Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar

5 Reviews on “Joe’s Southern Kitchen and Bar”

• Maria

  Came here 2 nights ago with a group of friends to have dinner. The restaurant had a nice vibe the staff were friendly & polite.For starters I had the chicken & cheese balls and they were devine so soft.. I did also try the artichoke cheese dip and thst was amazing also for mains I had the chicken thigh burger with chips and that was lovely & good size chips. I also shared a watermelon & feta salad and that was lovely also. For desert I have the crunchie ice cream that was delicious. I would definitely go back again we stayed till close talking away it was a lovely night.

  June 11, 2016, 6:10 am

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• Food Diaries London

  Two minutes from Kentish Town station is the new branch of Joes Southern Kitchen & Bar. Having walked past its Covent Garden branch, I always made a mental note to visit it. But as the London food scene keeps on expanding, so does my list of restaurants/cafes/popups to visit!To celebrate the opening of Joes in Kentish Town and to showcase Executive Chef Trevor Tobin (Steam & Rye, The Big Easy and Goodman) and his teams culinary finesse in the kitchen, we were invited down for the press night. Whilst we had a large corner table, the place was quite busy for 6:30PM in the evening as it was also open to the general public. Hence, you can tell whether the restaurant is genuinely popular or notOnce we sat down, we were presented with our own individual menus. My oh my! one look at the menu and I was already salivating. Kentish Town has its own specialty dish i.e. Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken with Lemon Salt & Tabasco Honey so all the more reason to visit this particular branch. Both branches have their own specialities which is a great way to ensure diners are inclined to try food from both.So while I sipped on my The Lychee drink (you can ask for non-alcoholic versions), very quickly the food started making its way to the table and all conversations came to a halt!Lo and behold, all you lovers of Mac n Cheese, this version was ridiculously gooey and lush!I was having the ultimate comfort food party and wished Id brought my Joey pants for this dinner. Next one was the Gooey Corn Spoon Bread and as the name suggests, it really was gooey. The only thing though, it didnt have much of a bread texture which I didnt really mind. It was cheesy and melting in my mouth, just how I like it!Gooey Corn Spoon Bread, Joes Kentish TownI havent come across many menus that do Devilled Eggs and Joes has come up with their individual take on the Devilled Eggs that comes with Chicken Skin Mayonnaise and Bacon Crumbs (you can ask if they will do a version without bacon and they will be happy to oblige)One of my favourite dishes was thewait for it DEEP FRIED SHORT RIB MEAT LOAF! Although the presentation was a simple stack of ingredients, it was extremely well executed and when you go, definitely order this dish! The flavours and textures work really well together.The pice de rsistance was of course Joes Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken with Lemon Salt & Tabasco Honey. These werent some measly pieces of some baby chicken. It seemed like Chef Trevor had gone and found the biggest and meanest chickens fit for his kitchen. Perfectly crispy skin and exactly like it was described. With any kind of meat theres always a danger of overcooking the meat which means its not as juicy. But not this one! Every bite was succulent and delicious as the first. They also served it with the chicken gravy which didnt overwhelm the taste at all.If you were really up for an adventure, there was also the option of Buckwheat waffles with bourbon maple syrup. Chicken and Waffle is quite a popular brunch option at the moment but hadnt had them with watermelons until nowI wasnt sure about this combination with the watermelons. However, watermelons alone after a few bites of the chicken was a combo that worked well for me! It really cooled down the palette after such a heavy mealThe shrimp and grits was the least favourite of all for meJust when I thought the meal was overI mean have you not seen the photos yourself?! How much more could I fit in my tummy?! WellI can fit a lot but I was pretty full at this point.But one look at what was placed in front of me and I quickly forgot about itIt was Iced Honeycomb and Chocolate Parfait Sandwich. Just shut up and take my money! The perfect dessert for meaah if only I could have more of this. The second favourite was the Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Chantilly Cream = dead!While the Pecan pie was made really well, it paled in comparison to the other two desserts. They definitely get my money!All in all, a fabulous evening spent at Joes in Kentish Town. Even had a Masterchef celeb moment when we saw Chef John Torode having dinner right behind us #starstruckEven though it was a press night for us, it does not mean any part of the experience was made up. I saw people genuinely having a great time with lots of food, drinks and merriment! Kudos to the whole team.For all things Joes Southern Kitchen & Bar, click here. And then choose the branch of your choice.P.S: They also do weekend brunch! foodiarieslondon.com

