Jojo's restaurant in Tankerton
Today we had a late lazy lunch in lieu of decorating the bathroom or spare bedroom and chose to spend it at Jojo's in Tankerton. Where you all cry? I heard about this place six months or so ago when it was reviewed in The Observer. Sounded like a nice place and I saw on their website that they were soon to be closing for renovations so we got in quick before they shut for a while.
Phoning up to book a table, it must be a testament to their popularity that over a week in advance, they had one table for two left at 2:30, and on a cold Saturday at the end of January. In a very drab street back from the sea front.
They don't have a license so it's a BYO for £1 corkage. Allegedly The Threshers down the road does a roaring trade off the back of the place. It felt really weird walking up to a restauarant clutching a bottle of wine, like you're arriving at someone's place for a party. But once inside, bottle on table, the waiter/husband/Paul plonked a corkscrew down on the table, leaving us to do the business. The menu (as you can see on the web site) is quite heavily based on Mediterranean small dishes; tapas, mezze sort of thing. Paul suggested the number of dishes to order which we followed and then promptly felt stuffed with. Dolmadas, stuffed risotto balls, patatas bravas, manchego cheese (with some mind-blowingly potent candied pear slices), hummus, breads, olives, etc. The food is cooked in the kitchen right there in the restaurant (it doubles up as the family kitchen outside of opening hours) and arrived in waves. Paul's wife, Nicki, does most of the cooking with an assistant and Paul dishes out the food from the counter to the tables hardly any distance away. It's all one light airy room, decorated with local photographer's prints, wood flooring, etc. The food isn't the best I've ever had, but it is damn good and it's the whole package that makes the place work; the kitchen, the atmosphere, the service, the regulars fetching their drinks from the fridge. Very informal and friendly; they call you by name if they can. When booking they only wanted a first name, couldn't be bothered with the rest.
They're closing very shortly (February 12th) so they can expand downstairs through to the back. But before you think that this is going to ruin the atmosphere of the place, they're going to keep the same number of covers per day. Whereas currently they sit a mere 14 people in two sittings, the plan is to sit the same number but without having to usher the first sitting out to make way for the seconds. So a few more tables (with some more elbow room they say) but the table will be yours for the day.
Worth a visit, definitely. I hope to go back when they re-open and see what the changes have done for it.
Phoning up to book a table, it must be a testament to their popularity that over a week in advance, they had one table for two left at 2:30, and on a cold Saturday at the end of January. In a very drab street back from the sea front.
They don't have a license so it's a BYO for £1 corkage. Allegedly The Threshers down the road does a roaring trade off the back of the place. It felt really weird walking up to a restauarant clutching a bottle of wine, like you're arriving at someone's place for a party. But once inside, bottle on table, the waiter/husband/Paul plonked a corkscrew down on the table, leaving us to do the business. The menu (as you can see on the web site) is quite heavily based on Mediterranean small dishes; tapas, mezze sort of thing. Paul suggested the number of dishes to order which we followed and then promptly felt stuffed with. Dolmadas, stuffed risotto balls, patatas bravas, manchego cheese (with some mind-blowingly potent candied pear slices), hummus, breads, olives, etc. The food is cooked in the kitchen right there in the restaurant (it doubles up as the family kitchen outside of opening hours) and arrived in waves. Paul's wife, Nicki, does most of the cooking with an assistant and Paul dishes out the food from the counter to the tables hardly any distance away. It's all one light airy room, decorated with local photographer's prints, wood flooring, etc. The food isn't the best I've ever had, but it is damn good and it's the whole package that makes the place work; the kitchen, the atmosphere, the service, the regulars fetching their drinks from the fridge. Very informal and friendly; they call you by name if they can. When booking they only wanted a first name, couldn't be bothered with the rest.
They're closing very shortly (February 12th) so they can expand downstairs through to the back. But before you think that this is going to ruin the atmosphere of the place, they're going to keep the same number of covers per day. Whereas currently they sit a mere 14 people in two sittings, the plan is to sit the same number but without having to usher the first sitting out to make way for the seconds. So a few more tables (with some more elbow room they say) but the table will be yours for the day.
Worth a visit, definitely. I hope to go back when they re-open and see what the changes have done for it.
Labels: Restaurant
posted by Bluebear at
10:21 pm
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