Joe's Restaurant
1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

Give me a reason to try a new restaurant and I'll most likely go there. Daph kept insisting that this Joe's place was good...and it was really close to her old apartment (she has since moved..), and of course I had done my homework and read great things. So we went during one of my days of aimless unemployment...

They sat us down, and sat this tasty looking pile of bread in front of us. The bread was really flaky...pretty cool that it was toasted, and loved that they had olive tapenade and butter...but I wasn't too keen on the bread. Too flaky...too brioche. I know people love brioche, but I love bread to have a good crust and a soft but supple interior of CARBY GOODNESS..but I digress...

All of us at the table chose the 18 dollar prix fixe meal, which comes with a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert. Kinda neat...I mean, not everywhere can you get such a deal as this.
I and another diner got the tuna tartare. I can't say "no" to raw tuna...I just can't. The serving came out a lot smaller than I thought it would be (I mean check out all that real estate on that plate!) but I realize my expectations are for an appetizer that I would have paid like 12 dollars for, separately. This was a nice little taste of tuna - what appetizers are supposed to be! The little toasts were perfect with the cubes of brightly pink tuna, and the cucumber was a refreshing accompaniment. Delicious.
This just looks like a piece of art - Daph and the other diner got the yellowtail sashimi with a prosciutto roll, with a tasty artfully brushed..SOMETHING on the plate. Honestly, have no idea what it is - but it's salty, it's good, and it's pretty. So all in all, awesome.
This was the roasted chicken, which was proclaimed as "sooo good", "moist and tasty" and all in all, great. Cippolini onions, walnuts, and chinese veggies anchor this chicken, in a tasty au jus sauce.
Daph and I got the char - a fish that tasted a lot like salmon. It came with a swipe of that delicious salty stuff, turnips and a date. Yum. The skin of the char was crispy, the fish cooked perfectly. No complaints from me - the dish was scraped clean by the time the waiter came around again.
Us girls chose the sponge cake dessert - berry sauce, with real whipped cream, topped with a few blueberries. This was good, but I think more filling than I would have liked it to be. I didn't finish it - I mostly scraped off the fruit bits.
This lemon tart was exquisite. Matt took a bite and insisted for us to try a taste - and I'm glad I did. Mandarin orange slices, a great meyer(?) lemon base, buttery tart. This could be the perfect lemon tart. What a great meal. By the way, service was excellent - these waiters here are awesome. Not too intrusive, and attentive enough where I never felt that I needed much other than to enjoy the meal. They were also very well informed about what the food tasted like and what to expect from the kitchen.

I happened to go here again for brunch, as I wanted to share the experience with Owen. I made reservations through opentable.com, and arrived at around 10am - I wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible.

We were seated near the window - a nice little table that casted some faint shadows across our food. Nice and cozy. So, for brunch, everything comes with a bit of an appetizer - I love that Joe's has that.
I tried the soup this time - a potato chive soup. Soooo good. Perfect amount of saltiness. Their soups are non dairy, yet so creamy! I almost licked the bowl clean.
Owen got the fruit and yogurt plate. Nice assortment of fruits, everything so attractively cut and laid out.
Owen got the pancakes, bacon and egg plate. He got his usual eggs over easy. These bacon slices were huge, and really great - Owen was happily crunching away. These pancakes were "some of the best" he's ever had - I am not usually a fan of pancakes, but I tried a little and these were truly amazing. Fluffy, with good density, perfect sized hotcakes.
I got the peeky toe crab hash, as I was craving more potato product. The egg was just as I like it -poached, so when I pierced the yolk, it ran all over the crab and potato, and made an amazing mess....almost BEAUTIFUL, yes I said it. This was filling, and really satisfied many of my cravings for something decadent.

Joe's is a great place to go to. I have no complaints, and hope this place stays around for awhile.