Blue Bamboo

It was cool meeting Chef Dennis. This place has quite the history and involvement in the Jax cuisine scene.
March is vegetable/​fresh produce month so I tried the chilled peanut noodles off the limited time menu. Tasty with the balanced flavors and served in a martini glass. Other options include General’s cauliflower and brussels sprouts. I have such an appreciation for brussels sprout now that I am a grown-​up (at least I think I am). Oh, did you know it’s brussels with an «s» at the end?
Also delicious, the lettuce wraps and short rib tacos! I am not a huge fan of water chestnuts and they tend to overpower other wrap fillings I have had elsewhere, but these were really delicious. Great appetizer to share. But those tacos, reminds me of SoCal and the best tacos being made by Koreans on a truck. Superb! You can skip the tortilla since it doesn’t really hold up.
Main entrée was the Vietnamese Tra. This was a swai filet that was breaded and fried with a sweet and tangy dipping sauce with a white rice side. Since this is the south, who doesn’t like fried food, right? While it was essentially fish katsu, it was cooked well and a solidly good item to order as I was trying to stay away from the «common» items like sweet and sour proteins and curry proteins.
Dessert was my favorite part: the signature orange cake and thai tea crème brûlée. These are some of the tasiest desserts I have had in this town.

We came here on Saturday for an early anniversary dinner and we were very pleased by it all. The inside is darling, smaller than we thought. Very clean with spacious bathrooms. The waitress was sweet and very knowledgeable about everything. She kept our glasses filled and was there when we needed her but didn’t hover.
Dinner started off with a complimentary basket of flat bread and a mild wasabi spread. My daughter loved it, my husband liked it, but I thought it was just ok. Their iced tea is really nice, I had unsweetened and daughter had the pomegranate. Both were flavored well and had large frozen ice tea cubes to prevent dilution. Nice touch.
We had to order the Dragon Whiskers after hearing everyone rave about them. They did not disappoint. My husband had the General Chicken, their take on General Tso’s I believe. He enjoyed it. Daughter had the Basil-​Miso Salmon. She’s never had salmon before and now Loves It. I checked an item off my food bucket list and had the ½ Canton Duck. It was perfection — 2 leg quarters (it was the bottom half of the duck lol), crispy skin, moist dark meat (not greasy) and a delectable, savory sauce/​glaze that I could have eaten with a spoon. We had white rice with all entrees, very nice. My husband enjoyed the stir fried veggies, my daughter (who, being a typical teen) was just so-​so on them. My duck came with a salad mix that had a nice dressing on it.
I have heard people complain about portion sizes, and am unsure what they were complaining about. Our meals were very generous in size and we ended up taking ½ of everything home. The waitress took it all back to the kitchen and boxed it up nicely, even labeling the boxes for us. Nice touch. We had the leftovers for lunch the next day and it all reheated quite nicely.
For dessert, the 3 of us split the Thai Tea Crème Brulee. It was a lot larger than we thought it would be and was an unusual color (a pinky orange?). The taste though? It was incredible. I cannot describe it, other than both my daughter and I threatened to pick up the bowl and lick it clean. It was really that good.
Before we left, Chef Dennis Chan came by to introduce himself and talk about the meal. That was also a very nice touch. Very jovial and pleasant gentleman.
Yes, this place is pricey, but the quality of the food we ate was totally worth it. We may not be back here as often as I would like, but we will definitely come back. This is a wonderful place and I’m glad I went.

Made a reservation for my bf’s 30^th here. I have only been once before w/​my class for lunch but wanted to come in for the full on dinner experience.
I was blown away w/​the chef/​owners menu creativity, quality of food, service, price… Everything! I couldn’t have asked for a better place for this occasion! I will definitely be back and pass the word along of the outstanding quality of food and selection that Blue Bamboo has to offer.

I love the food here, they have kind of an Asian fusion so of menu. I would give 5 stars, but I think they are a little over priced.

This was my second time here and it was just as amazing as the first. From the welcoming and attentive staff to the amazing food, I had a lovely time! We ordered the dragon whiskers, which are soo good, and didn’t leave me with that yucky feeling that I have encountered after eating some fried foods. We also ordered the Singapore street noodles which are delicious and the pork rib eye which melted in my mouth. Chef Dennis Chan talked with us, as he tries to do with all of his customers. He is such a nice guy and he just adds to the overall pleasant ambiance of the restaurant. If you haven’t been here, do yourself a favor and go soon!

