Table: Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
Anata wanted a treat for a special date night so he booked reservations at Joe Fortes for us. We've been before, and I remember having their seafood trio and being very impressed by their handling of sablefish. Anata always enjoys their steaks as well.
We started with the usual lobster oil and balsamic vinaigrette with bread. The bread is a thick and dense piece that soaks up the oil well without becoming mushy. I'm just disappointed that it's not served warm, but oh well. It's pretty plain for bread but it's meant to soak up and take on the flavour of the oil. The oil is pretty strongly lobster flavoured, and I find the pairing with the balsamic helps add a sweetness to the oil whilst also brightening it with the acid. A good combination. The oil can be purchased from Joe's for a bit of a hefty price ($30-40?), but it makes for great entertaining and use in the home!
Anata ordered the calamari which we like because they are really nice and thick meaty pieces. The base seasoning on them is good, a mix of chili and fried garlic with other herbs, but we also really enjoy the sauce they are served with. As odd a comparison it is, I find the sauce kind of tastes like McDonald's mayonnaise and Big Mac sauce. The mayonnaise is strong and it's got a little kick to it. We save the rest for Anata's fries, haha.
Anata ordered their dinner deal which was a 3-course for $38. He selected the shrimp ceviche to start. I found it kind of creamy and sweet, and not really what I would say a ceviche, but for what it was it was very tasty. It was helped along by the lime on the plate, but the avocado and shrimp were really so sweet and rich and juicy. The mixture also goes well with the bread, if you happen to have any leftover or got a second helping :)
I ordered some oysters. I forget what the tiny one at the bottom is, but the two middle were Sawmill Bay and the top was the Joe's Gold. The tiny one was very crisp and clean aftertaste, lovely little oyster. The Sawmill were a bit meatier with stronger flavouring. The Joe's Gold was quite salty with a milder meaty flavour. Overall they were very fresh and delicious. It's served with three main sauces - asian soy/ponzu sauce, an onion vinaigrette, and cocktail-horseradish mix.
For my main I ordered the peppercorn ahi tuna, which came with potatoes, veggies, and a succotash purée. The tuna was cooked very well, seared onside and raw inside. Fresh fish with good quality. However, I found the vegetables to be a little underdone as they were still really crispy and I found the carrot to be quite difficult to cut. For the asparagus I didn't mind so much but I had to struggle with my piece of carrot. The succotash was a very smooth and thick purée but it was very sweet. The potatoes had some kind of cream cheese or something mixed into the hash, and it wasn't seasoned that much. Altogether I enjoyed the components individually but found them a little odd as a whole. The cream cheesey stuff in the potatoes threw me off, and I didn't think they went well with the peppercorn sauce or the super sweet purée. I didn't even think the peppercorn sauce went well with the purée either. A little disappointing that the dish didn't quite suit my personal taste, but aside from the underdone veggies the cookery on the rest of the plate was very good. I did have a very good experience previously with other dishes so it was probably just that this dish didn't suit my palate.
Anata orderd their striploin and subbed in truffle fries. He ordered his done Chicago medium, but they didn't quite hit the mark on the outside sear. However, he said that the inside was perfectly cooked for medium and it was very juicy. His veggies were also underdone, so it was just an error with the station for the night. The truffle fries were nice and crisp, and with a strong truffle flavour (though yes, I'm aware it's all synthetic stuff... but we like the flavour, haha) and Anata had a good time dipping it into the calamari sauce.
Our dessert was the tiramisu, which came with a lady finger stick and whipped cream with shmear of chocolate ganache. It was nice and light, great balance of flavours and not too sweet. A nice little pick me up for the end of the meal :)
The quality at Joe's has been great from our experience. The service is always quick, efficient, and friendly. The food fresh, and well handled for the most part. The prices are a little on the steep side, so it's not a regular place to go to, but every time is nice, and their piano player very good! I would highly suggest reservations if you do go, as they fill up pretty quickly and most likely will not be able to seat you after 6:30pm.
We started with the usual lobster oil and balsamic vinaigrette with bread. The bread is a thick and dense piece that soaks up the oil well without becoming mushy. I'm just disappointed that it's not served warm, but oh well. It's pretty plain for bread but it's meant to soak up and take on the flavour of the oil. The oil is pretty strongly lobster flavoured, and I find the pairing with the balsamic helps add a sweetness to the oil whilst also brightening it with the acid. A good combination. The oil can be purchased from Joe's for a bit of a hefty price ($30-40?), but it makes for great entertaining and use in the home!
Anata ordered the calamari which we like because they are really nice and thick meaty pieces. The base seasoning on them is good, a mix of chili and fried garlic with other herbs, but we also really enjoy the sauce they are served with. As odd a comparison it is, I find the sauce kind of tastes like McDonald's mayonnaise and Big Mac sauce. The mayonnaise is strong and it's got a little kick to it. We save the rest for Anata's fries, haha.
Anata ordered their dinner deal which was a 3-course for $38. He selected the shrimp ceviche to start. I found it kind of creamy and sweet, and not really what I would say a ceviche, but for what it was it was very tasty. It was helped along by the lime on the plate, but the avocado and shrimp were really so sweet and rich and juicy. The mixture also goes well with the bread, if you happen to have any leftover or got a second helping :)
I ordered some oysters. I forget what the tiny one at the bottom is, but the two middle were Sawmill Bay and the top was the Joe's Gold. The tiny one was very crisp and clean aftertaste, lovely little oyster. The Sawmill were a bit meatier with stronger flavouring. The Joe's Gold was quite salty with a milder meaty flavour. Overall they were very fresh and delicious. It's served with three main sauces - asian soy/ponzu sauce, an onion vinaigrette, and cocktail-horseradish mix.
For my main I ordered the peppercorn ahi tuna, which came with potatoes, veggies, and a succotash purée. The tuna was cooked very well, seared onside and raw inside. Fresh fish with good quality. However, I found the vegetables to be a little underdone as they were still really crispy and I found the carrot to be quite difficult to cut. For the asparagus I didn't mind so much but I had to struggle with my piece of carrot. The succotash was a very smooth and thick purée but it was very sweet. The potatoes had some kind of cream cheese or something mixed into the hash, and it wasn't seasoned that much. Altogether I enjoyed the components individually but found them a little odd as a whole. The cream cheesey stuff in the potatoes threw me off, and I didn't think they went well with the peppercorn sauce or the super sweet purée. I didn't even think the peppercorn sauce went well with the purée either. A little disappointing that the dish didn't quite suit my personal taste, but aside from the underdone veggies the cookery on the rest of the plate was very good. I did have a very good experience previously with other dishes so it was probably just that this dish didn't suit my palate.
Anata orderd their striploin and subbed in truffle fries. He ordered his done Chicago medium, but they didn't quite hit the mark on the outside sear. However, he said that the inside was perfectly cooked for medium and it was very juicy. His veggies were also underdone, so it was just an error with the station for the night. The truffle fries were nice and crisp, and with a strong truffle flavour (though yes, I'm aware it's all synthetic stuff... but we like the flavour, haha) and Anata had a good time dipping it into the calamari sauce.
Our dessert was the tiramisu, which came with a lady finger stick and whipped cream with shmear of chocolate ganache. It was nice and light, great balance of flavours and not too sweet. A nice little pick me up for the end of the meal :)
The quality at Joe's has been great from our experience. The service is always quick, efficient, and friendly. The food fresh, and well handled for the most part. The prices are a little on the steep side, so it's not a regular place to go to, but every time is nice, and their piano player very good! I would highly suggest reservations if you do go, as they fill up pretty quickly and most likely will not be able to seat you after 6:30pm.