38 replies to this topic

[Danma]

So what's the menu? What is it about? Details, man, details!

[Liquidrev]

"Heard a lot of talk" is again, sort of PRish but also referencing the last thread. Not meant to sound that way.

Details will come shortly, we've got it all down but it's still morphing based on when we are opening and what will be available seasonally. Got to keep something's a secret.

[VicHockeyFan]

Eight different types of ice at Little Jumbo.


Here's a CBC audio clip, on Facebook: https://www.facebook...&type=2

[Mr_E_Squirrel]

And it's OPEN according to Facebook

https://www.facebook...location=stream

Little Jumbo
26 minutes ago
We told everyone, 1/2 hr before we opened that we would post.

[Szeven]

I have been here just once since it is open, and I have a mostly positive review. Drinks (Glass of wine and a bourbon orange bitters et al) were fantastic as expected, food was mostly good, but the pork belly/scallop was comically sized. A single scallop and a single tiny slice of pork belly about the size of half a thick piece of bacon for $15. I guess they were going for balance on the plate so you don't get a bunch of pork and a single scallop? The pork was tasty and isn't expensive so I would definitely suggest doing something different so one can at least be somewhat full from what ends up being a $25 meal with sides. Sides were good and decent value. I thought the orange zest on the fries was unnecessary.

[Liquidrev]

I have been here just once since it is open, and I have a mostly positive review. Drinks (Glass of wine and a bourbon orange bitters et al) were fantastic as expected, food was mostly good, but the pork belly/scallop was comically sized. A single scallop and a single tiny slice of pork belly about the size of half a thick piece of bacon for $15. I guess they were going for balance on the plate so you don't get a bunch of pork and a single scallop? The pork was tasty and isn't expensive so I would definitely suggest doing something different so one can at least be somewhat full from what ends up being a $25 meal with sides. Sides were good and decent value. I thought the orange zest on the fries was unnecessary.

Thanks for the feedback Szeven, I will look into it. There shouldn't have been orange zest on the fries, only in the mayonaisse. We have had mixed reviews about the scallop and pork belly and am working on it.

Cheers

[Nparker]

A friend of mine is allowing me to share her not-so-impressed experience at Little Jumbo last night:

 

"...I feel compelled to tell my fellow Victorians not to bother with Little Jumbo. Huge disappointment. Pretentious beyond belief and the food ranges from middling to nearly inedible. Cocktails are the modern "mixology" kind (heaven forbid you say "bartender") i.e. you pay between $11 and $15 for an overwhelmingly bitter drink (my glass was so full of crushed ice that the drink had only a tablespoon or two of actual liquid in it. I am not exaggerating). The upside is it was so ridiculous it was sort of comical. A side dish of cauliflower au gratin was so tiny it was nearly invisible. The ramekin was about 2 ounces. Our tuna was criminally overcooked. Little Jumbo charges through the eyeballs for a side of bread. They serve it with lard (eww, I mean, go ahead and cook with lard but spread it on my bread, no thanks!!! Can't I have some nice unsalted Avalon butter instead?). Frites were limp and soggy and also tasted of greasy lard but they were the only thing we ordered that was more than a tiny spoon sized portion. The side dish of carrots were so hard we nearly broke our teeth on them and they weren't peeled and they tasted bitter. Yes, veggies shouldn't be mushy. They should be tender crisp. Jumbo clearly forgot the tender part of the equation and bathed rock hard unpeeled carrots in some sort of awful sour viniagrette. We waited over an hour for food even though we were the second table seated. Yet, this place seems quite popular (mind you, the Urban Spoon rating is only 65%). I feel bad when I have to diss a place. I know how hard it is to run a restaurant. But if Little Jumbo is going to charge $$$, the quality of the food and drink should be exemplary. At least they have stopped charging people for water (they were doing this the first couple months they were open and naturally, customers were NOT impressed)...Stage, a tapas sort of place in our 'hood is an example of small plate dining concept done right. Little Jumbo, well, it will be interesting to see if they retain their current popularity. Maybe I am just an old fogey? I had heard all this buzz about Little Jumbo. My actual experience was quite a let down and the size of the bill just made me want to bawl (had it been good I wouldn't have balked) This restaurant won't make the cut for our website. Maybe people just go there to be seen? Perhaps I am simply behind the times. I thought the food was mostly dreadful...Mixology sucks monkey ass! Go back to old fashioned barkeeps and serving wenches!

[mysage]

I see a lot of chat about my new place opening in the old Indian Curry space. We are doing a few things that some places haven't done in Victoria. We are a full restaurant with a fantastic chef backing it up with great food. We aren't trying to make the same, stupid mistakes that others have made.

