Jacky’s Cafe

My preschooler and I found ourselves on Spring Garden/​Robie last week with a little over half an hour to spare before our next stop and empty bellies. Remembering there was a café on the bottom floor by the drug store, I headed down to have a look at the menu. It turned out to be a mix of Chinese and Canadian food but since it was closer to lunch than breakfast I settled on the veggie stir-​fry with noodles. Honestly — I liked the noodles better than Cheelin’s (the market one, anyway) and the veggies were nicely done — vibrantly coloured and fresh with a bit of crunch.
Vegetarians beware, there’s not a lot on the menu for you unless you can also eat eggs. And yeah, I had to drink a can of pop plus an entire litre of water over the following two hours. But the stir-​fry was great, if a little bland, and the PB&J took care of the potential «will-​my-​child-​eat-​or-​throw-​a-​fit» problem. I don’t think I’d come to town *specifically* to eat here, but if I am in that area and I’m hungry, I’ll go back.

It was one of those nights when I needed an instant noodle fix. I happened to be picking up something at Lawton in the same building so I decided to give Jacky’s a try. I ordered the wonton noodle soup to go. Nothing fancy here, no handmade noodle or homemade soup. However, it warmed my stomach and hit the spot. I was pleasantly surprised by the real shrimp in the wontons! Eating is indeed an emotional matter :) If it were any other nights I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.

The best shrimp dumpling & noodle soup in Halifax, also get extra dumplings and chili oil, had the mixed noodle soup and just the braised beef & noodle soup, have also tried the chicken & black bean sauce which was good. Will be returning many more times because Saturday they have Dim Sum with a variety of congee and deep fried shrimp dumplings and a few other dishes, well worth trying it out, hope you enjoy.

My favorite HK food in Halifax, I beg is the most traditional one! Luckily it still has dim sum in the café allow us to choose about it

I liked the food a lot!
BUT
The service could definitely have been better, the person behind the counter seemed pretty sulky, unfriendly and bored.

It may be small and in an office building but I’m a huge fan. If I want to treat myself to a YUMMYYY lunch I also go here. My favorite dish is the Kung Po chicken with stir fry noodles. I“m a fussy eater and it’s a little greasy but it’s a stir fry!!! The flavour is spectacular, perfect spicy. Just love this little gem! Highly recommend it if you just want something totally yummy and fast. It’s not fancy dining that’s for sure but that’s sometimes a great thing!

I quite like Jacky’s. I came here for the first time and I gotta say this is my kind of spot — VERY casual, reasonably priced food. The menu is mostly Chinese-​Canadian food but had some Canadian dishes too (which I didn’t pay attention to).
I came here today and ordered mixed veggie stir fry, I asked for it very spicy. I had the choice of fried noodles, or rice. I went with the noodles. You pay first and then the cashier brings your food to you.
Shortly after I ordered, the cashier brought over a decent sized plate of veggies and noodles. Simple, but definitely tasty and spicy — yay! Only complaint may be that I could tell it was very high in sodium. I drank a few glasses of water afterwards. Veggies were fresh, the sauce was flavorful (albeit spicy), and it was under $ 10 tip included.
I’ll be returning for a cheap meal!

I’ve walked past plenty of times going to and from work and stopping in to Starbucks or Lawton’s on the same level of this building. I finally stopped in to try the chicken guy ding, chicken with almonds, and ordered it with noodles to go. It was ready in less than 10 minutes, while I waited awkwardly at an empty table as there really isn’t anywhere to be while your food is being prepared. Once your order is handed off you have your pick of utensils, keep an eye out for the container of chopsticks as they were hidden behind the plastic forks but I’d rather cheap wooden chopsticks any day.
The meal stayed hot until I got to my office a few blocks away, and was satisfying, though very salty, and with about 5 almonds in the entire almond chicken dish. Still, there was plenty of chicken, and the vegetables were reasonably fresh. Certainly an option if you’re in the area but I wouldn’t go too far out of my way.

Jacky’s Café is a good place to eat when you want a bit of Chinese but on a slightly healthier level. I have lunch there at least once a week with my mother who works in one of the offices in building and we love the food! The Hunnan Chicken with noodles and spring rolls are delicious! Their Chinese and sandwich menu is great and very affordable. Went there for breakfast once and was not very pleased! I ordered plain bagel double toasted with cream cheese; what was served to me however, was what seemed like a microwaved bagel! The staff and owner are very nice though so that kind of makes up for it.

Tucked away in the Spring Garden Professional Centre (aka the ugly office building on the corner of SGR and Robie that has a Starbucks that you may or may not occasionally visit), Jacky’s is a quaint little office building café that is a lot of different things. Tightly packed with about 10 tables, I enjoy that it’s a deviation from the usual Greek/​Lebanese-​esque cafes that populate the city, instead going the route of Chinese food in addition to the standard breakfast and lunch fare.
I’ve had a couple enjoyable visits here before over the years, and there seems to be a reasonable amount of customers of the Asian persuasion, so I was looking forward to coming back. Meeting up with a friend for lunch, we wanted to hit up the Chinese side of the menu to try and get a taste of what Jacky’s is all about. We ordered dumplings and a vegetable spring roll for appetizers and the Hunan chicken and black bean sauce chicken for our mains. Not thinking about it, we forgot to order drinks and the cashier didn’t catch on either to make the sale, so we got back up to get them, but really it was our own fault. After a short wait, our apps were brought out to us. The spring roll was crispy, although I’m not a fan of crunchy, long strands of cabbage in my rolls and prefer more of a mash. The dumplings were a nice size, browned nicely on the outside and soft on the inside. The stuffing had a nice pork and veggie flavour for the greens, and I just wish there was a bit more of it to fill some of the empty space in the dumpling.
The mains were somewhat underwhelming when they arrived. While the veggies were reasonably fresh and crunchy, the sauces were a little on the weaker side, perhaps due to being an office restaurant and trying to tame things down. The chicken in both the dishes, while cooked properly, had an unfortunate texture that suggested it had come from a freezer. The rice was adequate and I was a fan of the noodles that came with my black bean dish, although I’m a sucker for noodles in most of their forms.
With some minor improvements, Jacky’s could definitely rise above the office restaurant pack to be something unique and special, which is something that would be good for the city and my belly.

