We dropped into Jasmine Asian Restaurant on Beverley’s main drag, Butcher Row, for what we hoped would be a light but tasty lunch. The lunch menu looked promising, so Mrs Wanderer went for the Indonesian Ginger Chicken, and I—clearly feeling adventurous—opted for the Indonesian Fried Rice with chicken. That, dear reader, was my fatal forkful.
Out came the dishes, and mine turned out to be… well, dry. Sahara-level dry. Not a drop of sauce in sight—no gravy, no drizzle, not even a glisten. Just a mix of rice and chicken sitting there on the plate. Meanwhile, Mrs Wanderer was smugly tucking into a rather nice-looking plate of ginger chicken—tender chunks of thigh meat basking in a mellow, fragrant sauce. She was kind enough to offer me a taste, though even she admitted the sauce-to-rice ratio left a little to be desired.
Honestly, a quick line of description under each dish on the menu would’ve made all the difference. A bit of heads-up might’ve saved me from my sad plate of solo rice and a few slices of cucumber. It’s the culinary equivalent of fine print—helpful, often overlooked, and sometimes the difference between joy and jaw work.
That said, we’re not giving up on Jasmine. The setting was nice, the service warm, and the menu intriguing enough to tempt us back. We’ll just be ordering a little more carefully next time—and maybe bringing a hip flask of gravy.
The Willoughton Wanderer 
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