Ottawa Foodies

Delicious and lovely. The food is delicious and the service is so friendly and convivial.

This review is a little late, sorry!

Tried restaurant joy for the first time on November 23 and it was nothing short of DELICIOUS.

Based on what I had read on this site, BF and I ordered the Joy Family Dinner for Two and were thrilled with the food and service.

The dinner consisted of the house salad which has an orange and ginger dressing. The owner very nicely explained to us that he learned how to make the dressing in Florida where oranges are, of course, abundant and so he is now subject to the fluctuating prices of oranges in Ottawa because he swears if you skimp on the freah orange, it won't taste right. Anyway, it was delicious.

The salas was followed by a pot of hot soup filled with vegetables and tofu - again, very good.

The next course was the shrimp and veggie tempure. BF and I both agreed that it was the best tempura we had ever had. It arrived at our table piping hot (despite the restaurant being packed) and BF could not get over how "plump and juicy" the shrimp were.

The sushi course came out next and we were baffled by the amount of sushi! Please correct my terminology if I am mistaken here: There were six pieces of sashimi, a delicious california "crunch" roll, as well as a another roll (avocado and veggie, I believe), and additional fish sans rice.

By the time the beef bulgogi arrived at our table, we had no idea how we would finish it! Still, it was delicious and sizzling so it wasn't too difficult. The kimchi they serve was very good as well - nice and spicy.

To end the evening we had banana fritters and ginger ice cream and it was a perfect dessert to share.

Service was consistent all evening with our water glasses barely ever making it past 1/2 way full. The owner is very friendly and lots of fun to chat with.

Well, after reading the other reviews of this restaurant, my girlfriend and I decided to try them for lunch today. Suffice it to say, this has now become our favourite Japanese restaurant.

As we are both vegetarians, we found the choice of vegetarian option on the menu to be a bit more well-rounded than other Japanese restaurants in the city. We each opted for the lunch special, in which you pick one of eight options from section A, and one of eight options from section B. We each went for the Vegetable Tempura, while my girlfriend chose the Vegetable Rolls (sushi) and I chose the Avocado Rolls (sushi).

First, let me say that the Tempura was possibly the best I have ever eaten — very light and fresh. It made me think that they must use fresh oil for each order, as the batter was an incredibly light, golden colour, devoid of the heavy, oily taste of most deep-fried foods. The vegetables themselves were cooked perfectly.

Second, the Sushi was as good as I have come to expect (we each shared half of each other's rolls) save for a minor hitch with the visual aesthetics (a couple of the rolls came a bit undone), which did nothing to negatively affect the taste.

Even the small salad that accompanied the meal was light, fresh, and delicious. Typically, I might pick at such greens. In this case, my plate was clean when I finished.

All of this had been preceded by a most delicious bowl of soup, and all for only $10.99 each. I generally have a healthy appetite and I can honestly say that this meal will not leave you hungry.

The service was also especially good. It was lunch time and the restaurant was at full capacity. The entire place was being served by a single foodserver who, despite how busy it was, did an amazing job of serving everyone I could see in a very timely fashion. All of our dishes were served with perfect timing — each arriving immediately after we had finished the previous course. She was attentive and friendly without looking hurried or making us feel rushed.

I "highly" recommend this restaurant and can confidently say that we will be returning here — frequently!

This restaurant is quickly becoming one of our favourites! After trying in vain to park in the Byward Market (even the parkades were full), we escaped to Somerset and were very pleased to squeeze in to "Joy" without a reservation.

Service was excellent -- discreet and attentive at the same time. Food arrived with incredible timing; we were able to set our own pace for eating, yet we never had long to wait for the next course.

We ordered the "Joy Family Dinner (for 2 persons)" for $49. The official description was "Salad, Veg & Shrimp Tempura, 4pcs Cali Roll, 4pcs Crunch Roll, 4pcs Sashimi, 6pcs Sushi, Bulgogi (beef, chicken, or pork), Kimchi, Yudofu Soup, and Rice."

It turned out to be a wondrous feast for the senses, and overall portions were extremely generous. The high point for us was the Tempura -- certainly the tastiest shrimp tempura we've had. I'm already looking forward to our next visit!

Oh, and to continue, it was my sister's birthday after all, so I asked for a fried banana for her as a dessert. They brought out a fried banana, green tea ice cream, a candle propped up in a cucumber and a sparkler, all to a "happy birthday" soundtrack! I was so surprised, I hadn't even asked for them to do this! My sister loved the entire evening, and the bill came to around 130 with tip for all four of us!

As an aside, the service was fantastic. The place was full and we got food quickly and got our dishes one right after the other. I can't recommend this place highly enough!

