TNH

I've been twice already. Once for a full blown celebration dinner, and just yesterday for the 350,000 lunch special.

This is THE new place for steak. Any relation to Alfresco's is only a business arrangement and has nothing to do with the food. If anything, the association with Alfresco's tarnishes this refined holy temple of beef.

They have three species of cow at three different price levels. In the affordable vnd400K or so category is beef from New Zealand. At vnd750K or so is American Angus beef. Up and over vnd1.5 million category is Waygu from Australia.

My lunch special yesterday was fine. Flawless service, beautiful presentation, the piece of meat on the plate well worth the money asked. Nice fried banana in caramel for dessert. A refined selection of antipasto and salads to start.

Dinner was excellent, with one tiny flaw at the end.

I had a Alaskan King Crab leg as an entree followed by New Zealand Rib-eye for the plate cooked perfectly and served on a bed of tiny mushrooms and wine deglasse. They bring a selection of mustards and horseradish out to complement, or you can go for some of the standard sauces for an extra charge. I like horseradish.

Wine by the glass was vnd180K for a Barbarossa Greniche which was excellent.

Loss of a star for the next part of my meal, the "Cheese platter for two" for vnd400K which consisted of three pieces of cheese, all smaller than my thumb, dressed with walnuts, figues, compotes and all kinds of other things that weren't cheese. It was barely a plate for one, much less a plate for two. It was less than $2 worth of cheese being sold for $20.

I mentioned my disappointment to Michael, the chatty manager, who agreed it was light and brought out a bit more cheese. We also had a disagreement about one of the cheeses on the platter which he insisted was Brie, but it was not even close to Brie. It didn't look like brie. It did not have a rind like Brie. It was probably a young chèvre. We agreed to disagree.

In addition to bringing me a bit more cheese, he also knocked two glasses of wine off of my bill.

So, bravo.

The cheese plate is a rip-off, but everything else is top class, from the food to the service to the ambiance and worth every dong.

I will be back regularly.

I'm surprised this hasn't already been reviewed, being part of the ubiquitous Alfrescos Group. I noticed an ad for this restaurant in an Alfrescos, and since my husband is a confirmed carnivore we decided to give it a try.

Very attentive, chatty staff (sometimes a little too chatty, but this might have been because the restaurant is new, and wasnt very busy so we received their full attention), and a really wide selection available.

As a vegetarian I was a little worried I'd be eating the garden salad while my husband filled himself on meaty delights, but I needn't have worried - finally, a restaurant in Hanoi serving a good vegetarian burger - they use grilled Haloumi instead of one of those horrible mashed potato/pea/carrot frozen patties which I'm convinced were invented by someone hellbent on torturing vegetarians at BBQs.

A great wine selection, although a little on the pricey side.

The restaurant manager is from Brisbane, and was very friendly but also left us to enjoy our meal.

Definitely a restaurant we'll go back to when we want to spoil ourselves, four stars because they're new, and we had a great evening, and we're hoping with time the wait staff will be busy enough to leave the diners to enjoy their own conversation!

What makes a great steak? Adjectives might include: tender; juicy; chargrilled; blue, rare, medium or well-done; large or small; thick or thin; marbled; lean; and the list goes on. For me, in less refined vernacular, my steak should be dead. Good 'n' dead. Not still mooing. Not flopping around on my plate. Dead.

Jacksons can offer the diner any and all of these descriptions of steak. It is, after all, a fine-dining steak house. However, again for me, the overarching descriptor for a great steak is that it must look, feel and taste like MEAT. It should have substance, be that caveman-esque hunk of red meat that smells, feels and tastes like it came from a once prime beast. It is on this count that Jacksons did not deliver, in my opinion, having now dined there twice.

In showcasing a fine dining establishment, the steaks I have eaten were too refined for my tastes. Too fine a grain, too primly cooked, not enough caveman mentality for me. This is not a complaint per se, it is a statement of preference and a guide to others. I ordered an American Angus Rib Eye, probably fed on grain instead of grass which no doubt affects the texture of the meat. Clearly not my cut. Jacksons presents fine dining steak in a refined setting cooked in an incredibly refined manner. Steaks all too refined for my primitive palate.

