The Joneses — Restaurant in Toronto

My partner and I thought we go back to The Joneses Restaurant to try their Winterlicious dinner menu. The Joneses is one of the growing cadres of O&B restaurants in Toronto. The previous week we had visited Parcheggio at Bayview Village for their lunch Winterlicious offering, and we were disappointed with the experience…. Review to come later…. Since we had a $600 O&B Gift card to use up, we thought we’d give The Joneses Winterlicious Dinner menu a go ahead of a 7:30 theater performance that night that was around the corner (…Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf......) .

First, it was a challenge to find the front door. There is a lot of hoarding around the building on Yonge Street. This is not the fault of the restaurant of course, but this set the tone for the coming experience. Once inside, we were led to a table for two beside what I would think would normally be windows looking outside. These were covered from the outside likely because of the construction hoarding. Not a game changer, but not really that pleasant. We were not offered to have our winter jackets hung on arrival; instead we piled them on the sink-too-deep bench seating on one side of our table. Our table was a small round affair, which seemed more suited to a cocktail lounge than restaurant.

Our server, Jeff, was friendly and welcoming. We advised him of our theatre plans and he assured us of finishing in time to get to the theatre. Upon knowing we were interested in the Winterlicious menu, Jeff offered that we could consider a couple of items on the regular menu as an alternative to the 3 course Winterlicious offerings. Note to self: when the server steers you away from the “Winterlicious specials”, it is code for “they are not that great” and you may want to look at the regular menu. We foolishly did not pick up on the code, and ordered from the Winterlicious menu.

For starters, my partner opted for the Waldorf Salad (salt-roasted celeriac, walnut crumble, pickled grapes, granny smith apple, horseradish dressing) while I had the Mushroom Soup with enoki salad and black truffle. The salad was satisfactory, if a bit small. My mushroom soup was a very generous portion and absolutely delicious. I don’t see it as a regular menu item… It should be.

As for our mains, this is where things turned south. My partner opted for the Beef Stroganoff Penne, described as slow-roasted beef, cream, green peppercorns, caramelized onions, button mushrooms. It was not particularly flavouful but more importantly, the “beef...???” selected for this dish was tough and full of grissel – the majority of it inedible. And not that flavourful. I chose the Buttermilk Fried Chicken, consisting of chicken, cornbread, crispy brussels sprouts, spicy maple syrup, pickled green tomatoes. The dish tasted quite good, but my complaint is that it arrived not particularly hot and on a cold plate, so it got to room temp before I was even part way done. I did mention to the friendly busser when he asked how was the meal, that the kitchen should be serving the dish on a warm/hot plate, as was the Beef Penne my partner had. A small detail that would add a lot to the experience.

We ended with Sticky Toffee Pudding (molasses caramel, cream cheese) and Chocolate Mousse with sour cherries and mint. The Toffee pudding was fine. The Chocolate Mousse had a chalky texture and overly sweet flavour that suggested it was made from a box mix. Not impressed at all.

We finished in good time to get to the theater.

In summary, our server Jeff was great and we should have picked up on his cues about the Winterlicious menu. This was the second disappointment at an O&B Winterlicious offering. Since the Winterlicious might be perceived as a way to try out a new venue, O&B should be paying more attention to smaller details that can make or break a great experience, and ensure a return visit. I would avoid the Winterlicious menu, and maybe give the place another try in the future and ask the server for suggestions of...

I was very happy with the experience. Food, service, and ambiance were all excellent.

Menu gives off a more casual vibe with items like pizza and mac n cheese. However, these items are done very well.

The drinks are great - try their lychee martini for a treat.

The mac n cheese was excellent. I’ve had a lot of mac n cheeses, they managed to make this quite unique with super sharp cheeses, a smoky vibe which I couldn’t identity from the menu, and lots of cheese curds that gave amazing cheese pulls and texture without being too gooey. The pasta shape was nice fat shells that made it fun to eat. Portion was just right, great for a main but not too huge. Overall very happy with this dish and would try it again.

