Chez Joly

I'd been wanting to try Chez Joly for months, and last night my husband and I finally went. I had the beef bourguignon and my husband had the coq au vin. The beef was tender, flavorful and served on a bed of broad noodles, not a sketchy piece of meat in my bowl. Usually I find some sort of gristly strange bit in my food, but this was not the case here. My husband's coq au vin looked good, it had a breast and a leg with veggies and it looked a bit saucy. Nothing the bread served at our table couldn't fix, however. He seemed to enjoy it, but then ate the rest of my food as he liked mine better. The wine comes in a REAL wine glass, not a goblet, which most places in town tend to do, and the pour was generous. The owner, Christian Joly, was in house and introduced himself to us and went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and had everything that we needed. We had the souffle for dessert, which takes 20 minutes to prepare, but was well worth the wait, and their coffee was good too. The decor is warm and turns a large space into a comfortable and almost lush feeling one. \r \r The only complaint was that the place filled up and there wasn't enough staffing to get our check to us in a timely manner, but having been to France, it could be just the style of service, sort of refreshing as most places in town all but kick you out to turn the tables. All in all a nice experience and we will return. Pros: Comfortable feel, delicious Cons: They struggle to keep up with a full house more

I was excited to try this place as it looks like a cool bistro setting. However i think i had the worst meal ever at a bistro. i tend to seek them out when i travel and have never had a bad meal. However the duck breast ""special"" was almost inedible. While this is the first time i've been here, I am puzzled as to how a place near the Pearl could mess up a bistro standard-pan seared duck breast. I make it at home all the time. While i would expect steak frites and onion soup to be more practiced, i won't waste my time and money again. Check out Everett Street Bistro of Fenouil Brasserie instead. Both outstanding bistro food with vive. Pros: Bistro setting Cons: Pricey, no vive more