Jacko's Street

Jacko's street, located at Agripas St 74, Jerusalem (near the shuk) is another of those restaurants that have gotten really good reviews; but seem to disappoint me due to my high expectations. It's not that the food wasn't good - because it was. I guess it just seemed so ordinary. I question whether or not I can make the same dishes at the same quality in my own home. And that's just not the reason why I pay money for someone else to cook for me.

Let's begin at the beginning..... We made reservations. And we were told that we could only keep the table for 2 hours. (Please take note of the use of the word "table"). Now, I don't have any problems with limited seating and time limits. It IS unusual in Israel. But I'm OK with that. However, when we arrived, we were told that our reservation was for seats at the bar. And we were told that we were told that when we made the reservation. Ummmm. No. We weren't. And the restaurant was TOTALLY empty (were were the first ones there after Shabbat). But, because the Greeter wasn't the person who took the reservation, there was nothing she could do. So off to the bar we went. But not happily at all. It's also interesting to note that the restaurant still had plenty of empty four-tops when we were done and leaving the restaurant.

And from here the experience improved. I can't give enough credit to the woman tending bar. She understood what had happened and our displeasure. But she was personable, gracious, knowledgeable (about both food and drink), helpful and turned what could have been a miserable experience into a pleasant one. She even managed to get us comped the house bread and dips and a free appetizer - eggplant two ways; grilled strips and fried cubes. It was paired with thinly sliced radish and a wonderful aioli. She totally deserved the tip I left.

For our main courses, I ordered the entrecote, my wife ordered a salad off the appetizer menu and my sons ordered the mushroom/asado risotto and a gnocchi dish with mushrooms and a corn cream.

My steak was well cooked. Maybe a little on the rare side of medium-rare ; but that's par for the course in Israel. It was, however, a bit under seasoned. It could have used a bit of salt and pepper. The garlic confit helped a lot. It was nice. Not the best or worst steak that I've ever had; and maybe not worth the 145NIS price tag. The roasted vegetables were nice. And there were only two, thin, roasted potatoes.

My wife's salad was OK. Mainly greens with some thinly sliced pink lady apples, endive and artichoke hearts. The pistachios were a nice addition; and the vinaigrette was pleasant. But certainly a salad we could have made by ourselves.

The asado risotto was a good dish. Small portion, but a very tasty dish. My son was only disappointed by the size. The gnocchi, too, was a very good dish. But neither of these two dishes made me go, "Wow! This is a place that is coming up with new and interesting dishes!"

The best part of the meal was actually the dessert. We got the Solero - a trifle-like cup of vanilla ice cream, mango cream, berry sauce, pistachio sponge and nut crumble served in a jar. Loved it. Best dish of the meal.

And, I guess that says something. If the pareve dessert at a highly-rated meat restaurant is the best dish of the meal; then I guess the rave reviews are missing something - and the experience just doesn't deserve the price tag.