In an urban setting, Ma Jolie’s little sister offers a menu that smells of the States
Fans of rooftops with a superb view of Brussels are used to meeting at Le Perché. On the top floor of the Jam Hotel in a district that is both trendy, open and where cocktails can be sipped on the terrace with its swimming pool. On the ground floor, the restaurant has had a facelift. Fully. At the helm Ludivine De Magnanville and her husband who have already successfully opened two well-known addresses in the capital: Ma Jolie and the Joli Joli Cocktail Club located… on the other side of the Chaussée de Charleroi. The name of the “new kid” in the family: Joli Jam quite naturally.
Enter through the hotel lobby and turn directly to your left. Stop at the bar and in the lounge if you want to sip one of the cocktails on the menu.
In a deliberately urban atmosphere, very New York and trendy, the Joli Jam has decided to offer its services morning-noon and evening. Morning for a relaxed or business breakfast to start the day, midday for a brunch with colleagues or friends and in the evening for a very American menu. We experimented on a weeknight. Installation just a stone’s throw from the open kitchen where Charles and his team work before your eyes. A la carte, this feeling of culinary change of scenery as if you had, in a fraction of a second, crossed the Atlantic. All dishes sound US. From BBQ onion rings to quesedillas and pastrami n’pickles. We opted for a platter of 9 fine clear oysters, the Jam’s oyster plate (39 euros) with three different preparations and seasonings. Enough to embellish the taste of the oyster.
New dilemma in front of the dishes. We could have expected a litany of burgers. Not at all. Of course, there are (otherwise, we wouldn’t be in the States…) but you can escape it if you wish with smoked ribs or mushroom tacos. We personally opted for a very generous Ma Jolie’s salmon bagel. The price of the dishes is very attractive between 11 and 23 euros and the proportions do not leave you hungry.
If you have a little room left for a dessert, a New York style cheesecake (7 euros!) narrowly won against pancakes that we reserve for the next time. Because a US atmosphere without falling into clichés, a menu that is both tight but diversified and an intelligently studied price range constitute the winning trifecta of arguments to… come back to it.
Joli Jam
Chaussée de Charleroi 132
1060 Bruxelles
Such. : 02.537.10.05
J.-M.Gh.
–
