Wonderful Puerto-Rican Cuisine
Loved the fresh lobster with succulent mango sauce.    [21 Feb 2003 17:23:34]

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     ­gustav   gustav at salsanet dot com

Jimmy's IS off the HOOK!!!
It was definitely the best food I've ever eaten. The service was great, they treat everyone as royalty. Despite its location, when you step inside, you forget what city you are in, because Jimmy's is a city all its own. Big Up Boogie Down!    [01 Aug 2003 01:28:57]

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Recommended Dishes: Paella

     ­Tracy Virtgaym, the wells family   jaysangel51 at hotmail dot com

Jimmy's Uptown
Very nice. The decor and staff. Loved the rice with all the seafood in it.    [09 Aug 2003 14:32:23]

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     ­Anonymous   

I Can't Wait To Go Back.
I went for a 98.7 KISS FM event, and was pleasantly surprised at the ambiance, in addition the food was excellent. Every plate excited my interest as it passed by. My partner and I went upstairs after dinner for a enjoyable show featuring Heather Headley. I can't wait to go back.    [07 Jan 2004 17:41:12]

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Recommended Dishes: Fried Shrimp Appetizer

     ­CHEESE   

Jimmy's Harlem restaurant is a vast improvement over his Bronx place--beautifully designed, it promises much as you walk in: the Asian-influenced classic lines and soft lighting suggest order and elegance, the high ceilings give a sense of spaciousness. Unfortunately, beyond the silk trimmings, the restaurant is still a sow's ear when it comes to the food.
Jimmy claims he's offering up "Latin" cuisine--specifically Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban fare (which in fact would make it "Caribbean")--- but it's hardly an accurate description and I sincerely hope no one is judging the region's food by what you are served at Jimmy's. After all, if you can't get a proper plate of rice and beans, it can only go downhill from there.
At best, the presentation can be quite impressive. For example, the standing fried snapper that has tickled everyone's fancy has been replaced on the menu by the stuffed fried snapper. The thrill swiftly fades when you taste the crab and shrimp “escabeche” stuffing and then try to break into the fried to death fish. In fact, the only fish that's not overcooked are the catfish fingers--the problem there is that you get more (tasteless) batter than fish.
Sometimes, even the presentation suffers: the paella, which tastes like it came out of Rice-a-Roni box, is served in a large bowl with a scattering of cut up seafood. The medium rare skirt steak that I ordered last night was well done and smeared w/ a green paste whose relationship to chimichurri was limited to its color; it was accompanied by undercooked, lightly tinted rice sprinkled w/black beans, and dried-up plaintains. The only real flavoring on the plate came from the garlic infused sauteed spinach. And speaking of garlic--the shrimp scampi had none. Billed as "6 jumbo shrimp" it seems that they shrink on the way to the table.

Jimmy's offers live music during your meal but what could be it's best asset (it's a very good group) turns into another liability: it's simply too loud. Our party of ten spent most of the evening yelling across the table and we were grateful for the respite between sets, when softer background music allowed for conversation.

Service was uneven. Once you got the waiters’ attention, they were quite pleasant but they made themselves scarce for much of the two hours we were there. Considering they were already assured a 20% gratuity (automatically added to the tab for parties of 5 or more) I guess it’s not surprising that they slacked off. Or maybe they were simply trying to disassociate themselves from the poor food…..? Or maybe it was embarrassment over the inflated prices?
Bottom line: Jimmy needs to go back to his roots, find out what real (Spanish) Caribbean cooking is all about and stop hustling his diners. If you're looking or the real thing, this isn’t it.    [19 Mar 2004 12:49:50]

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     ­Anonymous