JoeTyler 乔泰勒

Article By Anthony Cordina

L  di Ben Fen Hui, Jin Ye Road and Zhang Ba 2 Road Intersection
雁塔区锦业路与丈八二路十字绿地缤纷绘一层
(029) 8115 1312
9:30am – 10:00pm

Average Price per Person /人均消费: 129RMB

PROS: Incredible food
CONS: Trying to convert “medium-rare” to a numerical value

Joe Tyler is named after its founder, who started his first restaurant of the same name in Chicago. You can find it in downtown Gaoxin on the ground floor of the Greenland Being Fun shopping centre. It’s a small, but not cramped, beautifully designed café/restaurant with ample lighting and a vibrant young staff who will ensure you are very well taken care of.

As you enter you will quickly notice the brightly coloured stacked chair installation, floating bubble effect lights above the largest table and the bust of the Statue of David near the back door. The art-gallery feel created by its postmodern design elements and its location amongst the glass skyscrapers of the Gaoxin CBD give Joe Tyler a very up-market quality.

The specialty here is Australian beef, Italian coffee, fresh fruit juices and cake. There are currently eight steak or rib options on the menu, which are all part of a set meal that includes a bread basket, a salad or a piece of cake, one of two soups and a cappuccino or fruit drink. Prices for this meal range from ¥108 to ¥368, depending on the steak you choose. I got a mushroom soup, tuna salad and a cappuccino with my steak. The food was divine. The steak was cooked masterfully and they must have a hydroponics setup in the kitchen because the salad was so fresh I could still smell the harvest. The cappuccino is rich and flavorful, the result of high-quality coffee and an expert barista.

The menu is in English and Chinese and there is enough variety of coffee, imported beer and spirits to satisfy any thirst. The price of the beers and coffee in particular are surprisingly low for a café restaurant of this caliber, which makes Joe Tyler a desirable destination if you just want to pick up a coffee or sit around and drink a bit with friends after dinner.

Now, admittedly, I don’t eat steak too often in China and I had a little bit of trouble being understood when I requested that my steak be cooked medium-rare and the reason for this is that, in China, they use a number system from one to ten to describe the doneness of a steak. So bear this mind when ordering your steak and you’ll be singing praises when you find yourself eating at Joe Tyler.

Anthony Cordina never breaks the second rule of Fight Club. He can be reached at reviews@xianease.com

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