Reviews Jump Restaurant

We always wait for budget-friendly Winterlicious and Summerlicious to avail ourselves of the upscale eating places like Jump. Good food, friendly and efficient service, if a bit on the bland side as far as character goes.

I finally tried Jump yesterday after months of anticipation, and while I enjoyed the food, it wasn't spectacular. I really enjoyed other O&B restaurants that I had tried, and as such had high expectations for this one, which perhaps explains why my rating isn't as high as it could be.

I had the artichoke and rapini as a starter, and the wild pacific salmon as my main course. While I would definitely recommend both dishes to someone looking for suggestions at Jump, the meal was a little way from the best meals that I have had.

A late night, last minute reservation brought me to Jump. We arrived at a rather empty hour around 10PM. Exceptional service as expected of an O&B restaurant. Food from their Summerlicious dinner menu was a little lacking.
I loved the "Pig & Parsley Terrine" appetizer, you can't go wrong with a terrine; the chicharron had an interesting texture, but I'd rather be having this in a more casual setting than in a business casual restaurant. "Alberta Lamb a la Plancha" was mediocre, or rather, unbalanced; the lamb a la plancha was delicious, but the garnishing (fregola sarda, dried olives, charred treviso... ) was too salty and overwhelming that the whole dish tasted oddly unsatisfying. Hopefully will come back for another visit and try their regular dinner menu.

Was at Jump a few weeks back while in town and had to go back again. Amazing Wild Mushroom Soup , no cream, and the best Gnocchi I have ever had! Ordered both again. Sat at the bar and Shelley provided fantastic service and conversation (and recommendations) as mentioned.
Will definately be back again!!

Delish pasta. I dont eat meat so I had the Turnip Agnolotti in a walnut pesto which was out of this world!! I also had the wild mushroom soup - can't rave about this one, it was just 'Meh.' I wouldn't get that again but the pasta was fresh and amazing flavors in the sauce. My boyfriend had the game night steak - which he enjoyed, not top notch in his books. Service was good, better towards the beginning as it was near empty when we got there and by the time we left it was completely full. Overall a good experience so we will return.

Good food, poor service. Jump is great for corporate lunch and evening out with friends. The food is great quality and is definitely worth the price tag, we thoroughly enjoyed the lobster risotto and white chocolate cheesecake. However.. the service was quite poor, we couldn't locate our server most of the time, and even after we asked fro the bill it took a while to arrive. A bit of more attention to detail could go a long way for this location.

Consistently Good & Busy. For lunch or dinner - the food quality is quite good, the servers are professionals and contribute to the experience. THis place does get packed - plan ahead.

Went there to sample the summerlicious menu with my husband. I had the gazpacho, steak with mushrooms and pana cota. All three where tasty and well prepared. My husband had the crab cake, pull pork sandwich and chocolate cake. His choices where even better then mine. The restaurant was chic and not overly fancy. All in all I would return :)

The lobster shepherd pie may just be the best dish I ever ate...ever!

Now, Anna’s been absolutely raving going to Jump  ( FB ) since apparently she’s read some great reviews about it (Anna: In other words, I stalk a lot of other food bloggers.). So when our personal schedules unfortunately messed with our initial plans to go to Fred’s Not Here (Dan: Eventually!) and Bent, we quickly planned to hit up the Oliver & Bonicini classics of Jump and Canteen. So did Jump live up to all of Anna’s expectations with its $45 dinner menu ? Let’s find out! The Appetizers: Heritage Salmon Tartare With: Smoked Chili, Plantain, Tomatillo Relish, & Maple Ponzu This salmon tartare was well done. The flavours weren’t too strong and were well complemented by the tomatillo relish. The maple ponzu was definitely interesting, offering an intriguing contrast between sweet and savoury flavours. The plantain chip on top added a crunch texture-wise but we weren’t

Jump is the rebellious and often misbehaving teenager of the O&B family; it mixes and matches flavors and ingredients, often from contrasting culinary backgrounds. However, Jump settled down for Summerlicious with a line of fresh, light and summery dishes perfect for waking you up on a Monday lunch. Both the appetizer and main looked like the same dish: a mayo on seafood on a salad. But they were both resoundingly refreshing, especially the perfectly cooked salmon. I took a gamble with the dessert and did not quite like passion fruit in Panna Cotta (I couldn’t help but wonder if artificial flavoring was being used, having been served an equally unappetizing bubble tea last night). Yet the opposing dessert (the chocolate mousse) was again, light, refreshing and chocolaty. Finally, kudos to the speedy service and getting me out in 40 minutes, which typically beats a FoodIQ run.

I was pleased and impressed. I honestly haven't tasted food this flavourful and well-crafted since Paris. Splendid!

I was craving for chocolate cake so after searching on the yelp site I saw several reviewers recommending the SOMA molten chocolate cake at JUMP Cafe . It was one of the Oliver & Bonacini restaurants and it definitely did not disappoint. Located in the Commerce Court along Wellington I got a friend of mine to join me on my sweet indulgence. We were given complimentary bread basket and some sort of garlic tomato dip. It was yummy. I loved the huge tortilla chip. My friend was hungry so she ordered the truff

So did Jump live up to all of Anna’s expectations with its $45 dinner menu? Let’s find out!

The Appetizers:

Heritage Salmon Tartare
With: Smoked Chili, Plantain, Tomatillo Relish, & Maple PonzuThis salmon tartare was well done. The flavours weren’t too strong and were well complemented by the tomatillo relish. The maple ponzu was definitely interesting, offering an intriguing contrast between sweet and savoury flavours. The plantain chip on top added a crunch texture-wise but we weren’t sure if it was really needed. That being said, it certainly wasn’t bad by any means. Anna is quite fond of plantain chips and this for her was an unexpected but lovely surprise.

