Jones Wood Foundry

401 E 76th Street, Upper East Side, NY

7.4

map & more

Neighborhood
Upper East Side

Cuisine
Bar Food
English

212-249-2700

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
October 5, 2011

Walking into a bar on the Upper East Side (slash Canada) that serves craft beers instead of Miller Lite and plays Blur’s “Coffee & TV” instead of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” is quite refreshing. The UES isn’t exactly the West Village, so when a cool looking gastropub opens in this hood with an intriguing menu, that’s big news. An assist actually goes to my sister-in-law on this one, who tipped us off to this “food driven pub” after a recent First Date she went on here. That first date may have wound up as the only date with that particular dude, but at least we got a good restaurant recommendation out of it.

JWF impressed us with their comfy accommodations and ambitious menu. Don’t let the skinny bar in front fool you; there’s a whole lot of space hidden in the back including a spacious dining room complete with vintage wooden furniture and a quaint Outdoor/Patio Situation. They don’t have hard liquor, which is a bummer, only beer and wine. The food is a lot better than standard pub fare. Over the last year or so, Manhattan has been invaded by a number of English inspired bar/restaurants. Jones Food Foundry isn’t going to have New Yorkers taking British food seriously, but it will definitely fill them up and make them happy. We thoroughly enjoyed both their fish & chips and scotch egg. JWF is the kind of place that should quickly become a staple Neighborhood Hang for anyone who lives in this hood.

PS, sister-in-law is still available. She works in chocolate and enjoys long mornings on the beach, surfing. Dudes, get at me with resumes. Although she refuses to do the whole online dating thing, I bet I could get her to go on a date with a fellow Infatuation reader. She’s a catch, I promise. She’s also going to kill me for writing this.

Food Rundown:

Fish & Chips
There are actually two different fish and chip options on the menu, we’d suggest going with the cod. JWF has this dish down. Although lightly battered and fried, the white fish is cooked perfectly, retaining all kinds of moisture. The only let down were the chips, which were kind of soggy. If they stepped their fry game up a bit, this could be the best fish and chips in the city.

JWF Burger
A dry aged beef blend that’s plenty big and all kinds of juicy, but there’s something missing from the equation. There’s a little too much bun going on, and it’s a dry bun, which sucks all the juice out of the beef. Bonus points for tasty pickles slices and thick cut bacon, but this British burger isn’t something worth traveling for.

Steak Tartare
There is way too much spice in this tartare, it overwhelmed what would have been a pretty good plate to share. Go with something else instead.

Scotch Egg
Best bite of the night. These scotch eggs are awesome and pair quite well with just about any one of the Belgium beers they have on tap.