Jacques-Imo's NYC

[Brad K.]

Salad (included with all entrees, as are two side dishes) comes with a fried oyster on top.

The prices were about $14 for the fried chicken and 21 for the pork chop (most expensive item on menu) - most everything else was priced in the high teens and apps in the 6-$9 range.

[justinb914]

I went Saturday night (2/28/04) and had a great meal. I thought the corn bread was great. Beside the salad (w/ fried oyster on top), we also ordered the stuffed shrimp (the stuffing was made was saltine crackers and onions). I enjoyed it, but next time will order the alligator cheesecake. As my main dish, I ordered the special that night - it was a blackened tuna with brie/champagne sauce. It was very good. The restaurant and bar area was crowded, but not too crowded. At 8:00, I was told that there was a 45 minute wait. We walked around the neighborhood, went back to the restaurant at 8:40 and was seated by 8:50.

Service was good and even though it had only been open a few days, it was a great dining experience.

Edited March 1, 2004 by justinb914 (log)

[zeman]

I'm going tonight with a crowd from the Quarter so I'll let you know my impressions afterwards.

[zeman]

Eh!

[Pan]

That's all? Eh? Oh well.

[Mayhaw Man]

Anybody venture in this weekend? The report in New Orleans is that the place is doing o.k. and that everybody is comfortable enough with the operation and supply sourcing that the menu will expand a little more rapidly than planned.

[BJL]

I stopped in around 7:15 Sat night, got a table right away, but just beat the rush. The place was packed when we left.

Food was tremendous. Service, although friendly, was pretty awful, but we cut them a lot of slack since it is so new. Apparently our table must have just been added because we consistently watched all our food and drinks be delivered to another table, with waiters complaining the numbering had been changed.

We started with the Alligator pie, which, although I couldn't find any shrimp or alligator, was really tasty. My date had the duck and andouille gumbo which was very flavorfull but arrived lukewarm.

Then came a refreshing spinach salad, just the right amount. For entrees we had a tuna special that was delicious and the carpet bagger steak which was also a special. I can't say enough about this dish - cooked to perfection and absolutely fabulous. I was stuffed, but couldn't leave any behind.

We finished up with some fresh from the oven bread pudding that the waiter talked us into. I am normally not a fan, but this was really good.

Beer selection is good, it would have been nice to have gotten a second or third. The chef, I am assuming Jacque - knew everyone and kept bringing huge tins of crawfish to other tables. I would have really liked some, but alas, I obviously wasn't a known customer. There also seemed to be some other menu items we weren't told about.

The decor is just what you would expect, kind of funny to see T-shirts being sold above the bar. Not exactly your typical UWS sight.

I will definetly go back, hope the service kinks work out, but you could tell the waitstaff was really trying and they were very apologetic for mistakes.

[jogoode]

...and the carpet bagger steak which was also a special. I can't say enough about this dish - cooked to perfection and absolutely fabulous. I was stuffed, but couldn't leave any behind.

Carpet what?! What is this?

Glad you had a good meal.

[BJL]

The carpet bagger steak was a filet, split and stuffed with oysters, and topped with blue cheese and grilled onions. It was finished with a mushroom gravy and fabulous.

The tuna had a brie/champagne sauce.

Oh, and the sides were nice as well. We had mashed potatoes, red beans and rice and southern cooked greens.

[jogoode]

The carpet bagger steak was a filet, split and stuffed with oysters, and topped with blue cheese and grilled onions. It was finished with a mushroom gravy and fabulous.

.

Sounds great, but can you taste the oysters in all that?

[BJL]

You can, actually, they were somewhat sweet and delicious. Towards the end I picked them out of the last few bits to eat one on its own.

[zeman]

Sorry Pan, "Eh" is about all I would give this place. Food sucked = Eh!

[Jason Perlow]

Sorry Pan, "Eh" is about all I would give this place. Food sucked = Eh!

I'd really like to hear a much more elaborate reason as to why it "sucked". It would be much more helpful to people here considering going to the place, myself included.

[Pan]

[Nitpicker mode:] Also, to me "Eh!" means "mediocre, not worthwhile," but isn't as strong as "It sucked!"

[Felonius]

I heard a rumor that this favored haunt from New Orleans is opening a location on the UWS (Columbus maybe?). Could this be true? Does anyone have the scoop?

[Daniel]

It has been open for about three weeks. I think its on 77th and columbus. They dont take reservations I am almost positive. I would highly recommend the bloody mary's and the alligator cheese cake.

[Mayhaw Man]

Scoop One

I was at the Fairgrounds Racecourse in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon and virtually the entire front of house staff from Jacques Imo's in New Orleans was there as well (it was Victoria's birthday and a horse named Victoria's Somethingorother won the second race. I hit the exacta (32.50) and the staff won as well ). THey report that the place in New York is doing well business wise and that Jack is pleased with the progress in the service dept.

I hope they do well as there is not exactly a great track record of guys from New Orleans making it up there for long stretches.

[Felonius]

Anyone know if this place is open for lunch and/or how late they serve dinner?

