Jack's Bistro

 

5

46

Caitlin S.

Baltimore, MD

I liked this place, but don't feel like it lives up to all the hype.  I heard about it on NPR and decided I had to give it a shot.  I had the macaroni and cheese with chocolate that wasn't as good as I had anticipated.  I think the issue was that the cheese was smoked.  I love smoked gouda mac and cheese, but it didn't blend well with the sweetness of the chocolate in my opinion.  I ordered tuna paired with a fruit topping.  I was surprise when the tuna arrived singing a song that sounded similar to snap, crackle, pop.  Pop rocks candy was added to the fruit accompanying the tuna!  I appreciate the creativity, and it definitely tasted interesting, but this is not something I will ever crave or even order again.  

The service and the decor were not especially memorable.  I went because of the food, which didn't impress me given the prices.  However, if the service and decor was amazing, I think I would head back because there are many other items on the menu that I would like to try.  It's possible my only experience was a miss, and if you're into food, I would say give it a shot.

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Elite '08

35

83

Nina F.

Long Beach, CA

Sitting down for a meal at Jack's reminds me how much I want them to open their next location in California -- given the creativity of their menu, the Shag paintings on the walls, and the overall chill vibe the place emits, chances are they'd fit right in.  

Our party was seated at a table near the kitchen making it very convenient for us to pepper the chef with trillions of questions while he was preparing our food.  If we were distracting/annoying him, he never let on and never missed a beat in either our conversation or the food.  Impressive.  

Between the six of us we ordered a bunch of items to share, the dinner favorites being the smoked Gouda and milk chocolate mac and cheese, lamb youvetsi, bistro crab cake, and crispy skin rockfish.  

Although I'm sure not for everyone, I can't say enough great things about the mac and cheese.  Smoked cheese and chocolate?  Ahh-mazing.  I could eat bowls and bowls and likely would have (at least in my mind) if not for the endless array of other goodies that I had to force myself to save room for.    

The lamb was tender and the crab cakes delicious, but my favorite was the rockfish: served with an herb and shallot cream reduction, crispy risotto, and perfectly cooked green beans.      

However, the highlight of the evening were the desserts -- lavender peppercorn ice cream, fried s'mores served with s'more ice cream, and chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter brandy sauce.  I'm not sure it gets much better than this dessert-wise.  The lavender peppercorn ice cream was a standout -- the exact flavors you'd expect -- sweet, slightly perfume-y lavender and sharp peppercorn,  but such a fresh, surprisingly unexpected pairing in ice cream form.

Hats off to these guys -- they've got a good thing going here!

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1

10

Tracy H.

Baltimore, MD

This has to be my all-time favorite restaurant. The food is incredibly innovative and rich and delicious. The staff is incredibly friendly and will go out of their way to accommodate you. Their drinks are delicious and they introduced me to a liquor called Amarula and I was never the same again. If you visit or live in the Baltimore area, you must visit this place! If you can avoid being tempted by the drinks, you can eat there rather reasonably. Most of the appetizers can function as meals (cheeseburger balls, logom, meat and potatoes) and they have two happy hours with $2 off specialty drinks and appetizers (5-7 and 11-1).
My faves - macaroni and cheese and chocolate, meat and potatoes, guinness tenderloin, cheeseburger balls, salad ciferri,  short rib, seared scallops... I can almost name the whole menu.

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20

89

Katie M.

Portland, OR

I really want to give this place a 4.5. I heard about this place through a friend who had been who told me they had a bubble tea cocktail. I love bubble tea, so I decided I needed to try this out. Their menu is incredible and something I wouldn't really expect to see in Baltimore.
The bubble tea cocktail was actually not great. It had green tea vodka in it and I think flavored vodkas just tend to make me sick, but I really appreciate the effort and innovation.
For an appetizer I had macaroni and cheese and chocolate. It sounds terrible but it was awesome- so delicious.
I had another appeteizer for dinner after all that richness, and I got the Guinness meat and potatoes, which was braised beef over cinnamon scented potatoes. The meat and sauce were seriously so awesome but the potatoes were sort of ehhh texture wise. But again, I appreciate the effort. For dessert we split fried smores, and I'm so glad we split them. They were marshmallows dipped in grahm cracker crumbs and then fried with some sort of chocolate somewhere, I was so overwhelmed I don't remember.
A lot of the food is really heavy and rich and I took home a stomach ache (because I couldn't NOT finish it!), but I was really satisfied and can't wait to go back again.
They have all sorts of specials on different nights, including homeade soft pretzel with toppings (like crab), and different happy hours too.

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