Girls' Day Out in Lancaster - John J. Jeffries

This is post 3 of 3 from a Girls’ Day Out in Lancaster. In this post, we’re reviewing a restaurant I’ve been to a few times, but have never reviewed for Hateful Heifers: John J. Jeffries. After a fantastically busy day doing lots of fun, touristy things that we’d never do since we live in Lancaster, Jilly and I had reservations at John J. Jeffries at the Lancaster Arts Hotel. What I appreciate about this restaurant is that it features local, in-season menu items. Locally sourced meats and vegetables are featured on the menu, making it very much a farm-to-table experience. We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation and were seated quickly. We started with drinks. I ordered the Dr. Manhattan, and Jilly ordered the Lavender Sidecar. 

Our server, Alex, brought out a lovely little shot of dandelion soup. It was smooth and creamy, and reminiscent of asparagus. I love eating dandelions in the spring, when the leaves haven’t become bitter, and this little shooter was the perfect presentation of what most people think of as just a lawn weed.

For our starter, we went with the Surf & Turf. This raw dish consists of thinly sliced raw dry-aged beef, thin slices of salt-cured scallops, and pickled onions. It was a little saltier than I had expected until I remembered the scallops were salt-cured. There wasn’t anything left on the plate between the two of us.

I ordered the responsibly sourced seafood of the day, the kanpachi, served with dandelion (I told you I like dandelion!), spring onion risotto, and an herb beurre blanc sauce. The fish was on the thin side, so it was not a piece that could be treated like a thicker tuna steak. However, it was very tasty. The risotto that accompanied it was also well done.

Jilly had the dry-aged beef of the day, which was a merlot cut. The beef was cooked rare and came out almost blue-rare, which made it even more delicious and flavorful. The potatoes were tallow fried and a perfect combination of crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. One thing about the steak is that it could have rested just a little longer than it did. During dinner, Jilly also had a Colonial Margarita as her second drink.

Of course, we had to order dessert! I ordered a grappa and the cheese plate. Sadly, my eyes were far larger than my stomach, so I ended up bringing almost the entire cheese plate home and enjoyed it for breakfast the next morning. 

Jilly had an Irish coffee and the coconut cream tart. She couldn’t decide between that and the Earl Grey creme brulee, but the server said that the creme brulee is a staple, while the coconut cream tart was a limited-time item that was actually brought back from their Valentine’s Day menu because of its popularity. It was easy to see why. It was not overly sweet and had a delicious balance of coconut to it. Not a bite was left.

It turned out that Jilly and I have friends in common with our server, Alex, so we had a fantastic conversation about shared interests. The conversation was awesome.

John J. Jeffries continues to be one of our top restaurants to recommend in Lancaster. It isn’t pretentious, and the food and service are top-notch.