Brasserie Jo-why did it take me so long to get there?
Brasserie Jo has been on my radar for a while and my girlfriends and I plan to have brunch there before going to the MFA later this month.
But then I bought tickets to Kronos Quartet at Northeastern for last Friday night (as a birthday present for my brother) and BJ popped into my mind as the perfect place for dinner. Made reservations on opentable and mentioned about the birthday.
I started with one of their new fall cocktails-Tarte de Plum (Maker's Mark, squeezed plums, grated clove) and my brother had one of the special beers. He ordered the onion soup and I saved my appetite for dessert. My duck confit with braised lentils was to die for. That was my first time having that dish and I'm sure there are places that do it better, but for me it was heaven on a plate! He's a beef eater and got the steak frites. I had a little taste and it was like buttah.
My least favorite part of the meal was the dessert-a special of pumpkin tart which wasn't sweet enough for me but still managed to choke down all but one bite. Bro loved the bread pudding which they comped for his birthday-nice surprise!
We both had veggie sides and made it out of there for $120 with tip. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal right down to the coffee(!). He's been talking about going to the Oak Room for the steak but after that meal he might be rethinking his choice of venue!
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Oak Room
138 St. James Avenue, Boston, MA 02116
Brasserie Jo
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116
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We went yesterday and were pretty impressed: our first time too. They were very good about our daughter -- we got a booth, and put her in a corner, that way she could squirm a bit more, without causing havoc.
My wife's steak-frites was ordered medium rare, but was delivered medium+, she was disappointed, but didn't want to say anything, but given that she had been looking forward to it, I mentioned it. They re-did immediately, this time cooked properly...except the butter was on the side (no big issue). My skate was excellent. The side of french beans (which our daughter loves) was a bit over-cooked, but she didn't mind.
For starter, my wife had soup of the day, which was a very home-style curried crawfish or something, pretty good. For dessert, we split a profiterole -- which was massive. Not sure how anyone can finish it on their own.
Overall, a very good, does at it says on the tin experience. What's surprising (in a good way) is that one can use restaurant.com vouchers here (except fri/sat), which only adds to the value.
tb
PS to the OP -- the steak frites at Brasserie Joe will have been an onglet -- a very different cut to american steak houses. Might still be worth checking out oak room (although the steak is much more expensive there) for the bone-in rib-eye.
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