Dining Reviews

First of all, if you profess not to like garlic, go away. Just turn the page. True garlic fanatics don’t have the patience to listen to you complain. They’re too busy eating garlic or dreaming about eating garlic. Besides, if garlic makes you blanch, you’re going to think the rest of this review is barbaric. So, catch you later. 



Right then. Garlic zombies probably already know about this place, but just in case you’ve been chained in the basement for the last year or so, Garlic Jo’s relocated to Mariner’s Mile in Newport Beach from Corona del Mar in March ’06 and took over the space formerly occupied by Margaritaville. 


Since then, the restaurant (part of the Japanese-run Yokohama America House Ltd. family of restaurants) has been faithfully providing Asian fusion cuisine and traditional American dishes accompanied by enough garlic to denude Gilroy.


If you want something subtle, go to the latest leaf-and-twig emporium. But if you’re one of those types who gets a curious thrill when your sweetie gives you a smart whack on the butt immediately after a long, juicy kiss, you may end up camping in Garlic Jo’s parking lot. 



The place is bright and sunny, with many south-facing windows and a big, oval bar overlooked by a ring of dining tables and artful partitions that also contain a large collection of garlic cellars and martini glasses. 


But what you’ll really love is the fact that so many of the items on the menu are either hot and spicy or groaning under the weight of tons of garlic.



I began with the Vampire Killer. It consists of about a dozen cloves of oven-roasted garlic, in garlic olive oil, with bits of anchovy and Parmesan cheese, served with small baguette slices. Remember, garlic is only truly lethal if it’s raw; roasting tames it, but it still retains a robust and assertive flavor. This dish was no different. 



My entrée could be described as a whole LOT of garlic with some other stuff. Actually, it was the “original” garlic chicken, topped, as the menu reads, “with original garlic sauce and crispy garlic chips.” 



This description is important because when it arrives on a sizzling skillet, surrounded by mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli, it appears to be heavily breaded and completely obliterated with slivered almonds. Nope: the “breading” is extremely fine minced garlic in sauce, and the “almonds” are very thinly sliced garlic cloves cooked to a golden brown. One other thing: the waiter squeezes a full bulb of roasted garlic into the mashed potatoes and mixes it in. 



But is it good? The veggies were delicately steamed, the potatoes were smooth and substantial (and, with the garlic, sensational) and the chicken was a large, juicy, skinless half breast cooked almost fork tender. The garlic sauce and chips added broad-shouldered pedal notes and an almost nutty crunchiness, respectively.



Let’s put it this way: if you disdain garlic, you’ll hate this. But if you’re among the enlightened, it’ll make you want to embrace most of the world with one arm and punch Osama silly with the other. OCM 



2332 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, 949.673.8444.