Bernard M.'s Profile

Hmm... obviously many people here received poor service that colored their view on Joya.  I guess I've been lucky and didn't encounter bad service.  Been here three times, ordered a crapload and loved it.  Also my reviews rarely incorporate service unless it's really ass-bad nor price is a factor whether really cheap or expensive.

I didn't try their sangria, but curious after some bad reviews. And from those that didn't grow up eating squid, the legs are tasty as the body.

"They gave too many legs and not enough meat." Huh? Legs are meat. Obviously that person has only been to Americanized places that don't serve those icky legs! :)

My thoughts on the food...

First, the paella clasica was good.  The rice was al dente and I prefer fully cooked, fluffy rice but all good.  The seafood was fresh but the chicken made us work too hard to eat.  The rice had too much cayenne pepper for my wife's taste, but it was good enough for me. Probably for many people it will be too spicy, so a heads up.

Second, the cuban sandwich from their lunch menu you can pass.  They put too much mustard on it and no pickle. What's a cuban sandwich without a pickle?  In NYC, they would break your finger if you didn't give a pickle in the cuban.

A rundown on the others...

Kobe beef mini-burger: Tasty. Must try. The slice of chorizo blends well with the oaxaca cheese and the beef.

Braised short rib tacos: Okay, but something was missing from the short ribs.  It needed something else to bring out the flavor.

Steam mussels with chorizo: This was good, but not great. Also I wish they gave more.  When you order steam mussels, you expect a bucket of mussels or at least a good size bowl, right?

Valderon & queso fresco stuffed piquillo pepper: This was really tasty. The cheese paired with the pepper was a great combo.

Croquetas:  If you're a potato person, you'll like this dish.  It was okay for me, but my wife liked their croquetas a lot.

Warmed herbed goat cheese:  Nice starter simple starter to your meal, especially for you carb lovers.

Ahi Tuna Tartare:  Their tuna was fresh.  Really fresh.  I liked this dish, but wish they added a bit more lemon to accent the taste.

Chilaquiles of rioja braised duck: This was a Cinco de Mayo special and we liked this dish a lot.  It was excellent.

Their parsnip soup with smoked maple syrup and bacon is good.  I loved the flavor combo here. Their popcorn bisque was pretty good too.

Seasons' sides are solid.  Mushrooms, creamed corn and jumbo asparagus.

Where they lose points are the mains.  I've only tried their meats because randomly each time I come here I'm in a steak mood, but I really never learn my lesson about San Francisco steak.  Rarely aged and rarely tasty.

"Snake River Farm American Kobe Flat Iron" sounds like this should be a tasty steak, right? Flat iron cuts are the second most tender cut, so you can't go wrong here, right? Wrong. A decent steak but it does not match the decor of this restaurant.

"Corn-Fed Nebraska Porterhouse" makes you think this will be a hearty, juicy steak, right? Wrong.  This tasted like something from your local grocer and broiled in the oven.  Grilled steak? Maybe but it just wasn't like the steaks back home in Chicago.

I think I have to try the fish or chicken dishes here.

This place is solid.  Their signature butter chicken (great marketing. you can't go wrong with this name but if you mess it up...) was tasty.  I mean TASTY.

For appetizers, try their duck tinka kebab.  It's tender and full of flavor. Chicken tikka and most of their lamb dishes are great.  Only dish I tried that was mediocre was their sea bass moilee.  Definitely recommend trying Amber India at least once.

Moto was a bit disappointing.  The creativity of their dishes was excellent and the service.  The actual food was 'eh'. Nothing was tasty or really good.  It was just 'blah' or okay. For example, their crabcake was very plain, and the pork wasn't tender but tough.  Seriously, how can a top notch restaurant not get these things right?

Excellent food.  We've never been here for brunch, but dinner is solid.  The first time was decent to good food, and the most recent visit was good to great food.

If you like mussels, get these steamed babies because they are tasty!  Love the spicy sausages and smoked tomatoes mixed into the saffron broth with the mussels.  Great combination of flavors.

Their BBQ shrimp is delicious, gumbo is great, and their beef short ribs is good but combined with the horseradish rice croquette makes it better.

I love their sides.  Probably a foofoo NoCal person (not saying all are foofoo) won't like these, but if you're from the hearty Midwest or dirty South get the buttermilk mashed potatoes, spicy collard greens or red beans, rice & cheese. Yes, the red beans, rice and cheese is tasty!

Typically SF steakhouse.  Lame.  When your biggest New York Strip is 13 oz, you're considered a burger joint in Chicago not a steakhouse.  This is a burger joint.

Superb experience.  My wife and I enjoyed L'Atelier from the beginning to the end.  The small dishes were excellent and the main courses, such as the  quail stuffed with foie gras, were tasty.  Definitely will be visiting again.

It's Vegas, so I didn't care about the price so much.  This rating is purely about the food... well, I think all my reviews are.  The sushi was mediocre.  The rice was too moist for sushi rice... all 16 pieces I ate.    The fish and cuts weren't good either.  Strike one.

The salad dressing was a soy sauce-based dressing that was too salty... and I'm an Asian American that even loves soy sauce poured directly on my rice. Strike two.

Their sukiyaki was lame.  The base sauce was too salty again and their beef was either chunks of flank steak or a tough tenderloin.  Cheap beef cuts when sukiyaki is traditionally thinly sliced beef (preferably sirloin) is strike three.

One saving grace was their teriyaki sea bass, which was good but not great.  But this was not enough, so I'm not going back here.

Their meats are ok to good, but nothing was really exceptional.  Their salad/side bar was good.  Probably the best churrascaria place in the peninsula, but mediocre compared to other places in the U.S. But I would still eat here every week if my wife let me :)

The first time we came here we ordered four dishes.   Three were okay and one was pretty tasty.  The second time we went we ordered three dishes (my wife has been ordering me to cut down on my food intake:) and all three were so-so.

The food is okay if you're hungry, but there are better choices if you really want good Chinese food.