing, was nice and although I was wanting a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the Jamaican Christmas selections were getting me already in the season’s spirit.

I asked for their lamb chops and let me tell you that these have been one of the best ones that I have tried in a long time. They were also offering rib eye steak, curried shrimp and sliced lamb.

We got our dishes and off we started to eat. I was not very satisfied with the presentation of my dish and I quickly glanced at my party and they all looked the same. I have to say that, presentation wise, these were not very attractive. I also have to mention that there were mixed feeling across the table and not everyone was as happy as I was with my chops.

This is to be taken care of because good service and quality food have to go hand in hand with a constant delivery of good flavor and presentation throughout their selection.

My advice to Susie’s is to tune up those details in order to achieve a flawless delivery. The key of a winning high-level dish is not in the exaggerated amount of food thrown in a plate, as I felt it was done in the case of my Thanksgiving dinner, but in the right combination of quality food, eye appeal and right flavors.

Susie’s is really the hottest place in town. The bar is really nice and the ambiance is superb, but they need to work on few details of their dinner experience to reach their standards they have apparently set for themselves.

As I end this review, allow me to take advantage of these celebrations and the true meaning of Thanksgiving to thank all the persons that read my blog and participate in good spirit.

Your support has been a true blessing.

So, my dear blog readers … keep on eating!

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!