Review: Jacqueline Suzannes Bistro.

[XylathaneGTR]

I've been meaning to get this up here for the last week...but it's finals season and i've been rather busy. Since my brain now feels like mush, I thought this was a good time to take a break and throw up a review.

Anywho:

Jacqueline Suzannes Bistro
1219 9th Ave S.E. (Inglewood)
(403) 266-1005
www.jacquelinesuzannes.ca


I recalled a beyond user (A790) mentioning that his family owned this restaurant and I decided that i'd give it a try after I found out that a restaurant I originally had in mind was closed sunday evenings.

I called saturday evening and booked a reservation for the following sunday (as in, the next day) at 6:30. The restaurant called me around 11 on sunday morning to confirm, which I appreciated.

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 9/10

The restaurant is located in an old historic building, and felt very quiet and comforting. It should be noted that the restaurant is also an antique shop, so the decor is quite different from what you'd expect from your average place. There was a lot of character in the decor and it gave it a really nice 'personal' feel, and my date and I really liked that. There was even a guestbook at the front to sign. The musical selection played was also fantastic (Sinatra, various classical, etc) and really added to the atmosphere. Overall, a very nice place.

Food - 9/10

The food was delicious. My date ordered the Sake Poached Atlantic Salmon (~26). I'm generally not a huge fan of seafood. I like sushi and lobster, but i'm not really a fan of cooked fish...I just don't like it. I did try some of her salmon and it actually tasted really, really good...to the point where I wouldn't mind eating it. (If someone can take something I don't like and it ends up tasting great...I tip my hat to them.)
I ordered the Linguine with Spolumbo Sausage (~18.) The pasta was very fresh and light, and came with a delicious sauce that had a bit of a kick too it, but wasn't "too spicy."
There was also a complementary basket of some sort of bread (I guess it would have been a 12 grain wheat-ish bread) that was very fresh and quite tasty.
Overall, the food was very well prepared, very fresh and the portions were nicely sized.

Service - 10/10

My date wanted to have 'the window seat' right up at the front of the restaurant. Once of the owners (i'm going to assume A790/Cam's father) checked up on us regularl, and even brought us a couple of dry vodka martini's, free of charge. (Very tasty, and the olives were delicious, too.) My date was rather curious about the manequin and player piano that was sitting next to us, and Cam's father told us a bit about the history of it and how they came about owning 'Nick' (the manequin)
Cam's mother also checked up on us, and made a wine suggestion for my date that turned out great. We were very well looked after.

Pricing 9/10

Prices were very reasonable for what you got. Entree's in the high 20's low 30's, appetizers in the low to mid teens. For the two of us, including a glass of wine and a softdrink, it came to just under 60 dollars.

Overall - 9/10

It can generally be summed up that it was a great dining experience, and I really enjoyed every minute of it.
There is street parking infront of the restaurant, as well as an impark lot located about 1/2 a block up the street...so there's ample parking available. I look forward to going back.

[max_boost]

I've been wanting to try this place for awhile but schedule hasn't worked out. Good to hear such a positive review.

I love salmon.

[Jynx]

Seems like a perfect review. Surprised not a 10/10?

Any negatives at all?

[LongCity]

Any biases in the review?! I plan on trying this place out some time after exams were all finished up. Reminds me of Rocky when the owner(s) come out and have small talk with the customers.

[adidas]

did a790 know that your were from beyond and that you were makin a stop down there?

[XylathaneGTR]

Originally posted by Jynx
Seems like a perfect review. Surprised not a 10/10?

Any negatives at all?

I'm hesitant to give something the holy 10/10.

I wouldn't really say there were any big negatives in the experience. The window seat we decided to sit at was a little cramped in terms of space, but that's about it.

Adidas: I sent a790 a pm about it, enquiring if they were open on sunday evenings, as I couldn't tell for sure from their website. I ended up calling and making a reservation before he got back to me. I had only heard of the place after he mentioned it in a thread and suggested it (and did state that his family owned it.)
I later sent him a PM thanking him for recommending it, as it was a good experience.

I did mention to him in a PM beforehand that I had made a reservation for sunday evening. There were a few other groups of people in the place, and some that arrived about the same time I did...So i don't believe he knew who I was, and i don't believe we got "special treatment" because im a member of an ultracool secret internet forum or anything like that...

