i am never against the idea of discovering a hip new supper club. so when urbanspoon named joverse on their top new restaurants in canada 2013 list, i was excited to give them a try! located in old montreal, you’ll know that you’ve found the place when you see the giant golden rooster on the side of the building. they certainly do have a hip and exciting aesthetic. the entrance to the restaurant is located down an alley which helps to keep things even more mysterious. once inside we were met with a coat check followed by a very chic room, complete with gleaming polished woods, exposed brick, and funky art pieces. there’s a large bar in the center of the room, perfect for the later hours when the place transforms into it’s nighttime alter-ego. they describe themselves as a restaurant with european soul,montrealheart, and an nyc-inspired setting. i agree that the atmosphere does feel quite “big city,” but i’m unsure of how well they execute on all of these points. on top of that, the food is supposed to be latin-californian. for some reason. suffice to say, they seem to tote a bunch of different identities which makes things a bit confusing.
the servers were friendly and nice, and we were seated in a cute little booth which invited an intimate dining experience. starting with cocktails! they claim that their cocktails are invented by star mixologists, so they’ve gotta be good. i almost got one called a bridal shower, but in the end i stuck to something a little bit more typical of myself and chose the julius caesar (tanqueray 10, lime, jalapeno sauce, olive juice, worcestershire, horseradish, walters - $15.00) since their version sounded quite good. i liked the way that the horseradish flavour came through and i enjoyed the olive and pickled green bean garnish. otherwise, it seemed like a fairly standard and not especially remarkable version of a caesar. at the $15 price point, you would think that the “star mixologists” could have come up with something really unique and innovative.
we were warned by our server that the food is served tapas-style and that we would need to order 2-3 dishes per person. the menu features an array of items, ranging from tacos to philly cheese to korean wings to ramen. again, slightly confusing. i liked their idea of offering “the whole damn menu!” for $198, which is a great idea if you’re with a larger group. 3 oysters and a glass of cava for $15 also sounds like my kind of night. we decided to try to stay a bit more on the latin-californian side of their menu, since that’s what they’re supposed to be known for. i noticed the oyster shucking station immediately upon entering the restaurant and i enjoyed that their setup is right in the middle of the action, for all to see. oysters it is! (champagne vinegar & jalapeno mignonette - 6 for $19). our oysters arrived quickly, six plump beausoleils from miramichi bay in new brunswick. these are some of my favourites because of their briny flavour, which i like. this was my favourite part of the whole meal. the mignonette was really vinegary and nice, the oysters were shucked properly, and they really took care of themselves in deliciousness.
next to arrive was the esquites guacamole (cayenne & lime corn, pico de gallo, micro coriander, cotija fresco cheese, homemade tortilla chips - $14.00). i really love homemade tortilla chips, so i was happy to see those. they were crisp and fried perfectly. i also love avocado, so a pile of guacamole is never a bad thing. i liked all of the bright and fresh vegetables but the guacamole seemed to be missing something. there could have been something extra going on with the slightly bland flavour. and what was with that glass of sauce? this wasn’t mentioned in the description. were we supposed to pour this over top? or dip into it? it was almost like a sweet and strange bbq sauce which didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose on this plate.
finally, we ordered tacos as our main event. they had two types available on the menu, so we ordered both. beer batter shrimp tacos (serrano salsa, napa cabbage, pico de gallo, chipolte mayo, corn flour tortilla - $14.00) and spicy brisket tacos (24h smoked bbq brisket, habanero bbq sauce, napa cabbage, micro coriander, corn flour tortilla - $15.00). when they say "tacos," they mean that they will be giving you two. of the two, i thought that the shrimp was better. i liked the batter on the shrimp and i thought that they were cooked well. the chipotle mayo added a great smoky-spiciness which i thought worked really well.
on the other hand, i found the brisket dry and disappointing. the tiny bits of chopped brisket barely maintained any of its unique flavour at all and was over-spiced. the sauce might have been the same as what came with the guacamole?
overall, these tacos were nothing special. i have had far, far better.
lastly, we ordered the churros (spiced chocolate dip - $6.00) for dessert. spiced chocolate dip? it was plain nutella. the server even called it nutella when he brought it to us. the churros were fine. they were warm and fried well, and coated nicely in cinnamon and powdered sugar.
this place was way too expensive for the food that we had. there is no way whatsoever that we got over $100 in quality and value in the items that we ate, and we could surely have had a far grander meal for the same price elsewhere. the food wasn’t all that interesting, and while the space is nice, i find that their vision is a bit confused.