JJ Jackson

I've been lucky enough to eat at JJ Jackson's twice in the last week or so. You wouldn't guess it from the name, but JJ Jackson is a Korean restaurant in the city.

If you're fortunate enough to stroll in when the place isn't full (which isn't very often), you'll probably notice is the two video screens pretty much straight away. When we were there today we had Christina Aguilera featured for most of our lunch. I'd rather be watching a video screen than another boring restaurant wall, so its fine with me.

Anyway, we weren't here for Christina, we were here for the great Korean food. JJ Jackson has one of those handy menus which has a picture of most of the meals on it. It's great if you're not entirely sure what the octopus ball might turn out to be. At least you can get some kind of reassurance that it looks ok in the picture.

The menu offers a good selection of Korean food. If you are looking for something fairly safe, there's the Korean style marinated chicken fillet with vegetables on steamed rice ($10) or the beef stir fried udon noodles ($11). But if you're looking for something a bit different, then JJ Jackson is going to oblige. Try the octopus ball ($7), grilled eel with rice and salad ($19), BBQ beef with rice, kimchi, seaweed and flying fish eggs ($15) or the steamed pork hock with special sauce ($28).

Last time we were here for dinner I tried the Korean style marinated beef fillet with vegetables on steamed rice ($10) which was a good, tasty meal. Most of the meals are garnished with what looks like shredded beetroot, but I think its actually coloured vegetable noodles. Today for lunch I went for the Korean style marinated chicken fillet, vegetables and rice cake with spicy sauce on steamed rice ($12). Yes it sounds very similar to the beef fillet I had last time, and yes it tasted pretty similar. But it was a good meal, so I'm not complaining. The rice cakes though made for a contrast in textures, which always adds a little extra to the dish.

In my last few visits we've also ordered the Korean style marinated pork and vegetables with spicy sauce on steamed rice ($12), the vegetarian stir fried sweet potato noodles ($10) and the salt and pepper squid salad ($13.90) all of which quickly disappeared off the plate. The sweet potato noodles in particular were excellent, and not something you come across every day.

Most of the meals are served with kimchi, which I find severely addictive (luckily it only comes out in small dishes).

The best thing about JJ Jackson is the low, low prices. Most of the meals are between $10 and $12, and the servings are very generous. It's the perfect place for a quick lunch or dinner.

If you really want to round out the whole Korean experience, order some of the Korean alcohol. I've had the rice wine a couple of times now, with a tiro mixer, and it makes for a refreshing change.

Service is friendly and efficient. The staff here are more than happy to explain the menu (and the Korean alcohol) to make sure that you have a great meal.

Unless you aren't in a hurry, it's a good idea to book ahead. JJ Jackson can get very busy at both lunch and dinner, so don't expect to walk straight in and grab a table. Also, the meals are very generous. I'd be surprised if you could eat more than one of the meals off the menu, so its not the kind of place where you will spend hours lingering over your meals.

What does all this mean? Tasty, interesting Korean food at excellent prices.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Good
Ambience - Modern furnishings with music videos in the background
Value for Money - Top Shelf
Vegetarian - Limited

JJ Jackson Restaurant & Bar
Shop 4, 120 Edward Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3210 0007