J’s Fresh Bar & Kitchen, is like that guy everyone keeps telling you to give a chance because he super nice, amazing, and worth the trouble…
However, every time you meet up with him, you end up going home disappointed or annoyed.
Thing is, everyone around keeps telling you how amazing he is, hence you keep giving him a chance… Hoping that perhaps next time, it will be better.
So you end up thinking perhaps there is something wrong with you… and maybe you need to check your life.
Surely, everyone thinks this guy is nice, but he just keeps letting you down.
You genuinely want to like him, but he just can’t seem to get it together…

That just about sums up my relationship with J’s.

Let me explain…

My Not So Happy Birthday

My first encounter with J’s was on my 23rd birthday last year (Hahaha I have publicly declared my age).
My boyfriend and sister (after a million hints from me) decided to plan a lunch for my friends and at J’s.

For so long, I wanted to go see what the hype was all about. everyones reviews were 5/5 and I was curious.
Besides y’all know I love trying out new places.

June 2nd finally came, and I was beyond excited for my epic birthday plan.
After been driving around for what felt like hours (Kiambu Rd to Karen is no joke by the way… that’s a journey… plus more) we finally arrived at J’s.

1) When we got in, we found that the table they had reserved for us was being used. (Seriously, whats the point of making a reservation if they actually will not reserve)?
So we had to awkwardly stand until they were done and then we got to sit down.
2) The waiter took LONG to come get our order. I was short of going to give the chef our orders myself.

Then he finally came to take our order (I thought my problems were over… kumbe they were just getting started).

3) Our food took a good 3 hours to reach our table. When I tell you we ate the birthday cake before the food, please believe me.

At that time, it was burger fest and the place was packed.
However, the restaurant should know how many people all their tables hold and then they should ensure there are enough staff to handle a full house.
It’s not like we removed our own chairs from the car, so I personally, I did not feel ‘burger fest’ was a good excuse for the terrible service.

4) Finally, when the food came the waiter forgot a few orders (eish I am even getting upset as I write this).
And the cherry on top of the cake was, the food was terrible so we ended up leaving full pates of food on the table.

Let me just say, I left my bday lunch hungrier than when I came in… SMH.

The Big Move

When J’s decided to add a new restaurant in Westlands, I took this as a sign that perhaps J’s had finally decided to get their act together.
I decided to give J’s another chance and experience the new space.
I kept crossing my fingers that maybe… (perhaps) this time would be different.

The new J’s had more than enough sitting space. So that was a plus.
I figured with all the sitting space, if I ever did call to reserve a space, I would not be left waiting for people.

The new joint was airy. Had a nice feel to it and the ambience was pretty nice.

I walked in with a positive attitude and I was determined to have a great experience, but…
that positive attitude vanished as soon as the waitress started to bring orders.

5) I kid you not, this babe, would bring one item at a time. Bring the drink, then go back and bring the glass, then go back and bring the ice.
OMG! I wanted to ask her what her tray was for… but I had to keep calm.

6) And then, she brought a coke, with two glasses because she thought my friend and I wanted to share the coke.
Eish guys, this babe was testing my patience. Where have you ever heard that before?
A bottle of coke is 300ml, and she was seriously expecting 2 grown folks to each drink 150ml?

Fourths Times The Charm

After enough pressure, I decided to give J’s another try. I got my friends together for lunch and was crossing my fingers that this time would be better.
I know I sound like that babe that keeps being treated badly by some guy and then I say, “But he is nice, you just need to get to know him”.
But here it goes…

I absolutely love the fact that they serve their juices in these small little mason jars… they are super cute and unique.
Unfortunately, they are super small. 2 small sips and it’s empty (I had to order another one just so I could feel like I had drank a full glass).

This time,the food was really nice. I loved my burger and all my friends loved their food.
Unfortunately, they  give like 2.5 fries so we all had to order an extra side of fries.

I looooooove hummus and I also love olives, So when I saw they had hummus as a starter (and that it came with olives) I was beyond excited.

My fourth experience was actually nice. I loved the food, the service was actually okay…
Finally there was some promise…

Conclusion

I can’t figure out if I love J’s or not. 3/4 experiences have been terrible. The one experience was simply ok, it was not GREAT. It was not good enough for me to forget my other bad experiences
Would I ever go back? I don’t know. I’m not sure if it would be my place of choice, unless someone else insisted on it.

I’m really big on customer service, so when I have more than one bad experience, and it involves the service, I stop loving the place.

J’s has a lot of potential. It’s beautiful, ambience is 10/10, the people that visit there are young and vibrant…
Unfortunately, I keep having bad experiences (except that one time)….
I just think because of all the hype, people are willing to sit and accept a bad experience here and there.

It’s taken me months to write about J’s because, everyone has had great experiences so I thought mine was just a bad day (more like 3 bad days, and unfortunately one of them was my birthday).
However, many people have told me about their (not-so-good) experiences and I realised maybe I should share mine.

Perhaps this can help them better their services and maybe make me fall in love with them once and for all.

Don’t deliver a product. Deliver an experience.
– By Unknown

Until next time…
Chao!

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