Jacky’s Waterplace

Jacky’s Waterplace & Sushi Bar
200 Exchange Street
Providence, RI

Phone
401-383-500

Reservations
Yes – and highly suggested during the summer and the weekends.

Hours
Monday – Thursday 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Friday 11:30 a.m.  – 11 p.m.
Saturday 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Sunday 1 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Happy Hour
Monday – Friday 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Valet Parking
Yes

With four locations all over Rhode Island, Jacky’s Waterplace has become a Ocean State staple for fresh sushi and an unreasonably wide variety of classic and contemporary Asian Cuisines including Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian and more.

I went to the Providence location to celebrate my birthday with my family! And boy, did we celebrate. They spoil me.

We started off with the chicken lettuce wraps, shrimp lettuce wraps, spring rolls, honey glazed boneless ribs and gyoza.

The lettuce wraps come four per order, and Jacky’s has my favorite version of this appetizer that seems to be on every appetizer menu now a days. Each piece of lettuce comes filled to the brim with the chicken (or shrimp), water chestnut, carrot, shiitake mushroom, and pine nut mixture. And each piece of lettuce sits on top of an oversized wonton. This is by far the best solution to the sloppy-messy-falling apart-soggy lettuce wrap problem I’ve ever seen. I always tell myself I won’t eat the wonton to save room for everything else, but, uh – let’s be real. I devoured it.

The spring rolls were tasty and traditional. There are only two per order but they come cut in half – this is a great appetizer to share that won’t fill you up too much. What I like most about these spring rolls is that the outer crust is crunchy without being slimy from the oil they were fried in.

The honey glazed boneless ribs were phenomenal. They were tender and delicately sweet! However, try to show some self control and don’t go for the pickled radish and carrots that are on the plate. You don’t always have to eat the garnish but I don’t have any self control and always try them! They were…interesting. I tried it paired it with the ribs themselves to see if they were supposed to compliment each other. And just…no. Pass. Focus on the highlight of the dish!

The gyoza were tasty but small. I mean, real small. Bite size. Not that their size should be considered a negative, they’re just appetizers! The pork inside is extremely well seasoned and delicious! These sure as hell aren’t those flavorless fried dough pockets you have to drown in dipping sauce from the only Chinese take out place opened at 3 a.m.  (you guys know who I’m talking about).

My brother and mother ordered from the sushi menu for dinner. My brother got the spicy tuna maki roll entrée. Here’s the thing – I have nothing negative to say about these rolls. They’re good. Tasty. Spicy. But they taste like every other spicy tuna roll you can get in Rhode Island. That’s not a bad thing, it is what it is.

But I cannot say with enough emphasis that when you come to Jacky’s you are much better off ordering the sashimi! If you love raw fish, you cannot go wrong here. Every piece is fresh and just melts in your mouth. It’s rare to find a place that can consistently, visit after visit provide such a quality product. And raw fish is nothing to mess around with! If you ever had the unfortunate experience of having a piece of sashimi that just doesn’t taste quite right, you know how amazing it is to find a place that delivers! And Jacky’s most definitely does.

My Dad and I went the noodle route – he ordered the Singapore Noodles and I ordered the Japanese Udon noodles with shrimp.

The Singapore Noodles are listed on the menu as having jalapeños and curry…so why my father (who doesn’t like spicy foods) ordered this dish is beyond me. He swore up and down that when he orders this dish normally it’s “not THAT spicy.” But apparently this night, it was. We ended up trading. I guess the lesson here is the spice level is inconsistent. So if you’re not sure if you can handle it, try something else! But if you’re like me and love a kick to your meal: go for it. It’s delicious.

The udon noodles were freakin’ awesome. I got them with shrimp and I love, love love, that I didn’t get a dish filled with those creepy ass tiny little baby thumbnail size shrimp. You know, those creepy ones you get in much crappier Chinese restaurants? None of that here. At Jacky’s they know that no self respecting Rhode Islander would tolerate such nonsense. HUGE SHRIMP IN YOUR UDON NOODLES: CHECK.