The carrot cake dessert was also excellent, one of the best carrot cakes I’ve had. Super moist, sweet but not too sweet, perfect cream cheese icing and lots of it. Again perfect size, just right to share for two.

I would definitely come back to try the Detroit pizzas, the sushi, and some of the other menu items.

The service was excellent - he was friendly, professional, and attentive without being too in our faces. I also liked the formal vibe - waiter was wearing a vest and looked/acted like he’d walked out of a 19th century movie set! Butler vibes 😂

Finally, ambiance is cool. It’s a modern, dressy place that feels nice enough for date night, despite the more casual type of food items. And the food items themselves are dressed up and made more interesting. Overall, 10/10 would recommend.

The only thing I will note is the price of the tofu steak was absolutely ridiculous. Tofu costs $2 per packet and they were pricing it as if it was a real steak… I believe around $30+ not including sides (ie. Just a slab of tofu and a sauce). Nothing can convince me a single piece of tofu is worth that, this is the type of pricing I would expect at a Michelin star restaurant.

Update: came back and the food was excellent again.

I did try the tofu steak with peppercorn sauce and while it’s definitely overpriced, it was excellent. Very well done in terms of taste and texture, and it’s really hard to get tofu right! It was chewy, dense, and so flavorful. Peppercorn sauce was delightful too and not spicy.

The shiitake sushi was good but personally was missing the soy sauce and pickled ginger to add to it, I guess those are the flavors I associate with sushi.

The cheese Detroit pizza was the only miss I’ve tasted at this restaurant. The crust was too thin for a Detroit style, and it had this watery, tasteless ricotta on top that kind of ruined it for me.

Broccoli side was excellent, they packed a lot of flavor into a simple veg.

And the Mac and cheese is probably my favorite Mac in Toronto… and it’s my favorite food! So creamy, nice cheese curds, and perfectly al dente pasta. Super flavorful too. Mac and cheese is so often overcooked and bland, they have a winner here!

Finally, the mocktails are good.

Overall this restaurant is totally underrated and I’m surprised it doesn’t get talked about more or have a...

The Joneses is a short walk from Union Station near Meridian Hall. The restaurant is sort of hard to find because it cannot be found on google street view (as of 2024-01-09).

As soon as you enter the restaurant there is someone waiting in order to take you to the seating area towards the back of the restaurant.

The seating area is cozy with comfortable seats, with one of the seats even being a comfortable couch type seat. There are TV's along the middle of the restaurant and towards the back of the seating area. This makes it tough for the person who is sitting on the couch side since the TV that is in view for them is nearly half the restaurant's length away.

Ordering: There are a bunch of specialty drinks, and food options on the menu.

Cost: I paid around $78 including tax for my main, one drink and splitting half an appetizer, tips included.

Wait Time: I went on a Tuesday around 6:30 PM. I had made a reservation via opentable so when I got to the restaurant my seats were available. There were some seats that looked opened around that time but the restaurant was pretty busy so it might be good to book your seating in ahead of time.

The Food: I got the popcorn shrimp tempura as an appetizer, I got the All-Dressed Smash Burger as my main, and I got the cocktail "Scallywag" as my drink. The shrimp tempura is what you would expect nothing too special about it, it comes with a dressing too for dipping. The Smash Burger was a huge disappointment. I've had smash burgers from Jabs, Grillies, Rosie's and more places and the Smash Burger from The Joneses might be the worst I've had. At that moment in time I was eating that All-Dressed Smash Burger I was thinking wow I'm eating a $29 McDouble. The fries that came with the smash burger were equally as disappointing. Half the fries tasted as they should with the other half tasting like the oil has never been changed. (might be a problem with whatever fat they used to make the fries). I was able to get some hot sauce from the waitress but the sauce wasn't exactly spicy at all; it did have the tiniest of kicks but overall not spicy. The cocktail was good albeit I stabbed myself on the prickly leaf they put inside the glass which is taller than the glass itself.

Overall: The atmosphere of the restaurant is great, waitress and the other staff were very attentive and friendly. The main dish I got was unfortunately not good. The restaurant is spacious.

Food: 3/5 Service:...