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It's so hard to adjust to being back here in the normal world, so let's flash back to a night that almost ruined paradise for the group I was traveling with, thereby making me at least a little bit grateful to be back in New Jersey, of all places, shall we?
After what could best be called a trauma-filled day which proved once and for all the truth that reality television has put forth for ages - put a bunch of people in a house and give them an unlimited supply of alcohol and drama will ensue - my friends and I decided to head to Iggy's at Bolongo Bay Beach Club (St. Thomas) for a fun evening.
Or so we hoped. (Insert ominous music here.)
Arriving, we were thrilled by the location. The full-moon shone over the waters, the surf was gently lapping in the background and our waitress said a party of 11 would be no problem. We offered to split into smaller groups if it would help, but were told, "Nope, we're used to it."
(Insert eye rolling here.)
At a little after 6, having had a round or two of drinks, we ordered appetizers and dinner. While waiting, we wandered the joint (favorite moment: My friend Brian getting into the hammock just outside the restaurant and immediately being flipped over, face-first in the sand. I'm just evil that way.)
By 7, still no food. The natives were, as they say, getting restless, especially as the place was not at all crowded and we were seeing food being served left and right at other tables.
At 7:15, about half of the appetizers we'd ordered were brought out. Or I should say appetizers were brought out... but in several cases, not what we'd ordered.
As a "make-good" our waitress, who was truly mortified by the situation, brought out oysters. Lots of oysters. This went over great with some, but for those who didn't like oysters and couldn't quite fathom why a salad would take 90 minutes to make, it wasn't quite cutting it.
At 8 p.m., the food finally began arriving in spurts. Cold spurts. The medium-rare steak was nearly burnt to a crisp and yet cold as my mama's heart. And that's saying something. We couldn't determine if the french fries had ever actually been near oil, or if they'd come straight from the freezer. One plate actually arrived with an empty lobster tail on it. Empty. That was not only unacceptable, but kinda creepy. "Are we getting people's leftovers?" we began to wonder.
Eventually, a very nice guy came to our table and apologized for everything, saying a couple employees had called in sick and a cook had quit unexpectedly. He was very polite and very cute so the general concensus was that we would not hang him from the nearest tree.
After an incredibly unsatisfying meal, we headed over to the other side of the restaurant/bar for a little karaoke. From there, I can only say the night went uphill. Of course, it would have been pretty tough for it to go downhill (although if we've learned anything from a lifetime of TV-movies starring Jacklyn Smith and her ilk, it's to never say, "Well, at least things can't get any worse!" because that is when you find out your husband is dead/a transvestite/gay/all of the above).
Several members of our group got up to sing, with one (who was known as Uncle Ray) proved a real hit with the crowd. I'm pretty sure there was some Tom Jones-ish hip action going on, and I swear I saw him pocket a couple pairs of granny-panties that were tossed up on stage during his fantastic rendition of Mack The Knife. He even closed out the evening with a stellar version of New York New York. So in the end, we went home buzzed, kinda happy... but majorly hungry.
And that's our night at Iggys.
Richard
COMING SOON: Putting the Love in Duffy's Love Shack
Thanks Richard,
The meal certainly does sound scary. I'm surprised as they are usually good. Having a cook quit might explain it though; maybe your wait staff was trying to cook your food and do the waiting tables too. 😉
--Islander
It might also be that our group was cursed! On an earlier evening, we'd taken the skyride up to Paradise Point. We ordered appetizers which were fantastic, but when we went to order dinner we learned that an air conditioning duct above the fryer had burst, sending water into the fryer. Chaos of the non-wacky variety ensued, closing the kitchen for the rest of the evening!
This is excellent. The hammock episode, empty lobster shell, and Ny NY. A Jersey guy would pick a Sinatra song, even if it was from a play.
Awwww.....that is a nightmare! Well, I can say that Iggie's is normally one of the faster places...and the food is good, so I guess they did have big problems in the kitchen on that night. Isn't their karaoke a hoot? It's funny how popular karaoke is on the island.....it's a "corny" thing here in the states....but wildly popular in the USVI. THe popularity and crowds make it fun!
I'm glad your evening ended on a good note (no pun intended) and I can't wait to hear about Duffy's!
VERY odd for Iggie's to have such a thing happen. Bad reviews are very rare there and it has always been one of the better beach bars on the island. Sounds like things got out of control that night in losing a major player in the kitchen! I hope this one incident doesn't keep people away.
I would agree. From everything I've ever heard, our awful experience was a complete anamoly. As I said, the staff seemed mortified by the entire turn of events. I wish I'd had time during the week to go back and try again. But this came at the very end of our trip, so we didn't have a chance.
Richard
Richard
April 19 2007 the food still sucks! The service just as bad. Our waiter tried to run a $169.00 bill by me! Quickly told him this bill does not belong to me. Even had a different severs name on it! My bill should have been around $110.00 His response sorry sir I don't know how that could have happened.
Do yourself a favor: Have a drink, enjoy the view, but eat somewhere else.
What a great story teller you are. Sounds like something that would happen to us.
Actually, this would be a great story for a song. Send it on to Kenny Chesney!
themorning after: Was this a recent experience?
As much as I have the utmost respect for the Doumengs both as community participants and their longtime Bolongo operation, I have become privvy to similar major mess-ups unsolicitedly tendered by bartenders and servers who have both come to my place as customers and, in the case of a very competent and savvy bartender, worked for me and also worked at Iggie's during her time here on island.
In defense of the Doumengs, I don't envy their situation and can't begin to imagine the headaches involved in running such a huge operation and trying to keep everybody happy all of the time. These islands (and of course particularly STT) host hundreds of transients every year.
Nonetheless, your experience really should not have happened because you and your group were customers, period, and should have been treated as such. If one is in the service industry then one needs to ensure that each and every customer is both welcomed and addressed and properly served and that every staff member from cook/chef to bartender/server knows all the in-house rules and that the implentation and adherence to those rules is not only documented but followed through.
Enough already from my perspective! Cheers!
I contacted, via private message, 3 people who recently returned from Bolongo Bay, asking them if they attended Carnival night and if it was worth it. 2 of 3 said Iggies is not worth visiting at all. Too bad!!
Iggy's lost two very big key players about the same time in the last year....the executive chef, Ric, and the sous chef, Josh - who both took better positions at better establishments on the island. We recently had lunch at Iggie's and the food was still pretty decent, however, but the service was still very slow.
Good luck to the Doumengs in getting things back to what they previously were. It's a hard business.
