204461 Wed Oct 15 11:59:11 -0700 2003 27 18 Manhattan 0 1090337 Maybe dinner in the ground floor bar at this bijou outpost of Jewel Bakko is not formal, but a $75 tasting menu means it's not inexpensive either. Since Jewel Bakko is one of the embarrassing gaps on my dining CV, I had no particular expectations. Just as well. The cutesy bar (and there are only three or four bar stools, so don't imagine a sushi bar experience) is decked out in pink checkered wallpaper and lined with seriously uncomfortable pink banquettes. The short menu describes some appetizers - mainly cooked preparations of seafood, raw bar choices, and one entree, pig cheeks en cocotte with langoustine. The wine list has a split personality - bottles around $28-$30 on one side, and offerings like La Tache at around $1600 on the other. The assembled experts chose a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Oyster Bay, and later moved on to a glass of Ribera del Duero Crianza, Arroyo. To begin, we sampled: oysters six ways; oysters Rockefeller "deconstructed" ; octopus terrine; Taylor Bay scallops. Of the six ways with the half shell oysters, I think four worked - a "Russian" sour cream and caviar topping, an "English" version with a tiny triangle of bread (pumpernickel, oddly enough); "Japanese" ponzu style with soy sauce and sake; and classic "American" cocktail sauce. The "French" mignonette was very sharp and vinegary, and a "New Orleans" assault with some kind of spicy citrus glaze masked the oyster. The deconstruction of oysters Rockefeller involved serving the critters out of their shells, on a puree of spinach and cress, with a curl of crisp bacon on top. No rich sauce (although the dish, of course, earned its name from its richness). Pleasant enough. This was one of a number of New Orleans accents on the menu, along with a celery remoulade soup, which we didn't try. The octopus terrine was a disaster. Similar dishes I have sampled in the past have been offered as thin slices. This was a brick, moulded from the slender tentacles of the beast. Hard to find a word for the texture - neither chewy nor mushy but somehow heavy and hard going. And then a bitter after taste. Taylor Bay scallops, over which the charming staff enthused, had the flavor of water. And maybe some lemon squeezed on top. An invisible dish. The pig cheeks came in a hot pot, with two meaty langoustines per serving. The broth was thin, spiked with a hot pepper vinegar. The meat was tender enough, but a little underseasoned. It made us crave a more traditional braise of cheeks with a rich red wine sauce. And while the shellfish didn't clash with the pork, neither particular enhanced the other. We finished with a mysterious Rum Baba "Bananas Foster" (N'Awlins again), where neither bananas nor Foster could be detected. A muffin, essentially, drenched in rum and whipped cream; very edible, but nothing special. A disappointment, I think, and at just under $100 a head including tip, not a cheap one. Wed Oct 15 11:59:11 -0700 2003 0 Wilfrid 1 1090338 Wilfrid -- I've never particularly understood why seafood (esp. scallops) tends to get paired with meats in North American restaurants. That langoustines/beef cheeks dish sounds horrible. This place is supposed to have a decent selection of champagne by the glass. I wonder whether it did. And why is "luxury" in the name -- is it a marketing gimmick? I wonder whether diners are supposed to have hors d'oeuvres or to have whole meals at this venue. Were there good dessert wines available by the glass? Wed Oct 15 12:06:21 -0700 2003 1090337 0 cabrales 2 1090340 Okay, some comments. Yes, they had a decent selection of champagnes by the glass, but nothing extraordinary. I don't recall about the dessert wines. It's called "Luxury" because they're aiming for some semblance of luxury - gold plated small forks, things like that. Nice little "luxurious" touches. I agree with Wilfrid completely about the food. The Oysters Rockefeller dish had oysters that were poached in wine, by the way. I actually was still hungry when we left. We