Cons: Food wasn’t very flavorful, expensive entrees
Pros: Nice service, fancy atmosphere
This is an upscale Asian + comfort food fusion restaurant, and the entrees range from $ 18 to $ 40. We ordered the Half Canton Roast Duck and Red Curry Chicken Stir-​fry. We were served some flax seed crackers and edamame paste, which were okay. The edamame paste is like Asian guacamole. Another cool thing is that the ice cubes of their ice tea were made up tea, so it won’t dilute your tea when your ice melts.
The duck was good but not great, and it came with very little sauce and very little rice. I ran out of sauce and rice before I was able to finish half of the duck. The duck also didn’t taste very fresh to me, and it was a little tough. For a $ 27 dish, I expect something more flavorful. At other restaurants, a whole fresh delicious Peking duck costs $ 25-​$ 30.
The Red Curry Chicken Stir-​fry was recommended to us as the hottest dish, but it wasn’t even a «mild» on a spicy meter. It was very bland and unflavorful. This was one of our least favorite curry in Jacksonville, and we’ve tasted many different curry from Thai and Indian restaurants in Jax. The curry my wife cooks at home using curry powder and coconut milk from the local Asian market tastes better than this.
We had very high expectation for this restaurant, but we were disappointed.

Love the atmosphere and menu at this restaurant. A rare mixture of southern comfort foot and Asian fusion. The servers are very knowledgeable and were able to work around my dietary needs (paleo). On weekends I would recommend making a reservation.

The portions that they serve people should be larger if they’re charging 20 bucks per entrée. I am so upset that I came here for take out. Then when I was talking to the waitress who took my order telling her I no longer want it because it’s so small for the amount they charge for it, it became a big whole scene with people trying to see what’s happening. I asked her if it was a whole fish and she said yes. So I was excited to order it only to find out it was a «whole» fish fillet. How you get whole fish and filler mixed up is beyond me. I’m so upset.

Fried calamari was literally swimming in oil. Tuna ceviche was chewy and tasteless. Based on these appetizers we did not order an entrée. At least the waitress took the apps off of our check, so we only had to pay for our two weak cocktails. We did tip the waitress generously because she was pleasant, attentive and not responsible for the horrible preparation of the food.

We shared a simple meal of lettuce wraps and tofu Singapore street noodles… I understand why they label this comfort food! More food than we could eat. Pleasant understated flavors, perfect for our first meal of the day.

Great food! Perfect portions!
Slightly pricey but still good!

Great atmosphere, but hard to get to. The owner/​head chef personally speaks to each guest, which was a very nice touch. The Asian Fusion style of food is unique without going overboard.

Loved the food. We ordered the dragon whiskers, calamari, lettuce wraps, and dumpling sampler. The calamari were small and over cooked, but everything else was amazing. The dragon whiskers are soft but not greasy. Each of the 5 dumplings on the sampler came with its own sauce, and all were flavorful and well cooked. The dessert options left a little to be desired. The options were presented on small tablet. It was really just pictures that scrolled too fast and had no descriptions. Not appetizing or customer friendly. Overall this was a very good experience and we will be back.

More than Hip Asian Comfort Food (which is delicious and one of my favorite menus in town), Blue Bamboo chef, Dennis Chan, can whip up any style menu you choose for your events. Interested in his beautiful event space for my wedding rehearsal dinner, I inquired about his large party menu. Dennis so cleverly suggested we offer a Dominican-​themed menu to give guests a glimpse into out honeymoon; THIS menu still has my guests talking! It was delicious. I highly recommend you consult Dennis with your themed party and guarantee you will not be disappointed. I also want to acknowledge the amazing staff who is very attentive, the fact that they have all been there for years speaks volume to the quality of their product!

Sorry to say this, but Blue Bamboo was a letdown. My wife and I came in midweek for dinner and the place was awkwardly dead. Because there wasn’t much happening it was easy to look at the walls and notice how dated the interior felt. The server was tremendous and the food was good, but we didn’t feel the overall experiece was worth the cost.

