516514 Tue May 06 14:31:08 -0700 2008 26 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 3662659 Thank you guy at the tobacco shop next door who clued me in about the glories of the baked pork chop cutlets with spaghetti. It was the gleam in his eye when he talked about it that compelled me to order it. The huge plate of spaghetti came bubbling from the oven covered with two large breaded pork chops. I can’t remember when I’ve eaten so much food in one sitting. But there are times you need to submit to hot, primal, cheesy bubbly goodness and enjoy every last bite. There is a choice of red or white sauce. I chose the red which is similar to the type in a Chef Boyardee can. The cheese is the yellow longhorn variety lovingly browned in spots like a finely blistered pizza. . There is an art … a true skill … to turn such ungourmet ingredients into a wildly delicious and satisfying dish. It is comfort food in the highest form. I salute you Jac. The $8.88 meal comes with Russian borsch, garlic bread and a choice of coffee or milk tea. The borsch is a thin tomato based vegetable soup that has a touch of sweetness with a little bit of cabbage, a few carrots and some celery. It is a generous serving. The garlic bread is sort of the texture of a hot dog bun with a spread of butter and garlic. The milk tea is strong and served in a shiny metal mug. If I hadn’t had the tip about the cutlets I never would have known that Jac’s served Hong Kong food in addition to dim sum, seafood (lobster tank in the corner) and almost usual Chinese food … you can get moo goo gai pan. There are three menus and it wasn’t till I asked about the cutlets that they handed me the Hong Kong menu. I like the slight wackiness of the joint … I was going to get an order of salmon and avocado egg rolls when the pleasant server pointed to the Chinese characters on the side … and when it finally became obvious I didn’t read Chinese, she explained it was only served Sunday. They bring big lunch plates to the workers in other shops in the strip mall. There are three small sidewalk tables. The interior is no frills but pleasant. Since they are new I’m not sure how solid those hours are, but the menu says Sun-Thu 9am - midnight Fri-Sat 9am - 2am I’ll list a few of the dishes I thought were interesting from the nine page menu in the first reply. I did force myself to order some egg custard tarts. Three warm flaky half-dollar sized tarts with nice custard were $1.88. Next time the sesame balls. It is located in the same strip mall as Ba Le. Welcome Jac …the best restaurant to open near me this year. P.S. My source for the cutlet said the sui mai is good. Tue May 06 14:31:10 -0700 2008 10264 rworange 1 3662664 From the Hong Kong menu - Cheese won tons - Salt and pepper tofu cubes - Deep fried plain buns with sweetened condensed milk - Roti served with curry sauce - Curry fish balls and pork skin - Pork chop cutlet submarine - Chicken steak cutlet submarine - Spam and egg sandwiches - Baked Portuguese chicken - Red bean and ice cream in ice - Lemon citron honey drink\ - French toast From the Dim Sum and Tapas(?) menu … the usual stuff and - curry beef puffs - pork and black egg congee - pan fried (or steamed) rice sheet rolls - steamed beef tripe - combo beef organs with turnip - chicken fried rice with salted fish From the regular menu - baked whole lobster with spaghetti in cheesy sauce - ox’s tail with tomato in XO sauce - egg foo young with chicken, beef or shimp - steak cubes and scallops with macademia nuts in black pepper sauce - live clams, fish or lobster - seafood chow fun in XO sauce All this and much, much more … including stuff like sweet and sour pork, orange chicken, beef and broccoli, Mongolian beef, kung pao chicken … etc Tue May 06 14:31:59 -0700 2008 3662659 10264 rworange 2 3690893 This is great- I loooooooooove Ba Le, but it'll be fun to have a new place to try! Thanks! Thu May 15 12:50:11 -0700 2008 3662664 14015 BonzoGal 1 3663225 Thanks will check it out Tue May 06 18:05:56 -0700 2008 3662659 17116 kc72 1 3663230 Pork chops, baked spaghetti, borscht, garlic bread, and milk tea . . . classic cha chaan teng comfort food, glad you went for it! Sure you don't read Chinese? Tue May 06 18:07:33 -0700 2008 3662659 10039 Melanie Wong 1 3663722 OMG, this looks great, particularly since there are few late-night options in the vicinity. Between this and Rendez-Vous, I think I chose the right time to move back to North Berkeley/Albany. Tue May 06 21:53:42 -0700 2008 3662659 17199 Nina 1 3688101 The menu I picked up today said that Sun-Thurs they close at 11pm. Fri-Sat they close at 1am. Wed May 14 18:16:39 -0700 2008 3662659 17116 kc72 2 3688194 Thanks. I didn't think that would last long especially since