I thought i'd thank them for the good experience by throwing up a review.

[A790]

I'm glad you enjoyed it

I'm actually heading down there tonight for a meal. I don't work there anymore so it's fun to pop in and enjoy the restaurant from the other side of the table.

[GQNammer]

Trying this place out tonight! After reading this review I'm having high expectations of this place. Don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing.

[A790]

Originally posted by GQNammer
Trying this place out tonight! After reading this review I'm having high expectations of this place. Don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing.

Make sure you call and get a reservation It's been quite busy for the last few weeks.

[GQNammer]

^^

Yup made reservations. Just got back from there.

The first impression wasn't very great. The person up front, (older gentleman) seemed surprised that my wife and I were there. I told him we had a reservation for 2 and said, "are you sure?" I told him yes and that I called in 2 hours ago and they said that they had space available for 8pm. He checks the book, still surprised says, "okay I guess we gotta set up a table for you guys upstairs."

It wasn't a BIG deal but first impressions do count for me.

Went upstairs and I thought I was gonna smoke my head in the ceiling lol. But it was a nice ambience and comfy chairs! I'm just glad I didn't come at a busy time because upstiars looked like it could maybe fit 16 people uncomfortably. There was live music being played downstairs where the bar is, guess there was an xmas party going on.

Our server was great for the most part. Only snag was when I asked for a refill on my drink and she was heading downstairs but talked it up to the table behind my wife and I for about 8 minutes. But no biggie, i'm a patient guy.

Ordered 2 apps and 2 entrees. Our apps were the giant scallops and cold smoked salmon, both were absolutely delicious. My wife ordered the lobster ravioli and I ordered the linguini with spicy italian sausage. Again, both were soooo good. I'm a meat kind of guy and a lot of places I find myself finishing the meat before I finish my pasta, but this was not the case. Plenty of sausage Excellent portion size also. My wife brought 1/2 of her entree home and I didn't finish mine.

Overall, it was a good experience and I would highly recommend this place to everyone. Food is excellent, price was fair, and service was good for the majority. Oh and forgot to mention, with our 2 apps, 2 entrees, a chocolate cheesecake, tea and pop came out to $105 including tip ($91.80 before tip)

[Neil4Speed]

Hey Guys,

Just giving a quick review of JS. Me and My girlfriend checked it out a couple of weeks ago, and it is truly one of my new favorites in Calgary. I think part of the charm is its versatility. At first thought I felt it would be suited as a perfect first date spot, with the personalized service, fantastic food, and eclectic furnishings and decorations coupled by the charm of ingelwood. However, the more I thought about it, it is equally suitable for a few friends going out for a nice casual dining experience for those who are discerning about their food - as we witnessed two couples just hanging out drinking wine with their fantastic appetizers.

Our server was professional but approachable and friendly. Service was excellent, and our food took very little time. We ordered a bake brie for an appetizer, with the Sake Salmon on Wild Rice, and my GF ordered the Buternut Squash Ravioli, We finished with an interesting Creme Brule. Everything tasted exquisite and on par or better than any fine restaurant that I have been to. The servings are generous and I couldn't even finish my meal - of course food this good would never be wasted I took it home and savored it as my lunch the next day. The Creme Brule is unique in that the filling was cold, and intended so, its a nice twist on a classic dessert - refreshing after a heavy meal.

Our Meal came to ~100 after everything (no alcoholic drinks).

I can't wait to come back to this great restaurant - for the brunch for sure, the menu looked delicious.

[bigbadboss101]

Was going to go to Nelly in the Loop but we saw a line up so my gal friend suggested J & S. Had the table right by the front window. After a while I realized it was Cam who was our server.

Food was very nice, and the menu selection is quite good. Server was friendly and helpful. All in all a pleasant experience will definitely go back again!

[A790]

Thanks for the great reviews guys. Being a family restaurant, we all work hard to keep things flowing smoothly. We hit some snags every now and again, like any other restaurant, but we work hard to keep things running.

Also, it was great to meet some beyonders!

[twodoor]

We just had a group dinner at Jacqueline Suzanne's last night.

