If Jiang is the expectation of uppity “innovative” cuisine then it not only perpetuates the stereotype that Chinese food cannot be elevated, but it can only be as good as what one would pay $4.99 for similar from your local Chinese takeout joint.

At the prices Jiang was charging for what was ultimately delivered to the table — 2 good dishes, 2 okay, 4 absolute jokes including the sweet sour chicken pictured and $10 per head for “tea service” — I had to restrain me from grabbing a chair and stealing cloth napkins on the way out so I didn’t feel like I got totally and completely bamboozled. .

The sweet and sour chicken was a slightly better version than one that’s scooped out of a steam table at the mall. The seafood soup was no more than a more buttery version of a wonton soup with two pieces of seafood in it. The chow fun was so ordinary and overly-greasy (somehow greasier than the seafood pancakes we had two dishes earlier) that I actually thought that the kitchen was watching us on CCTV laughing at us.

The chow fun would have been perfectly okay if I picked it up for $4.50 at a greasy spoon takeout joint but not for half the portion, double the grease, for $27, and no souvenir Styrofoam container. At $25, it capped off the worst Michelin Star restaurant I’ve ever experienced. Expectations change as price points increase. And nothing that Jiang provided that evening — from food, to atmosphere to service remotely justified the cost.

When it comes to value, innovation, atmosphere and service, Jiang by Chef Fei was easily the worst fine-dining experience I’ve ever had.

Jiang By Chef Fei is located in the Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou. The address of the restaurant is 389 Tianhe Rd, TianHe ZhongXin, Tianhe QuGuangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 510610