they aren't alll that busy during regular hours. Did you try anything yet? Wed May 14 18:42:18 -0700 2008 3688101 10264 rworange 3 3688221 not yet, I grabbed lunch at Ba Le. Judging by their menu, pretty high hopes/goals for smaller space. It's always nice to have late night options in that area, not too many around. Might be tough for them to draw away the Daimo regulars. Will try soon. Wed May 14 18:55:37 -0700 2008 3688194 17116 kc72 1 3691026 I stopped by for a quick dinner last Friday, had the Pork spareribs with black bean sauce in a hot pot..portion was big, but it was a bit dry, needed more sauce of some kind. This was served in a iron pot, not a clay pot as I was expecting. I had to add quite a bit of soy sauce, and I usually dont' use soy sauce, just to give it some flavor. Also ordered some salt and pepper chicken wings to go, which were very good though. They have a few things to work out, but they had about a dozen diners in there with me that day and I hope they make it, cause their menu does look interesting. I'll be back just to try more dishes. Prices are very reasonable. Thu May 15 13:17:01 -0700 2008 3662659 72348 nicedragonboy 2 3691078 The guy at the tobacco store said the Hong Kong stuff was their thing. Thu May 15 13:25:43 -0700 2008 3691026 10264 rworange 3 3691440 Isn't almost everything on the menu HK stuff? ;) except for the french fries listed under appetizers.. Thu May 15 14:55:42 -0700 2008 3691078 17116 kc72 1 3706324 FYI, my office received a flier/order menu for lunch order/delivery service they are offering. The offer a pretty long menu of smaller plates, dim sum, lunch combos, rice plates and a la carte options. offered 11am to 3pm daily. items/combo prices ranging from $1.88 to $5.88. Seems they're really going for the "8" theme in their pricing to maximize the good luck. Tue May 20 15:08:46 -0700 2008 3662659 72348 nicedragonboy 2 3737122 After my third visit I have finally figured out the menu. Order before 6PM and the prices/portions are smaller. At dinner my son thought the pork chops were generous, but did not care for the red spaghetti- too much Kraft cheese. My pork&preserved egg jook was yummy as was the potstickers. But dinner prices are not as attractive (4.88-7.88). The dinning area has two lg. round tables and maybe 5 tables for four. Now today's lunch was a winner- walnut prawns and beef chow fun (3.88 ea), fried sesame balls and BBQ pork chow mein(1.88 ea) = $12.50 for two of us. Prawns and chow fun tasted fresh and light. A tapas portion had at least 6-7 large prawns. Skip the fried rice (my friend is from Gig Harbor, Washington). The sesame balls won me over- warm, moist, smaller than usual, not GREASY. Jac (I assume) assured me that the cook makes all the dim sum offerings onsight. The four dishes did not come out quickly, but it was worth the wait. Other patrons have been lured in by the cheap prices and friendly service. I'm sold with lunch and can't wait to try more dim sum. Sat May 31 09:12:30 -0700 2008 3706324 58678 bunnysitter 3 3737278 I've tried the steamed BBQ pork buns. 1.88 for three. They had a nice, subtle spicing. Better than the usual, but quite small. Also had the Har Gow for 2.88. Nothing special, IMO, and they sort of fell apart. I'll be back to try more, though. Nice to know that they make the dim sum on site. Sat May 31 10:27:41 -0700 2008 3737122 11231 Glencora 2 3766716 went late Friday night to grab dinner for me and several poker buddies. I had the porkchop and egg over spaghetti and meat sauce. it was awesome. simple comfort food, nothing fancy, but the combination just worked wonders. It was past 12am, but I finished it anyways. From my friends, I heard positive reviews of their combination chow mein. which was came in a significant serving. Tue Jun 10 09:45:24 -0700 2008 3706324 72348 nicedragonboy 3 3768569 were there any other customers at that hr? Tue Jun 10 18:22:49 -0700 2008 3766716 17116 kc72 4 3768792 there were two other people waiting for their take out orders there, one lady ahead and one guy after. to tell the truth, i was a bit nervous being out there in that neighborhood at that hour. I hope they become good friends with the local beat officers. Tue Jun 10 19:44:08 -0700 2008 3768569 72348 nicedragonboy 5 3768863 c'mon... nothing wrong w/ that neighborhood. there are enough ppl and ECPD driving up and down San Pablo Ave. Tue Jun 10 20:10:50 -0700 2008 3768792 17116 kc72 1 3795670 Went last night for dinner. When we walked in at about 7pm, we were the only ones and the staff had commandeered an entire table for sui mai production. Nice to see it being made throughout the day! With all the raves about the baked spaghetti & pork chop we had to get it, and it was indeed as giant