jacal

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

I quite like the place, the charcuterie plate which often appears on the specials list is great. The duck risotto is good and the wine list is pretty decent. It's a solid middle rank cafe/restaurant. Pluses - the upstairs area is brilliant if you have a large group (booking needed), outside tables pleasant in spring/autumn. Owner is very friendly and accommodating. They have a toy box to keep the littlies amused (rather important in Balmain nowadays. Minuses - hard surfaces equals noisy. Waitstaff can be a bit laissez faire.

I'd count myself a semi regular, been going here for about 2 years prob. once a month on average. From reading the reviews I've noticed two patterns, people who write a lot of reviews are more likely to like it than someone who has only written 1 review and there's a few regulars commenting. Given I often see the same faces there I'm not surprised.

Oct 31, 2008

7.3 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  9     

I'd agree with the "best coffee in Sydney CBD" comment. Everyone I know who's "into coffee" agrees. The food is OK, nothing to write home about. The service is good - they remember what I like and don't mess it up (the double shot is done ristretto ...). They're friendly and fun. The location is disappointing. King St is noisy and the shop is small but it doesn't matter - everyone is here for the coffee.

I think the queue out the door and onto the footpath from 8.00 till about 11.00 pretty well sums it up. For those who got a coffee they weren't happy with, talk to them about it - I'd be surprised if you didn't get another (and no I don't work there, no I'm not related, just a happy regular).

Aug 27, 2007

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Jun 07. Well a return visit was a disappointment, the service was great, has improved dramatically, but the menu has gone backwards. The majority of the interesting and exotic has gone, and been replaced with the run of the mill and mundane steaks and chicken dishes. There's still some good stuff left, the lamb tagine I had was good, the girlfriend's kangaroo was beautifully done, it just isn't in the same top notch category as before.

The only thing worth checking is whether there is a different menu for lunch and dinner (below was dinner this time was lunch). Not bad at all, quite decent but would no longer go out of my way now.

===

Oct 06 below - rating was Food 8 Ambience 7, Service 7 Value 7

Food was excellent, menu items drawn from all over the middle east and beautifully done. Decor and ambience nicely done, however, the service was a bit patchy. The waitress who took our order initially got the important bits right (ie the food !) but forgot the water and the wine didn't arrive until we chased it up when the food was delivered. Similarly, the wait for a bill and to order dessert was a little more than I'd have liked.

The food, however, was enough to forgive all sins !! We ordered mezze, calamari stuffed with something absolutely exquisite (but I've forgotten what!) not a big portion but divine. The morrocan cigars were lady finger style pastry with a rabbit filling and cinnamon almonds on the top, unusual taste combination but great. Lamb Kafta was a tasty lamb stew and the Quail were perfectly done. The dessert tasting plate for 2 had 4 individual desserts all of which were great. Definitely worth another visit.

Jun 15, 2007

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

Great value little bistro for lunch, excellent wine list with a great "by the glass" list and they have tasting size glasses as well as a standard pour. Goes well with the degustation/tapas style tasting plates. You can order piccolo, entree or mains sized dishes. Ordering the tasting plates is definitely the way to go, 4 dishes between 2 is a great size for lunch and allows you to try a little of everything. A great spot, highly recommended, great value for money.

Jun 15, 2007

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  4      Value  2     

Welcome to 1980 ! This is the epitome of kitsch, the remnant of a bygone era, one that I'm very glad is gone. Kath and Kim would be very comfortable here I would think.

Monkey's climbing palm trees are presumably a left over from a previous tenant in this space. The elderly waiter was friendly in that "old bloke" next door sort of way. The wine list was atrocious and the menu had that early 80's favourite duck a l'orange.

On the plus side the snails were good quality produce, although drowned in garlic, a little judicious scraping made it quite decent. The pate was a huge slab but served overly cold.

Neither mains nor desserts were anything much.

Don't bother.

Nov 08, 2006

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

I quite like the place, the charcuterie plate which often appears on the specials list is great. The duck risotto is good and the wine list is pretty decent. It's a solid middle rank cafe/restaurant. Pluses - the upstairs area is brilliant if you have a large group (booking needed), outside tables pleasant in spring/autumn. Owner is very friendly and accommodating. They have a toy box to keep the littlies amused (rather important in Balmain nowadays. Minuses - hard surfaces equals noisy. Waitstaff can be a bit laissez faire.

I'd count myself a semi regular, been going here for about 2 years prob. once a month on average. From reading the reviews I've noticed two patterns, people who write a lot of reviews are more likely to like it than someone who has only written 1 review and there's a few regulars commenting. Given I often see the same faces there I'm not surprised.

