JOV Experience

[SYoung]

We went to JOV at Bayview south of Eglinton on Saturday. We hadn't been there for at least 2 years and recently heard that it was under new ownership under chef Masayuki Tamaru, so we decided to give it a try.

We came about 15 minutes early for our reservation and there was no one else at the restaurant at that time, so we sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of chianti. The waiters kept on reminding us that they needed our table at 8pm and kept asking whether we wanted to sit at our table. We came about 15 minutes before our reservation time and had lots of time. Nonetheless, they asked us at least 2-3 times to sit at our table in the 15 minutes that we were at the bar. It was quite annoying and totally unnecessary in our opinion.

Perusing the wine list I knew the LCBO prices of some of the wines and their mark up was about 300%, some were definitely more. One of the waiters who was at the bar was well mannered but had the demeanor of a bouncer rather than a friendly waiter. Not very inviting to say the least and a lasting impression as we left.

My wife's sister and I ordered the scallop appetizer with the snapper as the main course. The scallop was somewhat bland and the fish was somewhat dry. My wife ordered the cornish hen which she said was just OK. We did not order dessert. We simply did not feel comfortable at the restaurant, like they really didn't want us there.

Overall, the food was fair and not as good as the JOV I remember under the previous owner. Maybe the well mannered aggressive waiters put a bad taste in our mouths but I think it will be at least another two years before we return.

[Jake]

Thanks for the report. I haven't been since the ownership changed either but was considering it and it is convenient for friends in the neighbourhood. I may reconsider now, but will wait and see what others meals have been like there in the hopes that it was just an off night. Granted, that doesn't seem too likely considering it was not just the food that disappointed, but the service. Do they still offer a tasting menu? Was the restaurant full by the time you left (I'm assuming close to 8)?

[SYoung]

I can't really say the service was that bad as they did seem friendly in a forceful kind of way. Some people are friendly and you can feel it in their demeanor and see it in their faces. Others are friendly because it's their job and they must be nice in a forced way. My experience at this restaurant was defintely the latter. At least that was the way we felt. Yes, maybe it was a just a bad or off night for them.

Yes, they did offer a tasting menu and the restaurant was less than half full by the time we left probably at around 7:30pm on the Saturday.

Edited October 18, 2005 by SYoung (log)

[sadistick]

Thats so sad...When I used to work at Jov we had some amazing food (under the previous owners, Owen Steinberg) and had a strong, loyal customer base...I was contemplating trying it out under the new management/chef, but this post definetly persueded me otherwise.

[Jake]

When did you work at JOV? And what position?

I agree, there was some great food back then. I occasionally ate off the menu, but most of the time it was the tasting menu. Mmmmm.

[Nondoctor]

There has been another staff change, Mike has moved from JOV to take over the stoves at Niagara Street Cafe with Anton.

I had dinner there last week at it was very, very good.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[sadistick]

Heh, funny you ask...

I started at Jov as a Co-Op student about 5 years ago actually, first co-op Owen ever did, but I guess he liked me, and thought I had potential...

Was really fortunate, got to setup my lil station right up front next to Owen's, helped with odd jobs, occaisionally got to grill and sautee, learned a lot, that guy really knows how to cook.

He was always cool, his sister on the other hand was a bit strange though...

[mhkhung]

I have nothing but positive experience with the new JOV.

I and my family tried the restaurant twice with the new chef (And a number of times in the last 2 years with the old). The first time we all have his tasting menu, the second time we ordered a-la-carte. We all feel that the new chef's somewhat better than the old.

- M

[Endy']

I was at JOV Bistro this weekend with a friend, both of us opting for the 4-course tasting menu ($70). My friend asked for vegetarian+seafood (the courses I'll list first) and we also asked for a wine pairing (1 glass each with the mains). Here's what came out:

breads

French stick-style white bread (nothing special)

something that resembled longer slices of Melba toast that were "oily" (I think it was pre-buttered, although my friend thought it might have been olive oil) and were sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds. I found these rather addictive...

amuse

golden beet and something I neglected to write down.

mince of venison on profiterole with spaghetti(ed?) squash on the side. The venison was lightly curried and eating it with the profiterole was a little unusual ("this is like a weird eclair").

