It’s time Chinese Corner stepped up their experience
I admit, I like Chinese food. And I tend to be on the lookout for good Chinese (usually influenced by how good a spring roll an institution does). And so I found myself at the Chinese Corner at Prestige Plaza. I felt their prices were friendly enough to try and besides, I had time on my hands.
Chinese Corner (the name on their banner is longer, but by the first two words you will understand where I am talking about) has a branch at the Sarit Centre Food Court – where the waiters are more aggressive than the ones at Prestige.
But the man who takes your order at Prestige is professional, and nice – service is important, especially if the bill is on you.
Not impressed
I have to admit that I was not impressed by the food in any way. I ordered the chicken chow mien, which was Sh550, and my friend ordered the sweet and sour chicken with vegetable rice combo, at Sh700.
What is special about this offer is that they throw in an option of a main course with an accompaniment of your choice and a spring roll for free, for Sh700.
When my noodles came, they were slick and unsatisfying – there was too much oil, and the food was made in a hurry (well, it is the food court, I suppose).
I actually chomped down on a large cube of ginger in the middle of my meal. In my opinion, Chinese food should either be so tasty that the oil is warranted and you don’t notice, or should not have oil at all.
My food was very oily – the bad type. It was practically sliding off my plate. Needless, to say, I didn’t finish it. I feel that Chinese Corner needs to step up their Chinese experience.
They are one of the players in the fast food court game in Nairobi, and they need to keep up with not only the fresh, hip restaurants coming up every day, but also with their neighbours in these food courts who produce better food than them.
Then again, maybe I am expecting too much from a food court.
In other slightly horrifying news, my favourite smoothie place has gone insane. Rendezvous, which is also located at Prestige Plaza’s food court makes one of the best non-dairy smoothies ever – the Rainforest Berries Smoothie — which is a blend of a berries sorbet, strawberries and apple juice.
Yes, it is as good as it sounds. So on this visit, I also made a quick trip to my fave smoothie joint, only to discover that the price of a small-sized smoothie has doubled from Sh170 to Sh350 — and the size of the cup has not changed. The economy is getting to everybody. Clearly, it is time to buy a blender.