Joule

By Stephanie

I was stumped. Something about Joule's menu just confounds me. 

We ate here last summer on a Sunday - expecting their "urban bbq" but hitting it on fried chicken night - sort of a pre fixe version of their food. We liked it anyway and vowed to return. For a change, we made reservations. Having been turned away a few times, we did not risk it. The house was just about full once again. It's a loud space acoustically, though visually soothing. The pedestrian parade on 45th at times quite distracting.

Back to the food. The menu is made up of categories called Tossed, Simmered, Crisped, Sparked, and Pickled. Very ala carte. And while we took our time selecting what to order, I had a bad feeling we might have not ordered a well composed meal. The server wasn't exactly forthcoming on how to best order for two. As is often the case, the non-entree dishes sounded more interesting, so we ordered heavily from the Crisped category. 

Started with a bowl of parsnip bisque - thoughtfully split into two bowls, each enough for such a rich soup subtle in flavor, with strands of black trumpet mushrooms and cabbagey leaves, perhaps brussels sprouts. A touch more salt brought out the sweetness of the root. On the heels of the soup delivery, arrived a pair of shrimp edamame dumplings - beautifully pan fried and plumped, served with a soy dipping sauce. Inside tender skins, the bright green beans contrasted with flavorful shrimp and bits of pickled red onion. Fresh cilantro added its musky complement.

Next up, the rest of the order arrive to crowd the small table: a crisp edged kimchi pancake with slices of pork belly on top, 3 large prawns served head and tail on with a little pile of bacon brussels sprout hash, a cute casserole of creamed swiss chard, and lasagna rich with a mild blue cheese and shitake mushrooms. Everything was very good, nothing else required additional salt, but after we licked the platters the clean, I still felt like there would have been a better way to compose the meal. We had 3 very rich and creamy items and 3 cream free. We did not order bread or rice, pickles or salad. Next time, I will try harder to balance the textures and flavors to hit the sweet, salty, sour, and bitter as well as crispy, creamy, chewy, and crunchy. There will be a next time; this menu has too many interesting things we've not seen elsewhere.

(Mmm, bacon and eggs)