StyleNest headed south, well to Covent Garden actually to sample the food and drinks of newly revamped, Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar.
The trend for meaty man food is still going strong, with the latest offering popping up in London’s Covent Garden. What once was the cheap and cheerful Navaho Joe’s has rebranded, headed north up to the fine state of Texas, and upped it’s menu to become Joe’s Southern Kitchen.
Serving up Deep South grub in the West End, Joe’s is the ideal Friday/Saturday night dining venue if you’re after a little fun with friends, good old comfort food and a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
When we arrived we were greeted by friendly, relaxed staff and taken up to our table on the higher mezzanine floor, which looks down over the ground floor bar – a great spot for people watching.
Cocktails are a must here, but go easy, as they’re heady. The bar menu is devised into ‘Cocktails For Coqs’ and ‘Cocktails For Coquettes’, a little sexist perhaps but all in good fun. We ordered two of the ‘1 Night In Jail’ – a mix of Wild turkey 101, Noah’s Mill, Jim Beam Devils Cut, fresh pineapple, grapefruit juice, lime juice, grenadine, gomme and Angostura Bitters. Served with a flaming halved passion fruit filled with alcohol, we could see why the menu states only two orders per person. Done the less, it was delicious.
On to the food, and Joe’s is definitely a place to go hungry. If you’re after a salad, there’s really no point. To start we had the Fried Soft Shell Crab & Seasonal Vegetables with Cajun Mustard. Perfect sharing food, the dish comes with a mix of soft light and dark crab meat, covered in crispy American style batter and fried. The Cajun mustard gave it a lovely little kick and a freshness to counteract all that frying.
We also ordered a cup of the Slow Braised Beef Brisket, served with corn tortillas and sour cream. The beef was tender, flavoursome and really chunky, not like your typical midweek minced chilli and rice.
We have to admit, by this point we were already getting a little full so it may be advisable to order a starter between two, or even skip it straight to the main event.
Like all good Deep South restaurants, chicken is what Joe’s does well, and lots of it. We ordered the Southern Fried Chicken, which essentially is a posh KFC but better cooked and with proper ingredients. It even came with its own Joe’s takeaway style hand wipe, which shows that Joe’s doesn’t take itself too seriously.
As well as the Chicken Under A Brick – which is exactly how it sounds, chicken cooked under a brick. This gives the chicken a tenderness and wonderful charcoal flavour that you’d only get at a good BBQ. It actually left us wondering how plausible it would be to stick a brick in our ovens at home.
After the mains, we were certainly full, but we powered on to dessert – well, when in Rome. We opted for a retro strawberry sundae, which although we’re sure wasn’t even the slightest bit healthy, felt fresh and light after all the meat we’d consumed.
If it’s good fun and unfancy food you’re after Joe’s is your place. We’re reconsidering the brick, next time we want brick chicken we’ll just go back to Joe’s.
Joe’s Southern Kitchen & Bar, 34 King Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8JD Tel. 020 7240 4008 joessouthernkitchen.co.uk