Gourmet Island — Local services in New York

Good day!

I wanted to leave a review about the store and its employees.

The store itself is fine, but if you don’t pay attention to the fact that it seems like they’re always pushing pro-Ukraine stuff. It feels like all the Ukraine patriots from Ukraine came together and gathered at this supermarket. There’s a lot of political criticism, but most of them don’t really know anything about politics.

The director, Fima, is a good person, but some of the staff... well, there are a couple of employees I’ve had serious issues with.

Tatyana, who works in the ready-made food department, often lies about the freshness of the food. I bought kebabs in lavash for my kids — chicken and lamb — and the smell was awful. It was like old food, and they just wrap up what didn’t sell. She also speaks rudely to the staff in front of customers. The food is often spoiled. I recently realized that the only thing you could buy safely there were the pancakes. But then she told me there was a huge line for them and they had just sold the last ones, so I had to wait. I stood off to the side while my husband went to other departments. I waited half an hour, and when I asked if I could get my pancakes, one of the girls told me that Tatyana had gone home. Nobody even told her, and she still sold pancakes to other people. That was just awful! I think Tatyana acts like this because she overestimates herself. Maybe she’s on good terms with Fima, I don’t know, but she’s too full of herself and shouldn’t work in such a nice store.

Another employee in the bakery department — another Ukraine patriot. He sold my husband and me some old cakes while praising them. He’s always frowning and has this superior look, like we’re asking them for a loan.

The cashier — a tall guy, another patriot for Ukraine. He’s always talking about Ukraine and politics. Honestly, it’s scary when someone with no education talks about politics. Every time I go to his register, he talks about Ukraine and politics nonstop. I’m just not interested in what’s happening in Ukraine or anywhere else, to be honest.

The meat department — total mess. New workers all the time. One minute there’s a regular employee, the next minute someone new who doesn’t even speak English. When you ask something in English, they don’t answer until someone from the next department comes over to translate. It’s a total disaster. A few months ago, I bought beef tongue, defrosted it at home — it was awful. The smell was disgusting; it was rotten. My husband also bought steaks a couple of times, and they were dark and didn’t look fresh. Sometimes the meat is okay, but clearly, Fima doesn’t pay them enough or the conditions are bad, and that department is just falling apart in terms of quality. There was one really good butcher, though. He was from the Caucasus (I think from Azerbaijan or Armenia, not sure), and he told me he was leaving soon. He also said that the ready-made food department takes old meat that hasn’t sold and processes it for cooking. After hearing that, I’ve stopped buying anything from the ready-made food section.

Besides the Mexicans and the cleaner, all the other workers look at you like you’re being judged. I get it, these women are overworked, but they don’t see anything beyond the displays. They look at customers with disdain and jealousy, like they’re judging us for buying from them.

The store isn’t great. We started going to a new supermarket in Manhattan, “Tashkent.” The quality of food there is better, and the prices aren’t outrageous. I stopped going to this store because it’s just terrible — deceiving and poisoning their own people, even former compatriots. It’s honestly awful, and...

I have been a loyal customer of Gourmet Island since they opened, spending hundreds of dollars weekly on food at this location. While I’ve occasionally encountered poor attitudes from some employees, I’ve always overlooked it because the products were generally good. However, my recent experience has left me extremely disappointed and unwilling to return.

I purchased one of the more expensive red caviars they recommended. As someone who has bought and enjoyed red caviar many times before, I know what to expect in terms of quality and taste. Unfortunately, this product tasted bitter and strange metallic taste , which is not normal for red caviar. After preparing it traditionally with butter and bread for our guests, we realized it was inedible and had to throw it away.

I decided to return the product to the store, not to cause trouble but to address the issue as a loyal customer. While there, I even picked up a few other items, assuming the return would be handled professionally. To my surprise, the cashier refused to accept the product back, claiming it was fine and that "half of it was eaten." This was not accurate, as we had only prepared it for serving. Regardless, the product was bad, and I expected better customer service.

For a store that is already quite pricey, I would expect much better service and a willingness to address customer concerns. For a $28 product, the store has now lost a long-time customer. I cannot believe that such a small issue was handled so poorly, especially considering how much I’ve supported this business over the years. This experience has left me deeply disappointed, and I will not be returning. That’s fine, though. I’ll take the extra five-minute drive to NetCost Market, where I’ve also shopped for many years and have never had to deal with anything like this.

I hope the management takes this feedback seriously and improves their approach to...

Disappointing Quality: Freshness Shouldn't be Compromised for Convenience! The supermarket prides itself on offering a wide range of cooked food options. While the concept is impressive, my experience with their prepared dishes left me disapponted. The supermarket does not prioritize ensuring the quality and freshness of their dishes. The food is not fresh (unless you are lucky to happen to be in the store on the day the food is made). A few examples for reference. The stuffed cabbage I purchased was virtually inedible due to the excessive amount of vinegar used. The overwhelming acidity burned the taste buds, and the dish (which was meant to be given to kids) was thrown out. Napoleon cake -another disappointment. The cream filling was unpleasantly sweet and lacked the traditional custard flavor I was expecting. To make matters worse, the cake's crust was hard to cut, even with a knife. Lastly, the zrazy with chicken lacked structural integrity, as it crumbled with minimal pressure from a fork. Also, an excessive amount of black pepper was added, overpowering any other flavors present. This indicates a lack of quality control, as one would expect someone to taste-test the food before it is made available for sale. While I understand the appeal of having convenient ready-made meals, I firmly believe that freshness and quality should always take precedence over mere convenience. The primary value of this particular supermarket lies in its potential to provide freshly made cooked foods. For everything else, there are countless alternatives readily available at any typical supermarket. To me, compromising on the taste and quality of our food defeats the purpose of saving time. Therefore, until this supermarket addresses the issues with the quality of their cooked food offerings, I would advise seeking...