I think it's great that many of our restaurants have really put Jackson Heights on the culinary map. It's one of the reasons I love living here. So, I am generally not one to speak up against a restaurant or another small business owner unless I feel something is seriously wrong.
I dined at Chifa last night and was utterly disappointed.
First, the wait for my food was tremendously long. At a Peruvian (fast!)/Chinese (even faster!) restaurant, I am ordering the fastest item on the menu: a half chicken. It takes a millisecond to chop my chicken with a cleaver. Why am I waiting nearly 40 minutes? The calamari I ordered as an appetizer was served before my chicken, but it was still a significant wait. What came out was a soggy, MSG-infused sampling of junior squid bits. Nothing like the crispy delight promised on the picture on the menu.
The wait was not due to the fact Chifa was busy. There were at most four tables with customers and at least three people working the eating area. One appeared to be helping the takeout customers. As I left, one waiter was hunched over his fried rice at the bar-like area in the back.
I noticed that other customers were also waiting a long time. The gentleman who came in after me and ordered something far more complex was served sooner than I was. That's not saying much; he also waited a considerable amount of time. Before he left, he turned to the couple sitting near him and appeared to be complaining (maybe about the food or the slow service). I could be wrong. Maybe I am transposing my frustration on him.
When I politely asked where my dinner was, the waiter asked, "Como?" I didn't bother talking to any staff after that. Otherwise, the wait staff was not overtly rude and did refill my water and take my money fairly quickly. I think they perceived I was irritated and wanted to leave.
What I was served was a lukewarm old chicken that was edible but still very clearly stewing in grease for a long time. The wings were dried rock solid. The rest of the chicken was slimy with fat and grease. The first thought that came to my head is that they did not have chicken but, instead of telling me, made a grocery store run to buy one, as crazy as that sounds. The green sauce that came with the chicken was the only saving grace since it helped the otherwise sad specimen of poultry go down. I asked for ketchup and got a few packets from the waiter, who reached into the big cardboard box on the table across from mine.
The salad that came with my meal was a small side plate of chopped bits of old iceberg lettuce. No visible dressing. No other vegetables.
I looked around and the dishes the other diners had in front of them seemed only marginally more appetizing.
As for the atmosphere, it seems fairly clean. Other than that, it was shoddily designed. The row of booth seating against the wall is too narrow to allow even small people to sit comfortably. The furniture seems cheap, like it was recycled from a 70's Chinese takeout. The lighting fixtures seem new and modern and, thus, out of place. The men's bathroom door is not even really a proper room door but, rather, a hinged door to a supply closet. The walls and ceiling seem like they were left over from whatever was in there previously. The Latin music--mainly covers of popular Latin music by other Latin musicians--was not too loud, but when added to the soap opera that was playing on the TV in the back of the eating area, it was too much. The kitchen did not seem properly shielded from the public. (Either purposely expose the kitchen or hide the kitchen at a sit-down restaurant.) Boxes of supplies were on top of tables in the eating area. The whole restaurant just looked hastily thrown together.
All of this would have been excusable had the food been as fabulous as indicated on JHL. I see that, save two people, all of the firsthand comments seem to be from people who joined JHL specifically to created and puff up this thread. Also, is it really right to attack Pio Pio if you are a business owner or manager, as I assume "chifa_restaurant" is? Shouldn't you really be concerned with providing quality food, service, and overall experience regardless of what other restaurants around you are doing? Restaurants are not cell phone service providers. I have no connection to Pio Pio's owner--I like some things about that restaurant (quality of food) but have some minor beefs about other things--but please run your business properly before pointing your own very greasy finger at others.
Topic: Chifa Restaurant - new Peruvian / Asian fusion (Read 9014 times)