People’s food preferences make for healthy and sometimes heated debates when it comes to choosing where to eat in Georgetown. Fast food joint, restaurant, café everyone has an opinion on which is the best and they do not necessarily always coincide.
I decided to find out for myself and made it my assignment some months ago to find the best of the best out there.
Over the past eight months, I was on a mission to find the best in terms of both food and service. Making a careful selection of the most talked about places in Georgetown, I took the streets to find out who really has the best of what they serve, how fast they are and how friendly the staff are.
I felt like 007 James Bond – food spy! The fun part of the job was that no one knew what was going on; not even the editors! It was just the average Joe walking into a restaurant to grab some grub and experience the Guyanese service.
Now it is vacation time and a lot of people are coming into the country. I wanted to be like the ordinary tourists and check out the Guyanese culinary influence, rate it to our likings and hope to drive motivation by fair competition with impartial results.
Why do a food and service review you may ask? Well don’t you want better service from the places you frequent? Nothing drives businesses better than competition and publicity. As Guyanese people it’s a part of who we are, we deserve the best and this mission is all about speaking about my experiences at these restaurants so that you, the readers, can have a fair idea of what to expect when going out to grab a bite.
To sum up this whole experience it was a grand time. I met a lot of people, even sat with strangers! Heard funny stories, sometimes tragic ones but nonetheless enjoyed each relation. They were mean servers, some were funny and joyful and of course the occasional clumps. Eating out in Georgetown, in my opinion is never a bore.
What I have found out during the past few months is that Guyana – the breadbasket of the Caribbean does have a lot of resources and the potential no doubt to spread its culinary wings. Few restaurants here have beautiful environments to go along with their superb menus. Now there is a lot of land in the city that can be developed for this kind of thing. While there is some sidewalk dining, there has not been a lot of investment in beautifying the city or urban areas.
Parking is another hassle, not many businesses have parking spaces for their customers so a lot of hassle and illegal parking goes on. These are a few of the things that need to improve.
Georgetown is small, so many of these restaurants would be familiar. Reviewed this year were Pizzerias (Pizza Hut, Mario’s Pizza, Pizza Boys), Ice-cream Parlours (Brusters, Red Cherry, Edy’s), Chinese restaurants (New Thriving, Kamboat, Seiko), Burger Joints (Jerries, JR), Sandwich Shops (Quiznos, Subs and Salads) and Cafés (Rituals Coffee House, The Coffee Bean and Oasis Café).
Join me over the next six weeks as I reveal the results of my mission in this column.