and comforting as everyone said. We asked for it with half white sauce and half red sauce, and they happily complied. Also tried the XO seafood chow fun, which came heaped on a regular-sized dinner plate and was a good value at $7.88. Plenty of fresh shrimp, as well as squid and fish, and the XO sauce lent it a nice warmth. Not overly greasy. Their menu includes several non-alcoholic drinks, which come in appealing metal highball tumblers (resembling those that are used to mix milkshakes). We tried an iced citron drink made with candied lemon peel and slices of fresh lemon -- very refreshing. The longan drink was not made with dried longan, as I expected, but rather with canned. It sort of tasted like they used a lot of the syrup, but with all the ice it wasn't over-the-top sweet. And there must have been over a dozen longan in the cup too. It will take quite a while to work through the menu but I'm already planning my next visit! The restaurant is just north of the Speakeasy Theatre (serving bad food but good beer) which has 2-for-1 movies on Wednesdays. So put the two together and you have an affordable and tasty Weds evening! Thu Jun 19 15:52:25 -0700 2008 3662659 25464 mchan 2 3795785 Did you like the white sauce or red sauce better? I figure as an homage to Jac's I'm going to have to eat there on 8-8-08 Thu Jun 19 16:39:08 -0700 2008 3795670 10264 rworange 3 3796217 you should make that a chowdown. Thu Jun 19 19:45:15 -0700 2008 3795785 72348 nicedragonboy 2 3796266 what's the white sauce made of? I tried the some of the red sauce one time and it just didn't work for me. Also, be careful when ordering chow mein here, I ordered it off the lunch/small plates menu and it seemed like they used spaghetti noodles as their mein. Thu Jun 19 20:06:19 -0700 2008 3795670 17116 kc72 3 3802450 The Red sauce is made of tomato sauce & cheese, they have had the best baked chicken steak over rice in Sacramento. I suggest adding potatoes, it just sets it off! Also to wash it down with their Lemon iced tea or Iced milk tea(my favorite). As for the spaghetti noodles, you can ask for the thinner yellow noodles that is used for chow mien also. The owner had a cafe @Sacramento for about 5 years called Leegacy Cafe and now we drive down to El Cerrito just to get some good baked rice. Sun Jun 22 11:26:06 -0700 2008 3796266 203000 FokeSoke 1 3807664 Ever since moving from SF to El Cerrito, I have been missing places like Lon Ting for curry spaghetti and pork chops and reliable, late-night places for a good bowl of jook. Not being a huge fan of Daimo or Macau Cafe in the 99 Ranch Mall complex, I was incredibly excited to try Jac's for dinner tonight. We ordered: -1000 year old egg and lean pork jook -salt and pepper tofu -curry spaghetti with chicken fried steak dinner special (soup, garlic toast, milk tea included). The bowl of jook was E N O R M O U S and the order of spicy salty tofu was similarly sized...with the tofu cubes around 1/2" square (which makes for a quite lovely ratio of crispy-outside to custardy-inside). Both of these dishes were delicious and piping hot, and the spicy salty tofu not greasy. The curry came in a bowl separate from the spaghetti (also a very large serving) with two pieces of "chicken steak" (which turned out to be pan fried chicken cutlets). The curry was not the 'Madras' style (Cantonese-American?) curry but a more coconut milk type yellow curry (more Thai in flavor). All of it still very tasty! The prices were very reasonable: $4.38 for the jook, $3.88 for the tofu, $7.88 for the chicken steak and spaghetti. Plus they have a $5.88 "Daily Deal" menu for family style dishes (photo attached). There are lots of yummy things to try (I got my eye on "Moqua in Dried Scallop Sauce)and I will definitely be back! I will have to bring extended family so more can be sampled...thanks to rworange for the ChowHeadsUp! Mon Jun 23 22:29:53 -0700 2008 3662659 93745 crispypork 2 3807692 Nice report and photos. Looking forward to others as you work your way through that extensive menu. Mon Jun 23 22:49:27 -0700 2008 3807664 10264 rworange 1 3840337 went and tried this new chinese restaurant, was motivated by the primarily positive reviews, do not know what to order, so i ordered their house special fried rice, chicken egg foo young and sweet sour pork, the house special fried rice is really good, the portion is large and the price is not bad at all, the sweet sour pork is a little dry, but the chicken egg foo young is fantastic, i think, it is one of the best egg foo young that i have ever tasted, service is friendly and fast, i would definitely come back, i would try the spaghetti with pork chop cutlets next time. Sat Jul 05 00:28:21 -0700 2008 3662659 120021 juan07delacruz1966