Oct 31, 2008

7.3 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  9     

I'd agree with the "best coffee in Sydney CBD" comment. Everyone I know who's "into coffee" agrees. The food is OK, nothing to write home about. The service is good - they remember what I like and don't mess it up (the double shot is done ristretto ...). They're friendly and fun. The location is disappointing. King St is noisy and the shop is small but it doesn't matter - everyone is here for the coffee.

I think the queue out the door and onto the footpath from 8.00 till about 11.00 pretty well sums it up. For those who got a coffee they weren't happy with, talk to them about it - I'd be surprised if you didn't get another (and no I don't work there, no I'm not related, just a happy regular).

Aug 27, 2007

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Jun 07. Well a return visit was a disappointment, the service was great, has improved dramatically, but the menu has gone backwards. The majority of the interesting and exotic has gone, and been replaced with the run of the mill and mundane steaks and chicken dishes. There's still some good stuff left, the lamb tagine I had was good, the girlfriend's kangaroo was beautifully done, it just isn't in the same top notch category as before.

The only thing worth checking is whether there is a different menu for lunch and dinner (below was dinner this time was lunch). Not bad at all, quite decent but would no longer go out of my way now.

===

Oct 06 below - rating was Food 8 Ambience 7, Service 7 Value 7

Food was excellent, menu items drawn from all over the middle east and beautifully done. Decor and ambience nicely done, however, the service was a bit patchy. The waitress who took our order initially got the important bits right (ie the food !) but forgot the water and the wine didn't arrive until we chased it up when the food was delivered. Similarly, the wait for a bill and to order dessert was a little more than I'd have liked.

The food, however, was enough to forgive all sins !! We ordered mezze, calamari stuffed with something absolutely exquisite (but I've forgotten what!) not a big portion but divine. The morrocan cigars were lady finger style pastry with a rabbit filling and cinnamon almonds on the top, unusual taste combination but great. Lamb Kafta was a tasty lamb stew and the Quail were perfectly done. The dessert tasting plate for 2 had 4 individual desserts all of which were great. Definitely worth another visit.

Jun 15, 2007

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

Great value little bistro for lunch, excellent wine list with a great "by the glass" list and they have tasting size glasses as well as a standard pour. Goes well with the degustation/tapas style tasting plates. You can order piccolo, entree or mains sized dishes. Ordering the tasting plates is definitely the way to go, 4 dishes between 2 is a great size for lunch and allows you to try a little of everything. A great spot, highly recommended, great value for money.

Jun 15, 2007

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  4      Value  2     

Welcome to 1980 ! This is the epitome of kitsch, the remnant of a bygone era, one that I'm very glad is gone. Kath and Kim would be very comfortable here I would think.

Monkey's climbing palm trees are presumably a left over from a previous tenant in this space. The elderly waiter was friendly in that "old bloke" next door sort of way. The wine list was atrocious and the menu had that early 80's favourite duck a l'orange.

On the plus side the snails were good quality produce, although drowned in garlic, a little judicious scraping made it quite decent. The pate was a huge slab but served overly cold.

Neither mains nor desserts were anything much.

Don't bother.

Nov 08, 2006

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

Run of the mill italian "gourmet" pizza joint. It'll fill an empty stomach with something you won't feel ripped off about before you go to your movie, but a couple of 100m walk will drop you off onto the main drag of Glebe and much better options. If you're in a hurry or not terribly fussy about your food by all means, but....

Oct 24, 2006

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  7     

Service excellent - friendly, helpful, attentive waiter and great wine recommendation. Food was decent, up to the mark for the price point. Good quality, well presented and prepared. Solid, decent but not outstanding for the money.

Oct 24, 2006

6.6 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Good pub restaurant upstairs (haven't eaten the bar food). Food is solid and reliable. Not as staid as many pub menus - quail is on the menu for example (and was rather good) ditto the duck and chorizo. Ambience, is well, the upper floor of a pub with some nicely set tables - it's OK. Service last week was excellent but then we *were* the only table there (a Tues night) and has always been quite OK. Wine list is pretty ordinary. There's a couple of drinkable options in the bottles but the by the glass menu is pretty low rent. You can definitely do a lot worse in North Sydney.

Oct 24, 2006

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  8     

Good quality Japanese, decent variety, very well priced for what you get. Ambience so-so. A regular lunch haunt for me.

Oct 24, 2006

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

Japanese fusion, some of the dishes are brilliant, some are average. The less traditional the dish is the more likely it is to be particularly good. I don't really rate their sushi, however some of the fusion dishes like the salt pepper beef and the ovenbaked cod were great.

Oct 24, 2006