Mr. Jacks - American? Greek? Italian?

The first time i saw this restaurant...it really made me curious, what kind of food they are serving.  If you just read the restaurant's name...I would say, this would be one of the American food joints in Utrecht until you see the next line...Grieks-Italiaans Restaurant.  Who wouldn't be curious with this mixture of cuisines in one place?

Aside from the name, they also advertised that they served a whole pizza for 5 euro!  Pretty good deal if you wanted to fill your tummies.  We skip on pizza that night, as we saw the pizzas on the other table and judged that these are not the pizza that we really take seriously but we're still up to the curiosity of the fusion this place offers.

Ok, we didn't see fusion but they just have extensive menu of Italian and Greek dishes.

Let's start of with HT hubbie went Greek that night:


Stifado Nemeas -  Stew has become our favorite dish, i guess, it works well if you live in a cold country like the Netherlands.  This dish was made of calf meat stewed in white wine and tomatoes cooked in the oven.  Stew and oven gave us high expectations until we had our first bite.  It was not bland but not that delicious either.  It was mediocre.  The meat weren't tender enough to love this stew.  Taste wise, this reminded me of our beef stew version in the Philippines called beef kaldereta.  Fat potato strips came along with it which I ate like I haven't eaten french fries for years! 

Btw, the chef happily served this dish to us and cheerfully mentioned..."Finally, some diners who ordered something else other than pizza" (love how Dutch people can be very direct with their feelings and thinking). 

Anyway, guess who went Italian that night? :D

Umbria was enticing on how it was described in the menu.  Bacon, ham, spinach, pesto, mushrooms, cream, basil cooked in white wine...it's like everything in so I can't go wrong with that.  I was already looking at the quattro formaggi pasta or the gorgonzola pasta, but going vegetarian is really quite difficult for HT wife thus, I had this plate.  But i was a bit disappointed.  Despite of the numerous ingredients, this one didn't had its oomph factor.  The pasta was not al dente and quite overcooked which i think didn't go well with a spinach cream sauce as the combination made it tiresome to continuously eat it after a few spoonfuls.  The serving was pretty huge, though.

Sorry, for the dark pictures, so far, almost all restaurants here in the Netherlands always have this dark, seemingly-romantic ambiance(that includes our home).  Gezellig-ness  is very important to Dutch people.  Having "a more than cozy ambiance" draw the locals to go inside and have the so-called "gezellig dining experience".

Where can you get a whole pizza for 5 euro with this type of ambiance just like paradise? (only here) :D

And just as versatile as their menu, in one corner, it's unavoidable not to see, a net with lobsters, fishes and crabs hanging in the middle of a grape vine area. (why not?:D)

Overall, I would say, this restaurant is average.  Service was good and the food was not brilliant but ok.  I guess you can't expect much as the prices are lower than most of the restaurants around the centrum.

I would come back here, but just to try one of those 5 euro pizza, which the locals are raving about.

Price Summary (in euro)
Stifado Nemeas 15.50
Umbria 9.50
house wine and beers = less than 3

Mr. Jack's Restaurant
Voorstraat 61,
Utrecht