My daughter and I reserved a table here in March 2023. When we arrived at 8pm there was only a couple sitting at a table that was there before us. We were seated at one of several tables adorned elegantly in red table cloths, facing a small stage, under a well decorated tent with small white stones/gravel as our floor. The setting was exquisitely outdoor!
We were offered soup on the house but we declined as we were handed the menus for the evening. The beverage menu appeared to be only alcoholic which we had no interest in. Instead we ordered regular fruit juice from the nearby bar. There was a variety of meals on the menu but unfortunately they didn't have this variety in their kitchen. We ordered what was ready and it turned out that what was "ready" wasn't really ready. So we ordered what was available and sat there listening to the DJ while he was rotating some Jamaican reggae music.
Fifteen minutes later I felt like we were forgotten and I called over our server for the evening, Keke, and asked about our meals. She said it "soon come". So we went back to listening and rocking to a steady reggae beat for another 15 minutes. I then saw meals being taken to the couple that was there before us which was now half an hour since we got there. I am not sure how long they were there before us, which in my estimation maybe 15 minutes, which means they waited about 45 minutes for their meals. At that point I asked about our meals only to be told "soon come" again. I asked if it is coinciding with the soon coming King - Jesus Christ. It was then that we asked to be served our drinks so we can start consuming something.
We were eventually served our meals at exactly 9pm, one full hour of waiting with only a couple before us and they were served all of half an hour prior. Shame on you Smoke House! But that wasn't the puzzling thing. Our meals that we waited a full hour for that we were repeatedly told "soon come", which we could only assume were being prepared while we waited, arrived cold!! Not even a semblance of warmth was in any part of our meals - the fries, the mashed potato, the crushed plantain, the chicken, the festivals were all cold. My jaw dropped in stark bewilderment!
Of course I had to ask how come. It was only met with "I am sorry, I don't know why". We were most disappointed. More questions than answers. How could a meal being prepared while we waited, taken to us as quickly as possible, arrive cold when the kitchen is only 20 feet away? It left me to speculate and my feeling is that these meals were frozen and were only taken out since we ordered. They were then microwaved one at a time and someone thought the length of time in the microwave was sufficient without checking the temperature. Nothing just prepared could have arrived so cold so quickly. We waited too long to risk them taking the meals back in to get them warm, so we had it "as is".
The food for the most part tasted ok. Nothing to "wow" me. The mashed potato was bland, could have been better had a few key ingredients been added. However, the serving size was reasonable for the price. By that time the technicians were setting up for karaoke and we were well entertained by the inhouse DJs taking us through some of my favourite reggae songs and artistes. There were no volunteer singers from the handful of patrons who gathered while we were there.
All in all it was an average night with average (cold) food and good vibes. Would I go back? Maybe not. It was my first time there and I'd rather try...
Read more
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
