Jackpot Chicken Rice - Toronto

Last year, Patois, the Jamaican-Asian fusion restaurant, had to temporarily close due to a fire. Chef and owner Craig Wong came up with a new concept - Jackpot Chicken Rice, specializing in Hainanese chicken. As a big fan of this dish, I was thrilled to hear about the opening of this new restaurant last fall.

We had an amazing time at this restaurant tonight. It is advisable to make a reservation as those without one had to wait for two hours when we were there. The atmosphere is loud and energetic. The decor is fantastic with unique light fixtures and colorful murals on the walls. We enjoyed our cocktails, with a choice of one red and one white wine by the glass or bottle. We opted for the red wine, which was reasonably priced and paired well with the food. We shared the dinner for four between three of us, and it was a delicious feast. Everything was excellent, but the tempura broccoli, bok choy, and chicken were standouts. The rice was also incredibly tasty. Definitely worth your time and money.

A friendly vibe just buzzes throughout the restaurant. It definitely has something to do with the people working there – their smiles are infectious and puts you in a good mood. If you’ve read Gastro World in the past, you’ll likely remember my grips about communal tables. Jackpot put me in such a great mood, that my friend and I actually ended up sharing a table and meal) with an out-of-town diner and had a great evening meeting someone new. Who said Torontonians are stand offish?<br/ <br/ During dinner service sharing is strongly encouraged since most dishes are fairly rich and there’s so many interesting sounding ones to choose from. Their Go All In! menu urges patrons to share and already come with their staples the schmaltzy rice, crispy chicken skin, soy eggs and winter melon soup). All you need to do is choose from the selection of snacks and large plates – the number varying depending on the amount of guests.<br/ <br/ Our table of three settled with the Go All In! for two $70; all the items listed below were included, the individual prices are listed for informational purposes) and added on an extra bowl of soup $2.50). With all the food, we left satisfied… wow this would have been a feast for a duo. <br/ <br/ Of course, we did lean towards to the heavier dishes such as the kaffir broccoli tempura $9) instead of steamed vegetables. The tempura’s batter was light and crispy with drizzles of roasted

The rice was great, not too mushy or wet as mentioned by previous reviewers. It was very tasty. The chicken had good flavors but was not as 'silky' as traditional Hainanese chicken. It was slightly overcooked, resulting in a grainy texture. The Wintermelon soup lacked dimension and did not compare to my grandma's version. The soy egg, along with the rice, was one of the best parts of the meal. Overall, the value is okay considering the quality of the ingredients, but the star dish, the Hainanese chicken, was not executed incredibly well. Unless the restaurant improves, it may be seen more as a hipster imitation rather than a true culinary winner.

Dre @eatjackpot: From the owners of Patois, they bring Jackpot Chicken Rice, based on a Hainanese dish. You can order the chicken with its traditional skin on, or a crispy fried version like the one you see in the second picture. The meal also came with a soup. For $13.75, it's quite steep, especially since I was still hungry afterwards. But the chicken was so juicy and the rice was so delicious. You can't really dislike chicken and rice that's been cooked in yummy oil...