RESTAURANT REVIEW
TEXT
SUSAN WONG
PICTURES
EATOUT
I’m happy that
I can find my
gastro-pub
escape and
“Don’t worry,
about a thing”
kind-of dining
experience”
LEFT
Julian Nicholls - Head Chef
experience, fine dining cuisine,
lengthy dish names that seem too
complicated to eat, plush velvet
high-back chairs, backlit onyx
bar facades or even a spacious
restaurant that could host your next
company Christmas party – J’s Fresh
Bar and Kitchen is definitely not for
you. The newest and in my opinion,
one of the more authentic gastropubs in Nairobi, J’s is the home to
uncomplicated, flavourful…incredibly
flavourful, honest cooking.
A handful of picnic tables surround
the open kitchen, which anchors
the intimate gazebo-like structure.
J’s is small in size, but makes-up for
it by focusing on serving good and
consistently fresh meals. The concise
menu is small for Nairobi standards
but is focused and not filled with
pages of dizzying choices. The one
and half-pager swims in British pub
influences, all served artfully on
rustic wooden boards.
To start, there was the soft,
crunchy and meaty Scotch Egg and
Homemade Ketchup. Hard-boiled
egg encased in sausage meat,
breadcrumbs and herbs; gently
moulded by hand and accompanied
by overly barbeque-tasting housemade ketchup. A beautiful board
of J’s Beetroot and Goats Cheese
followed. The colourful spread was
vibrant in colour and had flavours
to match. The marinated cherry
tomatoes, slow-roasted beetroot
Carpaccio and puree, proved that
vegetables could also be robust in
flavour.
A gastro-pub favourite, the
Traditional British Fish and Chips
did not disappoint. Moist and flaky
fillets encapsulated in a miraculously
crispy, light and golden batter. The
chunky chips, cooked three times,
brought out the kid in me. And the
pea puree was just enough pizazz to
elevate the dish to the gastro-pub
stratosphere. There was the Ultimate
Chuck Steak Burger that arrived with
a stack of Paprika Fries; its patty
was super juicy thanks to a coarser
ground made from a cut of beef from
the shoulder.
By far, my favourite was the
Char-Grilled Chilli and Coriander
Squid, Garlic Aioli and Fresh
Lemon. Beautifully flavoured and
caramelised by the hot grill for
probably as long as the cook could
sing the Alphabet Song, the fresh
squid was a delight to eat – a slight
pop of crunchiness that only fresh
seafood cooked to perfection
would have, woke-up the senses
and the delicate flavours of chilli
and coriander were balanced easily
with a fresh squirt of lemon juice. I
would have ordered another Squid
had I not been saving room for the
requisite Double Chocolate Brownie,
an exceptional end to my Sunday
afternoon with its chocolate chip ice
cream, doused with chocolate sauce.
At J’s, the gastro-pub cuisine is
pushed beyond stodgy pigs and
puddings. The Sunday roast option
occupies a nostalgic place in our
British culinary imagination, but the
rest of J’s menu reinterprets a few
English recipes, some even centuries
old. This is a restaurant carefully
calibrated which depending on your
mood, may or may not be its greatest
virtue. As they say, “one man’s meat
is another man’s poison,” so one
person’s alleged terrible restaurant
experience may be another’s
treasure.
The laid-back atmosphere of J’s
is complimented by smiley Fedora
hat-clad staff that are most of the
time, attentive; all of which reminds
me of a holiday at a Caribbean
resort. A slight hum of reggae plays
in the background and the Sunday
afternoon atmosphere buzzes
effortlessly. For a moment, I escape
to a beach with my strong cocktail.
I wouldn’t be surprised if another
J’s pops-up somewhere along the
Kenyan coast. But for now, I’m happy
that I can find my gastro-pub escape
and “Don’t worry, about a thing”
kind-of dining experience along the
traffic jam-prone Ngong Road.
21.