Amina Thai, billed as Chinese/Asian Fusion, opened sometime during the beginning of summer and while it was being constructed, I noticed that it had a very fancy neon sign, great all tinted windowed front and the tables and inside seemed nice compared to all the other crap in that area, and I mean crap. When it finally opened I went inside to pick up a menu and the staff seemed friendly and smiling (it was the first day, they should be), and the inside which had a very plain decor (too plain) was dimly lit with candles on the tables.
Well I decided to give them a try. I am always leery about Halal Thai/Asian places, especially in Jamaica, the food tends to be too sweet and not always good and the service is usually down right bad. Hey folks, piece of advice, learn Customer Service 101 before you open a store/restaurant, you are no longer in the mother land where no one cares, you are now dealing with other cultures, some who actually expect good service, like ME.
Well, I have to say that the food at Amina is very good and it is certainly great to have a Thai place right around the corner from me that is actually good and clean.
I started off with the Avocado Mango Salad, which I really have not seen before. It was not only large but very tasty with all the various flavors coming together and had some kick too it.
A nice combo of mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes and of course Avocado and Mango, lots of mango. It listed on the menu tofu, though I can't recall if there was any and looking today at the takeout menu you had a choice of either peanut dressing, ginger sauce or vinaigrette, although I do not recall my waitress of Asian decent (always smiling and friendly, if somewhat shy) asking me which one. She seemed to be new, with another one following her and her English was not very good (come on folks, if you are going to live here and especially work in customer service, E-N-G-L-I-S-H., you are dealing with various other cultures who speak English.
Being Vegetarian, I ordered the Vegetarian Duck Basil, which was a big portion (if I was not so hungry, I would have taken half home), a combo of onions, bell peppers, string beans, carrots, bamboo in a basil sauce with veggie-duck (happy to see they have veggie duck, which many places do not always have). Anyway, the Vegetarian Duck Basil was very good, just a tad bit too salty for my taste (but then I am not a big salt person and am very sensitive to that). But there was nothing left on my plate, it was that good.
I was thinking of dessert, which the actual menu and the take out menu had different items (HUH). Both had various ice cream, Fried Banana, Sticky Rice with Mango, but the take out had Tiramisu (odd choice for a Thai place, the other menu had Red Velvet Cake (another odd choice). My waitress told me the next time I come, I should try the Thai Tea. So since instead of dessert I opted for the Thai Iced Tea with Lychee and so damn glad I did. It was a dessert all by itself. A large glass of sweet Thai Tea with a layer of half and half on top of it, two pieces of lychee with some syrup. Extremely good.
Now, well, not quite negatives, but let's say some constructive criticism. While the place is nice inside, they need to add a little more to the decor, put a little something on the plain walls, especially to help with the echo sound it has, acoustics please. I just recently found out that the owner (a very nice young man that I talked to for awhile) told me he is going to bring in someone to decorate. Also turn the lights down a bit and put some good use to all the candles on the tables and actually light them. Some low music would be nice.
Bottom line, Amina Thai is very much worth a visit if you have a hunger for Thai and live in the area or nearby, especially considering there are hardly any good places in that area to go to.
I read some of the other reviews here and half I think were made up, especially the negative ones. I do not think who even wrote those actually went to this place because it is not what I experienced and believe me I can be tough. If you are not good or your service is bad, I will say so.
Just go try this place out for yourself. I know I will certainly be back and will also try the Afghan Kebab restaurant, which just opened two doors down and is owned by the same owners of Amina Thai.
I wish them the best in this very tough area. read more