Joy on Sussex

Had a great time at Joy tonight! We made a reservation easily on open table and we were seated very promptly with quick and attentive service. We ordered a few appetizers to start. The marinated olives were amazing served warm. Great bowl of black and green pitless olives with bread. The truffle fries were just alright - a little cold but had great flavor. We each ordered a different main. They were all good but just a tad salty - but that’s fine, we ordered lots of wine and the servers brought us water. I personally had the tenderloin and it was cooked medium rare and came with potatoes and asparagus. The other dishes - salmon, duck, and mussels - were presented very beautifully as well. The ambiance was nice overall.

My boyfriend and I went there for high tea. The service was excellent! 1) About the tea: They have the TWG tea, with I found out to be a fancy, delicious and expensive tea. I had the milk oolong tea, which seems to be milk: it smells like milk and it's creamy like milk, but it is not milk. It is amazing the way it is, no need to put honey or sugar. My boyfriend had the white sky tea, which is more fruity and flavorful. Honey goes very well with it! 2) About the snacks: They have 3 plates, as you can see in the photos. The first one consists of 3 savory snacks, the second of one small scone and the third of some pieces of cheesecakes. The savory ones they served some different than the menu, but that was ok because everything was delicious. The scone is good, but it is too small for the amount of clotted cream and jam that they serve. They should serve at least 2 scones. The cheesecakes were good. 3) Things to be improved: For the price, they should serve maybe one more savory sandwich and at least one more scone. Overall, all the high tea experience worths it! Everything was delicious and the place is very beautiful. It is a wonderful way of spending an afternoon with a good friend.

Very friendly stuff! Great atmosphere and interior, but being Russian and going to a place called "Moscow tea room" I expected to find on the menu at least variety of teas and Russian/European desserts. Entres hopefully too. Was big time disappointed when I found that somewhat Russian on the menu only crepes and 17 names of vodka (cheers to stereotypes!). Maybe I expected too much from this place, however calling the place Moscow Tea Room and not serving anything that brings you to that Moscow makes as much sense as calling a steakhouse Punjab Sweet House.

Never happened to me something like this before... By the name you might think it has something to do with Russia and Russian food... Not at all... Menu more look like sushi bar... We were waiting for a food for 1 hour.... Orange juice i was waiting 20 min ( not joking) ... Food was just ok...

As others have noted in their reviews, this place seems to be confused about its identity. Other than the name and a couple of Russian-themes menu items, there’s is nothing Russian about this place. It felt more a classical New York City restaurant, with Frank Sinatra music playing. The salmon blini were good, but should have been an appetizer. The 10 bite sized cold pancakes felt like an odd dinner item. While the 6 perogies, would have worked better as a bigger dinner plate. The Moscow meatballs were nothing like Russian meatballs, though they were good meatballs. They also had no tea, for a tea room, that’s shocking.

Service was slow, oysters weren't cut from the shell, and the pork belly on the pierogies Aleksandr was all fat. My companion says his linguine was good and thinks I'm chintzy with the stars and should have given 3. Decor in main areas is lovely. Washrooms need Bryan Bauemler from Disaster DIY - paper flower art on the ladies' room wall looks like a 12 year old's art project; calcium stalactites on the ceiling, and all sorts of construction no-no's that wouldn't get Bryan's approval.

Beautiful setting to enjoy quality tea served in a fancy tea service! Also have excellent cocktails and fabulous art! This place is a must see when visiting downtown Ottawa!

This place came so highly rated I wanted to try it. So disappointing. I had the duck with a blueberry risotto and a cranberry au jus. The duck was cooked well but the risotto was a disaster swimming in oil not an au jus.. tried two bites ..was inedible. My partner had the tenderloin, again beef cooked well but overcooked asparagus, and the potato dauphinoise was grainy. On the positive side the drinks were excellent and the service was very good, but their entrees were lacking.

Had a great time at Joy tonight! We made a reservation easily on open table and we were seated very promptly with quick and attentive service. We ordered a few appetizers to start. The marinated olives were amazing served warm. Great bowl of black and green pitless olives with bread. The truffle fries were just alright - a little cold but had great flavor. We each ordered a different main. They were all good but just a tad salty - but that's fine, we ordered lots of wine and the servers brought us water. I personally had the tenderloin and it was cooked medium rare and came with potatoes and asparagus. The other dishes - salmon, duck, and mussels - were presented very beautifully as well. The ambiance was nice overall.

The environment was nice. But the food was bland and expensive. Options were limited. Some gusts received their food so late that others in the group were done eating. The duck was impossible to chew. The risotto was more like porridge. We ordered three items for the table to start and two out of the three were wrong.