The Place Speak of steakhouse in Singapore, the top of the mind recall for most locals would definitely be Jack’s Place. Started since 1969, many would recognize the steakhouse with its flagship white and green colours, famous checkered table cloth and yes, the tall red candle light. Today, it has 14 branches across the island and have also ventured into slew of other restaurants, including the Japanese Hoshigaoka Resturant and franchising the popular Korean BBQ chain, Kkongdon Korea BBQ, into Singapore. theRantingPanda, for its love of steak, decided to give Jack’s Place a ride for its long heritage… only to be disappointed though!

The Food What else could we try other than what they are supposedly good for – Steaks. In terms of options, JP gives its patrons a wide range of cuts and of course, steaks from the usual suspects – New Zealand and USA. Being a family restaurant, you will find on the menu a selection of other meats from the typical chicken fare to even local cuisine (reminding tRP of Han’s Restaurant in green).

First up was the Mixed Mushrooms Creamy Soup ($4.20), which was the waitress’ highly recommended Soup of the Day. The soup reminded me of my childhood favourite’s Campbell Mushroom soup! Creamy, checked. Mushroom bits, checked. And yes, bland taste, checked. Not sure if this is even worthy of its affordable price tag.

The saving grace for the Starter’s must have been the Garlic Bread – crunchy and buttered with a flavourful strong garlic taste. But then again, how wrong could Garlic Bread go?

Now to the main course – New Zealand Ribeye ($22.50) and New Zealand T-Bone ($25.50). The choice of the country of origin for the steak is of no coincidence, since the USA steak options seemed slightly overpriced for a family styled restaurant. Both were done medium rare, with the choice of sides being the typical steak’s salad of carrot & greens and baked potato or french fries. On the steak itself, something that bothered me was really how both the meats were served on a sizziling hot plate that did not ‘sizzile’ – in fact, the T-Bone was served slightly cold. It could be a busy day the evening tRP visited, by the time the waitress got to serve it, the food has turned cold; or maybe it was not done to perfection anyway. Both steak lacked the grilled taste, lacked the picture-perfect sizziling steak I saw on their menu and its only saving grace was the Mushroom and Black Pepper sauce that well, overpowered even the steak juice itself.

Will I return again? I guessed the above review very well summarizes the less-than-ideal dining experience tRP had at Jack’s Place. Of course, it has its merits. The service staff did all the rights that the food did not, and again, the family styled restaurant offered many other dining choices other that what it was supposedly good at. But at least for tRP, we might just well pass off this opportunity to again savour its extensive menu.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 1.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 2.5/5
Overall Experience: 2/5

Jack’s Place
Great World City 1 Kim Seng Promenade #03-16
Tel: +65 6738 5868