They Call me Mrs Fete Misty Ridge All Inclusive - The Review

Fete : Misty Ridge All Inclusive, Country Club

Price: $650.00

Date: February, 10 2012
Photos: http://www.triniscene.com/tsv7/galleries/?page=html&id=GALB0432D

Location

The original site for this party was the Hadeed Ranch in Santa Cruz. This year, however, they relocated to the Country Club in Maraval. Getting to the party was definitely not a problem, and it wasn’t difficult finding nearby parking spots, even when the designated car parks were full.

Ambiance/Décor

There was nothing much in terms of décor and the layout seemed simple enough. The stage was visible from all points as there were big screens located throughout for patrons who did not care to be too close to the stage.

Food

Although the seating area was large there seemed to be a very limited selection of food. At one point we thought that perhaps there was another food court elsewhere, but we found none. On offer, was the ubiquitous bake and shark, shrimp wantons and steamed dumplings although there was no sui mai when we got there. A station with BBQ chicken, ribs, peas and a provision ‘anchar’. The Nestle dessert station and a table with some chow laid out in plastic bags. I can’t say that the food presentation was very appetising. Some of the stations seemed ready to close up and simply did not appeal. All I ate was the wantons and some cupcakes. On the bright side, there were no long lines for food.

Bar

Several bars were located around the perimeter of the venue with one in the food court. So no major lines or long waits at any of them. I was disappointed that by the time I arrived near to midnight what was once the Nuvo bar was just an empty Nuvo counter. Johnnie Walker, Yellow Tail wine bar, Vodka cocktail bar and the Brewhouse also served for most of the night. To my annoyance after getting my first weak Single Barrel and Coke and walking around a bit, I had to go searching two bars to find some more. Apparently they had ‘run out’ of Single Barrel. Which I found confusing because the venue wasn’t that large and the party wasn’t that crowded. So after finding the one bar that still had, within an hour they too had run out and my only other option was the very un-premium Black Label rum.

Performances

No. Live. Bands. Lil Rick from Barbados, who I was honestly surprised to see, tried his best to move the crowd. I don’t think many people who didn’t go to Crop Over appreciated his performance. Kees was also there alone. Somehow, an artiste performing to a track pales in comparison to an actual band performance. So after seeing Kes the Band many times it was a little underwhelming to see just Kees on stage with his mic and the dj in the background. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I took a bathroom break at this point. Kerwyn Dubois was also scheduled to perform but I left just after 2am and missed his performance.

Crowd Vibe

My first Misty Ridge experience, and although I had heard the party is usually good, something was lacking from this one and I wasn’t impressed. Folks around me by the stage seemed to be having fun though so kudos to DJ Private Ryan for keeping us hyped up a little between the performances.

Bathroom

I used the mobile restroom that was located behind the stage. An odd location for a ladies room but I didn’t see a sign for any other female restroom.

Overall Rating

I would give Misty Ridge 8 a rating of 5 out of 10. Although, I can honestly say I didn’t yawn once, the experience didn’t leave me wanting more. For the price asked, I thought that patrons could have been given a more in terms of food and drink and entertainment especially when compared to other fetes of similar price. In talking to friends who had attended other Misty Ridge parties they too thought that something was missing as it was too large and seemed to have lost the ‘intimate’feel. One can only hope that the organisers work this out for 2013 and regain the vibe that Misty Ridge is known for.