Mrs Jones
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Text:The Purple One Me and Mrs. Jones If you’re familiar with the classic song by Billy Paul you might want to come down to the newly opened Italian restaurant, Mrs. Jones and hear the jazz trio, Dan Lavelle (guitar/singer), Tommy Ho (guitar), and Oliver Smith (alto Sax) do their renditions of the song every Saturday night. The simple yet classy restaurant is from the Concept Creations Group who brought you Tapeo and Frites. “Italian Food and Jazz go hand in hand” as their PR tells us. With that in mind, you’ll realize that, like their other restaurants, they want to make sure you don’t just have good food but that you’ll get the whole experience with your meal. The best thing about this “experience”? It’s the experience without the price! Voila! What everyone wants in an economy like this. Price was really the first thing I noticed when I browsed through their menu. All their entrées are from $45 for Minestrone to the most expensive at $75 for a Vitello Tonnato – sliced veal with tuna mayonnaise, anchovies and fried capers. Their most expensive dish is only $175 for a Veal Saltimbocca. Not too bad for such a new restaurant that’s located on Ladder Street, taking over the spot where SODA used to be. We started with the Beef Carpaccio di Manzo -raw beef fillet served with aged balsamic and rocket. First thing you’ll notice is portion size; it’s enormous for an appetizer. It’s easily enough to share between two diners and for only $85. As with all carpaccio, it’s important that the meat is fresh and this dish was extremely fresh and properly chilled. It was the perfect dish to start our meal. We moved on to the main course, Chicken Parmigiana. – crumbled chicken breast with buffalo mozzarella provencal sauce served with olive oil mash. The chicken cooled down a bit before we tasted (our fault) so it would have been more delicious but it was a pretty decent dish. Their provencal tomato sauce was just sweet enough with a hint of sourness which complimented quite well the large portion of chicken. After such a satisfying entrée and main (the portions are huge!) we didn’t have room to try the gnocchi and ravioli but it would surely be the dishes to try next time. They are completely homemade! We had tiramisu for dessert which was a great way to end the experience because it wasn’t too rich like most Italian desserts and the best part of it all… there was a strong lasting aftertaste. Who wouldn’t want the lingering flavors of tiramisu for the rest of the day?!!! Mrs. Jones also has a three course lunch special from 12pm-3pm for only $98 with a choice for appetizers such as tomato soup or warm tuna salad. Choices for the main course range from a lasagna to a fish dish to a white risotto. Even if you feel like dining alone, you’ll feel like you’re at home when you’re at Mrs. Jones. With a friendly staff, the beautiful jazz music and a lot of Mrs. Jones looking over you (courtesy of Steve Yau’s artwork), you’ll definitely feel a part of the Italian experience. Buon appetito! Address: Upper Basement, Harilela House, 79 Wyndham Street. Cemtral Tel: 9123 6049 |
