Papa Jack's

I have been lurking around the The Urban List (Brisbane) website for far too long! I now have a long list of where-and-what-to-eat-before-I-die. This website will be the death of me.

Today, we can strike off one restaurant from the list- Papa Jack's in the Valley. They are described as a slice of New Orleans in Brisbane, Australia and I cannot agree more. The feel of the bar-restaurant is incredibly authentic; even the servers are dressed the part. A pity I didn't manage to get any photos of them.

We simply loved our experience here and will definitely be back for more!

We had 3 platters to share!

Our first dish was the:

"Truffled Mac and Cheese with Herb and Parmesan Crust". 

Omg this was EPIC. Epic-ly insanely awesome gooey cheesy goodness with truffle overtones! I was fighting with the Husband to stop him from trying to eat everything by himself!

The second dish was the:

"Root Beer Braised Wagyu Brisket with Tomatillo & Lime Jam and Crispy Kale Chips". 

Again, this was absolutely EPIC. The salty kale chips and the savoury meat was complemented wonderfully by the sweet jam. The meat was cooked till it was so tender and juicy, there was just the right amount of jam, and the kale chips were oven-toasted and salted to perfection! I've tried making my own kale chips before but somehow I don't seem to be able to achieve an all-rounded crispiness. This dish was perfection.

The third and last dish we had was the:

"Stickiest of the Icky Baby Back Ribs- Jack Daniel's & Coke Braised Free Range Ribs with Fries".

I'm a little divided on this dish. For one, I absolutely love how tender the ribs are, the meat just fell off the bones easily! The ribs that I've had so far are all pretty hard and dry (yes that includes ribs from Hurricane's Ribs and Ribs & Rumps) so this one definitely takes the prize home in the "tenderness division". On the other hand though, I thought the gravy tasted a little weird. The Husband liked the taste of it a lot but I'm a BBQ sauce kinda person all the way when it comes to ribs. Nevertheless, I would still order this dish the next time I come round.

We ordered a drink to finish the meal off, we got a Mojito thinking it would be like all the other Mojitos that we've had ever- sweet and bubbly, like lime soda. 

We could not be more wrong about the Mojito from Papa Jack's.

It was really, really, really, really, insanely strong. But hey this is coming from 2 people who don't drink at all so don't quote us. Having said that, the closest I've ever come to an alcoholic beverage is probably a mojito because they've always just tasted like a lime and sprite mix- and I've had quite a few in the past. Anyhow, this was so strong we had to get the bartender to split it into 2 cups and dilute it with soda water. I didn't really enjoy it with or without the dilution anyway so I don't have too much to say about it but perhaps recommend that they could use a little sugar in the drink. It was pretty expensive too. But I think others who like their alcohol would love it! It does taste like good quality alcohol!

Overall, I give Papa Jack's 5 stars! The food was almost perfect, the service impeccable, and the price range was extremely reasonable given the kind of food served. They also had very, very good live music. There was only that one dude today on an acoustic guitar but he sounded like a whole band! Very nice.

I can't wait to go back there again actually! This time, I'll just stick to a cappucino!