Jam Corner

Our recent visit to **Jam Restaurant** in Townsville was nothing short of outstanding. From the moment we arrived, the warm and welcoming atmosphere set the tone for what would be a truly memorable dining experience. Attending with our 22-month-old son, we were particularly impressed by the staff’s attentiveness and understanding. Not only were they accommodating, but they also engaged with him in a way that made our evening even more enjoyable. Their professionalism and genuine hospitality ensured that our family felt completely at ease. The food was exceptional, easily the best we have tasted in Townsville. Every dish was crafted with precision, showcasing fresh, high-quality ingredients and a thoughtful balance of flavours. Whether it was the beautifully plated entrees or the indulgent mains, each bite was a testament to the restaurant’s commitment to excellence. This visit was particularly special as we were celebrating our wedding anniversary and Jam Restaurant provided the perfect setting for such an occasion. The elegant ambience, combined with impeccable service and outstanding cuisine, made it an experience to cherish. For anyone seeking a refined yet welcoming dining experience in Townsville, Jam Restaurant is a must-visit. Whether for a casual meal, a family outing, or a special celebration, this establishment delivers on all fronts.

What a great find. A quite large restaurant in a restored historic building. Right on the corner at the start of Palmer St. The menu was awesome with lots of unusual ingredients put together. Very tasty! The service was first class too, almost silver service style. Not particularly cheap but so worth it. Do yourself a favour and make a booking now!

This restaurant hosted our wedding meal for a large party, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. The service was truly first-class. They flawlessly coordinated our large group, ensuring every dish arrived together, and they were always on hand to refill water glasses and take drink orders. The menu's variety was exquisite; the charred chicken I ordered was the most tender and flavorful chicken I've ever tasted. We also have to mention that the espresso martini cocktails were amazing! The venue itself was spotless, and the staff were exceptionally efficient and friendly. They significantly contributed to making our special day even more perfect. We wholeheartedly recommend them for any occasion, whether it's a large gathering or just a couple's dinner. We will absolutely be returning.

We thoughly enjoyed all three courses. Seafood was cooked perfectly, Duck was just right and desert was devine. Couldn't fault the service or meals. Will be back.

The service is very good, attentive, pleasant & professional. The wine list is extensive & a great selection by the glass. Some beers on tap would be a nice addition & if there is any it wasn't clear on the menu. The food had some issues. Starting with a positive, the salt & pepper calamari entree was delicious, with the accompanying sauces, a wonderful combination. Our other entree, the lamb manti, was unfortunately terribly under-seasoned & very bland overall. I feel like this could be a nice dish but you really have to get the seasoning right. Disappointing. For our mains we had the curry duck confit. This was a nice dish & is recommended. Well constructed & good flavours. We also had the pork cutlet w kimchi sauce & slaw. Nothing really wrong with the execution but the dish just doesn't impress & is missing something on the plate. Overall, the food was just underwhelming tonight however still a nice evening out & we will certainly return to try again. Great front of house but kitchen let down a bit.

Always outstanding food, service and a beautiful ambient atmosphere. I only wish they would bring back breakfast. Highly recommend for all occasions even just a lunch on your own.

We went for our anniversary last week. We always have the 5 course menu and wine. You can't go wrong. Well, I don't think one can ever go wrong at Jam Corner. It's our favourite restaurant in town. The food is amazing and the staff is extremely kind. Great atmosphere as well.

I was very fortunate that Jam Corner were able to fit me in on a Saturday night with no notice. I tried the tasting menu with matched wines, and it was sensational. The food portions and the wine pours were very generous portions and great value for money. The lamb loin and the duck were particular standouts, but honestly the whole menu was amazing. Also a special note to the staff being friendly and attentive despite being short staffed and literally running during service. Can’t wait to return.

