JewFro — Restaurant in Richmond

I'm NOT an easy reviewer. I'm pretty critical because I do not care for "fusion" food. It almost always misses the mark of both food cultures. In this case... I'm definitely not disappointed.

Let's start with service: Paul is nothing short of outstanding. Knows the menu, the ingredients, how to be present and how to disappear but still be available. That young man is a gift and should teach lessons!

The atmosphere: I'm not sure what I expected but again, I was not disappointed. I think, for me, it's fortunate we attended in a quiet weekday night. I can imagine if it were crowded the background noise would have been a little difficult. I didn't understand the decor. It didn't add anything to the experience but it also didn't detract either.

The food: Jewish and West African. I grew up in NY with a significant Jewish population. When I fly the meals I order are kosher (although I do not keep kosher myself). I was surprised. The potato latkes were fluffier than I've had but still delicious. I neglected to get pictures because they were gone that fast! My companion ate 1½ then remembered we were supposed to be sharing lol. I would have liked a little more sour cream. It really made the potatoes and apples sing!

Next we ordered the challah and dips. Had to wait because the challah was still baking. The bread: we could have waited a few minutes more. Although we didn't complain (because it WAS delicious, it could have stood either a couple of more minutes in the oven or rested a few minutes longer. It seemed slightly doughy inside. I would guess that told who never had fresh challah, like my companion, would not have noticed but I've had it fresh from Mrs Silverbergs' (a neighbor back home when I was growing up) oven so I know better. Still, it was delicious. The dips: harissa butter, chermoula, and shakshuka jam- We both found the butter "ok." Funny thing, I made lamb chops last month and made harissa butter. We were a little disappointed... Not enough harissa for us. The chermoula was tasty but seemed to have been batch made maybe a day or two before. Still, it was good. The shakshuka jam. When I got home I immediately became 6 looking up recipes for this god designed condiment! I've had shakshuka but I've never had this! I cannot imagine bottling it would do anything to improve the flavor but it needs to be bottled! GO. GET SOME!

For our main course: My companion had the Shliskas gnocchi with Zigni brisket (be warned- the brisket is spicy! They loved it! It was a fantastic portion size and was delish. I ordered the Lamb Shank Tagine. It was tasty but my disappointment is my own... Be clear: this was a delish dish. I sort of expected some char but the taste was more like it has been baked in an oven. Yes. I know how tangines work. I just expected something a little different. I happen to be one who is not bothered by the "gaminess" of lamb and wild meat. This was very mild. It was clearly lamb but was very mild. The acorn squash was good but I searched for the harissa and couldn't find it. I love Israeli cous cous and this was prepared perfectly.

I was not disappointed in this fusion meal. We definitely expect to return. They have a curated drink selection and wine bottles are 50% of during happy hour.

Here's is the kicker (and we LOVED IT!). We carefully reviewed the website. There was no mention of a "service fee," or any kind of fees at all. When we got the menus I specifically looked for some hidden fee. When the bill came I KNEW that BAM! another restaurant in Richmond was trying to sneak something in but no. Absolutely not! The only fees are what the government requires we pay: Taxes! All the food above plus 2 drinks came to $104. Plus a generous tip (with, thank god no "suggestion" in how much. It's almost as if we are adults and would do the right thing!).

Go there. Eat there. Drink there. It's a fusion that actually makes sense. I don't know how often they change their menu but I'm be glad to save up and go again because I like change and I'd love to see what the chef can...

My husband and I had a date-night dinner at JewFro on Friday night before seeing Mamma Mia. I made a 5:30 reservation to give us ample time to make the show and they had us in and out without us feeling rushed.

We found ample street parking within a half block of the restaurant on brightly-lit streets. Super easy! We were seated in the widow with a perfect view of the bustling shockoe bottom scene. The restaurant is festively decorated and filled up quickly with other eager diners.

JewFro has changed up its regular African-Jewish fusion menu for a holiday-themed, four course, prix-fixe menu. It’s $65 per person with small up-charges for premium items.

We coordinated our selections for things that appealed to us both. First course: cranberry+fois (+5) and oysters “jungle bell” rock. The cranberry+fois was perfectly seared, melt-in-your-mouth fois gras on crispy toast points over a tart cranberry jam. My husband said he would eat a whole plate of it. The chef’s thoughtful choices to provide texture and balanced flavors here were evident. The oysters Rockefeller were delicious—plump, meaty roasted oysters with a traditional Rockefeller preparation.