  August 13, 2015, 5:25 pm

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• Little Brown Book

  Kentish Town just gets better and better. In a matter of months, KT has thrown its proverbial hat into the proverbial ring and tempted Londoners up from far and wide. With Nowhere Special and Ladies & Gents literally a stones throw away, enter Joe’s Southern Kitchen & Bar to fulfil all your southern fried needs. Don’t go here on a full stomach, or even a half full stomach. In fact, you might want to not eat for a couple of days before hand .. in true American style, these guys know how to eat!On offer is a menu bursting with ‘southern fried bird’ (I’m going to take a wild guess and say chicken), mac ‘n’ cheese, ribs, burgers, a ton of twisty fun sides and a cocktail overflowing bar.Buns for the table (ehem, scones) were first to arrive, with clotted cream and red Leicester cheese. An interesting twist on the bread offering presented pre-feast. Tasty but very filling and perhaps better suited half the size and accompanying an earl grey martini?!We settled down to a particularly insane table of food. Insane, mostly because of the gargantuan proportions. Time to loosen the belt and unbutton the jeans, walking out of the place was looking less and less likely as more and more plates wedged themselves in.’Devilled Eggs’ with chicken skin mayonnaise were a new experience for me and the playful yolk reworking was a great way of transforming an egg.’Deep Fried Short Rib Meat Loaf’ arrived piled with red onion jam, a poached egg and ‘dijonnaise’.Four cheese mac ‘n’ cheese with curly whirly pasta – with a bit more biscuity crust, this one would be a winner.The ‘Southern Fried Bird’ was a lovely combination of tender and crispiness with a lemony tang and arrived with waffles and maple syrup to drench. Hotbox convinced me of the pairing but as yet, still remains unbeaten in my waffle league. Joe’s is hot on it’s heels but need a little more pillowy action to the waffle.The interior stays true to the American South theme (and their sister restaurant over in Covent garden). Red leather, booths, neon Cola signage, lively atmosphere but with the addition of chickens. Lots and lots of chickens.My dessert winner of the night was the nostalgic crunchie bar honeycomb and chocolate triangles (although I had totally misjudged the size of my stomach (usually pretty reliable) and only managed a taste as opposed to an inhalation of the dish).Joe’s is a great spot to head with a gang of friends before rolling yourselves over to one of the superb bars nearby. It has 90 covers but will be buzzing and busy so book yourself a long table and get feasting! littlebrownbooks.blogspot.com

  August 11, 2015, 11:01 am

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• We Love Food, It's All We Eat