I had avo on Feta cheese with a side of scramble eggs most morning for breakfast, it is amazing. The staff and great and started to remember my order and it would be ready not longe after arriving. Highly recommend

This place is decent for brunch, but not that great for dinner. At brunch it's a more traditional breakfast place with a contemporary twist, but during dinner it's trying to be too hip and ends up in way over its head. Where do I start? For dinner, I got some ravioli with interesting Asian flavours infused into it, but it turned out too sweet and weird, and I almost couldn't finish my meal. There wasn't any spark between the ingredients, and it felt like they were thrown together without much consideration. I also had the broccolini as a side and that was undercooked and too crunchy, not to mention that it was tasteless. The mister concurred, he didn't really think his meal was that great. You really can't tell if a dish would be good when you look at the menu, as it looks trendy and fancy with big words like "dust of blah" or "wasabi gel", but the end result lacked chemistry. As for breakfast, they have a less eclectic selection, and you will find your eggs Benedict and scrambles here. They also have interesting (and again, trendy) stuff like chia seed pudding or muesli. I had toast with English peas, and it tasted way better than the dinner I had. It still wasn't the best toast (weird textures..), but at least the flavours work together this time. They also have "iced coffee" which is really a coffee frappe in Aussie talk. All in all, this place does demonstrate that a small town can have trendy food. Unfortunately, it didn't really hit the spot, and they need to return to the basics in terms of flavours.

Decided to come here as I heard this place has won a few awards of some sort, and it was in between our drive from Airlie Beach to Cairns. Unfortunately I believe the awards were for brunch and by the time we drove in, they only served lunch. I ordered a salmon dish. Portions were small, plating was good, but I was still hungry at the end of the meal. They also have a prix fixe menu but we weren't planning on staying long enough at the restaurant to order this.

My husband and I are visiting Townsville and came here for breakfast on the recommendation of several people. Conveniently, we are also staying at a hotel on Palmer Street, so it was just a short stroll from our hotel. Jam Corner has plentiful indoor and outdoor seating. I was drawn to the interior decor, which was interesting in its colour and textures, but also gave off a calm overall vibe. The restaurant was busy at this time of morning, but we were able to get a table inside without much wait. My husband had scrambled eggs with bacon and toast. I had the bircher muesli with passionfruit curd. There were some other little tasty bits on there, wattleseed crumb. Not being from the area, I honestly don't know exactly what that is, but it was delicious. We both had coffees as well - mine a flat white with almond milk and his a flat white with vanilla. Our coffees took a little longer to arrive than I would have expected, but we were not disappointed with the quality (or quantity!). A mug of coffee here is a substantial serving. The food did not disappoint either. A lot of reviews for this place comment upon the "trendy" nature of the menu with some degree of pretentiousness implied. However, if you can't do the basics well then that is a worry. My husband's food was great. He loved the eggs and couldn't finish all the bacon he'd been given. I am a particular fan of bircher muesli and have had many permutations of it around a lot of different restaurants. This one was in my top 2 of all time. It was simply divine. The texture was excellent, the colours and presentation beautiful, with freshly cut strawberries on top. We don't have much longer here in Townsville during our stay, but we are going back to Jam Corner again for breakfast.

4.3 of 5 Stars Food: Presentation and taste were great. Had eggs benny over toast and bacon with a side of toast and strawberry jam. Everything was very well flavored down to the toast and large portions. Price: $$ of 4, the most expensive thing on the menu was about $22. Decor: Very well decorated and a good vibe, good place to take your time and converse over a good coffee and your meal. Staff: Helpful and quick, fit everyone's needs easily and all our orders were perfect. Cleanliness: Looked very clean, a big factor for myself with establishments. They were definitely on top of it as it has a more fine dinning look. Overall: Would absolutely recommend, a must for "breaky" if visiting.

Had Sunday breakfast here after some weekend meetings, this place was just a short walk from our hotel. The atmosphere is nice and pleasant, with very friendly staff. There is plenty of indoor and alfresco dining tables available although we did book to ensure we didn't miss out, as we had heard this place was quite popular and in Townsville, there are not so many other options. The coffee was great, and there is a wide choice on the menu for breakfast, although it is hard to go past my favourite "eggs benny". The coffee arrived quite quickly as did the meal and all our variations were well catered for and just as was ordered. All in all, this was a good breakfast with good coffee in a nice pleasant quiet atmosphere. I will definitely come back next trip.

