Tiger Jacks - London

On Friday evening, three of us sat at a window seat during our visit. The restaurant is spacious and inviting, clearly catering to both diners and bar customers.

Smooth, chilled beer, piping hot dishes, laid-back ambiance, and speedy, welcoming customer service. What more could one ask for?

You know what? I don't think I give Tiger Jack's restaurant enough credit. It is located on the outskirts of town, next to an empty building and right by a busy intersection.

First time going to this restaurant. I knew they had been there quite a while but had no idea it has been there for 19 years. That alone says something these days.The food was pretty good. Won't say spectacular but pretty good. Ordered the Penne Carbonara with added shrimp. Penne a bit overcooked but that's a matter of preference to be fair. The sauce was very nice & the shrimp tender. The value for the money was outstanding. The entree came with soup or salad plus a warm loaf of garlic loaf. Unlimited salad though I did not have more. The Caesar Salad was creamy, nice taste. Food, including shrimp appetizer underseasoned & salt was needed .The decor screams the 80's, as do the serving plates and even the restroom. The dolls overhead, along with the imitation Tiffany lamps need serious dusting. Kept thinking about dust going into my food. You can seriously see the lack of attention to this. It's a serious & obvious neglect if you take the time to really look at it. The dolls and many many other things need to be cleared out. Long overdue for a makeover. The disgusting and weed infested seedy look of the long closed "Hooks" beside Tiger Jacks makes it worse but I am sure no one would rather sèe that cleaned up more then the Tiger Jacks owner. It drew in quite a crowd of regulars while we were there though. Again, despite the faults it must be doing o.k.

I have lived in London all my life and have been here when it was Hooks but it looked so run down since then I never went in. Another couple told us the food was quite good and asked us to try it out with them. The decor is interesting with tigers and a huge fireplace but it was much better than I had imagined. We got a booth and ordered dinks right away. There is a patio at the back that was a good size. They have colouring for the children and there were some families there. I ordered the chicken parmigiana that came with a fresh loaf of bread and butter. My husband ordered the ribs and wing combo and both of us were happy with our orders. The other couple ordered burgers and fries and said they were good. The servers were friendly and attentive. I guess you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Great food at a reasonable price, we'll be back.