Jano Bistro

As is our habit, we decided to go out for an early dinner before going to see the evening’s entertainment. On Sunday, we were off to see Eddie Izzard, who is on the final leg of his two-year Force Majeure tour.

We’d recently been to The Bresolin for lunch, and on the way had spotted a new place, Jano Bistro, a few doors down. This is up at the unfashionable end of Willis Street, but it looks like more and more places are opening up around there (Tuatara Brewery have recently opened a bar, The Third Eye, round the corner as well). “looks good, must give it a try” we thought.

A couple of weeks later, it was reviewed in the Dominion Post, and got a resounding thumbs up. Turns out the chef is from the recently-closed Le Canard, which was a more traditional French bistro in Thorndon (and now a burger bar). So I booked it for dinner.

The menu is minimal – three starters, four mains, three desserts, and the descriptions equally minimal: none of your waffly “a soufflé of champagne-soaked truffle with watercress foam” or any of that malarkey. Take this example: 

PORK: free-range | Celeriac | Black pudding | Cider jus.

We started with eggplant (it looked a lot like an aubergine to me, but what the hey) and pork (done slightly different to the above description – the menu changes on a regular and frequent basis):

I was tempted by the catch of the day, but eventually settled on the beef - sirloin and slow-cooked rib, with confit tomatoes, olives, polenta, and garlic puree:

Nicola had the lamb:

And, because we’d told the waitress at the beginning that we had a show to get to, they’d been fairly prompt about bringing out the dishes, so we had time for a pudding. I went for the obvious chocolate:

Usually, when asking about chocolate puddings, I ask the waiter whether it's Katy Perry (light and fluffy) or Paris Hilton (rich and thick). This one was both, but it was the Paris Hilton bit that was the best. 

And Nicola took the cherries:

This really is top-class stuff, not what you’d call “bistro” at all (not that I’ve got anything against bistro food, but I associate it more with well–cooked but more, well, “rustic” presentation). Over the past few months, several of Wellington’s higher-end restaurants have closed (Martin Bosley, Ambeli, Le Carnard, White House, Crazy Horse). Some of these have re-opened in a new incarnation (Whitebait, for example) but with a  more informal menu, but it’s nice to see someone open an unashamedly top-class restaurant again. Together with Matterhorn’s recent decision to move back into a standard restaurant format, it’s good to see a resurgence of this type of dining, away from “informal” “shared plates” style. Dammit, I don’t want to share my plate with anyone!

This place will be up there with the likes of Ortega Fish Shack and The Larder in terms of food, presentation, innovation and quality.