If you thought the improvement from John Jay’s Chinese New Year faux-feast to its Valentine’s extravaganza meant things were looking up, think again. Mardi Gras Maven Alison Herman reports on how last night’s carnival-ous dinner merited little celebration.

Opulent decorations

As with any decent restaurant, lack of a wait means the food’s probably not worth waiting for. For a holiday that’s meant to be celebrated by doing pretty much everything in excess before trying to give something up for Lent, John Jay’s offerings on Tuesday night were a serious letdown. Despite some feeble attempts to get its Cajun on, the dining hall showed few signs of deviation from a typical weeknight dinner, with the exception of some tacky purple confetti.

At the main hot food bar, the typical vegetable, bean and rice combo was passed off as “seasoned French-cut green beans” with red beans. Though it was difficult to taste seasoning of any kind on the veggies, the cheddar biscuits on offer were fairly decent, especially when used as a cheesy, carb-laden counteraction to the spiciness of the blackened chicken.

Unlike anything you've ever seen before.

The grill and that-weird-counter-across-from-the-desserts had slightly better selection. The crab cakes were a huge improvement on plain burgers and fries, especially when doused in a spicy, mayo-based sauce that Dining Services neglected to explain. Meanwhile, the wait for the jambalaya was painfully long, but diners were rewarded with the only real shrimp John Jay has had all year (although the dish itself was a little bland and broth-heavy).

Finally, desserts were delicious, but bore little resemblance to the theme, with the exception of a postage-stamp-sized crepe station. The pecan pie filling was a little heavy on the gelatin, but the frost-your-own cupcake station was at least entertaining.

Ultimately, diners left John Jay disappointed, both with the food and the recycled Valentine’s-Day heart decorations from last week. At least we have Buffalo Wrap Thursdays at Ferris to look forward to.