Brisbane restaurants: Joy, Fortitude Valley review

This Fortitude Valley gem seats just 10, but what it lacks in floor space it more than makes up for in flavour.

Joy, despite all the media hoo-hah, and despite the expectation that comes with the need to book nearly a month out, is an unexpected experience.

Even if you are expecting the unexpected.

It’s tiny – a mere ten seats all facing the works in progress – kind of like Anise in New Farm only more succinct. Smaller, if you can believe it.

Joy co-owner, chef and host Sarah Scott cooks and serves.

And the wooing begins early, when you make that booking for a month’s time.

There’s a text to confirm, another to check on dietary stuff, and another a day or two before you land.

All personable, warm and fuzzy.

Then you are greeted as you walk in the door by the only two folk in the whole shebang, which is a nice touch.

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You need to be there on time – it’s like a dinner party for five couples with hosts you’ve never met and fellow diners you don’t know.

There’s a 150-minute window in which you all partake of the same menu (more or less) and watch it materialise in ten-plate lots right in front of you.

That’s the theatre.

The Rangers Valley Wagyu course at Joy, Fortitude Valley

The drinks list is tiny and it hugs the menu like a lamprey.

There are two sakes on offer, yet only one beer. Odd? Not really... there’s a strong Japanese bent to the whole experience.

Then a few interesting wines – six whites, four reds, a rose and a sparkling (all a bit on the hobbit-like side of things; some organic, some pretenders and some – such as Melsheimer Trocken Riesling – biodynamic and perfectly suited), two Japanese whiskies, and that’s it.

You can have the short menu – it’s a mere $75 for seven courses and another $55 with matching wines; or the long menu which is $110 for 10 courses plus $88 for drinks.

It’s all pretty good value, and the food is very, very good, which kind of makes the value perplexing.

Tim and Sarah Scott at their new restaurant Joy in Bakery Lane off Ann St in Fortitude Valley. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Things begin with a glass of green tea and a bowl of chawanmushi – a savoury egg-custard with shaved truffle, enokitake mushrooms and quinoa. The truffle is piled on like some wild afro and the whole dish is umami-laden, gentle, with a contrast of textures. It’s wild. Probably the best of the set.

Then strips of cured scallops with jicama (a not-at-all-bitter, turnip-like tuber), dashi, kohlrabi and – somewhere in the mix – raspberry. Perhaps that’s the dust? It’s thought provoking ... good.

Then an almost luminous green dish of zucchini and squid, followed by two perfectly cooked rectangles of Kobe wagyu with roasted cabbage and wasabi leaves – rich, bitter, hints of sweetness, spice in the leaves.

Squid/fragrant herbs/zucchini/spring onion condiment at Joy, Fortitude Valley

There’s a palate cleanser followed by Joy Mont Blanc – a dessert, with a truffle option for an extra $15. Again it is an afro’s-worth.

I love this sort of food experience; the expectation, the rollercoaster ride of dishes being plated up in situ, and each one a mystery, far beyond steak and chips, margarita pizza, anything familiar.

These guys are starting with a blank page.

But the joy of Joy is more than food.

It’s the whole micro-setting and personable coddling.

It’s the adventure.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 8.5

Drinks: 8

Vibe: 8.5

Service: 9

JOY

Bakery Lane, 690 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley

Ph: 0412 425 626

Chefs: Sarah and Tim Scott

Dinner, Thu-Sun

Vegetarian and coeliac options