Reviews The Jones Family Project

Amazing place in London. I love the food. can’t wait to come back here again. Congratulations to the staff.

There are a number of things in London that fly under the radar no matter how good they might be. The Jones Family Project is one to add to that list. And yet I just can’t understand why – it has a great location (just a few minutes’ walk from Old Street), stunning fit-out and a food-and-drink offer for absolutely everyone. During the day the ground-floor bar is transformed into a cafe where you’re encouraged to make yourself at home, connect to the WiFi and stay hydrated with their tea and coffee offerings. So, if you find yourself working on the move and passing through Shoreditch, gone are the days of hunting out a place with the right height tables, power sockets and comfortable seats while avoiding making eye contact with the staff who want to move you on.

I’m back! It’s been a long time, and I’ve neglected my little bit of the internet for one of the hardest and most heartbreaking months I’ve ever had. But I’m so glad to be getting back into the swing of things – and what better way to do that than a post about BRUNCH!

The Vibe

Call me a lazy dater, but nothing makes me smugger than finding a café-cum-restaurant in which I can go from remote desk to bar stool in one easy manoeuvre. At The Jones Family Project, I can do just that; by day, the ground floor is a freelance-friendly café, complete with a dedicated nook housing a desk and a printer (the stuff of self-employed dreams). By night, the shelves behind the bar swivel, hiding tea and coffee particulars in favour of cocktail-ware (said swivel was deftly demonstrated by the maître-d, one of a charming and enthusiastic team). This is one of many considered décor details, from industrial-style structures separating intimate booths from private dining rooms, to leafy plants growing out of tub chair-surrounded tables. Exposed brick tells you you’re in Shoreditch, but the crowd is more discerning than the City ladz that typically frequent that stretch of Great Eastern Street – on the night we visit, Pixie Geldof is dining at the table along.

The Order

Start by swigging a couple of cocktails at the ground floor bar (a lavender mojito was the perfect tonic for a hectic Thursday), before moving downstairs for serious feasting. The crispy squid comes liberally served, so have it to share and proceed to evangelise about its perfect spicy/tart ratio. With meat sourced from the famed Ginger Pig butchers and cooked in the restaurant’s Josper charcoal oven, this is the perfect place to bring a carnivorous lover – the fillet steak in red wine sauce is practically orgasmic, though IRL orgasms may have to wait until you’ve recovered from the food coma such a statuesque slab of meat is wont to cause. A shout out for the oft ignored seasonal greens – Jones’s iteration is spicy and sesame-coated, and those bad boys are DIVINE.

The Game

Leave veggie Vernon at home. This one’s for meat lovers and meat lovers alone, although the chic but cool interiors will satisfy both Silicon roundabout snobs and the more discerning of City types (as long as they don’t have beef with beef). Request a booth for some anticipatory footsie.

The Faults

Cheap and cheerful this ain’t, but the massive, mouth-watering portions and superb quality meat are happy justifications.

Sex Factor

3. Inevitable meat sweats may hamper sexy time (unless, erm, you’re into that kind of thing), but if the way to their heart is through their stomach, a next date is guaranteed.

We began what would transpire to be a LOT of food with a couple of starters: the Cornish crab with guacamole and crustini, wafer-thin little toasts over which to spread the creamy crab meat.... just LOOK at the colour of this one. That’s the colour of love, that is. And it tasted as good as it looks; all JFP’s steaks come from posh Marylebone butchers the Ginger Pig, who are also famous for doing Hawksmoor’s steaks....One of the very best things about JFP is its dedication to small, local suppliers. I do make a conscious effort to eat ethically at home, buying meat from Smithfield’s butchers instead of the supermarket and so on, but it can be difficult sometimes, especially when eating out.

The Jones Family Project has a lot going for it – a prime spot on Shoreditch’s Great Eastern Street opposite The Hoxton hotel, meat from renowned butchers the Ginger Pig who supply the Hawksmoor, very well-made cocktails, friendly staff and a touch of quirkiness. So why when we visited was it so quiet apart from raucous Christmas party groups?

It certainly wasn’t what we expected, not too Shoreditchy and industrial, more homely with mismatched zoned rooms and even a bookcase filled with books to share amongst customers. There isn’t actually a family behind it, but a large group of collaborators including the co-founders of the Pitcher & Piano chain, but don’t let that put you off.