They have a private loft space in the back, and rearranged it to give us one large table for 17. It is an older building so the loft ceiling is a little lower than normal, but after you're up there for a few minutes you don't even notice it (and it was a good for a few jokes at the expense of the tallest members of the group). It's normally several square and round tables that seat up to 20, but the single large table worked well, and gave us a little room to stand and mingle with drinks before dinner. The space is above the kitchen, so it gets a little warm with a large group, but there is a window on the back wall for some extra air flow.

They allowed us to order off the menu, and the group covered a fairly wide range, including salads, escargot in a parmesan cream sauce, crab cakes, a neptune beef tenderloin with king crab, the daily special chicken breast, and several of the prime ribs, to name a few. The prime rib is served Friday and Saturday, and the 10 oz and 15 oz servings both seemed very generous. The entrees also all arrived together, so kudos to the kitchen staff. The day's dessert specials included several flavors of creme brulee and cheesecake, along with tiramasu and baked apples.

The service was top notch (even with having to bound up and down the stairs) and the meal was a fantastic accompaniment to an evening of catching up with old friends and colleagues.

I had looked at several other places, but they were all much more stringent in their group requirements (e.g. Saltlik downstairs required $1500 minimum, Vintage needed a $500 deposit and set menu). Metropolitan Grill on 8th in TD Square has a private room behind the bar, but the decor there is starting to look pretty worn (e.g. broken floor tiles). Ric's Grill was willing to let us order off the menu, but their private room holds up to 50, so we would have been sharing it with another group.

As it turned out, Jacqueline Suzanne's was very flexible in working with us on the space set up and giving us the full menu, and everyone in the group had a great time with a terrific meal. If you have a group of similar size, I would certainly recommend Jacqueline Suzanne's.

[McHonda]

Heard about JS on CalgaryPuck, going there tonight, now my expectations are raised another notch haha

[A790]

Originally posted by McHonda
Heard about JS on CalgaryPuck, going there tonight, now my expectations are raised another notch haha

How was it?

[McHonda]

Originally posted by A790

How was it?

It was very nice meeting you last night Cam, we and our friends all agree that we haven't had such great service in a Calgary restaurant in a long time! Of course I think it helps that you are a part-owner haha

I will write this review in the format of the OP's:

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 9.5/10

It was hard to find and we drove around the block a few times, I did have to finally call and ask for hints lol but we did find it afterwards no problem. The ambiance is very unique and intimate, which makes for a perfect space for chit-chat and get-together among couples, as was our case. By the way, our ladies found the furniture for sale in the back pages of the menu very amusing.

Food - 9.5/10

Our friend suggested the Baked Brie with Peach Chutney to start with. The 4 of us shared this together and it was more than enough cheese, however the Crostinis were somewhat lacking at first in comparison to the cheese's portion. My buddy asked Cam for more and he let us know that the $0.75 charge per extra piece was comped by the chef lol...so yeah if you order this Brie to share among friends be prepared to pay up for the extra crostinis. Overall, a very enjoyable appie to kick off the evening with.

As the OP suggested in his rave review, I suggested the Sake Poached Atlantic Salmon to my friend, she was initially scared off by the Wasabi aioli, but Cam assured her that it doesn't have the "kick" of wasabi, and that he would serve it on the side, so she did finally decide on it and it turned out great!

My lady had the Seafood Linguine in Creole sauce and she also loved it. There is also pieces of salmon in it, and like the OP I am generally not a fan of cooked fish, I did try a piece and totally agree that it's fantastic.

Me and my buddy both had the AAA tenderloin, his was the special of the night not on the regular menu, Oscar with hollandaise sauce, it came with the biggest jumbo prawns I've seen in my life, the steak was barely visible when it was served, and the steak wasn't exactly a tiny 6oz'r either. He loved it.

Being that we're not in a steak house my expectations weren't that high for the food, I originally was going to get the Linguine with Spicy Italian Sausage as I am a big fan of Spolumbos, but my lady insisted that I go with the steak as I am also a carnivore in the worse sense of the term No meat, no joy for this guy hahaha.

So I had the Blue Cheese & Escagot variant of the tenderloin. It was served with a generous amount of blue cheese sauce and 3 de-shelled escagot. I'm a huge escagot lover and this was simply divine, no questions about it. Next time I'm definitely ordering the escagot as an appie.

The steak however was slightly overcooked to the medium side (I asked for medium rare). However it wasn't a big deal and it was still very decent. For the record my buddy's steak was done right so I'm sure this is just an anomaly. The blue cheese did help the flavors so it was still pretty good overall.

