Eclectic Tastes Meet at Jade Isle

Jade Isle, a Chinese Polynesian restaurant on Terrill Road, is a strange, eclectic mix of cuisines, cultures, and entertainment. It is the kind of place that makes you scratch your head in baffled wonderment, but in the end, you just can’t help but go with it and roll with the good times at the hybrid restaurant/bar.

As soon as you walk in the door, you are greeted by a tank of live lobsters and crabs waiting to be cooked and eaten, which is a typical fixture of traditional Chinese sit-down restaurants. Chinese signs adorn the walls announcing the specials, and Chinese newspapers are stacked in the foyer, clearly catering to a Chinese crowd. But one glance to the left, and you see a very atypical bar scene—especially on Karaoke Friday nights. The lights are kept low, the long bar is three-deep, and tropical drinks ($6.25-$7.50) with umbrellas, pictures of girls in hula skirts, and names like Navy Grog and Pink Paradise, are poured and passed around. The room is hopping with regulars who come early for dinner and then move to the bar for some late night singing.

Unlike fusion restaurants, Jade Isle does not try to marry Chinese and Polynesian flavors in its dishes, which is probably a good thing. Instead, its menu separates each cuisine’s specialties, which are available for lunch or dinner. Appetizers include both Chinese and Polynesian favorites, such as crispy spring rolls ($1.90), scallion pancakes ($3.25), and a Pu Pu platter for two (spare ribs, spring rolls, teriyaki beef, fantail shrimp, and chicken wings, $14.50). Noodle dishes run the gamut from Chicken Lo Mein  ($4.25 for a pint, $7.75 for a quart) to the spicy, curry-based Singapore Mei Fun ($10.95) to shrimp Pad Thai ($8.95). There is also a sizable variety of soups (wonton, $1.85 for a pint, egg drop, $1.65 for a pint, hot and sour, $2.95 for a pint, and more).

The restaurant’s Chinese entrees are many and are divided into two categories: Szechuan and Cantonese specialties. On the Szechuan side is a whole, deep-fried sea bass (market price), orange beef or chicken ($11.95), and jumbo shrimp with Szechuan sauce ($15.95). On the Cantonese menu is “royal” salt and pepper jumbo shrimp ($16.95), “crispy duck” (a roast duck/Peking duck combination, $15.95), and Steak Kew (cubes of filet mignon with seasonal vegetables, $19.50). 

For Polynesian fans, Jade Isle serves Lauah (lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, vegetables, and pineapple, $20), Flaming Steak (sliced filet mignon flambéed at the table, $19.50), Sizzling Wor Bar (barbecued pork, shrimp, and chicken on a sizzling platter, $15.50), and Hawaiian Lichee Gai (breaded chicken breast cooked with lichee fruit, $12.95).

Jade Isle also offers dim sum on weekends, a traditional Chinese brunch service in which servers push metal carts around the room, each bringing a different small plate to the table, such as shrimp dumplings ($3.50), pork shu mai ($3.50), and steamed beef short ribs ($3.75). Diners merely point or ask for what they’d like on the cart, and the dish is theirs. The dishes minus the cart service are also available for dinner.

On a festive Friday night visit, I sampled a bit of everything. I started with the Scorpion drink, which was more of a bowl than a glass and filled with ice, light rum, fruit juices, and “liquors so refreshing you’ll practically feel the ocean breeze” ($7.50). I’m not sure about the ocean breeze, but it was light, refreshing, and definitely could knock you out if you ever found the bottom of the bowl.

For dinner, I ordered the steamed roast pork buns ($2.25), steamed sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves ($3.25), and shrimp shu mei ($3.25) from the dim sum menu, as well as beef chow fun ($12.95), a seafood pineapple boat ($19.50), and General Tso’s Chicken ($10.95). The seafood dish was the best of the lot and featured large, pieces of shrimp, scallops, squid, and king crab meat. The sauce was velvety and didn’t mask the flavors of the fish, and the pineapple boat presentation was fun and functional. And, while everything else was somewhat adequate (the chicken was crispy, the rice noodles were fine, and the dim sum was as ordered), nothing particularly stood out in either flavor profile, texture, or culinary mastery. Jade Isle’s sauces lean to the gloppy side caused by heavy cornstarch-thickeners, and the dim sum seemed absent of the delicate precision necessary in preparation, seasoning, and cooking. In a word, the food was mediocre at best.

With all that said, Jade Isle can be a bargain. Beers and wines are priced between $3-4, and the portions are large. Service is no-frills (although it generally is in most Chinese restaurants), and the décor is a hodge-podge of mirrors, floral carpeting, red booths, and green-and-white chairs. But despite it all, diners keep walking out happy, sated, and ready to sing their hearts out at the bar.

It’s clear Jade Isle has become a destination place, whether it’s for dim sum, which is the only service of its kind in the immediate area, for kitchy drinks, or for food, fun, and song on Friday nights. Sometimes you just have to roll with it and let it all hang out—and one place to do it is at Jade Isle.

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Jade Isle

158 Terrill Road, Scotch Plains

(908) 322-6111

Hours of Operation:

Monday through Thursday, 11:30 am-midnight

Friday, 11:30-1:30 am

Saturday, 11-1:30 am

Sunday, 11 am-midnight

Catering and private party rooms available.

All major credit cards accepted.