There’s two bars, one is upstairs to which they’ve done something clever – functional shelves that during the day display tea and coffee, then swivel around to reveal booze for the evening service, we want this in our house! Trees sprout through tables, lights gently twinkle giving a really cosy feel. The downstairs bar has cute intimate booth seating and an interchangeable stand-alone dining space, most recently it was made into a 1920s gin distillery.

I have to say that I wasn’t keen on the decor of the main dining area, loved the tartan carpet but the heavy lime green chairs made me feel like I was in a Holiday Inn, or worse – Wetherspoons. Such a stark contrast to the sleek booths just around the corner by the bar. Great original artwork throughout however – a print reminiscent of my childhood hung on the wall by our table. Music was chilled and the lighting low, so perfect for a date night.

The wine list was more extensive that we imagined, the cheapest bottle of red at £19 but we were in the mood for cocktails (when are we not?) There just so happened to be one with my name on it, quite literally – the Saffron Sour £9 with lemon juice and orange bitters. The balance of Saffron was just right, this is probably one of my favourite cocktails of the year, but then I am biased. Ade went for his current favourite – Diplomatico Old Fashioned £11, what set this apart was the addition of a few coffee beans that ‘brewed’ and altered the flavour of the drink the longer you left it.

No small plates here, you get to eat whatever you order all to yourself, just like the old days, hooray! To start I went for the Spiced crispy squid £7.50 with a chilli pepper sauce and lime mayonnaise, which unfortunately resembled dollops of ketchup and mayonnaise on the plate, cheapening it somewhat. Although I just raved about not having to share, this is actually a dish made for sharing, it was tasty just perhaps too big a serving.

Ade had the Date and chorizo wrapped in bacon with a white bean and piquillo pepper sauce £8. Far too overpoweringly rich for me but he adored it. It was like concentrated maple cured bacon, evocative of the crispy bacon and maple we had in Vegas – his perfect blend of sweet and savory.

Next up I was so very temped to order another Saffron Sour but the Jones Winter Apple Pie £9 sounded like it would go perfectly with my main course of Pork rib eye steak £18.50. A huge glistening hunk of meat atop a warm salad of chorizo, potatoes, savoy cabbage, honey balsamic and charred chillies.

Oh my goodness, absolute meat heaven! The pork was nicely charred in the Josper oven, yet succulent and tender once I delved in. The mix of chilli in the cabbage gave it an extra kick whilst the honey balsamic complimented the meat. The cocktail was the cherry on the cake with warming cinnamon tones – a perfect duo to have on a freezing cold December night.

Ade also went down the Josper route, it’s so hard not to when you know the meat is from such a good supplier. The Rump of black-faced hogget £24 caught his eye as he’d never tried hogget before, nor heard of it. It took a quick Google to find out it was not quite a lamb and not mutton either, more of a toddler (he checked the menu at work pre-visit). It came served with truffled potato dauphinoise, grilled broccoli, mint chutney and red wine sauce. The meat was cooked pink in the middle with that crust that you can only get from a Josper grill.

By now the huge Christmas group had arrived, all 30 of them sat around a massive dining table making a right old noise, at least they were having a good time but I couldn’t help but think they’ll probably be too drunk and distracted to appreciate what’s on their plate.

When it came to dessert there was only one choice for me – Langley’s gin and orange semifreddo orange and crushed meringues £5. Although a bit of a weird follow-up to my cosy main course, this was so cold it jolted my teeth, but it was refreshing, light and unusual, which can be hard to find on dessert menus. 

Sticking with the fruity theme, Ade went for the Warm almond and Amarena cherry cake £5, served with a dash (not enough) of pistachio creme Anglaise. It’s almost like these desserts were made for us, we get stupidly excited when this happens as we’ve had enough ‘generic’ chocolate brownies to last a lifetime (that said there’s one on the menu here too).

With slightly swollen but happy bellies, we left the warmth of The Jones Family Project behind, wishing it well for the future. It’s actually been around for a whole year, but we’d never heard of it. People need to hear of it, because what they’re offering is really great food with high quality ingredients, and oh those cocktails…

I'm going to try and not be really spiteful in my review for this restaurant, simply because my JFP experience was in fact a date, and although the company for the evening sort of prevents me from reminiscing positively about the meal, it's not the JFP project that said date is now back with his ex.

