Originally we had a very bad experience at the Turtle Jack’s Muskoka Grill, on Upper James in Hamilton. I won’t go into much detail as not to hurt the reputation of this chain of restaurants. But I must admit that once management was informed about our situation, they took the necessary steps to not only compensate us, but they also reassured us that if we gave them another try our experience would be much better. and it was. We’ve now been back several times and we’ve always been happy with the product, service and overall ambiance of the restaurant.
With our daughters back in school after the March break and it being Caron’s birthday we decided to go out for lunch. Originally we were going to hit East Side Marios again, since Caron had a craving for pasta, but we opted for Turtle Jacks instead. She’s been raving about some sort of pasta her and Glenda (my sis) had at JFK last Summer while they waited for their flight back to Canada and since we couldn’t go to JFK just for pasta we thought we’d try the pasta at Turtle Jacks instead. Pasta at a grill?
Though it was the lunch hour there was no wait to be seated and we were pleasantly greeted by our server Nadia, who made us feel very welcomed. After saying the normal “welcome to…” we placed our drinks order. Soda for Caron and decaf coffee for me (nothing special about this coffee) and Caron opted for a starter salad.
Roasted Garlic Caesar.
A lovely (yes I tried it also) and considerably light for a Caesar salad… Crispy Romain lettuce tossed with croutons, bacon bits, roasted garlic buds (amazingly sweet), red onions and Renee Creamy Caesar dressing. We’re huge fans of this dressing at home, so no real complaints here. The juice from the wedge of lemon really sparked-up this salad. Cost: $3.49
I did mention that there wasn’t a wait for a table but between the salad and getting our actual meal there was a 15-20 minute wait, which we found strange since the restaurant was overly busy. Hey, it was Caron’s birthday so we took it easy and patiently awaited our meal.
We ordered off the dinner menu though the lunch menu did have some good options, like the beer battered fish and chips, but we wanted a “real” meal. Caron got her pasta dish…
Chicken Parmesan Dinner
Basically a chicken breast lightly dusted in panko breading, pan fried and topped with a rich marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. This was served on a bed of fettuccine noodles which was tossed in marinara sauce as well. You also had the option of using Alfredo sauce if you wanted. Cost $15.65
It’s always very difficult for me to find something I want to try on these menus, as they all seem the same and nothing really stands out. I did have a craving for some wings, but I’ve learned my lesson with buying wings in restaurants… they’re usually covered with vinegar disguised as being hot sauce. That’s possibly one of my biggest peeves. However I did end up getting…
The Big Wing Dinner.
I thought I’d give this a try since they did have many sauce options. I asked Nadia, which of the sauces they had was the most popular and she said it was definitely the house NY butter sauce. She explained that it had a nice sort of “Franks hot” .. yup! I told her ok, I’ll go with the “jerk” instead. That Frank’s Hot sauce is absolutely terrible… yet another vinegar based sauce trying to fool people into thinking they eating something hot and lively. There was no need for her to continue explaining their house special sauce.
This big wing dinner is basically roaster size wings (pretty big) that dusted and fried, then tossed in the sauce of your choice. In my case it was “jerk”. It’s served with a batch of fresh cut fries which are absolutely wonderful, carrot and celery sticks, coleslaw and a blue cheese dip. Now I’ve been up and down the Caribbean, tried many of the Caribbean restaurants in Toronto and I do a fair share of cooking myself (including jerk) and this was a bit of a disappointment. Now don’t get me wrong, as it’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted before and if I didn’t know (and was expecting) real jerk.. this would probably hit the spot for me. However all I could taste is the undertone of VINEGAR, lime (not bad) and a bit of allspice. It lacked the true “jerk” taste to be quite honest. And with the use of that nasty “Franks Hot” it didn’t really impress me. It would have been much better if the chef had used a true island blend hot sauce to give it that little extra punch he/she was looking for. But as mentioned, if you’ve never had jerk wings before, it ‘s not all that bad. Price $15.98
Overall Turtle Jack’s Muskoka Grill, Hamilton Ontario will continue to get our business as we’re always pleased with the service, food (just not the wings for me) and overall atmosphere. A typical sports bar/restaurant chain that’s really trying their best to give customers a good time for their dollars. Caron was really impressed by her pasta dish and it being her birthday she got a complimentary dessert, with fireworks included. Kudos to our server Nadia for a job well done. Thanks.
I must also mention that I truly love the theme of the restaurant. The whole Muskoka feel is very warm and welcoming.. almost cozy. The final bill was just over $50 with tip for the two of us. But remember we didn’t order any dessert or booze.
Info:
Turtle Jack’s Upper James
1180 Upper James St
Hamilton ON L9C 3B1
Tel: 905-389-6696
Sun-Wed: 11am- 12am
Thurs-Sat: 11am- 1am
