Tuesdays with TT: Jubilee

It has been a couple weeks since Aunt B welcome a new member into the family, so it was time my parents came into the city to meet her.

Say Hello to Scout.

What would a trip into the city for the parents without a meal? I decided we would go to one of Aunt B’s favorite restaurants, Jubilee. The reason why it is her favorite is that their speciality is mussels. She has been coming here for years and it is always consistently good. I took her a couple months back as a Christmas present and had a great meal. It is a good place to take my parents since in the past they usually prefer to go to a place in my neighborhood for the ease of it. Jubilee is the quintessential neighborhood restaurant in far Midtown East; no advertising, all word of mouth, always busy.

We had a few appetizers at Aunt B’s, so I was the only one to get an appetizer. I got the Beet & Goat Cheese Salad. It was quite a large salad, so luckily everyone shared it with me. It was very refreshing. The beets were finely chopped and shaped into quenelles. The goat cheese was nice and tangy.

Obviously, we were all getting mussels for dinner. The problem is that there are 10 flavors to choose from.

Aunt B & Mom went with the classic, Marinière: White Wine , Shallots and Parsley. They liked them so much that not one mussel was leftover.

All orders come with a choice of fries or a salad. For some insane reason, Aunt B chose salad. It was a very simple green salad that was a bit overdressed. Serves her right for not getting the fries.

This time around I went with with the Curry mussels; Curry, Coconut Milk, Shallots and Lemongrass. This was tasty, but the flavor was a bit muted for me. While there was a ton of sauce, it didn’t really infuse into the mussels. I am guessing the sauce was added after the mussels were steamed.

Of course, I got the french fries to accompany my meal. These are some of the best fries in the city. Salty, Super Crunchy, Starchy goodness. They should come with a disclaimer as they can be highly addictive.

Dad got the Catalane; Steamed with Tomato and Chorizo Broth. I got this last time and loved it. They put a ton of chorizo in here. It adds a great smokey/spiciness to the meal. Dad was happy with his choice.

Although we were all pretty full since not one mussel was spared, we decided to share a dessert. We went with the Molten Chocolate Mousse Cake. It was pretty rich, but the spoon of vanilla ice cream. I had my usual 2 bites and was done. Although Mom said she didn’t want dessert, we know she never turns down dessert, especially when chocolate is involved.

All in all, it was a great meal. Once again Jubilee does not disappoint. Most people that come here have been coming for years and I am glad to say I think I will become one of those people. It is a nice restaurant tucked into a brownstone on the far reaches of Midtown East with great food at reasonable prices.