Jacks On The Water — Restaurant in Sidney

Please let me preface this review by saying Jack's at Bear Mountain is one of my favourite places to eat in Langford

I typically try not to give reviews for new restaurants but I felt our experience at Jack's on the water in Sidney might help them improve.

The positives first. Service was quite good, the hostess, Sarah and Casey all did a great job. The other servers though all had facial expressions that made us think they hated life.

The Negatives? The food is just bad. And when a say bad I'd say 1/10 we shared 6 dishes and the only thing that was Good was the Humboldt squid. Everything else was abismal. The tuna tataki was overcooked and sliced length ways so it was dry and chewy. The salad garnish had no seasoning or dressing All the rolls we tried were poorly put together and sloppily placed on the plates. The tofu roll was the single worst piece of Japanese food I've ever had. It was massive and so loosely rolled that it fell apart when we tried to pick them up. Next let's talk about the ambience... SMH We felt like we were sitting in the cafeteria at Victoria General Hospital. White walls without a single thing on the walls to absorb sound. It was so loud it was hard to enjoy the company I had gone there with. No blinds on the windows just white walls and noise.

The whole place felt like it was rushed to get open. If it wasn't for Sarah and Casey it would a 0/5 review and it's such a shame since I was so excited that we were getting a Jack's in Sidney.

We will going back in a few months to see if things have improved and if so I will update this review bit as it stands it's really hard to recommend anyone spend there money at Jack's on the Water...

I'm sorry to say that aside from the location, this business has a LONG way to go before it will earn 5 stars.

I wanted to support a new business so I made a reservation weeks in advance for a patio spot for 2 people on a Monday evening. When we arrived we were seated inside. When I asked why, I was told they don't take resos for the patio. Interestingly enough, the booking site didn't mention that like other restaurants do. When we noticed tables emptying on the patio and asked to move we were told we'd have to wait. At least 15 minutes went by with empty tables needing to be cleaned. After we asked again, a table was cleaned and finally we were moved but you could tell they were visibly irritated by this. At any rate, I was looking forward to the halibut and gnocchi. When the food finally arrived, we waited several minutes for the server to return with the offer of fresh pepper but that never happened. I always enjoy halibut so thought it no big deal. I took one bite and noted it was the driest halibut I've ever had.The dish overall was nearly flavorless so I waited for the server to come back and ask how the meal was. Nope, still didn't come back. In fact it was another 15 minutes before she came back and at that point my plate was virtually untouched - yet she didn't notice that and didn't ask how the meal was or if we wanted another drink. So we asked for the bill and left.

We won't be back again but I hope management takes service seriously enough moving forward so they can maintain customers and stay...

Overall, the place itself looks quite nice. They have done a good job renovating and of course the views are some of the best to offer for a restaurant. However, everything after this point sort of drops off. Now I will say that given it's going through its opening phase, the service will likely pick up as the servers gain experience and the front host herself was very nice. The kitchen however is VERY slow for what I would call a very simple menu that is your generic frozen and re-fried/heated options.

Was very disappointed in the food we ordered and the price. For example, I ordered a 1 piece fish and chips, and the fish was clearly from a pre-frozen package that was refried and the portion was TINY for $23 for 1piece. Take a lesson from Finest at sea or any other pub for that matter as you essentially gave me a fish stick and a giant plate of fries. Also, include at least a simple coleslaw? Never order the fish and chips here. Secondly the prawns appetizer came with 5 tiny prawns that looked no different than the ones I get from the frozen section at Costco. Finally we got the potato wedges, which were still undercooked/raw when we got them only to have them replaced after we were done eating.

A lot of room to grow cause they could potentially be a very good venue, but for now give it a pass as I was very disappointed at the quality per price point. Much better could be had for the same...