Restaurant review: Joi Cafe

Steven

23 February 2007

Address: 14 Percy Street, London W1
Telephone: 020 7323 0981
Streetmap: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=529645&Y=181594&A=Y&Z=1
Multimap: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.518397&lon=-0.132881&scale=10000&icon=x
Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=51.518397,+-0.132881+(Joi+Cafe)&z=16&iwloc=A&hl=en
Longitude: -0.132881
Latitude: 51.518397

Just off Tottenham Court Road, about 1/3rd of the way up, near Niko Niko.

Thai / Chinese VEGAN buffet

All you can eat for a fiver, plus drinks (standard soft drinks and about a dozen different cha) at £ 1.50 each

There is some interesting background about the place... apparently some Chinese emperor turned Buddhist and the imperial kitchens had to switch to Buddhist food, but still accomodate the tastes of visitors, and so developed meat substitutes using a variety of techniques to emulate different meats, the techniques apparently were saved. However the Buddhist diet is not only meat-free, but spice-free too (not even garlic), which is considered too bland for the english palate, so when they opened this place, they decided to offer both traditional chinese faux-meat Buddhist recipes, but they mixed the techniques with thai cuisine to offer some spicy vegan faux-meat thai dishes to spice (sic) up the menu.

Both I (a sort-of vegetarian) and a carnivore who considers salad an invention of Satan had an extremely enjoyable meal. The faux-meat (chicken and beef) is very close indeed (certainly much, much better than any of the quorn-style variants you find in english supermarkets). The look, texture and taste was as close as dammit right. They even do faux-crispy duck pancakes as part of the buffet which were indistingishable from the real thing.

I tried the ginseng cha (tea) and it was not only very nice, but came in a pot which held 3 large cups worth, which was actually too much for me alone, and would have been better shared between 2 or 3.

The place was running a steady trade, which was about a 50/50 mix of chinese and english, but never got more than 1/4 full (it has a large restaurant floor), but I suspect it will get a lot busier once it becomes well known (I think it is new), plus we were there early (6pm) on a weekday.

Things near here (straight-line distances):

Jack Horner (pub) 0.0 miles NEbN
Black Horse (pub) 0.1 miles S
Goodge Street Station (Northern Line) 0.2 miles NWbN
Tottenham Court Road Station (Central Line, Northern Line) 0.2 miles SSE
Centre Point Sushi Cafe (restaurant) 0.2 miles SE
Nellie Dean (pub) 0.2 miles SbW
British Museum (museum) 0.3 miles EbN
Pillars of Hercules (pub) 0.3 miles SbE
Plough (pub) 0.3 miles EbS
The Ship (pub) 0.3 miles SbW
Museum Tavern (pub) 0.3 miles E
Garlic and Shots (restaurant) 0.3 miles SbE
Bloomsbury Tavern (pub) 0.3 miles ESE
Abeno Okonomiyaki (restaurant) 0.3 miles EbS
Hummus Bros (restaurant) 0.3 miles SbW
Shaston Arms (pub) 0.4 miles SWbS
Russell Square Station (Piccadilly Line) 0.4 miles NE
Euston Square Station (Circle Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Metropolitan Line) 0.5 miles NNW
Warren Street Station (Northern Line, Victoria Line) 0.5 miles NWbN
Oxford Circus Station (Bakerloo Line, Central Line, Victoria Line) 0.5 miles SWbW
Ramen Seto (restaurant) 0.5 miles SWbS
Wong Kei (restaurant) 0.5 miles S
Phoenix (pub) 0.5 miles WSW
Crispy Duck (restaurant) 0.5 miles S
Covent Garden Station (Piccadilly Line) 0.5 miles SE
Leicester Square Station (Northern Line, Piccadilly Line) 0.5 miles SbE
Misato (restaurant) 0.5 miles S
Holborn Station (Central Line, Piccadilly Line) 0.5 miles EbS
Windmill (pub) 0.6 miles SW
Lord John Russell (pub) 0.6 miles NEbN
Great Portland Street Station (Circle Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Metropolitan Line) 0.6 miles NWbW
Piccadilly Circus Station (Bakerloo Line, Piccadilly Line) 0.6 miles S
Euston Station (British Rail, Northern Line, Victoria Line) 0.6 miles NbW
Head of Steam/Doric Arch (pub) 0.7 miles N
Hazuki (restaurant) 0.7 miles SSE
Porterhouse (pub) 0.7 miles SEbS
Regent's Park Station (Bakerloo Line) 0.7 miles NWbW
Charing Cross Station (Bakerloo Line, British Rail, Northern Line) 0.7 miles SSE
Ta-Zu (restaurant) 0.7 miles NbE
Euston Flyer (pub) 0.7 miles NNE
Great Nepalese (restaurant) 0.8 miles N
Golden Eagle (pub) 0.8 miles W
Mayfair Pasta and Sandwich Bar (restaurant) 0.8 miles SWbW
Prince Arthur (pub) 0.8 miles N
Ship and Shovel (pub) 0.8 miles SSE
Calthorpe Arms (pub) 0.8 miles NEbE
Bond Street Station (Central Line, Jubilee Line) 0.9 miles WSW
Wasabi (restaurant) 0.9 miles SEbS
King's Cross St. Pancras Station (British Rail, Circle Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Metropolitan Line, Northern Line, Piccadilly Line, Victoria Line) 0.9 miles NNE
Embankment Station (Bakerloo Line, Circle Line, District Line, Northern Line) 0.9 miles SSE
Chancery Lane Station (Central Line) 0.9 miles E
Pakenham Arms (pub) 0.9 miles NEbE
Temple Station (Circle Line, District Line) 1.0 miles SEbE
Green Park Station (Jubilee Line, Piccadilly Line, Victoria Line) 1.0 miles SWbS
New Seoul (restaurant) 1.0 miles EbN
King's Cross Thameslink Station (British Rail) 1.0 miles NEbN
Imperial War Museum London (museum) 1.9 miles SEbS
National Army Museum (museum) 2.5 miles SSW