Temi O.
Yelp
This was my second visit to this restaurant and I'm disappointed to say that the second experience was even worse than the first! Came here for a family members birthday and we had all pre booked and pre paid for our meals.
You either had the option of paying £40 for a two course meal or £45 for a three course meal. So imagine going with a partner, excluding your drinks, you've very easily found yourself racking up a £90 bill. By the time drinks are added you've very easily gone into the ££ Hundreds! With the meal being more on the pricey end, and for a restaurant to claim they are "fine dining" without a doubt I am expecting the experience to be worth the money.
However, the restaurant was heavily short staffed to the point that the bartender was in between two roles of bartending and waitressing. The entire time spent at the restaurant there were only 4 different members of staff visible in the restaurant,who had to shift between roles. Of course, this had a dramatic effect in the quality of customer service which was consequently offered. Despite having already pre ordered our meals, we were left waiting 90 minutes before starters began coming out of the kitchen.
I ordered the "cheesy lobster" which was dressed up nicely on a fancy plate but as a Bon vivant, it was simply cheddar cheese melted over lobster dressed up to be more than it was.
After starters were eaten, it took almost another 40 mins for our "pre ordered" meals to come out. The rice which accompanied the main meals did not bring back the familiar and warm flavours you would typically get with a Jamaican curry/ jerk chicken. It was bland, had very little flavour to the point where the taste was almost gentrified. It lacked the authenticity and rich taste of Jamaican flavours. The jerk chicken was overly glazed in a sweet sauce and was not "jerked" enough. It had more of a zesty after taste.
Contributing to the whole experience was the lack of air conditioning, in a restaurant which supposedly offers a fine dining experience, to have guests sweat whilst attempting to enjoy a nice meal is quite a disgrace. Amidst the grandness of the decoration, a modern air conditioning would have easily fitted onto the roof, making he experience just that more bearable.
I think the concept of pre ordering meals was lost to Ayanna's. Even after guests chose their meals in advance, to have to wait over an hour to eat is shambolic. If only the same urgency was applied as it was when requesting that each guest pay first.
If I was to bring my own friends for an authentic and rich experience trying out Jamaican food, Ayanna's would unfortunately not be a contender.