Island Hopper – Little Restaurant of Horrors - Boston

If you want your food on the same day you ordered it, avoid Island Hopper on weekdays like the plague. True, there was no man-eating plant, but considering the service here, I think Seymour may have removed the plant because customers were feeding themselves to it willingly after waiting so freaking long for water.

Clearly, this restaurant’s way to up the profits was to have one server work the entire place. We walked into the restaurant and were greeted by a dour host who looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. After being seated, we were given ample time to peruse the extensive menu. By ample time, I mean 20 minutes. 20 minutes with no drink order, no water, no attention whatsoever. I have no doubt the server was swamped with 7 tables, but is there a reason the other two staff members in the restaurant couldn’t pitch in? How much training does it take to pour two glasses of water?

Warning: if you got the groupon, make damn sure you have a reservation because they WILL ask you. Even after you’re seated.

After 10 more uneventful water-sipping minutes, the Roti Island Hopper appetizer was served. I’ve had both the meat and veggie curry dips and both are equally awesome. The flatbread is exactly like the scallion pancake of my youth, minus the scallion, and it’s thin and chewy throughout. The curry is creamy and just the right thickness to cling to the pancake. Highly recommend.

No wait between courses, and the entrees were hot and clearly freshly cooked.

Me: This looks goooood…

Vegetarian Friend: (spears a piece of pineapple with his forks and is about to open his mouth)

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo

This is the part where I dive across the table. I am literally supermanning that oh…or that oh so messed up order anyway…We ordered the Malaysian Curry Tofu and Vegetables (which I got) and Nena’s Tofu (stir-fried tofu with pineapple and veggies, served in a pineapple shell), which turned out to be Nena’s Chicken. I swiftly covered that pineapple shell with my entire arm and shouted “that’s chicken!”, thus rescuing a lifetime vegetarian from his first taste of meat. Kick-Ass the movie’s protagonist was right. Ordinary people can be heroes too.

My food heroics aside, the Nena’s TOFU was quite good. A teensy bit salty but not enough for deductions. The curry was thick-enough-but-not-too-hard-to-swallow consistency that is key for all things swallowed. I didn’t see any okra, but it was sweet and the veggies were well-cooked – still firm but not at all raw. And I could seriously eat that curry over rice for the rest of my life and be happy.

The only reason this place has 3 stars is because the food is pretty good and reasonably-priced, and my first experience was great. It’s my second (and LAST) experience that brings it down 1.5 stars. And if you’re vegetarian, I hope that wasn’t chicken.