Fabulous Lunch
Our party of eight had a reservation for lunch this past Friday. I had no preconcieved notions about Jack's having never been there or even read anything about it. One of my friends told us that the owner Jack, is the former chef from Max's on Main in Hartford. I have never eaten there so that didn't impress me either.
What did impress me was stellar service, a beautiful restaurant and fabulous food. Not just one meal but every meal was perfectly prepared and presented. If the appetizers and entrees weren't enough , the desserts and cappucinos were even more outstanding. Frankly I can't wait to try their dinner.
We tried everything from the gaspacho with peaches and crab, to the blackened chicken sandwich. The profiteroles have black cherry icecream in them and the carrot cake with the maple cream cheese frosting was to die for.
Dining here was truly an experience and Jack even came out and introduced himself as we were finishing up.    [07 Aug 2005 00:11:27]

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Recommended Dishes: crab cakes and calimari

     ­Isabelle Esteves   

Excellent
We went to Jack’s for lunch. The inside is very nicely done, although a bit small, so the tables are a little close together. The lunch menu has little selection (the dinner menu looks much more extensive), and after the lovely lunch, we will be back for dinner.

The appetizers of portabella quesadilla and steak carpaccio were delightful; however the carpaccio had a little too much mayonnaise on the salad. My husband had the popeye’s cobb salad, with a steak on the side, he enjoyed both. I had a bibb lettuce salad with blackened chicken that was wonderful. I finished with a coffee crème brulee and my husband had the rum beignets both were heavenly.    [11 Apr 2006 10:34:57]

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     ­Robin C   

Not a good choice...
I have been to Jack's five times since the restaurant first opened. The first three times the food was excellent, especially the fish. However, the last two visits have been disappointing. My last meal, and I mean my LAST meal at Jack's was last night. I ordered the swordfish at $26, really a great dish, but the quality of the swordfish was substandard. The texture was mealy and about 1/4 of the small piece of fish consisted of dark meat. Prior to that meal, I had halibut; and once again, the quality of the fish was not very good. Jack is a good chef who needs to pay attention to the quality of the food he purchases from his suppliers.    [24 Apr 2006 11:17:44]

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     ­PAK   

Back for Dinner
After a great experience for lunch, we went back for dinner.

We enjoyed the creative mix of flavors in each dish. We started out with the lobster pot stickers in a vanilla cream sauce. They were fresh, not a bit fishy, and the vanilla sauce was a surprising contrast that melded wonderfully with the lobster. We split an asparagus salad that was a bit over dressed, but over all very delightful. My husband had the Peking style Cornish game hen, which he raved about. I had the surf and turf special that visually stunning, and tasted great with a creative spinach, pineapple and sweat potato side. I felt the shrimp in my entrée was a bit over cooked, but the sauce made up for it. For desert I had a chocolate mouse special was the best I’ve ever had, and my husband enjoyed his rhubarb tart. Topped off with fantastic, friendly service, we found ourselves planning our next visit during the drive home.    [08 May 2006 14:52:26]

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Recommended Dishes: Peking Style Cornish Game Hen

     ­Robin C   

Not Worth Visiting
Upon urging from several friends, we ate dinner at Jack's May 16 to celebrate a special occasion. I read the reviews on this site as well. I ordered the Lobster Bisque and it was by far the worst that I have ever had. It tasted like it was out of a can. The Foie Gras croutons for the bisque sounded interesting, but they lacked taste. I ordered the Peking Cornish Hen for dinner and that was a major disappointment too. Very boring dish. My wife ordered the Lobster Pot Stickers which were good. She had the Salmon for dinner and that was basically flavorless and the horseradish potato thing that the salmon rested on was lousy as well. The only highlight of the dinner was the pina colada intermettzo. The service started out strong. Our waiter was good until he got a larger table and then we were largely ignored. We'll never be back and we wouldn't recommend it to friends that enjoy good food.    [17 May 2006 08:34:40]

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Recommended Dishes: Not the Salmon or the Peking Hen or the Lobster Bisque

     ­Chris H   

Worth the trip
After stopping into Jack’s after an evening weekday show at the Goodspeed, we had missed dinner, however, after calling around a few other local restaurants, we were accommodated with a lovely specialty cheese platter (Jack’s kitchen was closed) and the wine list kept us from going too far.

Subsequently, I decided to return with my husband for dinner. The menu selections were interesting and sounded fantastic. The service was excellent. Based on the descriptions and recommendations everything sounded so scrumptious, I was expecting something spectacular but what I received fell a bit short of my expectation. The food was very good but for the price it should have been much better.

I was expecting an adventure and I got a walk in the park. We’ll go back and give it another try, it was good, and we’ll have to see if we just caught Jack on an off day!!    [25 Nov 2006 23:11:54]

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Recommended Dishes: The wine list

     ­BB   

I went to Jack's last night...Again
The food was AWESOME! I love this restaurant. It is my favorite! Extremely professional staff, terrificly daring food in a very elegant and romantic, yet comfortable setting . Seeing Jack there is always a nice touch too. This restaurant is only going to get better! For all of the nay-sayers who do not like spending money when they go out to dinner, GO TO MC D's if you want a dollar menu!    [09 Feb 2007 22:02:12]

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Recommended Dishes: Anything on special that night, greek salad

     ­Anonymous   

Changed the name and changed the quality
Went for dinner in 06 with a group and found the food and service good. Went for dinner in 08 with a group of friends and lost my friends. Portions were small and I had to go look for the waiters... With so many restaurants in Old Saybrook the meat will be very aged by the time we go back.    [09 Feb 2008 07:55:50]

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     ­AL SVARD, NYC