J & W Restaurant 聚雅軒
Review on 19/12/2020
It has been a long time since I caught up with my former school mates and their spouses.
Parking in the street outside of the restaurant is restricted, for 1/4 or 1/2 hours, but there are other carparks near-by, or just across the road in the Forest Hill Chase carpark.
I never feel comfortable in a rather dimly lit restaurant. It probably attracts patrons who celebrate romantic occasions, but that may not appeal to many who come to enjoy other happy moments.
It seems many dinners are going for lobster dishes in Chinese restaurants these days, due to price reduction since Australian lobsters are "banned" by China's importation.
One of my friends is the organiser for the get together, and he pre-ordered set menu for two tables, plus three serves of Lobster and Noodle dish.
There is a fish tank in the restaurant, keeping several live lobsters. I have not paid attention whether there is any groper in the tank.
The lobster is a real delight, but as can be seen from the photo, the presentation of the finished dish is poor and lack finesse. The meat is already removed from the shell, and placed on top of a bed of "fresh" noodle. The chef is very generous with the tasty gravy, and visibly drowned the lobster. It is a treat for all of us after months of lockdown.
The set menu includes groper (fish), prawn, sweet and sour pork, bean, Chinese broccoli with beef, string bean, and crispy chicken spare ribs.
The Groper is fresh, and steamed to perfection. Its black colour body does look very pitiful when presented with minimum garnish on a white oval plate.
Besides the lobster, the prawns and chicken spare ribs are not well presented. I have difficulty identifying them from the photos, not that they are well taken.
The piece of chicken spare rib I have looks more like a chicken wing with its tip. I cannot understand why the spare ribs are placed on a black-and-white plate probably designed by a hypnotist.
I am intrigued by the different designs, shapes, sizes and colours of the plates used. This may seem trivial, but it just does not look right to me.
Chinese tea is not provided, which I find as a big drawback for most Chinese restaurants.
I am tossing and turning in deciding to rate this a 3 stars or 4 stars. I hope the management take on board my rather come-to-the-point, but constructive comments. See less
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