STEPHEN DAVY-OSBORNE revisits an old favourite with a new name

FOR several months it was the question on everyone’s lips in Old Town. Just what was going on behind the hoardings at Café Art?

Boarded up, with scaffolding covering the entire facade the popular Old Town coffee house, Team Adver suddenly found itself with time on its hands around about 10.30am each day – as surely was the case for countless loyal customers across Old Town. Where to go for that mid-morning caffeine hit? Despite the extra 20 minutes in our days, productivity at The Adver stagnated as the weeks went by, and we soon discovered that making coffee in the office is nowhere near as fun or satisfying, while our curiosity only grew and grew as time passed. Just how long could it take to install a new coffee machine? Rumours of an evening steak house abounded, only adding fuel to the fire.

Then, rather unexpectedly one rather cold, drab morning, the scaffolding was gone and there in the place where the dated Café Art had once stood was a brand-spanking new façade, complete with a new name. This was surely the start of something truly exciting.

The transformation goes far beyond the exterior and its new wooden doors (a far cry from the heavy glass doors of Café Art days, that always seemed to have it in for me when I was trying to make my way out with three cups of coffee, a bag of brownies in one hand and my phone in the other, while manoeuvring it with one foot). No, the interior is really something quite special – fresh, modern with a pleasant colour palette of turquoise and dark woods giving an upmarket feel.

We had our first taste of how Jack’s was branching out earlier in April when a launch day event was held, with the staff putting on a tasting platter of food they would be cooking up, which received all-round praise from everyone we spoke to.

Soon we found ourselves back into our old habits and popping across most days for a round of lattes or a focaccia lunch. But the opening of Jack’s brought with it an exciting new evening venture. As the sun goes down Jack’s takes on a whole new life as a traditional steak house. Given our obvious bias for the much-loved place we decided to be most cruel and carry out our unannounced review of the evening offering on their opening night. It all happened quite by chance, as an email popped up in my inbox alerting us to the first night of evening meals. Adver_Chris and Adver_Tom needed little persuading to join me for dinner that evening.

To whet our appetites we ordered rosemary focaccia with olives and basil pesto (£5.50), salt and pepper calamari £5.50 and the grilled marinated chicken satay skewers (£5.90) which all went down rather well, although Adver_Chris felt that portion control was a little out on his calamari. We did have a little bit of a wait on our mains, which may have exacerbated this for him.

All of Jack’s steaks are 28 day mature dry aged and locally sourced. They come served with chips, salad and vine ripened tomatoes with a choice of optional sauces of peppercorn, bearnaise, red wine or blue cheese. Cuts include 8oz rump (£14.50) sirloin (£18.90) and ribeye (£18.90) as well as a flat iron top blade (£16) as well as the 16oz Jack’s porterhouse (£28) and a 16oz Chateaubriand for two to share (£58).

For those seeking variety there is also a surf and turf option made up of a 6oz fillet served with grilled garlic tiger prawns (£27).

Adver_Chris was happy to lead on the steak theme and went for the 6oz prime steak burger which comes with a choice of aged cheddar, stilton or Monterey Jack Cheese and crispy bacon served with hand cut thick chips and homemade coleslaw (£11.90), although by the time it did arrive he was ravenous.

Adver_Tom meanwhile chose the pan-fried sea bass (£12.50) which came with confit potatoes, grilled baby vegetables, lemon capers in a white wine emulsion.

Having had steak on the brain for the best part of the afternoon I was eager to try one of the other cuts on offer, but felt that in the interests of giving Jack’s a good showcase, I would sample one of their vegetarian dishes and ordered the wild mushroom and brie risotto (£9.90). The lengths we are forced to go to in the name of impartial journalism displayed in its full glory right there.

Also on the menu is a bouillabaisse Mediterranean seafood stew (£12.90) and as well as a Caesar salad (£12.90) and a lite burger for those watching their figures – essentially the delicious beef patty, sans the carby bun, but replaced with salad (£11.90).

Despite it being opening night, we were one of only a few tables in there. This resulted in Adver_Chris becoming rather cross (a highlight of our evenings out). “They will have to step up their act considerably if they have any hopes of dealing with a busy weekend crowd,” he declared. But as this was his only real cause for concern, and bearing in mind it was opening night, they aren’t doing all bad at all.

There were no complaints from my corner of the table, nor from Adver_Tom who thought it was “marvellous” and easily some of the best food he had had during his first year at The Adver. “The fish was divine and I was genuinely gutted when I had finished it. Yes the service was slow, but it was a warm and inviting setting nicely accompanied with top quality grub,” he said.

Adver_Tom and I – always in the market for something sweet – were tempted by the dessert menu, with him selecting a strawberry sundae, while I went for the strawberry pavlova (both £5). Adver_Chris was content with the Jack’s staple of a latte to round the evening off, which have once again become the highlights of our working day.

Jacks

Address 120 Victoria Road

Website www.jacksoldtown.com

Parking: No

Disabled access: Yes

Our ratings:

Food: 8/10

Choice: 8.5/10

Decor: 9/10

Customer service: 8/10

Main course prices: £9.90 - £58

TripAdvisor rating: Not yet rated