joked about going around the corner for a taco. For $93-ish bucks, I expect to be satisfied - or at the very least - not hungry. Also - I didn't "get" the decor. I thought the wallpaper was a disaster - and those banquettes - really uncomfortable. And service leaves something to be desired - I had to ask for water, and we ordered our red wine by the glass and it was a long time coming - we were half way through the pig cheeks dish before the wine came. The octopus terrine was horrendous indeed. It came with an anchovy and olive tapenade-like paste, which was so bitter and salty it was nearly inedible, and certainly completely drowned out the (yucky) octopus. I'm a huge fan of Jewel Bako, so this was particularly disappointing. I hope they eventually do better. I'd go back to sit at the bar and have some oysters (which were pretty good), but that's about it at this point. Wed Oct 15 12:17:27 -0700 2003 1090338 0 Nina W. 3 1090351 Nina's right about the little luxury touches. They also had some very attractive Laguiole cutlery. Pork and shellfish is indeed in the air, and not just in North America. I came across it in several Sydney restaurants earlier this year - pork belly and scallops is one example which springs to mind. I am not convinced that it adds anything. Also, you'll remember the decision to garnish roast chicken with sweet shrimp at Mix - not unpleasant, but just a little eccentric. The only such combo I recall appealing to me was the pairing of sausage and shrimp in various South Carolina dishes such as the Low Country boiled dinner. Doutbless there are examples from New Orleans too. Is pork/shellfish a recognized combo in Chinese food, like pork and eel? Wed Oct 15 12:56:51 -0700 2003 1090340 0 Wilfrid 4 1090354 For the record, I liked almost everything on the tasting menu, including the beef cheeks/langoustines. The dessert wasn't great, but everything up to that was, including some of the best oysters I've ever had. And I thought the oysters rockefeller deconstruction was transcendent. Dan Wed Oct 15 13:00:31 -0700 2003 1090351 0 Dan 5 1090358 What did you like about those dishes? Wed Oct 15 13:08:00 -0700 2003 1090354 0 Nina W. 6 1090399 Just to be pedantic, they were pig cheeks. Wed Oct 15 14:48:12 -0700 2003 1090358 0 Wilfrid 5 1091227 I had a fabulous meal there the other night. We did the tasting menu - which was fantastic. As the previous poster said, the Oysters Rockefeller deconstructed was amazing. I'm not a big fan of cooked oysters, but these were amazing - although they were cooked (poached in wine, I think) they were essentially "rare" - perfect texture, and their taste blended well with the greens they were served on (structured like a piece of sushi, with the greens replacing the rice). I can't speak to the variety of oysters (since we had the tasting menu and I did not ask about what else was available, but the ones (from Washington and Canada) that came with the tasting menu were excellent quality. Everything else - especially the celery soup - was delicious. The service (we sat upstairs) was also great - friendly, professional, and very knowledgeable about the menu and the wines. Tue Oct 21 14:34:09 -0700 2003 1090354 0 Steve S. 4 1090370 Pork and eel constitute an accepted combination? Note raw large scallops carpaccio style might be OK paired with a clean, terrine-like, non-sauteed foie. The anchovy with foie app at WD-50 is appropriate. So perhaps foie is a bit more flexible than most meat products when it comes to pairing with seafood. Certain oyster dishes have some flexibility. And, as Wilfrid mentioned, in New Orleans style and Spanish, etc., cuisine, shrimp or similar seafood might be paired with sausage (incl. in rice preparations). However, apart from those, I generally think that pairing meat products with seafood is not a good idea. Wed Oct 15 13:23:21 -0700 2003 1090351 0 cabrales 5 1090371 The chef does have some kind of New Orleans background. Wed Oct 15 13:25:45 -0700 2003 1090370 0 Abbylovi 6 1090452 During a recent meal there, the fact that the chef is from the south