  Joes Southern Kitchen has a new outpost! Not content with just having their central Covent Garden location, they have ventured a little further north to Kentish Town. We were lucky enough to be invited along for a sneaky peak (and a belly-busting preview meal) only a day after its official opening.The new branchs position is great, a mere 30 second walk from Kentish Town overground/underground station. This part of north London is Saffs old stomping ground, she lived up the road in Tufnell Park before I made a (not so) honest woman of her and moved her down to Kent. And not even a good part of Kent, sorry Saff.She was maybe more excited about going home than she was about visiting the restaurant. But that excitement was short lived as we walked though the doors with the evening sun streaming through the window and the smell of Southern food.The space is airy and open with a huge window facing out to the main street. Decor is what you expect these days filament bulbs, exposed brickwork etc etc. But the tableware is more refined than the Covent Garden branch, here they have dainty mix and match vintage-style floral patterned china plates. No tin trays and enamel here! Absolutely love the kitsch gravy boat too, where can we get one of these?!As mentioned earlier, they had only been officially open for just a day and the whole place was still box-fresh with a faint whiff of paint. Considering the newness, the owners and staff have ironed out any teething problems (assuming there were some). Apart from an odd tasting Espresso Martini (swiftly rectified) the service was extremely smooth and confident, we didnt feel like we were in such a newly opened restaurant.The Jailbird Basement Bar was yet to be completed (it may well be finished by the till this post goes live), that only gives us the excuse we need to come back. Apparently this bar used to be a police station and alcoves that were originally used as cells have been transformed into cosy drinking booths.Our specially prepared sample menu was designed to showcase a little of what JSH had to offer. As always we started with a cocktail, my Bullish Negroni (8.50) was just how it should be, bitter and strong with plenty of ice and an orange twist. Saffs Hola Lola (7.50) a refreshing and exotic blend of Brugal Blanco rum, lime juice, passion fruit, passion fruit juice, vanilla syrup and Cherry heering was far too easy to drink.After, I stuck to the classics a very good Amaretto Sour (5) and an Espresso Martini (5). While Saff was a little more adventurous and ordered up a Maple Pie (8.50) with Jim Beam, maple and apple pie syrup, tasted exactly as its named.Joes website says that their dishes are designed for sharing with friends, getting your fingers dirty and your face sticky. And they are not wrong, eating should always be this fun (note to self, dont wear a white shirt next time). First up were Mamas biscuits, traditional light savoury scones that are usually served with gravy, but ours came with a delicious honey butter (they also serve them with homemade seasonal jam and clotted cream at breakfast).The menu features many of Joes Covent Garden favourites but the chefs have made numerous visits to the States to perfect and refine some new dishes, must have been a tough job. The Deep fried short rib meat loaf (8.95) coated with Japanese breadcrumbs and served with red onion jam, poached egg and dijonnaise is a new addition, its meant for sharing but I could have eaten the whole lot.The Mac n Cheese (11.95) curly pasta, four cheeses and a biscuit crust, had a strong cheesy flavour from the first forkful to the last. Another winner are the Devilled eggs (3.95) with chicken skin mayonnaise and bacon crumbs plate lickingly good. Oh and the Shrimp n grits (16.95) were fab, if a tad on the expensive side. I try grits where ever they are served, Jackson + Rye used to be my favourite (sorry guys we still love you) but Joe has taken their king of the grits crown! Although not in Saffs case as Jackson + Ryes dont contain cheese.These grits had the lot loads of cheese, red onion, roasted tomato (the menu says melted tomato, not sure if thats even possible!), grilled shrimp, shredded house cured bacon and Camden Ale jus. The Gooey corn spoon bread (3.95) with clotted cream and Red Leicester cheese was another winner, soft and creamy but so filling.But our mutual star of the show was the Southern fried chicken (12.95 for two pieces) coated in their signature new recipe of sweet tea brined fried chicken with lemon salt and Tabasco honey, served with waffles, chilled watermelon, bourbon maple syrup.If that wasnt enough, the desserts emerged. Luckily we got to sample all three Iced honeycomb & chocolate parfait sandwich, Peanut butter fudge pie with chantilly cream and Southern pecan pie with Jim beam honey cream (all 4). The fudge and pecan pies were both good but they pale into insignificance compared to the brilliant honeycomb and chocolate parfait sandwich. Shame we had to share as this dessert had it all.Our sample menu was just the tip of the iceberg, the full menu is packed full of all the classics (48 buttermilk marinated chicken wings anyone?) topped up with Southern comfort food just like Mama used to make (well if your Mamas from the Deep South!) Joes will also be serving up cracking breakfast and brunch menus which will also feature American favourites that have been given the Joes treatment. Looks like Saff will have another couple of reasons to visit her old patch welovefood-itsallweeat.com

  August 9, 2015, 4:09 pm

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• Dinner With Jo

  Can you book? YesFood: 8/10Atmosphere: 9/10Price paid per person: 24What is it about the name Joe? Why is it always used in conjunction with fried chicken, lumberjack shirts and Jack Daniels? Don’t get me wrong, clearly as a Jo I’m not in any way against the name, I’m just terribly curious as to what the connection is. Even Google couldn’t help me. But what’s in a name, right?I went for a catch-up with my pal two days after the soft launch ended so it had only been open a week or so. Presumably down to teething issues, service was ever so slightly slower than one would hope, but not enough to get your dungarees in a twist. Staff were very friendly and helpful with ordering.We started with a simple but moreish artichoke, spinach and cheddar dip then went on to share half a crispy southern fried bird that had apparently been brined in sweet tea for a whole day and then sprinkled with lemon dust. Not only was it finger-lickin’ good, but boy was there a lot of it. The menu says it feeds 1-2 people; I’d like to see someone tackle that portion by themselves. It was crispy skinned and succulent, and you could really taste the lemon. On the side we had intensely comforting mac’n’cheese and some slightly healthy collard greens (i.e. cabbage) which well-complemented the chicken.Being a whiskey girl, to wash it all down I had a the bourban-based Lucky Stag cocktail (Jim Beam Red Stag, Luxardo Maraschino, egg white, lemon juice and sugar syrup). A tad less sugar and it would have been a great cocktail.Iced honeycomb and chocolate parfait sandwich to end was extremely delicious.With two thumbs up, I highly recommend Joe’s Southern Kitchen. They even give you a handy wet wipe in case you get carried away with the chicken, so it’s date appropriate too. dinnerwithjo.com

  July 28, 2015, 7:18 pm

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