Finally, at the end of the meal our waitress (who was fantastic) surprised me with a birthday cheesecake! It was just enough for the entire family to get in on – it was so creamy! I don’t know if they make it in house, but it didn’t taste out of a box.

Jacky’s Waterplace has consistently delivered great food and wonderful service across each location. The only thing that puts the Providence location over the rest is the view! It directly overlooks the river where waterfire takes place and when the river isn’t on fire, the skyline lights up at sunset to provide a unique perspective over the city of Providence!

Table at Ten

Table at Ten
990 Piedmont Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309

Contact
404-347-3360 | TEN@TenAtlanta.com

Hours
Restaurant |
Monday – Friday 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Brunch)

Bar |
Monday – Friday 5 p.m. – 3 a.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. – 3 a.m.
Sunday 12:30 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Pictured
Fried Green Tomatos – $7
Build Your Own Salad (Sm.) – $15

After my friend and I finished with the AMA Job Fair (he was recruiting, I was begging people to hire me) we decided to grab a quick bite at Table at TEN in Midtown.

There was no method to our madness in choosing this place. It was on our side of the street, it seemed open, so why not?

We were the only two in the place seeing as we got there right at 5 p.m. on a Friday. We grabbed a seat at the bar and it didn’t take us long to feel right at home.

Our bartender was great. After asking us a couple questions about what we wanted to drink (we were both undecided) he helped us pick a beer on draft that was a bit darker than a pale ale, but not as intense as an IPA or Stout. The name escapes me but I will do everything in my power to figure it out!

Jason has never had fried green tomatoes but claims he loves the movie. Can you imagine never having had fried green tomatoes after watching that movie?! PLEASE.  So I more or less INSISTED we order them.

As you can see the plating made me sort of giggle…we watch a little too much Kitchen Nightmares and I feel like Gordon Ramsay would have an issue with how the sauce was just kind of…slopped on there. But the tomatoes themselves made up for it. They were lightly fried in cornmeal so the coating wasn’t too thick (which can cause it to fall off the tomato and get soggy). The tomatoes themselves were tender and sweet. I was disappointed there were only five slices on the plate. I could have eaten five more!!

Then we decided to split a salad. Our bartender, bless his soul, made sure to tell us that the small was enough for two people and the large was obscene.

I normally dislike it when restaurants have a “build your own” option on the menu. Mostly because I’m lazy. I get that it gives you the choice, which is great – but at the same time…do I really want to go over each category, total how much each ingredient will be in my head (and there are three categories with three different price points)? No. I don’t. That’s what I do every week when I grocery shop man! Just make a really phenomenal salad and list it!

But Jason was into this…so I agreed. (Woe is me…right?)

Our salad was:

Spinach for the base – $4
Tomatoes – $ 1
Broccoli – $ 1
Olives – $ 2
Feta – $ 2
Artichokes – $ 2
Grilled Chicken – $ 3

Homemade Lemon Vinaigrette and Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette on the side.

You know when you go to some salad bars and you think you’re being all healthy because ya know, you could have gotten the cheese fries. So you load up your plate with all the veggies you can fit (plus like, 1,000 croutons and a cup of bacon bits) you get back to your seat, you take your first bite AND……..something just tastes off? It tastes almost fake? Or stale? You can tell these bagged cucumbers are just NOT that fresh! And those olives? They’ve been sitting in their juices since 2002! And man, you can taste it!

I was worried that’s what we were going to have on our hands…

This wasn’t the case at all. 

Everything, from the spinach to the tomatoes tasted so damn fresh. The tomatoes were sweet and juicy (not just flavorless water capsules that burst in your mouth), the broccoli didn’t taste old and the chicken?

Man.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOATHE RUBBERY CHICKEN?

I mean, you can FEEL the difference between GOOD chicken and NASTY chicken. It was grilled to perfection and super tasty!

My time at Table at Ten was so much fun and so enjoyable – and I plan on coming back ASAP!  Not only to explore their menu further (I’m coming for you, shrimp and grits!!) but to check out the night life at the bar!

Between the decor, the food, the drinks and the staff – everything came together to make the entire experience a 10 out of 10!