Fusion East - Caribbean and Soul Food Restaurant

Reviews 3

SH

Sharan Carter

I visited this establishment this afternoon and for the first time ever I decided to post a review on my experience at a restaurant. Ill start with stating the food was great (the only reason I gave them 3 stars)... that is once it arrived. However the lack luster costumer service leaves a lot to be desired. Great tasting food is a must in the restaurant industry but if you have poor customer service, your business will not be successful. My friend, her son and I were trying to decide on a place to have lunch. After throwing out a couple of suggestions, I remembered this new restaurant behind Gateway Mall and suggested we go there. The first time I visited this establishment was on comedy night, which started at 8pm, with Damon Rozier (whom we love dearly) approximately 2 weeks ago. It was a quiet night, probably a total of 20 ppl in attendance, yet the time btwn placing our order and actually being served was easily 30-40 minutes. Our visit this afternoon was no different. This time there was a total of approximately 10 ppl in the restaurant, in addition, a bartender (Dominique) who also served as our waitor and due to the lengthy time of waiting, I think there was 1 cook in the kitchen. Now Im all for cooking food to order however once the food was prepared, the entire table should be served. I received my food (curry chicken roti) and my friends son received his (chicken & coconut waffles) then Dominique advised my friends food is being prepared. She was served her jerk chicken dinner 10 minutes later. It was at that moment I remembered my first visit where we waited 40 minutes to be served, 3 out of the 4 dishes ordered were served initially, the 4th dish, belonging to me, which came 10 minutes later only to be dropped by the waitress as she approached our table. Even more annoying was the fact that the manager was sitting directly at the table across from us (which we realized once we requested the manager after the waitress informed me it would be at least another 15-20 for my meal to be prepared all over) but he didnt take any initiative to rectify or apologize for the inconvenience. In customer service, we know waiting is unavoidable but its not "why" you wait rather "how" you wait. A simple acknowledgement from management for that inconvenience wouldve potentially changed my entire outlook on my experience that night. That same manager came in the restaurant this afternoon and the same dismissive attitude was witnessed. As I mentioned in the beginning there was only about 10 patrons in the restaurant, yet the manager entered with no greeting and even after he got comfortable he still didnt acknowledge those in his establishment. I frequent restaurants, whether upscale or our local IHOP and one thing thats consistent is a courtesy grin, a head nod or just a simple "Good Morning, Afternoon, or Night" greeting. And thats even when Im in a crowded restaurant. Its almost common for management to walk around and make sure things are going well esp considering there was 1 waitor who was also the bartender and clearly handling more than he should have been handling. This was extra disappointing to me because I believe in supporting "our" businesses. I believe we should own more and do more therefore when I frequent our establishments I expect more. To end our experience, when we asked our waitor for more water (which after he finally served our dishes hed never returned to see how things were going or if anything else was needed) he took our glasses back to the bar area to refill the water. I guess they dont have pitchers to bring to the tables

SH

Sharon A. Joseph

Fusion East is fine dining, Caribbean/southern American food. There is good tasty food, cooked well, served hot and fresh, with good service, a beautiful ambience and a very helpful, courteous and attentive staff at Fusion East. They also have live entertainment some nights and as the sun goes down, you experience a more romantic or electric type of lighting depending on the entertainment for the night. Come with your significant other, by your self, or with a group and youll still feel right at home. I also saw a couple families with children there too. Youll experience the love, and taste the fusion of good Caribbean, American cooking. This restaurant was featured on Fox 5 News, and after the anchors tasted the food on air, and made plans to visit, I just had to try it too; so for my birthday when my friend asked me where I wanted to go in all of NYC, I chose to go to Fusion East on Elton Street, in Brooklyn - right behind the new Gateway mall. I was not disappointed at all. I had a really great time! I had the coconut shrimp as my appetizer, and that was not finger wiping good, but finger-licking good. I had the stewed red snapper with rice and peas, and my friend and I ate from each others plate, so I also tasted the jerk salmon and mashed potatoes. They both came with a side of steamed vegetables. Both were delicious! Another friend joined us after our appetizer, so I had a fusion of good food, good friends, good service and good music. My pallet was dancing to the taste of the food, while my feet were tapping to the beat of the music. No reservation needed, at least we didnt make one. This is the best Caribbean American restaurants Ive been to in NY. Actually, in my travels to LA, OH, PA, GA and many other states - it tops my list. I was very impressed. I plan to be back very soon, but until then, I hope the owner is planning to spread his wings to other states and cities. I was too busy having fun and eating, and I forgot to take pictures of the dishes before we bagan eating.

RO

Robert Harrison

Ok I Begged My Wife to Check Out this Place , As it was close by in the neighborhood. We went inside and was not greeted, we had to walk through tables where others were eating to get a waiter. After we got seated, The bartender had sat us but it took 15 mintues for the waiter to arrive. It wasnt really packed so didnt understand what took so long. We are patient people. So we put in our order at this point , Man about 35 mintues went by still no food. No waiter telling us what was taking so long nothing. At this point I asked a guy who I thought worked there, well he did he was the Manager, What was taking so long with the food ? He stated he would find out. 5 mins later the waiter came and said the manager said we complained about what was taking so long with the food, he asked if we wanted to order some drinks and the food should be out shortly. We passed on the drinks. About 20 mins later the food came out. The food was cold and the order wasnt complete. They took my wife food to heat up and put in the extra sides she ordered , the food came back warm not hot like it was fresh cooked or heated. I started eating nothing spectacular. It was pretty bland. Not worth the wait and time. After we was done, they asked us if we wanted to complete a customer survey which we did. Hopefully they take our advice. Not coming back! Long Review . Not worth the time and effort.