was mentioned five or six times. At least she does not serve louisiana oysters :-) Wed Oct 15 19:26:51 -0700 2003 1090371 0 Orik 7 1090483 They hammered that fact on us too. Thu Oct 16 08:14:49 -0700 2003 1090452 0 Abbylovi 5 1090373 What about paella as an example of a wonderful meat and seafood combination? This would be an interesting General Topics discussion. Wed Oct 15 13:26:07 -0700 2003 1090370 0 Nina W. 6 1090378 That's included in the sausage with seafood reference in the context of Spanish cuisine (I appreciate paella has more than sausage as meat). Wed Oct 15 13:32:20 -0700 2003 1090373 0 cabrales 7 1090380 "Pork and eel constitute an accepted combination?" I have had garlicky pork and eel hot pots in Cantonese restaurants. I assumed they were authentic - they were very good. Wed Oct 15 13:39:12 -0700 2003 1090378 0 Wilfrid 8 1090387 I've had plenty of congee and various casseroles which combine meat and seafood too. Wed Oct 15 13:45:02 -0700 2003 1090380 0 Nina W. 9 1090388 Right, but as more of a "throw it all in" casserole that includes a number of different elements (veggies), instead of a dish that is specifically pairing a meat item with a seafood item, no? Wed Oct 15 14:01:37 -0700 2003 1090387 0 cabrales 10 1090392 Hmm. I think there are plenty of of specific meat/fish congee combinations out there. Casseroles can vary - some are veggie-heavy, some aren't. But I understand your point. Wed Oct 15 14:17:26 -0700 2003 1090388 0 Nina W. 10 1090393 This is a discussion for General Topics (as mentioned earlier) as it does not pertain specifically to Manhattan chow - so please continue there. Wed Oct 15 14:17:28 -0700 2003 1090388 2 The Chowhound Team 2 1090341 Oh - about the menu. Upstairs there's a tiny little dining room where they do a prix fixe tasting menu. Downstairs you can get that also - but there are additional items downstairs (raw bar, etc). The prix fixe menu is $75. Wed Oct 15 12:22:32 -0700 2003 1090338 0 Nina W. 1 1090361 Being a big Jewel Bako fan, I did have high expectations for Jack's. Throughout the meal I muttered "I am crushed, I am crushed." That pretty much sums it up. I fully expected to be blown away by Jack's. By the end of the meal as we were eating the pigs cheeks I suddenly thought to myself "wait a second, I don't love this. I should love this." It was ok and pigs cheeks should not just be ok. The service was also pretty bumbling. We were lectured on the menu twice. But then when the oysters 6 ways arrived, our server sort of knew the oysters but wasn't positive on all 6 of them. Not receiving wine with the pigs cheeks was a pretty big gaffe too. Grace was chatting up her photographer while we pitifully gazed at her expectantly. In trying to figure out a reason to return at first we thought well they oysters were good. But if I'm in the mood for oysters, I'm going to Grand Central. The deconstruction of oysters Rockefeller was the best dish of the night but certainly not a reason to go back. Oh and there was the absense of Jack. At least we still have Jewel Bako. Wed Oct 15 13:10:36 -0700 2003 1090337 0 Abbylovi 1 1090390 Did any of the diners get a sense as to how extensive (apart from the 6 supplied) the oyster selection is, at Jack's Luxury "Oyster Bar"? Wed Oct 15 14:13:51 -0700 2003 1090337 0 cabrales 2 1090398 Not very extensive. Maybe 4 types last night? Wed Oct 15 14:37:44 -0700 2003 1090390 0 Nina W. 3 1090400 That sounds meager, for a restaurant that markets itself as an "oyster bar", at least based on the apparent name of the venue. Wed Oct 15 14:51:36 -0700 2003 1090398 0 cabrales 4 1090401 Indeed. Wed Oct 15 14:56:42 -0700 2003 1090400 0 Nina W. 5 1090405 It's like the restaurant Biscuit in Prospect Heights. They have horrible biscuits. What a misnomer... Wed Oct 15 15:07:14 -0700 2003 1090401 0 Lambretta76 6 1090424 But in this case the oysters were good. Just not a big selection. Wed Oct 15 16:38:10 -0700 2003 1090405 0 Nina W. 6 1090425 But in this case the oysters were good. Just not a big selection. Wed Oct 15 16:38:15 -0700 2003 1090405 0 Nina W.