All else associated with Jacksons is superb. The generosity of portions is amazing - they clearly err on the side of larger rather than smaller. I regularly buy ribeye steaks cut to size from a butcher - Jacksons' version of 200g is more like 300! In fact, all the meal sizes were huge, from entrée to dessert. It's not cheap but they certainly ensure diners get value for their expense. Rolling out of Jacksons and waddling down the street is a lingering memory of a certain Wednesday night.

The service at Jacksons is one of those curiosities of Hanoian restaurant life. At once attentive but also non-communicative with each other. Too many people with not enough to do. Which meant that on one evening we had people try and take our wine order three times because the latter two waiter/waitresses didn't know it had already been done and didn't check before asking. A minor thing really. The wine list, incidentally, is nothing short of exemplary. Something for all tastes.

I did, during the course of an evening, have cause to make use of the, uh, men's facilities. To conduct one's business whilst viewing the restaurant through (hopefully) one-way glass is a surreal experience indeed. I can only hope the lovely elderly couple seated next to the window did not receive any unwanted white wine jus on their cuts of veal...

Jacksons definitely achieves what it sets out to achieve. No question. I'll definitely go back, probably a few times because it is a lovely space to enjoy an evening of fine dining with friends.

I will search for that elusive Jacksons cut of meat that takes me back to the Stone Age - I am sure it is there somewhere. Probably lurking as a Kiwi, grass-fed beast that toughed it out in some frozen paddock in the deep South.

I went there with 2 other friends and we had the set lunch. I had the steak while my fren had the stew. The food was average quality. Service is reasonably attentive. We ended up paying 500k for the set lunch plus a fruit juice. Overall, i think it's too expensive for that kind of average food.

So often I visit places and the first comment that comes to mind is "so close.....but not at all". Jacksons is a place that has finally makes it across the line.


The Good:
- An amazing refurbishment from what used to be Jaspers. It used to be tiny, but now it's a multi-level, well designed (no blue lights, or unfinished edges), well thought-through space. It's also the only place I've seen so far in Vietnam when they celebrate the beautiful tiles they have here.

- The tables were a great size, and well set-up. I like the small floral arrangement that was very pretty in a simple, non-tacky way. These all minor details but DETAILS COUNT PEOPLE.

- Everything on the menu looks great, and there are many vegetarian options. Not just token ones either. I also noticed they had 2 appetizer platters, a white and a red one wine- genius! Again, details.

- The food we had: tuna appetizer (good), chefs salad (GREAT simple salad), ribs (massive serve, really good), NZ tenderloin (really great, cooked perfectly), big boy sundae (okay, the brownies needed to be warm though), Grand Manier crepes (great, although you know exactly why when you SEE how much sugar & butter there is in it).

- The service, on the ball in what tays want. Great reception, no passive looks, attentive. Filled glasses, asked how our meal was, anticipated what we needed, great presentation (did I mention I liked the uniforms too?)- all DETAILS that make the difference. It was cute to see how proud and excited they were to give good service.

- The music, fun and modern. For the most part appropriate. The highlight was Molokos “The Time is Now”.

- Their subtle, classy selling up methods (that’s not sarcastic by the way). They gave us the crepes for free as “perhaps you’d like them for next time”. GOOD ON THEM. My marketing department stands up to applause.

The Bad (which aren’t really that bad):
- They brought out the main side dish (salad) out with the appetizers. This makes no sense to me but will know for next time.

- Err…service: They were a little too attentive. I had to say “..what I was I saying again?” to my partner at least twice. However, I’d rather this then not at all.

- Please dear god take Bob Sinclair’s “World Hold On” off the playlist. Way too many BPM.

- $200K for sparkling water! Gasp! However, I am willing to be okay with this because the service was so good.

Overall: I loved this experience and I really really hopes it keeps a high standard. 4 stars because 5 is perfection and I have to keep that dream alive.

I should also mention the randomness of the one way mirror in the mens toilet. If dear gents you’ve ever wanted to watch your loved one while you pee without it being too creepy this is the place for you.

Altogether we spent around $120 (with 2 glasses of wine) and it was worth every cent. It was a perfect example of the difference good service makes (and tays love good service).