As for dessert, our friends had the Creme Brule Duo and the Chocolate Cheesecake, we shared another Creme Brule Duo between the two of us. All were very good, the Creme Brule came as advertised by Neil4Speed above, with a cool filling. It came in 2 containers, one is Kahlua and the other Apple Cinnamon flavored. I really enjoyed the Kahlua flavored one, the Apple Cinnamon one was reserved for my lady and I absolutely cannot stand Cinnamon, she loves it though!

Wine - 10/10

I am normally a Merlot drinker, but I am also a beer snob and when it comes to wine I am not nearly as picky as my buddy, who is also a "wine enthusiast" as defined by Cam, with a considerable collection at home. On Cam's suggestion, we had the Luigi Bosca, a Malbec from Argentina with hints of blackberry and dark chocolate, it was quite intense with a smooth long finish. An excellent pairing for the steak IMO.


Service - 13/10

There cannot be enough said about Cam's excellent service. When he mentioned that Suzanne is his mom that's when I realized he was indeed the man I've read about here on Beyond. He also did tell us we're getting 10% off because of Beyond, and we were pleasantly surprised since I did not see his thread on this promo before I went out. Admittedly I did hear about JS's on CalgaryPuck first but a little poking around on here let me to this review thread.

Throughout the evening Cam was very entertaining without being intrusive or overdoing his bits. I have quite a few clients/friends/relatives in the restaurant business and I am sure even they would be throughly impressed by the service. Bonus points for the purple shirt haha

The final nice touch is, after my lady spilled the beans about the occasion, he put a candle on a cookie with my creme brule and serenaded me, along with the other table in the far corner in celebration of my birthday. (which is still a week and change away actually), Thank you. She did take me home though, contrary to your suggestion earlier :ROFL:

**Cam has certainly not bribed me to write this review but that is how wonderful he has made our evening out, that I am now compelled to tell anyone who ask for a restaurant suggestion from now on to pay JS a visit. I am generally quite picky when it comes to the service I receive in the hospitality industry, and I really could find no faults with the service this evening.


Pricing 9/10

What the OP said basically, I believe our tab came to ~$220ish before tip, for the four of us. It was my friends' treat and I didn't get the exact figure. Prices are in line with most downtown restaurants but the experience is incomparable. In that light, I would say it's most reasonable and a great value.


Overall - 11/10

Jacqueline Suzanne's was definitely a great place to spend the evening and I'm glad we gave it a go. A re-visit is definitely warranted. As long as Cam can guarantee a pigflufree environment next time :ROFL: *I keed I keed* lol

Two thumbs up

~Horace

On an unrelated note, nice shutout by Kipper last night

[The_Rural_Juror]

My honest non-biased thoughts on this place.

The good: Best eggs benedict that I have ever had. Excellent service. Reasonable pricing. Well worth a trip.

The other: My very first impression upon entering was that this isn't the type of place that I would normally go to. The antique-y decor, and the hobbit friendly second level, was a little different for me; and I genuinely felt like I was going to be tossed out for being decades too young.

[DC328is]

Just tried this place out yesterday.

I ordered the Triple A beef with blue cheese and escargot. It was exsquisite! portion was perfect. exceeded my expectations. however, like the previous post, i asked for a medium rare, but it seemed to be that it was more on the medium side.

my girlfriend ordered the sake poached salmon. the fish was very soft and juicy. In my opinion, the salmon could use a bit more uniqueness to it. It kind of tastes like what my mom makes at home. perhaps somehow make the outside nice n crispy and the inside soft and juicy.

Onto dessert, we ordered the gran marnier creme brule. it was absolutely delightful.

Service was 8.5/10 (probably because we arrived so early, 5:45 pm)
Ambience was 9/10 (lots of unique antique wear)
Food was 9.5/10 (especially the triple A beef steak)

ide definitely go again!

[CMW403]

I ate here just before new years, it was fantastic.

The food was delicious, most mentionable was the lamb appetizer. In my online reservation I mentioned that it was my girlfriend and I's 6 month anniversary. We got desert on the house and a beyond members 10% discount.

my girlfriend absolutely LOVED the atmosphere. The antiques and decor were right up her alley and she's already begging to go back for breakfast.

Excellent work cam.