Jane

[jordyn]

I ate at Jane for the first time last night. Here are my first impressions: service nice but not particularly knowledgeable; casual but elegant room with nice dark wood tones; very loud; and with average food.

The menu is composed of three flatbread options, about a half-dozen appetizers, three pasta choices, four or five fish options, and four meat items. The winelist is short but somewhat interesting (it even includes two bottles from New York state), with white and red wines subdivided into sections such as "Crisp" and "Gentle" (in the case of whites).

I sampled the goat cheese flatbread with carmelized onion. This was a bad description, as the flatbread was covered almost completely with onion, with a relatively small amount of goat cheese. The onion was quite sweet and rapidly became overwhelming; this dish would have been better had the goat cheese been the dominant element.

As an appetizer I had fried clams, accompanied by a citrus and jalapeno marmalade. This was fine, but I felt that the marmalade would have been better if it had more jalapeno kick. As it was, it was somewhat bland, although the coolness was a refreshing contrast against the crispy, fried exterior of the clams.

Also sampled was the market salad, which was quite good. Very fresh and intensely flavored vegetables. Simple but refreshing.

My entree was an asparagus and parmesan risotto. Once again, I found the flavors here to be a bit overwhelming. The dish could have used slightly less cheese, perhaps, and the flavor of the asparagus could have been brought out a bit more cleanly.

Also sampled was a farfalle with sweet peas, chives and truffle butter. This dish is usually accompanied by shrimp, but my dining companion is vegetarian, so he requested that they be removed. Unfortunately, the dish was not very interesting without the shrimp: competently executed, but somewhat boring.

[Hank]

Would love some feedback about Restaurant Jane on Houston St.

My friend would like to do a small party there and asked my advise but unfortunately I have never been.

[Jen Keenan]

Jane won't win any culinary awards but it's a nice, New-York-y-space. I have hosted both Born-and-Bred and Up-State-New Yorkers there as well as Swedes and they have all had enjoyable experiences. Both food and beverages are interesting enough to please any occasional diner so I say, if you're faced with this as the option, don't freak. It will be fine. You may not get two thumbs up from the most hard-core New Yorkers but if you're hosting out-of-towners I believe they'll be pleased. It's probably what they're looking for in a New York experience.

(Did I sound like I didn't like the food? No, of course I'd rather go to Cafe Boulud, but Jane was sufficiently creative that I enjoyed myself just as well as anyone else. I'm very experienced in the trying-to-please-everyone vein and I give you my blessing.)

Any questions? Happy to help, what I can.

[Pan]

This post is a propos discussion on the ISO: Recommendations for Sunday Brunch thread.

I was part of a party of 6 at Jane last morning/early afternoon. When we came in at 11, the restaurant was pretty empty. We were seated downstairs. Their bread service was great! I especially loved what tasted to me like chips of rye bread with caraway seeds and jalapenos. I would suddenly hit a hot spot, something I find pleasant. I also liked the raisin/walnut bread and the strawberry butter.

A friend pointed out that it took more than an hour for the food we ordered to be brought out, but I really didn't notice because I was enjoying the conversation. We were given some fruit salad to compensate, but since it was in front of another person, I didn't realize it was for the table and didn't have any (not that I would have needed it to fill up!). Also, my fresh-squeezed orange juice was never brought until I specifically asked for it again, and I don't believe anyone else got any of the complimentary fresh orange or grapefruit juice that was supposed to come with their brunch orders, but perhaps they didn't request it and may not have wanted it.

But really, none of that stuff bothered me very much. If the service was slow, it was certainly gracious, and we were never rushed, though we stayed until 1 o'clock. Also, the food I ordered was excellent. Here's the description on the menu:

Roasted Shrimp "Ranchero"

baked eggs, black beans, cheddar, avocado, flour tortillas, chipotle salsa ...16.00

The salsa didn't taste like a traditional Mexican salsa; I can't quite explain how it did taste, but like a traditional salsa roja, it was spicy, tomato-based, and good. All elements in the dish were delicious and went together well, and it was a generous though not absurd portion.

I didn't get to try anyone else's dish, but everyone seemed happy with their food, except that my friend who ordered steak and eggs had to send the eggs back because she asked for them over easy and they were almost fully-cooked. The waitress was apologetic and of course replaced the eggs.

Other items that were ordered were:

Country Breakfast

cheddar grits, English bangers, buttermilk biscuit, gravy

Vanilla Bean French Toast

brioche bread, creme brûlèe batter (I heard great praise for this)

Jane Burger

special sauce, sharp cheddar, double smoked bacon, fries (described as "the best burger I've had in a long time....This burger is really big!")

And I'm pretty sure:

Benedict Johnny

poached eggs, house made chicken sausage, corn pancakes, roasted tomato hollandaise

Since we arrived before 11, we weren't able to have any alcoholic beverages until after noon, and then, no-one chose to. I had two iced teas, and other people had coffee and so forth.

Including tip, we paid $25 a person, for a total of $150. I consider that an excellent value for food of this quality, plus the great bread service.

And when we walked upstairs at 1, I just couldn't believe the number of people waiting! I've never seen such a crush of waiting people at a restaurant!!!

I was happy and would be glad to return, but will definitely try to again show up early, at least no later than noon.

To those who recommended this place, thank you!

[Edit: Source for menu information.]

Edited July 16, 2007 by Pan (log)

[raji]

yer welcome!

phew!! I CAN speak about foods other than Japanese!

[Pan]

I went back to Jane about a month and a half ago for dinner with two friends, and it was really sort of anonymous upscale food - competent but not especially tasty. If you can't get into Lupa, I don't recommend Jane as an alternate place to get dinner. Their brunch was much more interesting, for whatever reason.