there was a mild service hiccup here as they brought out 2 of the venison. They self-corrected a few minutes later by bringing out the beets for my friend, so no big deal.

apps

sea scallops with a remoulade of celeriac and apple. The scallops were a little on the tough side but quite tasty.

seared foie gras on (candied?) honey-infused sweet potato. I found the "mashy", almost gummy texture of the yam a mismatch for the foie gras as it sort of coated my mouth and was a little dry to swallow.

pre-mains

we both received salmon, seared then baked, with hearts of palm and a few greens (didn't catch this either, they were something leafy along the lines of romaine). The greens were dressed with something shockingly oily and incredibly salty; the salmon was good but nothing special. We thought this course was a bit, well...boring.

(intermezzo of citrus sorbet)

mains

monkfish, pan-seared then oven-roasted; pearl onions and turned carrots; saffron beurre blanc. Paired with a 2002 Sauvignon Blanc from France (forgot the winery). The monkfish was nicely tender and very flavourful (I felt this was the best of the veg/seafood dishes), the sauce was unobtrusive (perhaps a little too subtle?).

bison, also seared then roasted, with shiitake mushrooms; on pearl onions, turned potatoes, and Savoy cabbage; juniper-lime-thyme reduction. Paired with a south Australian Shiraz. The reduction was pretty tart at first taste and worked surprisingly well (I say surprisingly because I'm not usually a fan of sweet/fruity sauces for meaty/savoury dishes). A bit on the sticky side but nothing some wine couldn't fix . I liked the potatoes; no complaints about the bison itself but no specific praise either.

(I know little about wine so I won't comment further on the pairings)

we did notice that both of our sauces had formed a "skin" when they made it to our table. I don't know if this was because they sat and cooled at the pass, or if their compositions just made them susceptible. They tasted fine, of course, but the effect was (only vaguely) unappetizing in a cosmetic sense.

dessert

was a crepe of poached pear and quince in a "burnt" sabayon, with sour cherries. I liked this, especially the sabayon and the cherries, which were a nice "burst" of sour and booziness. The "burnt" sabayon was almost offensive at first (like mistakenly burnt food) but the shock of it wore off and the flavour worked well. Somewhat sadly, I thought this was the best of my dishes.

we found little fault with the food itself, and the service was efficient and polite (if the slightest bit detached, but to me that's not a fault). However, we were disappointed because many of our dishes seemed to be right off the menu (monkfish, bison, scallop, and I believe the foie?). This was a letdown because we had opted for the tasting menu after not really being interested by the listed mains or the vegetarian option (sauteed mixed vegetables in phyllo). This was compounded by the few duplicates we received.

all this added up to feeling that $70 was a bit excessive for a tasting menu that drew right off the carte. I'm aware this is done elsewhere, but in my experience only when the tasting menu is listed, as a "here's a bit of all the things we do" approach, not as a blind tasting menu. Also (and my memory might fail me here), wasn't it called the "Trust Me" menu at one point?

in hindsight, we probably would have done better to pick 5-7 starters and just let the kitchen turn them out in whatever order they preferred. We would have seen more variety and the menu made the apps sound more interesting than the mains.

[creativeingredients]

I went to JOV on Friday night. I haven't been in years and noticed a big difference in the food and service. For a Friday night during the holiday season, it wasn't at all full. The good news is, there was only one seating, so we were able to linger for quite a while and were not at all bothered. We had squash soup, which was quite good, but surprisingly sweet (perhaps sweet potatoes were added). The bread basket had that pre-buttered sesame flat-bread that was oily. We both had the beef as our main - grilled steak + one braised beef rib with mashed potatoes and a baby carrot. This was all cooked well. The portion was small, but I prefer that. Dessert was so disappointing. A coconut panna cotta. It was a small piece of panna cotta in a big pool of coconut milk topped with canned pineapple. The chocolate dessert was much better with the typical flourless chocolate cake piece, another rich chocolate slice and some chocolate gelato.

I remember the original owners being so particular about ingredients. Even the cream for the coffee was organic, adding to their food cost, and I was probably the only one who noticed.