Joyce

It's been quite a handful of weeks in terms of dining outside of Pasadena.  I sort of feel like I need a good spell of dining again at local favourites to make up for it!  San Laurel, Otium, Verse, Ladyhawk, and more.  Now let's add Joyce to the list.

This past Monday night was supposed to be an opportunity for us to get together with Denny.  We'd already postponed twice, and when it turned out that Tuesday was going to be an early morning heading to the airport, it looked like another postponement.  Instead, I invited Denny to join me alone in DTLA (not exactly midway between him in WeHo and me here in Pasadena, but equally a nuisance for each of us to get to) and found a promising-looking place on OpenTable:  Joyce Soul and Sea.

First off, it was great to see Denny again.  It's been too long.  We message fairly regularly, but it just goes to show that even though we live in the same metro area, it's not always easy to align schedules and make it to the same parts of the metro without hassle.  It was the same for us with some friends back in Chicago, so I'm used to it, but I regret it.  Ah well.  We made it to dinner, taking seats at the bar/kitchen counter.

I liked Joyce.  I would go back.  I would not take Conrad.  The music was loud, the room was loud, and even leaning in to listen to Denny, I still had some difficulties.  But I would take Van.  Or meet Denny or another friend there.

Drinks?  Great!  Nice bar there,

some good options.  I started with the Florida Highwaymen (a whiskey sour, essentially, and tasty),

then tried the Mother of Pearl Martini (fine, I still insist that a martini should be gin),

then closed with a Hanky Panky (bartender's suggestion, a good after dinner closer). 

Denny had three other cocktails of his own, and all of them hit the spot for him.  No wine for us - I didn't know the ones on the list, and cocktails were more my mood.

Desserts?  Awesome!  We ordered the beignets,

but the server punched in the blueberry cobbler. 

So we were gifted a dessert while they fixed that mix-up, and the server charged us only for the cobbler, the lower price.  I think I liked the beignets slightly more, but I'd happily have that cobbler again.

Oysters? 

Superb!  Very fresh, not too briny.  Neither Denny nor I added any lemon or hot sauces - purists, I guess.  Loved them!

The other items?  Fine!  I liked the pork belly most,

which is funny because I often avoid that on menus.  It's a fatty cut, and if not cooked well, it can be too much fat, too rich.  The few cubes we had were nicely cooked, meaty, but also well balanced with the glaze and the fresh herb.  I liked the duck confit,

but the jerk flavour was a little odd to me.  Not bad, and no unexpected, but something that I didn't immediately love.  The macaroni and cheese

was curiously not cheesy enough for what I was hoping.  I liked it, I ate my share, but I wanted it to be cheesier and saucier.

Service was friendly.  It was easy to get there - a short walk from the 7st St./Metro Center station on the A line.  That makes it a little more likely I'll return.  And for sure, I will get those oysters again!