I rather enjoyed my experience here, but I’m lowering my rating from the 5 stars I gave it after my first dining experience here.
The service was the best thing about the place: our waiter was top notch.
The setting is upscale, but not quite full luxury.
The food was pretty good. I started by sharing an order of shortrib tacos ($ 13). They give you three, so it’s a good appetizer to share. They were pleasant, but a bit chewy. They came with nice corn chips.
My entrée was my favorite dish, and I might get it again: chicken and waffles ($ 19). It’s a Friday and Saturday night special. I love waffles, and these were good. It was a bit larger than I’d like however. Lighter eaters may want to split it.
For dessert I had a Mandarin orange cake ($ 7). It was pretty good, but I’d try another dessert next time (I’d like to try their imported New York cheesecake, the only dessert they don’t make themselves).
I also had a split of Prosecco ($ 9). It was fine, but not a spot on the terrific Prosecco I had at Taverna last week. They should list it on the wine list however. I didn’t see any sparkling wines by the glass available, asked if there were any, and my waiter told me about the Prosecco and one other option.
They only responded to one of the two emails I sent them leading up to this meal, but we still got the round table I’d asked about.
With tip the meal came to $ 50.
I’d probably try Blue Bamboo again, but I’d try mostly different dishes. In a previous meal I’d loved their duck wontons, and other reviewers seem to love the dragon whiskers (both are appetizers).

The food is very bland. Must be for the southside audience. Had the potato fritters. Bland. Lettuce wraps tasted like pf changs. Duck was dry. Singapore street noodles were a complete joke. I’ll never go back
Pretty awful meal. Way overpriced.

Okay, so I am updating my review for these guys after friends of ours inspired me to go back this weekend. I was impressed to see a few changes to their menu, tastes changed in the food, and happy to see they kept the edamame spread with flax crackers.
I went for a totally different entrée and got the short ribs with fries and slaw. Mike had the honey tuna ahi with rice and veg. We shared dragon whiskers as an app. The dragon whiskers are just as solid as they used to be, lightly fried, airy, crispy and they were sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. The dipping sauce was the same, and still delish with Sriracha oils Ontop. The ribs were hot, fresh, and cooked to perfection. They were like candied meat but could use a tiiiiny bit more sauce of some kind with them. The fries were your standard salt and peppered fries, needless to say I just ate the napa cabbage, carrot, fennel slaw but even asked for a second side of it and left the fries.
The ahi tuna was beautiful, decently portioned, topped with a light drizzle of creamy wasabi sauce, and came with a book Choy, fennel, carrot celery mix and two tiny scoops of white rice. The rice could’ve used a little something but was still tasty all the same. My fave part was having their Thai tea crème brûlée for dessert. Delish! Needless to say, I liked the menu changes, the tea cubes for my iced tea, and will so be going back!

Before I write another word, I want to let everyone know Blue Bamboo is NOT your «typical» Chinese restaurant. Their tagline is «Hip Asian Comfort Food.» ‘
While they do offer traditional Asian dishes like chicken stir fry, egg rolls, lo mien with shrimp, rice noodles with beef, etc. Chef Dennis Chan puts his unique spin on Southern-​faves like chicken pot pie with panko breaded chicken and a puff pastry lattice crust (definitely different but my fave pot pie in town).
Service is EXCELLENT! Matt is especially awesome. And Dennis ALWAYS makes time to come out and say hi to diners, which is a nice touch.
Also, Dim Sum Sundays once a month: June 15 is next. Check website for upcoming events and cooking classes.
P. S. Coke products are served, which is important to many people such a myself. :)
P.P.S Dragon whiskers appetizer is a MUST!

The food, attention to detail presentation, restaurant décor! well done Chef. Started with the whiskers appetizer good starter dish while waiting on entrée lite and crisp flashed fry zucchini shavings. For my entrée I had the lamb which is a dish not many places can make work, but here they outdid them selfs simply superb accompanied with a potato patty crab cake like. My wife decided on the Trat fish another hit, fork tender white filet encrusted in some type of batter seasoned just right, big portions too I may add!
try the cucumber cocktails a treat! for desert we shared the cheese cake, flown in from New York and brûlée right before serving it topped with raspberry chocolate shavings. They were others to choose will be trying them on our next visit were Fans and coming back for more…