For our second course we chose the grilled cheese and tomato soup and the duck tamale.

The soup was rich and thick, garnished with a crispy and gooey cheddar and Camembert grilled cheese “ornament” which was the perfect complement to the smoky and intense tomato flavor. The tamale was a delicious combination of flavors with shredded duck encased in a pillowy masa accompanied by a persimmon salsa and poblano creama. When combined into one bite, it was a flavor explosion!

Our third course included the scallop “snowman” and beef tenderloin. The presentation on the scallops was whimsical, with three large, perfectly-seared scallops skewered and stacked vertically on a stick to look like a snowman, nestled in a bed of grits made with lobster stock and Parmesan. Savory roasted carrots offered a pop of color and a needed foil to the richness of the dish. It was wonderful. The beef tenderloin was perfecly cooked and seasoned, served over a truffled sunchoke purée with crispy sautée green beans.

Our meal concluded with the “build your own gingerbread house” for two (pictured below). This was so much fun and a perfect for date-night! Pre-cut and measured pieces of crispy and spicy gingerbread are served on a cutting board with marshmallows, gumdrops, sprinkles and cream cheese icing in a piping bag. We assembled our house using the icing ae “glue”. It stood for about three seconds, but was fun to do. But we devoured the fallen house and had fun playing with the icing.

My husband enjoyed his old fashioned made with brown sugar and I had a non-alcoholic cranberry-ginger spritz from the cocktail menu. I want to note that I appreciated the option to have several signature cocktails made without alcohol and that the one I chose came in a champagne flute. It was festive and sparkly and perfect for the season.

Portion sizes for four courses were perfect and reminded me that I love to eat like this. We had a wide variety of food but in portions that didn’t overhelem us. We left utterly satiated but not stuffed. Service was lovely, friendly and efficient with special attention paid to our time constraints. Chef Ari visited us a few times throughout the night which was a lovely touch.

Dinner for two with a four course prix fixe menu including a $5 upcharge, one cocktail and one mocktail was $213 including tax and 20...

Great food, middling drinks, poor service, unacceptable wait times.

We were really excited about the place, the menu for Richmond Restaurant Week looked great and the concept was awesome. We got in a couple minutes before our 6:45 reservation but it took them 10 minutes to get us sat. In that time multiple servers passed us by and saying someone would seat us shortly. This was weird because the restaurant was mostly empty at the time. From the time we got sat we waited another 10 or so minutes to have a server come take our order.

I ordered the orange blossom spritzer and my mom ordered the smoked honey old fashioned. My drink was pretty good but the old fashioned was terrible; it tasted like watered down bourbon and that’s it. But the biggest problem with the drinks is that it took 45 MINUTES to get them. Maybe they were short-staffed… but that’s just not okay. There was someone behind the bar the whole time but it was just really, really slow.

There seemed to be some strife betwixt the staff because from where we sat (close to the bar and kitchen), it sounded like people were getting pretty short with each other. Not quite yelling, but sort of curt and impolite. Not the best environment to wait for your food in!

And boy did we wait. All told, the meal was over 100 MINUTES LONG. It took nearly an hour for us to get our main course, with huge chunks of time between appetizers, mains, and dessert. It was painful.

I will say though: the appetizers were solid, the challah and accompanying spreads were delicious, and the mains and dessert were very, very good. We got the arugula fennel strawberry salad and the sambusas to start. Very tasty, not out of this world. But the mains were AWESOME. I got the rockfish and my mom ordered the scallops. Everything was perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, just totally packed with flavor. And the desserts did not disappoint. The cake with tahini buttercream was delightful. The salty-sweet-savory buttercream was unlike anything I’ve had before in a dessert. The milk cake was the perfect texture too. Would absolutely get both again!

It’s a shame the awesome food was so let down by the overall experience. After our meal I was left wondering if I’d come back. It was delicious but something has gotta change about the service/wait times. I don’t know, maybe they were just acutely short-staffed that day. But I wish JewFro’s team the best and I hope I could come back sometime and leave the much better review that their...