Antonio’s Prosciutto Cotto Salad
With: Celery, Walnuts, Avocado, Green Goddess DressingDan decided to go for this as he’s always been a big fan of prosciutto, but he’s never had it as part of a salad before. Turns out, it’s pretty good. The salad was fresh, crunchy, and well-dressed, though we had no real idea as to what green goddess dressing was. Dan personally would have liked more dressing, but he likes his salads bursting with flavour and unhealthy. XD The plantain chips (or at least that’s what we think they were) served as an interesting texture element, adding a crunch that would otherwise have been added by croutons.

The Mains:

Ash’s Braised Wellington County Beef Cheek Vindaloo (Local)
With: Green Wheat, Raisin & Couscous Pilaf, & Pickled OkraOoh, an vindaloo! A really, really good vindaloo too! Now Dan must point out that it’s not perfectly authentic due to the *cough* beef *cough*, but it was brilliantly made. Anna loved the tender softness and the full flavour of the beef. The couscous wasn’t at all dry and was superbly flavoured on its own. Dan wished there was a bit more sauce to accompany the couscous pilaf, a fact with which Anna has some disagreements. All told, this dish was fantastic.

Broiled Sea Bream
With: Sweet Corn & Fava Succotash, Popcorn, Shepherd Pepper, & Jalapeño JamThis is the shot that’s up as one of BlogTO’s ten favourite shots from Summerlicious 2014 and hopefully with some help from you guys, it might be in the running for one of the top three spots. :) Sea bream itself isn’t a particularly special fish, but this was cooked very well, being soft, flaky, and flavourful. The succotash was sweet and completed the fish splendidly and the jalopeno jam was a tad odd, but added an interesting kick. Dan thought the addition of popcorn was genius, complementing both the succotash and adding good texture to the dish.

The Desserts

Peach & Passion Fruit Trifle (Vegetarian/Local)
With: Vanilla Meringue, & Tarragon SyrupThis fruit trifle was definitely on the sweet side, but a good amount of sweet. Make sure you spoon the meringue, syrup, and the fruit to get the best mix of flavours (Anna: You have to have a bite with all the layers. No beef here, promise.) The fruit was fresh and the meringue was made perfectly. The tarragon syrup itself was interesting, but good. It’s something else that we’ve never had before.

Hewitt’s Dairy Buttermilk Panna Cotta (Vegetarian/Local)
With: Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bark, & Drunken BlueberriesWe didn’t know what drunken blueberries were. Now we do. XD Turns out, it’s alcohol-infused blueberries, which makes sense hehe. This was really quite delicious since despite the berries, the panna cotta was fresh and light- characteristics that we both enjoy in a dessert. The dark chocolate hazelnut bark had a delightful mix of sweet, savoury, and bitter flavours and reminded us of the Nature Valley sweet and salty chewy bars. We both loved the light note that this meal ended on, and left feeling very satisfied.

The Wrap:

Yup, we’re back to the expensive Summerlicious restaurants about it, but this one leaves us with no regrets. From the fantastic food to the great modern ambiance, Jump’s a restaurant that comes as advertised- a classy dining experience. The service was great, except for a bit of a delay in getting our bill and the music wasn’t too obtuse. Will we be back? We think so. :)

The Location:

Jump’s situated in the heart of the Financial District in downtown Toronto, located just west of Yonge on Wellington, inside of Commerce Court. They do validate parking down to $2 in the Commerce Court complex for dinner so long as you pull into the garage after 5:30 PM. That last bit’s important. XD

I came here for Valentine's Day and our experience with the server was amazing! Upon entering, we were offered coat service and were quickly escorted to our table. Our server, Karissa, was very attentive to our questions and requests. I love that she asked the kitchen to separate a dish we requested onto separate plates to save us the mess of dividing it ourselves, how generous! All used utensils were replaced with every course and servers always made sure water glasses were full. The food was very good as well, I wish there was a 4.5 rating because there was nothing wrong with the food but I do go into restaurants hoping to be blown away by flavours and textures. I really loved the mushroom soup, highly recommend it. The bolognese was also very delicious and you can really taste the pork. The tenderloin was alright to me, it was flavourful and easy to cut into but perhaps it was the combination of that and fries which made this $52 dish less worth it. Perhaps everyone has their own preference of characteristics for fries but I felt that my fries felt almost on the same level of store bought frozen fries. I was surprised to see that the soup and pasta that were a standard price were amazing but a higher priced main was sub-par. Ambiance wise, very upscale and intimate. The place was clean and the decor was tasteful. The bathrooms were a little odd as the water pressure was low and tissues were on the counter in place of paper towel or napkin. Overall, I do see this a good restaurant to go to and try but im not seeing anything amazing to come back for (except maybe the mushroom soup).

Stopped by for lunch before the holidays - happy to find these guys in a neighbourhood with so little open that time of day. Mixed review on the place but ultimately worth 4 stars. Although the lunch prices are a bit more affordable, this spot does tread into fine dining territory. Service therefore was pretty spot on and friendly. Food was either tasty or average. The molasses bread was basically incredible and my burger was tasty and enormously filling. My friend had the gnocchi which was small and bland. Overall a good spot for lunch. I think it has typical financial district prices and a generally reliable experience.

Absolutely fantastic restaurant. Nice ambiance and the service is flawless. The food is also amazing and very well made.