Pocket knife it has a up-to-date, graphically sophisticated look that says “franchise ready.” It’s basic to imagine many Jacknifes popping up in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and throughout Chicago, with personalized to-go containers perfectly sized for sushi rolls and bowls.
Much of the information about its capable setup talks about it being “pandemic friendly.” A dedicated pick-up path, food lockers in the lobby so takeaway customers can log in and grab their bags without having to go inside, and personalization checkboxes built into the online ordering system make Jacknife feel very up-to-date.
Because Jacknife is the fast-casual brother Red, one of the city’s more creative Japanese restaurants, expectations were high when it opened in March. The menu mixes elements from sushi bars, bowl and salad places, and poke places – which makes sense since these dishes tend to share ingredients. But trying to be all that doesn’t always work as well as it should.
Jacknife does sushi well. They are fresh, made to order and enjoyable. Most are reasonably priced, somewhere between grocery store sushi and table service restaurant. I’d go for the Jalapeno Biz, nicely balanced pieces of salmon and avocado (even though mine lacked the jalapeno); or Pear Pressure, which combines sweet fruit with two layers of salmon, both inside the roll and outside as a wrap. In the kitchen, you can skip the decorative but otherwise unattractive hemp seeds.
The XOXO roll combines egg yolk with a bit of lemon zest, avocado and XO sauce (less sauce than the snazzy seafood-based spread). It’s not just the yellow tail that makes XOXO so basic to love, it’s the jolt of citrus and XO.
The King Kong roll combines black tiger shrimp with cream cheese and the inevitable avocado — but as with every roll I’ve ordered that included a peppery ingredient (in this case, peppery aioli), that ingredient was either missing or used so sparingly as to be unnoticeable .
The ecstatic tuna roll was unbalanced, the tuna overwhelmed by the sweet oshinko. Conversely, the vegan roll called “Squash the Haters” (butternut squash, asparagus and red peppers) needed some sort of exclamation point – maybe more unagi sauce. That said, I’m ecstatic enough to return to Jacknife for the rolls.
I liked the crispy star salad – its base is green kale, you massage it to make it tender. This is unmassed kale, which is not crunchy; it’s rubbery. The salad also includes mint and coriander leaves, left almost whole; nibbling on it may make your guest feel a bit like a rabbit. Red peppers, mango, generously sprinkled with peanuts and peanut-ginger dressing make the salad taste as pleasant as an unfolded spring roll. But I’m not sure kale works.
There is no build-your-own option at Jacknife, unlike eateries that specialize in bowls like Forage or a typical poke assembly line. Guests can ask the kitchen to omit ingredients and choose a base (brown rice, sushi rice, quinoa or vegetables). You can add or omit protein (tofu, skirt steak, chicken or shrimp).
The roasted Vegeta bowl consisted mostly of undercooked vegetables (sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower), but the lightly sautéed mushrooms were excellent and had me searching through the quinoa to get every last one.
A pretty Baja Bowl with accents of Southwestern flavors may seem insipid at first, due in part to the oddly non-spicy cayenne vinaigrette. But carefully forking out portions of each ingredient, including sauce and avocado, black beans, corn, and especially cotija cheese and pepitas, is delicious, if not very Southwestern. The tent ingredient, New York strip steak, is tender but doesn’t add much flavor.
The homemade dumplings (pork, shrimp or vegetable) are petite but good: the pork version is gingery and not fatty. Still, six diminutive dumplings for $10 made me wish I had ordered another roll instead.
Dining inside is pleasant, and there’s a patio off to the side that muffles—somewhat—the noise coming from East Wash. The drinks menu is extensive and includes sake, beer, wine and compelling NA options.
Online ordering was a bit tricky at first, but seems to have gotten the hang of it; if the app defaults to “delivery”, if you want to order takeaway, ignore the address prompts and click the arrow to the right of the gray box with Jacknife’s address. And voilà – you will have dinner out of the cupboard in 15 minutes.
1046 E. Washington Ave.
608-255-5225; getjacknife.com
11:00-21:00 Mon-Thurs, 11:00-22:00 Friday-Saturday, 16:00-21:00 Sunday.
$6-18
