A-Bar Restaurant and Lounge gets a ‘D’ from Suga

I haven’t been to A-Bar Restaurant and Lounge located in Springs Plaza for months. But I have been craving changes since becoming bored with the current restaurant and bar scene in Kingston, Jamaica. A-Bar is known to have a young demographic and that surely has not changed.

After passing the entertainment of a small ‘street dance’ by the parking lot at the corner of the plaza, the hosts were pleasant upon entry and I was seated at the bar until an available table was ready. Did I just walk into the Youth View Awards though? ‘Flashes Flashes, Lights Lights’, all around as different ‘teeny bopper’ groups posed for not only their phone cameras but it seemed like A-Bar had professional camera staff on hand as well. Clearly not my scene, but what’s important is they looked like they were having a good time. The music was loud but I could still have a conversation, unlike Ribbiz UltraLounge, where I can hardly hear myself.

My other half and I were really hungry so decided to order food at 8:50pm and wait on it before having any liquor. However, I had my eyes on the A-Bar Mojito that I saw being served in a jar, that looked extremely refreshing. Lovely presentation.

The drinks menu was extensive and the food menu had a range of items as well. I liked that they offered Popcorn Lobster, Calamari and Cocktail Shrimp for appetizers, compared to the usual Wings and Quesadillas at other places. They did not have the Soup of the day available though. Not even a substitute.

Their entrees were quite affordable, ranging in price from $950-$2500JMD. Entrees included Pork Skewers, Fried Chicken, Shrimp Pasta Linguini, Rock Lobster, Grilled Salmon and more.

As we waited, we were approached by different waitresses asking if everything was ok. My main concern was the food, then as time went by with all the televisions they had mounted, I requested to see a basketball game that was on. Different waitresses took this request and after half an hour, there was no food and no channel change. The food came a few minutes later. The presentation of the Jerk Chicken Penne Pasta with Shrimp that I ordered was sloppy. It looked like they threw everything in there and scantily added a few shrimps that I had paid extra money for. The excess pasta sauce should have been wiped off the sides of the plate. The creamy sauce was average and the chicken was bland.

My other half had the Chicken Breast that was supposed to be stuffed with plantain, but instead he got what seemed to be callaloo with cream cheese. From a glance at the chicken, it looked overcooked. Typical Jamaicans overcooking a Chicken Breast. Of course, it tasted that way as well, not even slightly overcooked but more on the tough side.

I also quickly ordered the A-Bar Mojitos as the food arrived at 9:30pm to hear ‘Sarry, it done. Dat’s why unnu shoulda orda long time when me ask you’. That is as close to what I can remember the waitress saying. Excuse me??!! It’s 9:30pm and I am at a bar and one of the signature drinks is finished? It wasn’t even ‘bar time’ yet. It was dinner time. Furthermore, who was she speaking to? She probably thought it was one of the 16-year-old patrons there. Thanks for the compliment, but even at 16, I would not appreciate or deserve that response. She did not recommend another drink to appease the situation either. We just instantly asked for the bill, ate and left ‘D-Bar’.