JACS Café Pizzeria

Sunday 15 March 2009

JACS Café Pizzeria
Shop 1, 45 Ardross Street, Applecross
(08) 9364 8687

1. Comfort and surroundings

Alexander: JACS is a lovely place to have breakfast, with its very pretty location on Ardross Street in Applecross. Lola made the wise move of booking a table on the balcony under the veranda. The seats were comfortable, the table was spacious and the view was perfect for a Sunday morning. JACS finds the right mix between intimacy and vibrancy (there is a suitably cool bright purple JACS sign on the wall), so this place gets high marks for comfort and surroundings, a 4.5.

Lola: The location on the relatively quiet street was very relaxing. While they have quite a lot of tables they have used the space well so there was no crowding. It is very clean and not at all cluttered but still managed to retain a laid back vibe with its modern feel. Time got away from us while we were sitting around after breakfast, a testament to JACS comfortableness. A 4.5 from me too.

2. Service

Alexander: We didn't have to wait very long before we were approached by a friendly waitress for our order. There is no drinks menu, so the waitress helpfully reeled off the items we could order. She was happy to give us more time to decide on food, and then waited an appropriate length of time before coming back to take the order. We also got water without having to ask. Very nice - it gets a 4.

Lola: I'm giving a high 4.5 for service. The staff were friendly, helpful and prompt and I was particularly impressed by the girl who took my booking. Her phone manner was delightful, she asked if I had a preference as to where we'd sit and suggested the verandah when I indicated our like of fresh air but aversion to any direct sunlight. As I mentioned above, we sat around for a while after finishing our meals. While our dishes were cleared promptly and the waitress was present if we needed her, it did not once feel like we should either move on or otherwise order something else. In this way the staff really added to our comfort!

3. Tastiness

Alexander: It was nice to see a good mix of the usual breakfast items and some more interesting ones on JACS' menu. I ordered the Cheshire smoked bacon with stuffed mushroom and poached eggs. The bacon had a distinct flavour that made it a bit different from your run-of-the-mill offerings and the eggs were poached to the perfect consistency. So that was all good. However, I wasn't a big fan of the stuffed mushroom (it was a field mushroom with cherry tomatoes and melted cheese) and I think a more boring grilled mushroom would have been more to my taste. My only other complaint is that the meal came served with toasted Italian bread. While fresh Italian bread is lovely, it doesn't have the best toasting properties, and a thick cut multigrain or sourdough would have been much nicer. I'll give it a 3.

Lola: I too was impressed with the mix of offerings, particularly the inclusion of a marron omelette and that their bacon and eggs on toast also included an 'extra' of your choice. I was very happy with my potato rosti with poached eggs, smoked salmon, asparagus and goat's cheese which also came with a piece of toast. Unlike Alexander I didn't mind the bread choice - it wasn't too crusty and was soft in the middle. I really enjoyed this breakfast and I think it was the inclusion of the asparagus that really made it. The portions were generous and the ingredients were fresh. A 4 from me.

4. Drinks

Alexander: I ordered an iced chocolate and it was really a work of art. It is perhaps the first time ever that I've thought there was too much flavour, but compared to some of the weak, generic iced chocolates I've had, that's not a real complaint. You can see for yourself how nice it looked. It gets a 4 from me.

Lola: I would have appreciated a drinks menu but as Alexander mentioned, the waitress was really helpful in this department. I selected an orange juice and had no complaints, though provided it is fresh and cold, it's hard to get this wrong. I'll give it 3.5.

5. Fiscal matters

Alexander: Prices were pretty normal for Perth breakfasts (my dish was $18), with a range of menu items for all sorts of budgets. The food and drink servings were large enough to warrant the price tags, so I have no complaints about this one. 3.5 from me.

Lola: My dish was also $18 which I thought was warranted based on the portion size and the quality and freshness of ingredients. A 3.5 here too.

The verdict...

Comfort & surroundings: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Tastiness: 7/10
Drinks: 7.5/10
Fiscal Matters: 7/10
TOTAL: 39/50