JOYCE — Restaurant in Tartu linn

EDIT 2024: Wow this was a bad experience this year! Joyce is a Michelin recommended restaurant but this visit felt like a cheap diner! At first everything seemed okay, we were seated on the "second floor" and ordered our food. We were recommended the fresh bread selection. Three different breads and spreads. And then the saga began....our fresh bread slices were heated up in the microwave NEXT TO US. The microwave was 40cm from us and every other waitress used the same microwave to do the same for other clients.... No one informed us that we would be seated next to microwave! Very romantic dinner when microwave keeps whirring next to you :) The spreads were pretty good but those breads did not feel fresh. We have been to different restaurants many times, so we kind of know what feels fresh and what doesn't. So 7 euros for bread selection was not a good deal. Oh and we were not informed that those breads cost 7 euros, I was under the impression that the waitress was talking about the usual bread they serve before dinner. We ordered entrecote and venison. Both meats were beautifully cooked, nice medium-rare as they should be. Sauce and jus worked really nicely with meats. Parsley root next to the entrecote was well made and tasted good with beef. But those onion "baskets" with half cut raw tomatoes inside were little bit confusing and in my opinion didn't work great with other things on the plate (but that's just my opinion). Everything on the venison plate made better sense and worked well with each other. Sadly we didn't want to stay for dessert this time because of the microwave noise. We informed the waitress about the microwave noise afterwards and didn't get any remorse or apology from her....just "thanks for the feedback". PS! We were offered to choose between two tables on arrival. One on the second floor where we were meant to be seated and the second option was to be seated on the first floor but with time limit. But NO MENTION about the microwave!

2023 VISIT: Very cozy and warm place. Service was really nice. We ordered beef ribs and lamb. Lamb was really nicely cooked and all other components worked on that plate. Beef ribs were super soft and the sauce suited very well. To my surprise even the shallots were really tasty (and I usually don't like shallots!) Desserts were really tasty also. We had crumble and chocolate tartlette. Raspberry sorbet was spot on on that tartlette plate!

Yes, the place is a little bit expensive and main dish sizes are not very big but you have to remember that this is a little bit high end place and you come to enjoy...

We have not yet tried the food (maybe it’s good, maybe even perfect). BUT the service for the hotel guests is inappropriate. We were trying to order room service from Joyce and guess what - it’s around 1h before the kitchen is closed, and they just switched the phone. We were trying multiple times and it was “occupied”. So we had to go downstairs to order food ourselves (restaurant is almost empty), and still they charged us the room service still. What a surprising attitude for such well-known restaurant 🤨

UPDATE: Thank you for the response from the restaurant management - you made it even worse. You could have just apologized and promised 'to improve'. Instead, YOU LITERALLY LIED about some 'technical error' and made me look ignorant re: room service concept.

Before going downstairs we called the V Spa hotel reception. They checked with Joyce and said that 'the restaurant experiences the rush, thus Joyce does not reply over the phone'. Obviously, there was no rush in the restaurant at that time, but waitresses were extremely upset that we came - 2 of them got together next to the bar, started discussing us (my partner speak Estonian btw thus there was not misunderstanding) while giving us mean faces. This does sound like a 'technical error', right? It is obvious that room service is paid - I have never denied. But as the service was paid - it should be provided, right? In our case, we had to go to the restaurant ourselves to make an order and pay on spot. Then, I was just handed 4 plates with food with a bunch of cutlery through the door, while the waiter just stood in the corridor. Isn't it supposed to be served in the room? Moreover, next morning, at breakfast (around 10am, while breakfast ends at 11 during weekend) baked beans ended in the tray. As you serve all ingredients for the English breakfast, we asked for the beans refill as there was less than a spoon left, and more people were waiting. One of your waitresses (wearing glasses, dark red hair) said 'just scoop whatever is there, isn't it enough for you?' because 'it will take time to cook them'. That is rude to say at least.

If all this is an OK service for the Micheline guide restaurant - then I'm very sorry that Micheline guide got such low standards those days. The food was awesome, yes, but your ruined the impression and our mood because of your low quality rude service. Who would come for food if the waiters treat your customers like this? Anyway, we have shared a copy of our review with Michelin Guide inspectors - maybe they do some work and your next customers would...

As others have said, I'm very confused by the positive reviews. The service, decor, and atmosphere are great. No complaints at all there. However, the food was very disappointing and severely overpriced.

For starters, we ordered the sweet potato salad and rainbow trout. The sweet potato salad was delicious. I have no complaints about it. The flavors were balanced, it was plated beautifully, and the roasted nuts worked very well.

The rainbow trout itself was also fantastic. However, everything else on the plate was downright strange. The relish the fish sat on did not work with the fish. The flavors didn't meld at all. The vinagerette and liquorice flavor (thai basil? Fennel maybe?) completely overpowered the fish in a bad way. They ruined an excellent piece of fish.

For mains, we ordered the pike perch filet (Koha) and King Trumpet.

The pike perch was...fine. It tasted like a plussed up lunch special. If I had paid 5-6 euro for it, I wouldn't have been too upset. However, for 21 euro, it's absolutely outrageous. The lightly citrus sauce with the fish was nice. Unfortunately, the underdone leek, tough stringy broccolini, and random grass on the plate added absolutely nothing. Very mediocre.

The King Trumpet vegan dish was surprisingly bad. Too salty, incredibly greasy, full of kale, and covered in the same vinagerette as my rainbow trout. The mushrooms tasted almost like popcorn and not in a good way. I can't overstate how unimpressive this dish was.

I say this directly to the chef- if you're not sure how to create an amazing vegan dish, don't put it on the menu.

The plating, service, and ambiance was good. The food was not.

There are several very good higher end dining options in Tartu....