Don't know Jack's in Virginia Beach?

I found a new hub.

It's Jack's Bistro in Virginia Beach's Linkhorn Shoppes. On the Friday we visited, the place had a steady crowd of diners, as well as late-night patrons who headed straight for the bar.

The alluring venue, adorned with original artwork for sale, offers elevated booths, banquettes and tables. A piano player entertains Wednesdays through Saturdays. Jack's seems to enjoy good karma from the space, which used to house Coyote Cafe. Coyote also passed along chef "JT" - John Taylor, who now heads the kitchen at Jack's Bistro.

The menu's "Firsts" section offers clever names such as "Laskin King Crab Cocktail" and "What the Pho?!" I made a faux pas by allowing Jack's Vietnamese noodle soup to be my guest's first pho. It was tepid, and the predominant flavor was spicy, missing nuances of lemongrass, beef broth or sesame. Now I must take my guest out for un-faux pho.

Six jumbo fried fantail shrimp ($10) surrounding

herbed goat cheese with a sweet cilantro butter swirl were sumptuous. Rosemary salmon skewers ($10) with garlic chevre cream and fried spinach were tasty, but the spinach should have been less oily.

The fresh catch, rockfish, was quoted as $24 but showed up on our bill as $28. Two fillets stacked atop herbed new potatoes garnished with "lime beurre fondue" were moist and worth the up-charge. We chose the addictive Parmesan truffle fries over other sides such as fried okra and sweet potato fries.

We ordered the grilled New York strip medium-rare but hoped it would arrive medium. The strategy worked perfectly. The steak came with caramelized Vidalia onions and Maytag demiglace. Crisp green beans and shocking pink cabernet mashers made tasty accompaniments.

We ordered a "half duck" ($20) cooked to medium. Duck breast slices arrived closer to rare, with a pleasing "citron jam." A tender duck leg confit with a touch of tarragon was terrific. Green beans and garlic mashers came with the dish.

Chocolate mousse sandwiched between seven layers of chocolate spongecake topped with blue pulled sugar strands was good, but too petite for its $9 price tag.

Service was attentive. There were some misses: Mussels arrived underdone with several shells unopened. The salad included inedible, rock-hard bits of avocado. But Jack's appealing menu and ambience made up for missteps.

Tammy Jaxtheimer, flavor@pilotonline.com