Basically we aren't a cocktail bar with food, we are a restaurant with a rounded beverage program. Great food, wine, spirits and cocktails.

Hmm, Looks like the arrogance of this is opening thread may be more than a little misplaced. I wonder if the "fantastic chef" is still workig there? if they "are'nt trying to make the same stupid mistakes that others have made" one wonders what they are trying to do then? Whatever they are trying it doesn't seem to be working!

[Liquidrev]

Thanks for this Nadine,

       I believe I have already responded to your Tripadvisor review but will respond here as well. I apologise for your experience and would love to explain a few things. These reviews can only make us better.

 

- The Sunset in Sicily cocktail that the bartenders made for you is actually 2 1/2 oz of straight alcohol that is meant to mellow and change as the cocktail dilutes further. We would have been happy to make you something else if you mentioned it was too bitter for your taste, you may have loved the Rosie Bitts.

- We aren't a tapas restaurant as you mentioned Stage but a la carte which means we plate all the food depending on if you want separate dishes or your want to share, it's all up to you. This means side dishes such as the gratin are more accompaniments than as a shared dish. We recommend that you order a protein and a few sides depending on how hungry you are. The bread, frites and carrots all mention that they come with whipped lardo, duck fat and balsamic dressing respectively but we can take them off if you mentioned that it wasn't for your taste at the time you ordered.

- Friday night was our first night with the new menu and would have loved to hear your feedback on the food at the time so we could have rectified it then. Apologies for the overcooked tuna, and easy fix to recook quickly. The carrots obviously need tweaking when cooking in the sous vide.

- I apologise for the ticket time as well, I believe you ordered everything at once and then called Jen over to get the bread (baked daily in house) quicker which I believe we rushed out. I will be on the look out more because we do watch our tickets as close as possible.

- The water system we use is a special system that triple filters the water and carbonates it. It means we don't need to have any bottle water and keeps our carbon footprint a bit smaller. We did charge people $1 per table when we first opened but realised that we have plenty of things to inform people about the food and drinks than to worry about a measly dollar for water although the system that filters the water costs us a few $100 a month in maintenance.

 

I do apologise that you didn't enjoy your experience, it's something that is the obvious main goal in any restaurant. Hope you give us another try.

 

A friend of mine is allowing me to share her not-so-impressed experience at Little Jumbo last night:

 

"...I feel compelled to tell my fellow Victorians not to bother with Little Jumbo. Huge disappointment. Pretentious beyond belief and the food ranges from middling to nearly inedible. Cocktails are the modern "mixology" kind (heaven forbid you say "bartender") i.e. you pay between $11 and $15 for an overwhelmingly bitter drink (my glass was so full of crushed ice that the drink had only a tablespoon or two of actual liquid in it. I am not exaggerating). The upside is it was so ridiculous it was sort of comical. A side dish of cauliflower au gratin was so tiny it was nearly invisible. The ramekin was about 2 ounces. Our tuna was criminally overcooked. Little Jumbo charges through the eyeballs for a side of bread. They serve it with lard (eww, I mean, go ahead and cook with lard but spread it on my bread, no thanks!!! Can't I have some nice unsalted Avalon butter instead?). Frites were limp and soggy and also tasted of greasy lard but they were the only thing we ordered that was more than a tiny spoon sized portion. The side dish of carrots were so hard we nearly broke our teeth on them and they weren't peeled and they tasted bitter. Yes, veggies shouldn't be mushy. They should be tender crisp. Jumbo clearly forgot the tender part of the equation and bathed rock hard unpeeled carrots in some sort of awful sour viniagrette. We waited over an hour for food even though we were the second table seated. Yet, this place seems quite popular (mind you, the Urban Spoon rating is only 65%). I feel bad when I have to diss a place. I know how hard it is to run a restaurant. But if Little Jumbo is going to charge $$$, the quality of the food and drink should be exemplary. At least they have stopped charging people for water (they were doing this the first couple months they were open and naturally, customers were NOT impressed)...Stage, a tapas sort of place in our 'hood is an example of small plate dining concept done right. Little Jumbo, well, it will be interesting to see if they retain their current popularity. Maybe I am just an old fogey? I had heard all this buzz about Little Jumbo. My actual experience was quite a let down and the size of the bill just made me want to bawl (had it been good I wouldn't have balked) This restaurant won't make the cut for our website. Maybe people just go there to be seen? Perhaps I am simply behind the times. I thought the food was mostly dreadful...Mixology sucks monkey ass! Go back to old fashioned barkeeps and serving wenches!

