Wraps are the new ‘healthy’ obsession but not every restaurant like Monty’s Cafe should try them!

Monty’s Cafe on Old Hope Road is known for cheap, decent box lunch eats and have now added wraps to their menu like almost all of Jamaica.

First of all, many assume that wraps are healthy. Wrong!  Not all of them for sure. Healthy consists of baked, roasted or grilled, fresh, non-processed cuts of chicken, salmon, steamed fish, turkey or tuna.

All these shrimp and lobster wraps around the place that sound so appealing are high in cholesterol. The plain wraps are full of bad ‘simple’ carbs versus whole grain or whole wheat wraps, keeping in mind they are still all flour and everyone that may have certain goals are not always fully aware of their carbohydrate intake for the day. Let us also not forget the dairy aspect and that cheddar or mozzarella cheeses often used to add taste to the wraps are high in saturated fat (the ‘bad’ fat). Sometimes the amounts used are just added for taste, not considering portion control. Please ‘healthy’ restaurants, bring on the fresh, grated parmesan and reduced fat feta.

With all that said, Monty’s Cafe took the cake. I saw a Chicken wrap they sent to someone and I was appalled. It was a small, plain tortilla that consisted of FRIED chicken, lettuce and one or two pieces of tomato with a horrible salad dressing all over the lettuce for $425JMD. The customer was told it came with a salad, which to their disbelief was a toothpick with a piece of tomato and a shred of lettuce rolled up. Seriously?! A 5 year old could do better. Notice there is no picture? SuGa’s LCD screen has already cracked twice. Precaution necessary. I hope nobody makes the mistake of buying such a disaster. Some places should just stick to chicken and rice and peas.

 

 

The Wine Shop, not necessarily a place to wine and dine your date just yet

The Wine Shop is not the bar or one of those places where everybody knows your name, which is a good thing. So it is a place currently under the radar that persons can go for dinner and not only shop for wine. They are open until 11pm from Monday to Saturday, closed on Sundays and have both indoor and outdoor seating.

Their menu has a wide range of items and appetizers that go well with wines, for instance, Hummus and dip, Bruschetta, Smoked Marlin plates, Jerk Sausage, Lamb chops and Penne Pasta bowls with different choices of sauce and meat.

The service was good, not great. The Hummus and dip arrived in a reasonable period of time. The dip’s taste was quite basic. The entrees took too long to arrive, more than half an hour for 2 Pasta dishes and Jerk Sausage. The serving sizes were big so quite filling to make up for that wait if hungry, but the quality was mediocre. The Jerk sausage was decent, but slightly overcooked. The Shrimp Penne Pasta bowl with Cream sauce was salty and the Grilled Chicken Penne Pasta bowl with Cream sauce was bland. I was disappointed that they did not have Basil Walnut Pesto sauce for the Pasta bowl, maybe that would have been good.

In terms of the wine, they have a wide range available to choose from for groups or couples buying by the bottle or buying for the home, but for rum drinkers that just need to buy a glass with dinner before they hit a real rum bar, the choices were way too limited. Literally, a restriction to 3 or 4 types of wine, not even a Riesling?! Unacceptable.

So quite a cosy, inexpensive little spot, but though a wine shop, no pun intended, the quality of food can be improved upon.

 

Hummus – $450JMD +tx

Jerk sausage (with Lyonnais potatoes) – $950JMD +tx

Shrimp Penne Pasta bowl with Cream sauce – $1150JMD +tx

Grilled Chicken Penne Pasta bowl with Cream sauce – $1550JMD +tx

*Pop Up Gourmet Card accepted (10% discount)

 

The Wine Shop 

Ph#: 876.620.5098

Address: Shop 7B, Southdale Plaza, South Avenue

Date of Visit: 5/9/14

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

 

Parking: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★★☆☆

Decor: ★★★★☆

Comfort: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★☆

Speed: ★★★☆☆

Food quality: ★★★☆☆

Serving amount: ★★★★★

Plating: ★★★☆☆

Value for $: ★★★☆☆

SuGa Endorsement: ★★★☆☆

Fromage Gourmet Market continues to be a winner for dinner

Great service from entrance to exit. Props to our server, Dwight who knew how to handle a few troublesome ladies. Food arrived quickly. We were seated outdoors where the tables are quite small, so for groups that come that have to be seated outside, bigger tables need to be considered.

We had the Calamari starter, Blu Crab Cakes, Shrimp Scampi and Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. All dishes are recommended, especially the Blu Crab Cakes that are consistently spicy and flavourful. The serving size of the Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo was small, compared to the Shrimp Scampi that was just $200JMD more.

The majority of their dishes are winners and costs reasonable, as entrees and pastas on the menu range from $1000JMD to $2000JMD, giving value for money. Specials are also available to break the monotony of the items listed on the menu.

Fromage Gourmet Market

Ph#: (876) 622-9856

Address: 8 Hillcrest Ave, Kingston

Date of visit: 6/8/14

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

Parking: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★★☆☆

Decor: ★★★☆☆

Comfort: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★★★

Speed: ★★★★★

Food quality: ★★★★★

Serving amount: ★★★★☆

Plating: ★★★★☆

Value for $: ★★★★☆

SuGa Endorsement: ★★★★☆

Serena Williams wins her 3rd straight US Open!

Congratulations to Serena Williams on not only her 3rd straight US Open title, winning 6-3, 6-3 over Caroline Wozniacki, but her 18th Grand Slam Singles title joining the greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratalova with the 4th most major titles in history.

Serena won 4 million dollars in total cash money and was presented with a bracelet from Tiffany’s by Evert and Navratalova for joining them on her 18th. She will now look to continue to charge up that ladder.

Surely an emotional win for Serena.