by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Just a few blocks away from Tinseltown, Blue Bamboo is the perfect fashionable hangout on Southside, delivering bistro-quality fare mixed with an Asian flair.
The restaurant's name has an interesting origin. Those of Asian descent who are born in America are called "transplanted bamboo," who become "blue" or truly American after growing up here. A blue bamboo, then, is an American with deep Asian roots.
Owner Dennis Chan, native to Jacksonville, is no stranger to the restaurant business. In the past six decades, his family has owned twelve Chinese restaurants in the Jacksonville area. After graduating from Hyde Park's Culinary Institute of America, Chan worked with the Food Network's Ming Tsai on the program "East Meets West."
The décor here certainly is east meets west. Overall, it will remind you of many upscale American bistros, with its cream yellow walls, trendy lighting and art work-- but the details are Asian. Dining chairs are done in dark Chinese lacquer, the planters are oriental and, if you look, you might find a Buddha smiling at you. Even the artwork, which at first looks like a typically trendy abstract, is really an nonrepresentational image of bamboo.
The appetizers here are called Street Eats, in honor of the food vendors who line the streets in Asia and sell imaginative appetizers and delicious snacks. The Street Eats go well with one of the many wines offered or the specialty cocktails. Called Sak-tails, because some of them include sake, they are a great way to try a twist on the familiar. Sak-tails include a Posmopolitan (features pomegranate juice, lime juice and sake), a Thai -garita (the Thai version of a margarita) and the sweet Dragonfly Darquiri (pineapple juice, white wine and grenadine). If a non-alcoholic drink is what you have in mind, the iced tea is served with tea ice cubes so that it won't be watered down when the ice melts.
I started with the adventure of Street Eats.
The whimsically named fried dragon whiskers are narrow strips or "whiskers" of zucchini fried in sesame flour and served with a side sauce of garlic chive ranch. If ever there was a way to get your kid to eat her veggies-the dragon whiskers are it!
Enjoy the tender, scrumptious fried calamari for a more classic appetizer. The Asian twist is in the lovely rice flour coating and in the creamy wasabi sauce that comes on the side. The creamy wasabi sauce has much less bite than regular wasabi.
Bamboo's cream cheese spring roll is an enchantment of texture and taste. Shredded onion, cabbage, carrots and zesty ginger share the interior of the crispy roll with cream cheese. Alone, or with the orange sauce, this Street Eat made my mouth happy.
If there's one Street Eat you shouldn't miss, it's the crab cake. Blue Bamboo doesn't skimp on the crab. Instead of looking for the blue crab amidst too many bread crumbs, I found myself happily looking for the breadcrumbs. Beautifully presented, this Street Eat is drizzled with sarachi oil (a lightly spicy Asian sauce), Asain chili sauce and a lemon grass sauce.
Choosing an entrée was a difficult task; my attention caught by the variety of choices. Peanut lime chicken, ahi tuna and coconut shrimp are three of the scrumptious choices offered under salads. Under noodle dishes I passed up the pad thai and curry with regret, knowing from the Street Eats that they would certainly be tasty. I nearly settled on the miso marinated salmon, but once I saw that Cantonese orange duck was offered- I couldn't resist, and I wasn't disappointed. The crispy duck comes in a sweet orange sauce with a side of sticky jasmine rice and a small spring salad topped with balsamic vinaigrette.
The dessert selections come under the heading of "Happy Endings." The Thai Tea Crème Brulee certainly was a happy ending to my meal, the sweet spice of Thai tea mixed with the creamy goodness of a traditional Brulee. The Mandarin orange cake is the other Asian inspired dessert under happy endings. The rest sound more suited to conventional tastes---like the peanut butter trifle or the warm chocolate sundae. A magnificent choice if you have a big group is the chocolate fountain, which is similar to a chocolate fondue served with fresh fruits and pound cake.
This restaurant does everything right, including to-go bags stamped with the elegant Blue Bamboo logo.
Ratings (1-5):
Atmosphere 41/2
Service 41/2
Food 5
Cost from $$ to$$$
Cost Guide
$ = under ten dollars for a single person
$$ = over ten to twenty for a single person
$$$ = over twenty to thirty-five for a single person
$$$$ = thirty-five and up for a single person
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