Ten Dishes You Have to Try in Jacksonville – Summer 2014

As we’ve bounced all over Jacksonville we’ve come across a number of dishes we’re convinced you just have to try. Every month or two for the foreseeable future we’ll be sharing 10 of them.

Dish: Duck Wonton Napoleon
Restaurant: BB’s
Area of town: San Marco
Menu Description: Caramelized onions, tart apples, boursin cheese and balsamic syrup.

Duck Wonton Napoleon

As you can see from the picture this dish is a piece of art. It’s a delight for the eyes and the taste buds. It almost has the look of a finely crafted dessert. The meat is very tender, has an amazing flavor and tastes as if it has been cooked for hours. Each layer of the napoleon is filled with delicious duck, boursin cheese and a bit of caramelized onions. It’s rich and delicious.

Dish: Krispy Kreme bread pudding
Restaurant: 4 Rivers Smokehouse
Area of town: Southside

Who knew you could improve on Krispy Kreme glazed donuts? Sugarholics rejoice! This side item is bursting with sweetness. Gooey, chewy, and downright awesome! If you like sweet things and Krispy Kreme donuts you’ll thank us when you finish eating this one. One of our favorite side items and/or desserts around town.

Dish: Mashed potato pizza [CLOSED]
Restaurant: Mama Q’s Pizza
Area of Town: Mandarin
Menu Description: olive oil and garlic base with Mama’s mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, bacon and chives. A favorite!

Mama Qs Mashed Potato Pie

Mashed Potato lovers rejoice! Now you can have your favorite side item on a pizza. Believe it or not the pizza stays firm, not soggy all the way through. The cheese is really good and the perfectly crispy bacon is the best we’ve ever had on a pizza. There’s a reason this pizza is one of the most popular pizzas on offer at Mama Q’s.

Dish: Acai bowl
Restaurant: Delicomb
Area of town: Jax Beach
Menu Description: Acai sorbet covered in granola topped with bananas, pineapple, and blueberry drizzled all over with a generous amount of local honey.

Acai bowl at Delicomb Jacksonville Beaches

Over the last few months a handful of spots have added an Acai bowl to their menu. To our knowledge Delicomb was the first in the Jacksonville area to offer this fruity bowl of goodness. In our opinion it’s still the best. This thing is a beautiful masterpiece of a dish with so many colors and such fresh complimentary flavors. Eat it for breakfast or as a healthy alternative to ice cream later in the day.

Dish: The Southern Burger
Restaurant: Blind Rabbit Burger and Whiskey Bar
Area of Town: Jax Beach and Riverside locations
Menu Description: Fried Green Tomato, Creole Pimento Cheese, Peach Habanero Hot Sauce, Arugula, Georgia Cane Syrup, Pickled Okra, Brioche Bun

Blind Rabbit Southern Burger

This burger has an amazing variety of flavors we don’t often find in Jacksonville cuisine. You might think some might conflict with each other or detract from the flavor of the meat itself. Somehow every item seems to perfectly complement each other giving this burger. We love the choice of cheese, the hot sauce, the cane syrup and even the pickled okra which adds an interesting flavor element and texture. It’s easily one of Jacksonville’s best burgers.

Dish: Red velvet Oreo cheesecake
Restaurant: Amaretti Desserts
Area of Town: Bayard/Mandarin
Menu Description: The name explains it all

Ameretti Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecake

When red velvet meets oreo in a cheesecake you’d expect it to be pretty overwhelmingly rich. This one manages to have fullness of flavor without being overwhelmingly filling. It’s light(for a cheesecake) and just plain amazing. Even if you’re not normally a red velvet lover you’ll still love this one.

Dish: Oxtail wontons
Restaurant: The Potter’s House Soul Food Bistro
Area of Town: Arlington(Atlantic blvd. and Kernan)

Oxtail Wontons

Even if you’re not a huge fan of oxtails you’ll probably still love these. Tender, fatty, flavorful meat makes for wonderful little pockets of goodness in these southern fusion treats. Add a little of the Asian Inspired sauce they’re served with and you’ll be in fried food heaven.

Dish: Sweet and sour dry rub wings
Restaurant: Picasso’s
Area of Town: Mandarin

Sweet and sour dry rub wings

If you’d have told us there were baked wings that would be at the top of our list of the best wings in Jacksonville we’d have told you that you were crazy….until we tried Picasso’s. Picasso’s Sweet and Sour dry rubbed wings put this primarily Italian restaurant at the top of our list of places to go for wings in Jax. The wings are slightly sweet with an amazing breading. Depending on which chef is in the house that night they can either come out a bit crunchy of soft. Make sure to ask for them crunchy as the soft variety just isn’t as good.

Dish: Roti Canai
Restaurant: Hawkers Asian Street Fare
Area of Town: Riverside

Roti Canai

Who doesn’t love fried bread? These amazing fried bread saucers of goodness are so tasty that nearly everyone I talk to who’s visited Hawkers mentions them at some point in the conversation. The curry sauce(maybe we should call it gravy) that comes with the roti canai for dipping is awesome too. I don’t you’ll find anything similar to this elsewhere around town.

Dish: Fried green tomatoes with shrimp [CLOSED]
Restaurant: Dirty Reds
Area of town: Atlantic beach
Menu Description: None listed

Dirty Reds Fried Green Tomatoes

Of all the fried green tomato dishes we’ve tried in Jacksonville this one if our favorite. Heavily breaded fried green tomatoes stacked up with sautéed shrimp topped with an amazing creole sauce. This one will wow even the most hardened fried green tomato critics.