Myself, my mother, my sister and my boyfriend all went to Restaurant Joy last night for my sister's birthday. Generally speaking, my mother and my boyfriend are the meat and potatoes sort of folk, while my sister and I tend to be more adventurous. Anyways, we started with the Gyoza, a Crab Delight Roll and Tori Katsu to share. The Gyoza were fried to perfection, the CD roll was spicy and perfectly bite sized, and the Tori Katsu was the best I've ever had. My sister ordered the Spicy BBQ Pork as a main, and loved it. Not too spicy and lots of food for the price. My boyfriend had the beef teriyaki and a sweet potatoe roll. He didn't like the beef, but he's really picky. He loved the roll though, it was great without the sweet potatoe being overpowering. My mom ordered the chicken and shrimp(gasp!) teriyaki, and she literally cleaned off the plate.

I do sympathize with you, and if it makes any difference I was there last week while a largish group was there, and they seemed to all get served at about the same time. With some of the smaller places, I sometimes find it good to pre-order some appetizers (before arriving) and ask that they be ready early. This can help the kitchen spread the load out, and you get some food in your belly. This is also why I don't like going out in groups larger than 4... (much as my co-workers loathe me for it)

As for you Tiana, it is not likely our paths will cross as I am almost strictly a lunchtime guy. Maybe I can convince the owner to open some patio seats in the summer-time.. that would certainly catch my attention.

I too really like the food at Joy. Unfortunately, I've been there twice with large groups (12+) and the staff just can't handle it. The last time was about a year and a half ago so I hope they've either learned how to deal with it or have refused to make reservations for large groups. It made a very bad impression for most people in our group both times and none of them have been back.

I don't know if it was low numbers of kitchen or server staff or both, but both times many people in our group were finished their main dishes 10-15 mintues before several other people in the group were served. Other tables of 2 and 4 next to us turned over 2 and 3 times while we waited.

I really hope they have resolved their issues as the food is fresh and delicious and it's an enjoyable place for an intimate mid-priced meal.

I probably never see you there because I go for dinner and you go for lunch! ;)

And yes, he is the owner and would love to explain every dish to you if only you would ask!

I love this place. I've been more than a dozen times and the food has always been tasty. The gentleman who I presume is the owner or manager is always very accomodating and friendly. He seems to recognize that I seem to bring a new friend(s) every time and thanks me. I feel like I'm eating with family (too bad I'm not asian...)

Like Tiana, who I'm surprised I haven't run into there, I'm a fan of the Chicken Katsu. I most often order off the lunch menu, and add on some tuna sashimi...mmmmm

The Husband always orders the Pork Bulgogi because it's the spiciest one. Then he asks for it "a little extra spicy" and they try to kill him with it.

He always loves it.

We opted for the beef bulgogi and enjoyed the tasty morsels of tender beef combined with an unusually generous amount of onions and broccoli, all on a sizzling plate. It doesn't quite have the charm of cook-at-your-table bulgogi, but it still tastes great! We each got a nice big bowl of rice to go with it but we had to share the little dish of kimchi.

The photo doesn't quite do this platter justice. It's part of the "Joy Family Dinner" for two and is quite huge! Four shrimp and a whole host of veggies, arranged in an impressive pyramid structure and served piping hot. The shrimp, onion ring, and zucchini were particularly amazing. Not all of the veggies came in pairs so we had to fight over a few of them. ;-)

We told the waitress that this was the best tempura we've had (and we've had plenty). She nodded and said she's tried other ones in the city and she agrees. Then she went on to tell us that there are restaurants in Japan that serve nothing but tempura, and they take incredible to another level!

I decided to try the vegetarian sushi combo. I think it's a recent addition to the menu but I could be wrong. It's chef's choice as far as the varieties. I got 3 kinds;

-avocado (front)
-cucumber and fried tofu (I think - back)
-green onion, carrot and daikon (again, I think - right)

I had already eaten a plate of edamame so I saved the fried tofu ones for lunch the next day (still awesome) to save room for fried bananas. I still exploded.

This was the generous sushi/sashimi platter that came with our meal deal. Good sushi, with nice trimmings. We were not disappointed!

Notice that, in addition to what the menu promised, there is an extra piece of nigiri sushi, a fried tofu potsticker thing, and a little pile of seaweed. It's the little things that make a difference!

Usually, when a meal deal comes with soup you get a tiny little bowl. Not so at Joy! They brought a nice big bowl of steaming tofu and veggie soup, from which we were served individual bowls. There was enough tasty soup that we were able to refill our bowls a few times. I love generous soup! :-)

I could probably eat 5 orders of edamame from Joy. They arrive at just the right temperature and they sprinkle the perfect amount of salt on them. I can never get enough.

They offer fried bananas with or without ice cream (green tea, red bean, ginger, vanilla, etc). They are hot, crunchy, and delicious!

Our friends both ordered the teriyaki. Dan (pictured) ordered shrimp and Susan (not pictured because it looks the same and she was too far from me) ordered chicken.

They both seemed to enjoy it