 

[Liquidrev]

Hmm, Looks like the arrogance of this is opening thread may be more than a little misplaced. I wonder if the "fantastic chef" is still workig there? if they "are'nt trying to make the same stupid mistakes that others have made" one wonders what they are trying to do then? Whatever they are trying it doesn't seem to be working!

Thanks MySage,

    If you had read the past threads that were transferred over to here. People were assuming that we were opening a bar with a restaurant license. This is where the miscommunication and where my quote ""are'nt trying to make the same stupid mistakes that others have made" actually means, that we weren't trying to make the same mistakes as other bars posing as restaurants.

 

It wasn't arrogance or the like but a pure cut and paste by the moderators here that was taken out of context.

 

We are a new business and when you are new business, some people will get it and some people won't. You can't keep everyone happy all the time even though you try your hardest and regardless of how personally strong you are you need to be able to take mass criticism and success when you wake up every morning and work 16 hours a day to put yourself out there in something that you so strongly believe in that it keeps you up at night worrying if you are doing the right thing and are making people happy.

[Mr_E_Squirrel]

From the FB Page

 

It's time to let the cat out of the bag, Victoria has been crying for another late night restaurant for years. We are now open with full menu from the kitchen, great wines and outstanding cocktails for your pleasure till 1am Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Steak & frites, glass of red at 12am is no longer a myth.

[Gary H]

A Great Little Place...

 

No posts in over a year so it's time for an update - all thanks to my sister's $100 gift card!  It was our first time here and I have to say, the food and service were great.  We didn't do any of their fancy mixology but made up for it by getting dessert!  Also, with very little thought, we managed to hit the card amount almost spot on.  We'll be back. 

 

 

 

 

Prawn Salad

Grilled pineapple, crispy pancetta, romaine hearts and Green sriracha vinaigrette

 

Duck Breast

Fondant potato, vanilla cauliflower puree, succotash and mustard jus

 

Grilled Albacore Tuna

Potato and smoked tuna confit, Kalamata olive, Green beans and roast pepper with tarragon aioli

 

Coconut Twinkie Roll

 

Banana Mille Feuillie

 

 

Edited by Gary H, 21 December 2015 - 01:33 PM.

[JennKa]

That duck breast looks incredible.  What was your favourite?

[Gary H]

Mine:

1. Grilled Albacore Tuna

2. Prawn Salad

3. Banana Mille Feuillie

 

Wife's:

1. Prawn Salad

2. Duck Breast

3. Banana Mille Feuillie

 

We both agreed we wouldn't get the Twinkie again.

[Sparky]

The building that Little Jumbo is in just finished a major renovation. New rental suites on the second and third floors.

 

They got it all finished and ready for occupancy. That's when all hell broke loose.

Something went wrong with the water works. Major flooding within the building. Walls, ceilings,floors.....the works.

 

Little Jumbo is now closed until further notice, and I don't think that anybody is going to be living there anytime soon.

[VicHockeyFan]

Yuk.

[Matt R.]

Gabe suggested it was black water. Terrible situation.

However, they will have a chance to do some other renos they wanted to do, and I hope they have key person insurance!

Matt.

[Nparker]

Gabe suggested it was black water. Terrible situation.

Black Water? or perhaps black water

Edited by Nparker, 24 June 2017 - 03:21 PM.

[Citified.ca]

 

Little Jumbo goes street-side with Canada Day Fort Street 'pop-up shop'

 

Operators of downtown Victoria's Little Jumbo cocktail bar and eatery are planning to open a street-side one-of-a-kind lemonade stand just in time for Canada Day festivities in downtown Victoria.

 

Forced to temporarily close last weekend following a flood that seriously damaged the Old Town establishment's ceiling, Little Jumbo will partner with lower Fort Street neighbour PicNic to serve burgers, liquid libations and something special for the kids.

 

"When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade," joked Little Jumbo's operating partner, Bruce Gillespie, referring to a large delivery of lemons the bar received following the flood.

 

With a special event liquor license in hand, Gillespie plans to start Little Jumbo's pop-up shop at 2PM on Saturday.

 

"We'll be open until 10:30 serving food and drinks. This is also an opportunity for our staff to mingle with people walking by, find out where they're visiting from, just engage the community in a completely different way than they would have otherwise," Gillespie said.

 

With restorations underway, Gillespie hopes to re-open Little Jumbo by mid-week next week.

 

"If you saw the damage, you'd think the work would require about a month to complete. I said I'd get it done in about ten days."

 

Little Jumbo was forced to close eight days ago when water began pouring into the eatery from above. The building, at 506 Fort Street, has been undergoing a heritage restoration of its second and third floors that transformed former commercial spaces into rental apartments. A piping mishap as part of the restoration caused the flood.

 

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