JoJo
“This doesn't seem to be one of Jean George's big player restaurants but it's a gem all the same.”
“For dessert we had a fruit salad with bananas, pineapple and kiwi served with white pepper ice cream, and a warm chocolate cake with caramel ice cream.”
“However, you will have to eat early — I think the latest reservation they take for the prix fixe is 6pm.”
JoJo
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Being one of those restaurants you hear about from time to time and the fact that it's kind of a Jean-Georges restaurant, it was about time I tried this restaurant. The interior of the place is nice, and I think most people could agree with that. It's intimate without being too pretentious and it's pretty comfortable. The Maitre D' was also nice and welcoming. I think the place is maybe less pretentious than some might think, but still has a little bit of it in a kind of passive aggressive way.
As far as the food goes, we ordered a number of things for lunch. Although it is a Jean-Georges restaurant, I didn't find anything special about the place at all to be honest. The chickpea fries were pretty good, but they need to slightly dial it back on the salt. Too salty. The charred octopus was good and probably the best thing we ate (along with the bread that comes out first) though the potatoes were again a touch too salty. We also had the veal milanese which – definitely nothing special about it at all. I have had this dish much better at much less nice places. The salad it came with though was pretty good – the dressing was nice actually. Besides that, I sometimes get a really big urge for a bagel & lox. Some places do it really well, and I thought this would be one of them. Nope. Not only were two sides of the bagel burnt and hard, but they gave me one measly tomato which was actually old and going bad (soggy), a little bit of onion (fresh), and two little cornichons which appeared to be some half-assed attempt at a caper replacement. Except it didn't work, because cornichons in this instance are just awkward. Unfortunately for JoJo, I could go to about 100 delis in Manhattan alone and probably get a better bagel & lox at under half the price. Nothing they did, except for a cornichon (which is a terrible idea by the way), set them apart from a normal city deli as saying "Hey, we have good food and know what the hell we're doing too."
Maybe we should have ordered the lobster instead of the veal, for example, but you know what? If you can't do a dish correctly, then don't bother putting it on the menu in the first place. Especially if you are trying to trick people with nice decor.
As far as the service goes, it wasn't bad in the sense of being slow or rude, but just kind of absent. One of my forks was on a plate I was using for bread in the beginning. That was taken away and for 5 minutes I waited for a replacement fork. It never came, so we stole a fork from a neighboring table. The table to the other side of us didn't even have the table set. Throughout the entire meal, our waitress asked us one time if everything was okay and that was when we first got our food (aka to ask us if we got our order correctly). While they did a good job of filling up the water, they pretty much never said a single word to us after that until they asked about dessert. Not once after asking if we needed anything or if everything was fine. Our waitress seemed nice, but it's hard to know for sure since she barely said anything to us and didn't even offer any suggestions.
Chalk this restaurant up as one of those restaurants which has nice decor and tries to fool you that way into believing that they have good food, but they really don't. Unfortunately nothing that we had on the menu was the least bit memorable. There were some good bites of food, but mainly it wasn't good at all. I feel as if people think this restaurant is good because they feel the obligation to suck up to Jean-Georges or the fact that some celebrities eat here, but make no mistake, there is not much reason to drop everything and go to this restaurant especially when there's so many better places in Manhattan alone.
JoJo to me was like the really hot girl you've been seeing around and you finally go on a date with her, then realize she's actually really boring once you're with her.
Walked by this place plenty of times, and finally ate there to meet with friends. It was a Wednesday at 9:30pm so the wait was only 10 minutes to get a table for 4. The hostess was nice and pretty flexible. We didn't realize they were also participating in Restaurant Week, so we all decided to go for that of course. Even with us not going a la carte, our servers were still polite and didn't rush us. We'll definitely come back. It's a hidden nook in Upper Eastside, that's set in dim lighting and a speakeasy sort of feel. Very private and comfy besides the very loud drunk lady sitting behind us. The skate and the pavlova was nice! Go if you're in the area. Kitchen closes late, too.
I made an early reservation at JoJo to try the prix fixe menu, which was 3 courses for $38, including warm asparagus salad, baked salmon, and warm chocolate cake. The bread was hot, tasty, and light, so we had to keep asking for more! I had a delicious cucumber mint martini with Hendrix Jin, muddled mint and cucumber and simple syrup. Have to say that it was one of the best martinis that I've had! All the dishes were delicious and I would have to recommend this place for those that enjoy great quality food!
How have I not known about this place in my 6 years in the city? What an entirely adorable spot! It definitely is a date place but I was there with 2 men : ) We had a 7:30 reservation on Friday night and we were seated at a lovely table upstairs in front of the windows, easily the best table. You could tell by the crowd that this is a neighborhood gem. The service is impeccable and the food excellent. We started with a few perfectly crafted cocktails, the cucumber martini is a hit. We also ordered a bottle of Morgon, I liked the fact that the wine list has quite a few decent choices under $60. I unfortunately wasn't that hungry but I did taste a few different dishes. To start the grilled octopus was fabulous and a sizable appetizer portion. We also had the sea bass which was very good although for the price the portion was tiny. Tag on a side order of fries and you're good to go, they were perfect btw. This is a very pretty restaurant where you can hear each other speak and have a very relaxing evening.
Located in an upper east side townhouse. Fabulous brunch was enjoyed with friends on a Sunday afternoon. Warm decor makes it feel like you are entering a dear friend's home. Not fussy or fancy, just right! The meal was delicious. Pekoe crab salad, cod as main dish and the orange cake to end was spot on! The establishment is small so make sure to make a reservation. Service was top notch.
Food was good, service deplorable.
Clueless, unprofessional and slow.
Skip.
This was an accidental gem that I stumbled upon after Sunday morning church service. I was on the UES and my friend just happened to find this place on Yelp. We didn't have reservations but when we walked in at noon they were able to accommodate us. It's such a cozy place with minimalistic design and a quiet ambience.
There was a prix-fixe lunch menu for $32 which included appetizer, entree and dessert. I had the crab cake to start which was done nicely, followed by the salmon. They were able to swap out my asparagus for broccoli rabe which made me very happy except that the broccli rabe was extremely salty! The molten lava cake with ice cream is a signature dessert of Jean georges and i devoured it happily.
I'd actually love to come back for dinner at some point but maybe in the far future after i try out more of his restaurants.
This was my first time dining at a Jean Georges spot and it was a completely mediocre & boring meal. The decor & ambiance were luxe but the food was a disappointment. My friend actually commented that my cooking is better and by the end of the meal I had to agree! (Don't shoot me lol)
I was looking forward to ordering off the dinner tasting menu but we were not given that option. Started with a pear campari cocktail (watered down & not much flavor) and a cucumber mint martini (SO refreshing). This was my favorite part of the meal & my friend loved the fresh bread sticks the most. That should tell you enough about this place.
Went with the restaurant week menu instead; tried the lentil soup (barely warm), roasted carrot salad with avocado (blue cheese dressing tasted more like a dollop of sour cream), and the chicken stew (coq au vin blanc, way too much ginger, big portion, no sides). Biggest disappointment was dessert. The molten chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream was tasty… BUT its the same damn dessert & presentation as the pictures I saw from 2010! BORING. It wasn't all that pretty to look at either bc the ice cream had melted on the warm plate.
Biggest peeve of the night: waitress gave us the check along with the dessert. How fucking rude. The table next to us made the same comment. Nothing was memorable about my meal and it made me very sad panda 🙁
I guess my expectations were set way too high? Def can't judge a restaurant based on restaurant week alone, but I'm not sure I'll be returning to check out the regular menu.