Jojo

This restaurant is very close to the Bloomingdales along Lexington in the Upper East side. Surprisingly it has been here for a while, but we seldom come to this neighborhood to grab food. It just so happens we were on an errand run, so my partner was able to grab an early reservation. This is one of the more price friendly restaurants of Jean Georges although it arguably is still on the pricy side.

Ambiance

The interior of the restaurant is located in a very quaint “house”. When you walk into the building, you make a sharp right and there’s the restaurant right there. It’s literally in the basement of this building. There are stairs that lead upwards, and we have seen waiters go up and down.

The service was very fast and prompt. Our server helped us with picking the right items for our taste buds.

Food

The raspberry lychee bellini came with lychee raspberry purée, elderflower cordial, and prosecco. The lychee and raspberry notes are very strong, but they tasted very delicious. The bubbles add a nice texture to it too.

The spicy yellowfin tuna tartare came with lettuce cups, avocado, and shiso. There was a strong zest of ginger. For me, I thought it was pretty good, but for my partner they didn’t like it due to how strong the ginger flavor was.

They gave us complimentary bread with olive oil. The bread was at room temperature, but it was good. It was soft on the inside, and the crust was very crispy.

The Maine lobster was roasted in the shell with herb butter, french fries (on the side), and lime. This was a 1 pound female. The knuckle meat was placed where the “guts” normally are, and the claw meat was placed on top. Underneath the tail meat, there were some green herbs bathing in butter. The lobster meat as a whole was very tender and soft and pretty good. I thought the price for this was a bit high given how much food you get, so this was a splurge for me tonight.

The crispy skin organic chicken came with lemon and olive oil potatoes, fried onions, and potato skins. The chicken skin was very crispy, but for me the meat was a little on the dry side. The sauce itself from the lemon and olive oil was a tad salty for me, but my partner liked it. The garnish around the dish was fairly straight forward, so there weren’t any surprises for me. In all, the way this chicken dish was served is pretty much the usual for New American mid/upper tier priced restaurants.

The carrot cake came with cream cheese frosting. The cake was your typical carrot cake, albeit very moist and flavorful. This is certainly not the best carrot cake to me, but it was very good for what it was.

Final Verdict

This New American restaurant from Jean Georges is pretty good, though it can be construed as a little pricy. Nevertheless, we came out satisfied. If you are around the Bloomingdales area, this could be a good comfortable option if you are willing to spend just a little more.

Yelp Jabs

Very disappointing. Food was not good. I went there to try the famous carrot cake but they were sold out by 1pm

This Yelper rated this restaurant poor because it was sold out… the irony! I do think the carrot cake is good but not a big deal if you don’t get it.

We dined here last night and service was APPALLING. Truly the worst experience I’ve had in NYC so far. I don’t feel bad writing this review given the restaurant is attached to Jean-Georges’ name - I was not impressed at all. Just don’t waste your time here.

I’m not sure what happened here, but our service was pretty phenomenal. We dined as a table of 2 though, and we were in the back of the first floor. The server checked on us several times, so perhaps the cadence was a little off that night for this party.