J. Coco

Location: 5203 Leavenworth St. - Dundee
Listening to: Rose Rouge - St. Germain 

My experience at J. Coco was a lot like a relationship gone bad.  I was very impressed at first, even in love a little.  Then I realized we had our differences; and though I tried to make it work, I began to lose interest.  By the end, we were trying something crazy as a last ditch effort to spice things up.  It ended in an ugly hot mess which left me a little bit scarred.  You date someone, you break up.  You realize what you're looking for next time and what you never want again.  Perhaps you decide to stay friends; and after awhile, if things are looking up, you might just give them a second chance.  Maybe...

The Good...

Apertif
The Mellow Yellow is an aptly named libation made of gin, Aperol, lime juice, and Yellow Chartreuse.  The orange aroma and bitter taste from the Aperol were well balanced with the sweet honey flavor of the Yellow Chartreuse.  Perfect after a long day at work.  The cocktail was served in a rocks glass with a hand-cut king cube.  Some may not realize that the size of the ice cube does make a difference in the taste of the drink.  Larger cubes have less surface area; they take longer to melt thus diluting the drink at a much slower rate.

Starter

Scallops, Sweet Corn Pudding, Accoutrements

We had the scallops served with sweet corn pudding and truffled honey.  The scallops had a great grill flavor, cooked perfectly throughout.  I'd say they were the some of the best I've had, second only to Lot 2.  The corn pudding was creamy, but bland.  It reminded me of malt-o-meal breakfasts from my youth.  The dish was also sprinkled with diced tomato, celery, green onion, and possibly some pear or other unidentified produce.  The truffle honey was actually a glaze on some pistachios, which paired well with the pomegranate seed garnish.  All together the appetizer was sweet, nutty, and smoky.  But the garnishes really didn't add to the deliciousness of the scallops.  Too many independent flavors that didn't mesh well.  I chose to eat them separately.

Entrée

Petite Tender Beef Medallions

Dustin ordered the Petite Tender Beef Medallions with asparagus, snap peas, brown gravy, and potato latkes (though the menu calls them "lakes").  The tenderloins were crusted with ground peppercorns and served with three different toppings: creamed spinach, sautéed wild mushrooms, and lobster.  He recalls them as being some of the best tenderloins he's ever had.  Fabulous.  I'm glad you had such a good meal.  Mine started out nice, but by the end I was ready to run out of there.  I ordered Jennifer Coco's signature dish: Chilean Sea Bass.  Apparently this renowned dish was created when she was working at the Flatiron Cafe downtown, before she started her own restaurant.  I have not yet had the pleasure of dining at her old spot.  But a dish that made someone mildly famous, sign me up!

The Bad...

Chilean Sea Bass

Evil Bok Choy

The sea bass was served on a bed of bok choy, radish, yellow bell pepper, carrot, and cucumber.  On the side were (I believe) pork-filled pot stickers.  The fish was indeed delicious!  It was flaky, fall apart tender with flavors of sweet teriyaki and smoke from the grill.
I don't remember much else about the fish because I had a horrible mishap with the bok choy.  The cabbage was served whole, and I ended up choking on it.  It should have been cut into smaller pieces before cooking, or at least served with a steak knife.  The cooked bok choy was too slimy for my dinner knife to slice through, and apparently my incisors weren't caveman enough to do a good job, either.  A long leaf got caught in my throat and I started gagging.  Embarrassing to say, I practically regurgitated into my cloth napkin.  No one else in the restaurant noticed, but the whole experience really spoiled the rest of the meal.  I asked my server for another napkin (not telling him why); but by the time he finally brought one to our table, we had pretty much finished dining.

The Ugly...

On the Side

Lobster Crème Brûlée

Lobster Crème Brûlée.  Sounds daring, right?  I fancy myself a bit of a culinary Evel Knievel, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I imagined some sort of gratin casserole with scorched breadcrumbs, but boy was I wrong.  What arrived at my table was an epic fail, a Homer Simpson "D'oh!" moment.  Sweet burnt custard filled with green beans and lobster.  Well, the lobster was more of an afterthought.  And I wish the green beans had stayed in the kitchen.  Eating it was kind of like trying not to look at a bad car accident.  We kept taking bites, hoping for an "Aha!" moment of clarity.  "So this is what they were going for.  Pure genius!"  Alas, that moment never came.  I give them credit for experimenting with salty and sweet; but the sugar overpowered the dish, the beans were an unwelcome texture, and the lobster, sadly, was scarce at best.

Digestif & Dessert
After all the disappointments of dinner, I decided to stay for one last drink.  My spirits were lifted with a snifter of my very favoritest Belle de Brillet.  Sweet heaven in a glass, the French pear brandy liqueur was just what I needed.  Dustin ordered an off-menu drink, similar to the Manifesto's Farewell to Arms.  It's a 1:1:1 concoction of Fernet Branca, Velvet Falernum, and fresh squeezed lime juice.  His favorite.  I thought it tasted like sour apple pie with a hidden layer of mint.  I think we both needed something we knew we loved, as our dining adventure had turned terribly sour.  The server offered us some dessert, and he described it as "brown sugar cheesecake."  It came topped with pecan pie filling and a compote of blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries.  It wasn't half bad, but after having so much sugar in the rest of the meal, we couldn't finish it.

Bottom Line
*This restaurant really needs to back off on the sugar.  Every single dish was overly sweet.
*I applaud eclectic flavors and experimental cuisine, but if you can't execute it, don't put it on the menu.  The only well-balanced items I had came from the bar.

It's just too bad, because I've read several other rave reviews of J. Coco, and it came highly recommended from several friends.  Perhaps we have different tastes.  Of course I always say I'll give a restaurant another shot.  It just might be awhile.  And bok choy?  Probably never again.