Hot Joy

Hot Joy Restaurant Review:

Call Hot Joy the renegade love child of the nearby and unconventional The Monterey where it began its rebellious existence as an unpredictable pop-up. The kung fu décor (one wall was painted by a tattoo artist, and there are booths that evoke dens of delightful iniquity) is delirious, and the menu follows suit, beginning innocently enough with a riff on banchan before moving on to other small plates such as smashed cucumber with lime chutney and coconut milk, and charred eggplant with dried shrimp and fried egg. Twice-fried chicken wings with crab fat caramel are addicting, while a pork belly dish with black curry and pork blood only sounds (and looks) scary. We would give a pass to the fried rices (unless you're a Spam fan), but that's it in the way of warnings. A huge selection of Rieslings and an inventive dessert list support the menu, which ushers one out with the likes of black sesame ice cream alongside griddled banana cake.