J & J Lux Travel
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The interior is chic with dark wood and Art Deco stylings and wallpaper to match the vibe. The decor throughout has a very dark, old world vibe while maintaining its upscale feel. As you enter the bar to the left, and interestingly, there’s very little dress code (if any) to be in that area. The main dining room does not allow hats, sleeveless shirts, or flip-flops. I found this interesting considering there were casual buttondowns in the bar as well as flip-flops when you entered. But nonetheless, they do enforce the dress code in the main dining room…albeit only separated by a decorative wall you can see right through with the restrooms positioned at the back of the dining room.
Our waitress reviewed the menu with us so that we understood their recommendation which is to have one of the meat plates along with a pasta dish or perhaps pick one of those two to share.
To start, we decided to have meatballs, a loaf of focaccia, and the burrata. It’s worth noting that this menu changes each month slightly so a particular plating may not be available the next month. This month it was a pistachio butter along with the burrata which was absolutely delicious. We also had meatballs, while they were tasty there was nothing too special about them and the plating was very basic compared to most of the other dishes.
For a main course, I chose to have cacio y pepe or as I refer to it cacio no pepe. While the dish was quite tasty I don’t believe there was much, if any, pepper in the dish. Our table also decided to get the sausage and peppers as well as the chicken parmesan. The plating on the chicken parmesan was absolutely beautiful, the flavor and taste was quite ordinary. A very thin pounded chicken cutlet compared to the significant amount of cheese and sauce. The sausage and peppers were very tasty. It was served over a creamy polenta which was maybe the best thing of the night.
At this point, we were truly enjoying the food. However, we got to a point where our waitress had not been back, we had no water and our cocktails were totally empty. It took a few minutes before I could even flag someone down and I pointed out that we had no drinks whatsoever on the table. Then upon reordering a round, I learned they had run out of the juice or mixer required to make the cocktail I had earlier, so unfortunately I had to change drinks at that point. This was all a bit frustrating, but I will say that after that the waitress was more attentive and we hadn’t made a big complaint it was a simple request.
After this, we decided to go for dessert. Their display is very cute and I won’t ruin it, but perhaps rather than prepping the dessert menu the way they do their service could be a bit more consistent.
For dessert, we opted for tiramisu which I’ve had before. It never lets down and is absolutely delicious. It’s definitely worthwhile.
Overall, the food is quite tasty. From a service perspective, you’ll have a generally good experience here. You have a mix of families as well as couples and gatherings of friends. Most people are dressed for a night out downtown, while some of the families are a bit more relaxed if they have their college or teenage kids with them.
And one last thing to add, but we did not order it. There is always a special cheese wheel item. They make it at the table and it’s a unique experience that many tables take advantage of. Essentially, they toss the pasta with the cheese in the cheese wheel in front of you. Perhaps you’ll try it on your next venture there!
Strong 3 of 5 star recommendation overall. Give it a go!
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