[Felonius]

They are not open for lunch, so made my first visit for dinner last night.

Arrived at about 7:30 to a packed house, but was able to grab a less desirable table for two by the door right away. Jacques was there in the flesh, and came by to greet us after we were seated.

Here's what my date and I tried:

Fried cheese grits with shrimp and a mushroom ragout. This dish was somewhat of a disappointment. The fried grits didn't have much of a cheese taste, and were rather bland. One of the three shrimp was bad and inedible. The mushrooms in a creamy sauce were the best part of the dish. Overall I would liked to have seen bolder flavors here.

Paneed duck with shrimp and sweet potato sauce. I enjoyed this dish. It's sort of like a duck version of the classic Southern "chicken fried steak", with shrimp bits surrounded by a rich cream based sauce. Still, I thought it could have used more spice in the batter. Sides of mashed sweet potatoes and coleslaw were good.

Blackened redfish. This was the best item of the evening. A Paul Prudhomme classic (Jacques was trained at K-Pauls), and one of my favorite comfort food dishes of all time. I forget the sauce it was served with (crawfish maybe?), but that was secondary anyway. The fish was perfectly cooked with just the right spice in the blackened crust. A side of collared greens was excellent, as good as I've ever had outside the South.

Key Lime pie. This too was excellent, and served with delicious fresh whipped cream that had a hint of vanilla, citrus and maybe bourbon?

The hot cornbread brought to the table was the other highlight of the evening. The real thing, and by far the best I've had in NY.

Service was prompt and very friendly, though still needs a bit of polishing. The young busboys are trying so hard that they sort of hover around asking you if you're done 2 or 3 times before you've cleaned your plate. No one rushed us through dessert or coffee though. Jacques continued to work the floor all evening, and when we left he was braving the cold outside in his ubiquitous shorts and chef's smock to get a picture with some admiring fans in front of the place.

Overall, a fun and pleasant experience. Not as good as his NOLA location, but I suspect the food will improve as they work out the kinks in the new kitchen. I would also like to taste a bit more spice, and am wondering if he has toned down the heat for NYC tastebuds. The portions also seemed smaller than usual (with the exception of the redfish), but since I'm not a fan of large portions, I didn't mind.

Total tab for the meal for two, including two beers, two glasses of wine and a coffee was just under $100 with tax and tip. It would have been much less ($65 or so) without the drinks.

There are so many menu items I'd like to try (next up is the Jambalaya), that I'll be back soon. An extremely welcome addition to the UWS. Good food, reasonable price point, friendly service, and killer cornbread.

[LJC]

Went for brunch on Sunday and found the food to be just ok but the Bloody Mary was awesome. In terms of the food the only item that shined was the fried chicken, which was crispy and juicy.

The Bloody was thick and spicy with a slight sweetness and was garnished with a "salad". It had pickled hot chili, pickled okra, pickled green bean, celery and a shrimp (I also found some crawfish legs); served in a pint glass for $9 and well worth it.

[weinoo]

The hot cornbread brought to the table was the other highlight of the evening.  The real thing, and by far the best I've had in NY. 

Unfortunately, this was very true of the meal I had here last night. We tasted 12 - 15 items, only one or two of which I would order again - the lamb entree was the standout and fried green tomatoes were good.

And I will say the Bloody Mary was a-ok - but at $9, it should be!

Indeed, the chef was out on the floor all night - methinks he should spend some more time in the kitchen.

[bpearis]

This is a dumbed down, "Bubba" version of Cajun-Creole cooking with more fat than finesse, more swamp than sass.

The Daily News' Pascale Le Draoulec spanks Jacques-Imo's with a half-star review. (The website's rating says star and a half but the print edition is definitely half a star.)

[Felonius]

I was in NOLA last week and ended up eating at K-Paul's no less than three days in a row. It reminded me just how good this sort of food can be, and put the food currently being served at Jacques-Imo's in perspective for me. At K-Paul's I was positively addicted after a few bites of fried rabbit and a taste of dark roux gumbo. No doubt, Jacques-Imo's isn't remotely in the same league. Maybe I'm lucky it isn't, because I'd probably drop dead from clogged arteries in a year if I had daily access to superb nouveau Cajun cooking here on the UWS.

Edited April 23, 2004 by Felonius (log)

[MHesse]

We had an early (5:30) dinner at Jacques-Imo's last night. Not crowded or noisy at that hour.

Uncomfortable (not enough padding) chairs. Same silverware for the whole meal; didn't ask for fresh. Prompt, friendly service.

We started with a Bloody Mary (excellent!), fried green tomatoes and shrimp-alligator pie. Tomatoes were good, pie was delicious.

Followed by a shrimp salad (good) and blackened redfish (good, spicy, a few bones to pick out).

Finished with coffee (barely drinkable black, but no worse than served anywhere else), key lime pie (very good) and bread pudding( very good).

[swami80]

Anyone know if this place is open for lunch and/or how late they serve dinner?open at noon on sat. and sunday for brunch and lunch. brunch on sunday was awesome. the jazz band was also great.

open at noon on sat. and sunday for brunch and lunch.