Wow. Just had the misfortune of eating takeout from Jumbo Seafood in Newton Centre. Have I just been oblivious? Did everyone else know that the place had gone downhill and I'm just behind the curve?
My eldest daughter wanted Chinese, so for a treat I decide to schlep into Newton Centre instead of just stopping at Rice Valley in Newtonville, which is closer to my house and more accessible since it's right on Washington Street. Rice Valley is serviceable, nothing to write home about, and certainly no longer worthy of that hyped-up Globe review they got when they first opened. I always thought Jumbo Seafood was the closest you could get to Chinatown in the burbs, and a year and a half ago us and the in-laws had traditional Jewish Christmas (Chinese and a movie on Dec. 25) there and it was great.
Then came tonight's disaster. Hot and sour soup was an inedible gelatinous goo. I had one bite and threw the whole thing away. The Peking Ravioli were virtually tasteless and instead of the good dipping sauce with some zip and maybe a few diced spring onions, they came with some heavy soy sauce that maybe, maybe had some hot oil mixed in. The vegetable lo mein was bland and limp, and the chicken with cashews was not only tasteless, but the cashews were so overcooked that many were mushy and almost black. Thank God the egg drop soup was serviceable, otherwise my older daughter would have gone hungry. My two-year-old was OK with the white rice. My wife finally gave up and had a bagel with salmon spread from the fridge.
Anyone know what happened? New ownership? Place taken over by aliens? Food which was once gourmet is now the same junk you get a hole-in-the-wall places like Lobster Wok. With the lack of decent Chinese in Newton (Newton!) already acute, this is a tragedy.
Ray