The food is pretty pricey, but really flavoursome at the same time - had I not been on a first date, I probably would have licked the plate clean, and to be honest because I didn't pay, I like to think of the cost of the meal as karma.

The date's burger looked absolutely delicious - although he removed the tomato and lettuce which should have probably sirenned alarm bells straight away. 

Definitely would recommend if you're in the area, but take a friend or a sibling instead!

Good food at a good price

Had a decent meal here where the overall quality matches the price. Not to say it was bad, but rather it's not overpriced like most of the other restaurant I tried. This is a great place when you're tired and just want to eat.

4 points for ambiance....it's pretty stylish. I enjoyed my  fish fingers on glazed demi brioche bun and Pork Milanese accompanied by a lot of sides.

Go here on a romantic date the place looks nice and price if fine. You can even go here when you're hungry after touring or working all day.

You can even get a reasonably priced bottle of wine that will make your meal sweeter.

Jones Family Project is a new opening that resides directly opposite The Hoxton Hotel in the heart of Shoreditch and I was lucky enough to grab a booking for their first night's service. We stepped through the door to a warm welcome and were quickly shown to our seats. The first thing you notice on entering is that this place is so much bigger than you originally thought. At street level JFP offers a laid back bar area, that with a flick of a few cleverly designed cabinets can be transformed from a brunch and lunch spot, into a fully stocked bar ready for a night on the tiles! They even have a little office space for one for those of you that are lucky enough to set up shop wherever you choose that day. You can then treat yourself to a range of great tasting dishes for lunch but if you want to sample their À La Carte menu, the serious stuff happens in the basement. The restaurant below is huge! I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. Complete with a great looking bar, private booths and an open kitchen, you could tell a lot of effort had gone into creating the space.

First things first, we headed for the drinks menu. With it being a Tuesday evening we felt we should probably steer clear of the cocktails but noted that the list was plentiful and had some unique twists, such as the Lavender Mojito and the Stout Daiquiri, that we will definitely be indulging in on our next visit. JFP boasts a self titled Jones Family Lager, so we decided to order a pint each, to see how it stacked up to the usual stuff. I'm normally a cider man but I don't mind a well crafted beer and this definitely fell into that category. It was smooth and light and went down extremely easy.

We turned our heads to the menu and boy was there some hard decisions to be made! The starters alone had me stumped with options such as the House-Cured Brandy Salmon, Duck Liver & Brandy Parfait or even the Jones' Charcuterie Board. I went with an intriguing little dish though that caught my eye as I love all the ingredients individually but was keen to see how this combination would work. Needless to say the Baked Medjool Dates Stuffed With Chorizo & Wrapped in Bacon with a White bean & Tomato Sauce was absolutely spot on! My only regret was that there wasn't more of them! The chorizo offered so much flavour but the sweetness of the dates was the perfect pairing for me and my sweet tooth. The bacon sealed it for me, creating what felt like a sweet version of everybody's Christmas favourites, Pigs In Blankets.

My dining companion opted for the Red Curry Spiced Crispy Squid with Asian herbs, Salsa Verde & House-Made Lime Mayonnaise, which was met with equally as much satisfaction.

Main course decisions didn't get any easier than the starters. I was torn between the Pork Chop with Savoy Cabbage, Chorizo & Kentish Apple Sauce and the Venison Haunch Steak. Opting for the latter and pairing it with a side of Truffled Potato Dauphinoise, it was immediately obvious that I was on fire with the decision making this evening. The Venison was tender and served pink on a bed of Parsnip Purée with Parsnip Crisps on top and lashings of the most incredible Red Wine & Pomegranate Sauce. It really was an exquisite dish that I didn't want to come to an end.

Stu's Sirloin Steak was served medium rare with a delicious charred crust created by their ingenious barbecue oven. Not one for smothering his steak in sauce, Stuart took the chef's advice and topped it with shavings of Belper Knolle, a wonderful Swiss matured hard cheese flavoured with fine black pepper, Himalayan salt and a hint of garlic. He added a side of thick cut chips and like me, was blown away with the flavour.

