When it comes to seafood spots on The Texas Bucket List, we’ve got an entire Gulf Coast full of fine restaurants to get oysters, shrimp, and crab. So why would we head all the way to northeast Texas to get a seafood boil at Uncle Jack’s Kitchen? Their delicious seafood boils consist of some crazy sauces.
“If you just look at the food, it kind of explains itself,” said customer Nicholas Ballew.
“I know it sounds unbelievable. You got to live next to Galveston or a body of water to get good seafood. No, you can get it right here in East Texas at Uncle Jack’s. No doubt,” one customer said.
“It’s a blend of several Cajun spices that I have,” said Harold Jackson, the man who created Uncle Jack’s.
Uncle Jack is Harold’s nickname and now the only way folks refer to him. “My father’s Harold Sr., and he went by Jack. So, growing up I went by Little Jack. When I came back home from college, everyone wanted to call me Unc. I’m like, ‘man, my name is Jack, but I had this gray hair, so it’s like Unc, Unc, Unc,’ and it just transformed into being called Uncle Jack,” Harold explained. “When I go to the store like ‘Mama, there goes my Uncle Jack!’, and they’re like, ‘You know my son really thinks you’re his uncle?’ So, I’m really the great uncle of Tyler now, I guess.”
He is a great uncle with great taste, indeed. Especially when it comes to creating an incredible combination of sauces that top his dishes! “It’s hard to describe these flavors that’s going on in here. I need some type of engineer or something to help me out on this one,” said Nicholas.
“I have some super delicious sauces. Super delicious,” said Harold. “They put my sauce over everything.”
To make these unique sauces stand out, Harold knew he had to come up with a snazzy name. “Today we’re probably going to feature the SleZ sauce. It’s a combination of things that I conjured up mixing this and that and dibbling and dabbling and it’s taking off,” Harold explained.
Harold put together a dish he calls the Uncle Jack Seafood boil that includes four-ounce lobster tail, three potatoes, two corn, half a pound of crab, one beef and chicken sausage and a half a pound of 21-25 count shrimp (about 10 to 12 shrimp). Then he goes in with all the spices. “First we’re going to lay down drips of the crab boil around the crab and the shrimp, just so it’ll have the flavor,” Harold explained while constructing the meal. “Sprinkle some Old Bay on there, then my garlic and pepper mix. Then the black pepper, just a little kick. And now my little smokey cumin flavor.”
Next, the dish goes into the steamer, and after a few minutes, the seafood emerges from its hot sauna. “It’s time to get SleZ with it,” said Harold as he reached for the sauces.
First there’s a special hot sauce, a butter garlic sauce and that’s followed by the SleZ sauce. “Ladies and gentlemen, we would love for you to get lost in this sauce,” said Harold, presenting the seafood boil.
Once I got the plate in front of my face, the smells coming off it are amazing. Once it hit my mouth, my tastebuds were put on notice. Each bite unveiled a different layer of taste. It starts off strong, like Worchester sauce combined with something tangy, and then it gets a little hint of sweetness, and then it just keeps going with a little bit of spicy at the end. Every little seasoning Uncle Jack puts on that comes through, and then every sauce comes through. It is just a smorgasbord of incredible flavors.
“The food itself, man, it speaks volumes from the quality of the quantity that you get. I think it’s worth every penny I would pay double the price for this food every time,” said Nicholas.
Well, if you’re looking for some rich flavor in the Rose City and seasoned seafood is right up your alley, come into Uncle Jack’s and experiencing this incredible bowl is well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List.