A for effort, B- for execution

Reviewed by TProphet on Wed, 07/04/2012 - 21:43
TProphet's picture TProphet
TProphet
Joined: Jun 24, 2010
Posts: 27
Review of Jinshisong
3

This is actually a 3 1/2 star review, but the site doesn't allow that.

I ordered food from Flamme tonight from Jinshisong. It's my first time ordering from them. I realize the company is new and they tried hard so I would probably order from them again.

The good: Site is very well designed and the ordering process is easy. I got a call back promptly to confirm. They put someone on the phone with better English when I had some questions about my order and were flexible with allowing me to add an item and subtract another one. Delivery fee is very reasonable to the Andingmen area at only 19 RMB - cheaper than the taxi fare to Sanlitun!

The bad: The order wasn't quite right. Obviously there is a language barrier and I did something complicated (added an item to the order and subtracted another) so it's an easy mistake to make. I still ended up with three orders of fries when I only wanted one, though. Also, the order took 15 minutes longer to arrive than I was quoted (probably because it was coming from Sanlitun, which is the Inescapable Black Hole of traffic).

The ugly: The food really didn't travel well. JinShiSong has some work to do on their containers. Burgers were shipped in a plastic container and were soaked from condensation. Given that burgers from Flamme aren't very good anyway (a huge surprise to me given the RMB 88 price tag) the damage to the bun really cut into our limited enjoyment of them. The containers were good for ribs and roasted vegetables, but are really bad for any sort of sandwiches, fries, or anything else that might get soggy along the way. Using breathable packaging (like paper containers) would not keep the food warm for as long, but would get it here in a lot better shape. I'd almost rather have it arrive a little too cold and reheat it in the microwave than to have it arrive soggy.

The really ugly: Flamme. Don't order the burgers. They are literally like a McDonald's Big Mac with a fried egg and tomato on top. Nowhere near the quality of Fatburger or (especially) Blue Frog, but sold for a super-premium 88 RMB each. The ribs aren't nearly as good as Home Plate, either. This place may be good for a 300 RMB steak (I don't know for sure, that's out of my price range) but I wasn't impressed with what I got for the price.

Comments

jackburton's picture jackburton Submitted by Guest on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 08:03

I would put a Z for value for money since they charge a commission on every item you order (sometimes up to 40% of the original price).

Bottom line...an order through jinshisong will cost you 33% of your bill (if you spend 300 almost 100 is commission to them)

"Is this gonna get ugly, now? Huh? I hope not. Because I thought what we were here, racial differences notwithstanding, was just a couple of old friends. You know, just both of us Californians."

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