I have had 2 completely different experiences with JAM. The first, extremely disappointed and the second, pleasantly surprised. The first time, I took my mother there for lunch after hearing fantastic reviews. We waited for what seemed a very long time to be served by a waitress to seat us. We ended up finding a table by ourselves. Our table (as well as several others) were filled with dirty plates and not to mention a ridiculous amount of flies buzzing around. FINALLY a waitress came and served us. We waited a long time for a food to come. I ordered fish and chips. It was fine, but nothing to rave about. Wasn't the most pleasant experience. The second time was for a friends 21st birthday. We sat in the separate dinner room. Everything about that night was all kinds of amazing. The room was stunning, the service was exceptional and the food was to die for. I haven't had a steak that great in years. So glad there was such a significant improvement.

Stopped here for lunch on our drive up to Cairns. Trendy decor inside. Good lunch deal, one course meal with a glass of wine or beer for $25. The seafood linguine was delicious, lots of fresh herbs, great flavor! My friend said the BBQ chicken salad was also delicious. The server was attentive and friendly.

Getting a good meal in a big city is pretty easy, but getting one in regional Australia is not. If you're travelling it's a short-term problem. A European/"Modern Australian" restaurant (a style, admittedly, I avoid eating out as I cook it) in the sticks is much tougher to run and breakfast and degustation dinner at Jam reminded why - finding staff who can cook and serve at a high level in a small talent pool is not easy. The menu is genius (breakfast especially), excellent flavour combinations that reflect the location. My green lentil pancake with eggplant, harissa, labneh and egg with coriander and watercress was something I will probably try and learn to cook myself. But the pancake was, I'm sure, stodgier than whoever composed the dish would have expected. It was OK, but I was more in love with the original dish I could sense through what I was served than the dish itself. Service was friendly and competent. And, in a town which still feels quite racially segregated, props to the owners for employing some non-white staff. In the evening, there was more of the same with the food - well-conceived dishes that just lacked delicacy throughout: overly salty (and I love salt, so I would rarely say this) or just unbalanced, with a single flavour crowding out everything else, or a touch overdone. It was OK, but nothing quite hit what we hoped from the description. One of us was on a pescatarian menu and so was given a salmon course instead of meat - but it was served with bacon. Service was patchy from the relatively new staff - first course did not come with the matched wine. Our two pizzas from down the road the night before were not better, but at a quarter of the price I did wonder whether we could have gone back to them. This is the best place we ate in Townsville and would happily recommend it (though not if it were in Melbourne where it would be 2-3 stars), I just wrote this so that anyone visiting would be ready for the gap between the proposition and the execution. I don't know their story but it may be that the original chef is not on board, whatever the case it feels a bit like a shell or an echo of an interesting and ambitious enterprise.

Nice decor and food presentation. Utterly bland and tasteless food. They have salt and pepper on the table but apparently not in the kitchen. I ordered the Salmon on the recommendation of the server. It tasted like biting into a lemon with a very unsettling crunch half-way through that made me check my teeth for chips. My dining partner got the omelet, and while he thought it was passable, if bland and oily, I've routinely made better in my college dorm room.

Small but delicious menu. The breakfast in particular is amazing. Wait staff is attentive. Location is ideal just across from the Grand Hotel.

Wonderful restaurant ....gr8 staff who explained the composition of the dishes..presentation of the food amazing & the calibre of the food 3 hat quality !!! Very happy evening !!!

Recently had dinner here and am a regular for breakfast. Food and service excellent. The scallops are to die for, cooked to perfection.

Great location on the corner of Palmer Street, a stroll over the bridge from the city. The food is always interesting. A little different, but not different or fancy for the sake of it. The flavours nearly always work perfectly together. Everything on the plate is there for a reason, for what it adds to the dish. Coffee is in the okay at best category. Highly recommended for lunch 2 courses (choose entree & main or main & dessert) and a glass of something for $29.95.

I went in for breakfast. Really great presentation. Tasted great. Best coffee I have had for a really long time!!