Oh my dear Jacky. I’m sure you are quite the nice lady but I personally cannot say the same for your food. I popped in here as I was in a pinch for lunch. Chinese? Heck yes. I’m always down for that. HOLY SODIUM OVERLOAD.
I think my arteries and eye balls popped out of my body. No but seriously, the funny thing about it was that it tasted semi-​great going down. Afterwords was quuuuuite the opposite. I felt like one huge sack of disgusting. Super cheap though! And quite a hefty size dish for the price. The décor is well, several thousands notches from chic.
But realistically, what can I expect from a bunch of noodles and chicken.
Rumor has it the breakfast is pretty tasty and could therefore easily bump my rating up to a 2 – 3.
Until we meet again.

This is your basic office tower diner with an unexpected Chinese flare. Older folk come here for no-​frills breakfast, office workers come for morning drip coffee, people-​in-​the-​know come for dumplings and noodles.
I popped in to kill some time and grab a bite, settling on their breakfast sandwich without the ham or bacon. Coming in at $ 2.95 (nothing taken off despite the no meat), trying to pay was the worst part of my visit.
Credit cards aren’t accepted but cash and debit are okay. Except the debit machine wouldn’t work. She tried for a solid two or three minutes to get the card rung through while I tried to guess if I had enough change to pay without actually being told my total. But, since this is 2011, I didn’t have more than $ 4 on me so when we finally gave up on the card, I had to do without my OJ. Not to mention the general funtime feelings of not being able to pay for your order. Super…
The sammich was pretty good on a fresh english muffin but the cheese was totally a Kraft Single. You know, the kind that leaves that gross film on your teeth for the rest of the day? Again… super…
I will give Jacky’s bonus points for nice staff, rocking the early nineties power ballads, and for having my childhood fave peanut butter and banana sandwich on the menu ($ 2.95). But outside of their Asian food (which I haven’t tried), this is definitely grub you can make at home. Probably with a better cheese choice.

Jacky’s Café (correct spelling), inside the professional building at the Northeast corner of Spring Garden Road and Robie Street (entrance next to Lawtons Drugs), is open every day except Sunday, but its real highlight is the Chinese breakfast that is served on Saturdays from 10am to 4.30pm. Jacky’s has 28 seats and, if you go there around lunchtime on Saturday, you will see it well attended with around 80% of customers being Chinese.
For the Chinese breakfast on Saturday you can choose from different types of congees (for instance the shrimp congee for $ 5.75) and different types of dumplings (for instance the pan-​fried dumplings for $ 3.75). They also have deep-​fried bread, «turnip» cake, spring and egg rolls, and a few other items. Of course you get tea with your order but you can also get various soft drinks including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Coke, and Diet Coke.
I absolutely love their Chinese breakfast. Especially the congees and the dumplings are truly excellent. A great way to bring flavour into your Saturday!
Note that they charge a $ 0.40 fee on debit purchases so be sure to bring cash instead.

It’s no haute cuisine but Jacky’s is a great stop if you need a quick bite near Robie and Spring Garden. There’s a weekly rotation of stir fry specials, as well as absolutely delicious noodle soups.
I keep meaning to go on Saturday morning for congee. I’ll be sure to report back if I do.

Located in the Professional Building on Spring Garden road Jackies Café was a quick fix for lunch on day as I was on the run.
Small and Café style with tables totalling about 10 –12 just enough for a lunch time crowd from the offices upstairs. Grabbing on the run I had the Garden Vegetable Soup with half sandwich. The soup had a great consistency of vegetables and tasted like it was homemade. you know some locations all you can taste is salt.
Is Jackies a location that would go out of my way for no but for every now and then it is a great fix for something that is homemade apposed to deep fried. Check it out as each day the special are clearly displayed our front.

I have heard a lot about this place and it always seems to be busy. It is located in the Professional Centre on Spring Garden Road.
They have been around for about 5 or 6 years. It is a pretty simple interior, clean with about 10 tables. I think the location wins out over everything though.
Now I have eaten enough noodles to know that these ones were definitely not on the top 10 list for me.
I ordered the chicken with fried noodles. Hmm, I was expecting to be wowed, unfortunately I was not. The chicken was dry and looked like it was sitting around and then redone. The noodles had no life. The portion size was small for $ 7.00.
The menu looked interesting though. Maybe next time I will try the soup.
Or maybe the Turnip Cake.
For you breakfast lovers, they have all day breakfast, Bacon/​Ham and Egg on an English Muffin for $ 2.95, or a Western Sandwich for $ 4.95.

Okay, I have to confess, I’ve only ever eaten one thing on the menu here, but I’ve had it repeatedly — like, every time I go there (which is maybe once every month or two). It’s the shrimp wonton noodle soup, which is a big steaming bowl of rice noodles in a delicious broth with a pile of delicious shrimp wontons on top. Yum.
The restaurant is one of those places you might never discover unless you happen to be in the building for something else — it’s hidden at the back of the Professional Centre, and unless your doctor happens to be in that building, you probably have no idea this little spot is here.
They also serve some other Asian and Canadian dishes, although I can’t tell you exactly what, since I only have eyes for their noodles.