Now the pudding round was the one thing I thought I had my mind made up on before entering JFP for the evening. However, after tweeting my plans for the evening, I was soon back to square one when Andrew of the @MotelySpicer proclaimed that I just had to try Anna's Triple Chocolate Brownie. Now my heart had been set on the Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse, so we ordered both and decided to share.

Anna was our host for the evening and is one of the founders of JFP and it is actually her own recipe used to create the brownies with a slight tweak made by the head chef. Andrew was spot on though, the Brownie had followed in the footsteps of the two courses before and offered up delicious and indulgent flavour pairings with Vanilla Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce to accompany it.

However, I am also glad I stuck to my guns and ordered the Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse. It looked incredible when it arrived with Crushed Chocolate Cookies, Shards Of Honeycomb, Raspberry Syrup & Fresh Raspberries to finish. This was extremely rich, which is exactly what I look for in a chocolate dessert. Each ingredient brought a different texture and flavour to the dish and combined to make one cracking pud!

The food was faultless and delivered so much flavour, which is why it has cemented itself as one of my favourites on the East side of town. The prices were definitely a little high for a standard meal, when I return it will be more for a special occasion but believe me when I say that the food definitely lives up to the pice tag. I am still thinking about those stuffed dates even now! If you are a lover of fine food then you need to head to The Jones Family Project soon as this is one new opening that is not to be missed!

Enjoy!

We The Food Snobs x

Excellent service and food. Definitely recommend the sourdough bread for a starter. Staff were friendly, attentive and provided cards for the birthday people. If I returned I would have the steak as that looked amazing. It is expensive but you receive very high quality food.

My favourite secret place for a Sunday Roast in London. Perfectly cooked beef in the Josper grill with all the trimmings including vegetables and a delicious Yorkshire pudding. All the meat is supplied by the Ginger Pig butchers and the beef is from rare breed Longhorn cattle raised in Yorkshire and dry aged for a minimum of 28 days. Fantastic value at £9.95 for one course, £14.50 for two or £17.50 for three. You can also get different cuts of beef, lamb, chicken or a slow cooked oxtail burger cooked in the Josper charcoal oven. Restaurant is downstairs but you can also eat in the bar on the ground floor where they also have pop ups and great cocktails.

Tender chateaubriand steak. A bit undercooked (Ordered Medium-rare but it was actually more like rare) but still delicious! Twice cooked chips and English salads on sides are the perfect match with steak. Starters were not as good as steak. Smoked mackerel (starter) was juicy, soft but a bit too salty. Steak tartare had some Asian chilli sauce in, which was quite weird. Very stylish, good atmosphere for couples or friends.

Lovely evening! The minute we arrived we know it would be a Fun evening. Like most place in the area the decor is young and fun. Here no different. There is a bar upstairs and lovely seating areas downstairs. The booth we were seated was very comfy and cosy. Our waiting staff was very friendly and knowledgeable! Attentive at all times and full of good suggestions from cocktails, wine and the food! The star here is STEAK... Each one of ours were cooked to perfection and very tasty. The starters and desert menu is quite different which made the experience very interesting. We loved all the pairing suggestion with our deserts! Great evening at a reasonable price!

Was really impressed with this place. On entering we were taken downstairs which has a more moody/romantic vibe. The service was very attentive and the food was really delicious - the chicken mains being a highlight. Would definitely come back!

We had a very nice meal here. The atmosphere is lovely, and the Gin Mare cocktail is a bit different and delicious. The steak was very well cooked as were the chips and potatoes

This was a very unexpected discovery and one that will definitely keep happening. Had a small issue with a website booking at another restaurant and the owner got us a table at Jones'. Well, I have to say I was delighted with it! First of all the staff is absolutely lovely. The venue is nice, decor is beautiful and carefully chosen. The food ia delish! I had the truffle tartar (maybe a bit too spicy for me but I'm sensitive since I've been quitting spice hah) and the absolute best brownie ever. Others in my party had steaks and fish dishes that looked amazing. As I said: deffo going back!

Great steakhouse with super friendly and professional service. Steak well done, the croquettes are an outstanding side.

I have visited the place accompanied with my better half on Friday's evening. No reservation was needed, staff was super nice and friendly, and the dinner, the dinner was amazing. I did go for a burger, what a treat.