10206 River Coast Dr
Jacksonville, FL 32246

(904) 997-6528

www.wasabi-steakhouse.com 

Wasabi

There are so many Japanese steakhouses in Jacksonville that are named Wasabi; it’s hard to keep straight who is who.  It turns out that most of the Wasabi restaurants are not related.  This was my first time at this Wasabi restaurant on the outskirts of the St. John’s Town Center.  We arrived at 5pm on a Friday night.  The restaurant didn’t open until 5 according to their signs, so the place wasn’t crowded at all and we had great parking.  We were seated in a dining room around the sushi bar.  There were 2 other parties seated in our area when we arrived.   

Salad

Our waiter quickly took our drink order and gave us our menus.  Looking around, we saw that they had a “Specials” board and ESPN was on the flat screen tv in the corner.  I ordered a hot tea and started to look at the menu.  Most of the dinner entrees I was interested in were close to $20 and above.  I like to order the hibachi meal, but I usually get a sushi roll too.  Pie pointed out that there was an “Early Bird Special” for the hibachi meal that just happened to apply to the time of our visit.  Instead of $20 for the steak & shrimp hibachi, it was $14.50 and came with clear soup, salad, grilled veggies and fried rice.  Perfect!  The sushi was moderately priced, about $6 for your average roll.  There were some definitions missing for some of the sushi rolls and when I asked the waiter what some of them where, he gave me a list of rolls and definitions that was in his pocket.  I would have liked to have seen these attached to the menu, not in his pocket.  I also noticed that our waiter didn’t mention the specials that were on the board and failed to tell us his name.  Anyhoo, I ordered the Early Bird Steak & Shrimp Hibachi and a caterpillar roll. 

Clear Soup

Our salad’s came right away.  Nothing fantastic, just some iceberg lettuce and carrots with ranch dressing.  Then our clear soup came out.  I had one mushroom slice in mine, kinda skimpy I thought.  The broth…I’ve had better; this tasted like it came out of a packet.  Then they brought out my caterpillar roll.  I thought this would be an interesting choice.  It has eel, which I love, cream cheese and avocado.  The avocado was on the outside of the sushi roll.  You can see from the picture below how it resembles a caterpillar, Aha! we will name it caterpillar roll.  Anyone who likes avocado knows that it is, well…a little slippery, which made it very difficult to pick up if not hold on to long enough to dunk it into the shrimp sauce and into my mouth.  So I picked off the avocado and ate what was left. 

Caterpillar Roll

Our meals started to come out of the kitchen, mine came first.  The steak was done perfectly and so were the shrimp.  I find that so many times the shrimp is overcooked.  Dear Restaurants:  If the shrimp is shaped like an ‘O’ it is overcooked, if the shrimp is shaped like a ‘C’ it is cooked to perfection.  Pie’s came out next and he asked for some more shrimp sauce.  They came out with a couple of bowls and filled them right up.  Now that is what I’m talking about!  Don’t skimp on the shrimp (sauce)!  We finished our dinners and there was absolutely no room for dessert.  They promptly brought us our check, we paid our bill and out the door we went.  Hey, wait a minute; I just realized they didn’t give us a mint with our bill!  Japanese restaurants always give you a mint, right?

Steak & Shrimp Hibachi

The restaurant and the parking lot were starting to fill up with the Friday night crowd.  Wasabi also has the Japanese chefs that slice and dice at the table.  I think I want to go see that on my next visit.  If you are looking for a great Japanese meal, check out Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse in the St. John’s Town Center.  However, go early so you can take advantage of the “Early Bird Specials”. 

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

850 Lane Ave South
Jacksonville, FL 32205-4705
(904) 783-9579 

Cross Creek

We were hungry for something a little different.  We were driving around and decided we wanted some steak, something grilled and meaty.  We came across Cross Creek Steakhouse.  The place doesn’t look like much from the outside.  Wooden building made to look like it was made out of barn wood with a screened in porch.  We entered the restaurant and I was surprised at the décor.  Lots of cool, old and unusual stuff to look at.  There was a corner display of scarecrows and pumpkins for fall.  We were seated way in the back of the restaurant.  This place is huge!  Like I said, it didn’t look like much from the outside, but inside…the place seemed to go on and on forever. 

View of the Bar From the Lobby

Our waitress quickly came over and went over the specials with us and took our drink order.  She came back just as fast with our drinks and we ordered some sweet potato fries for an appetizer.  We were going over the menu and decided on what we wanted to order.  Our waitress came with a huge plate of sweet potato fries and took our dinner order.  I was having the barbecue sampler plate with chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket and ribs with a side of coleslaw and steamed broccoli.  Pie got the endless plate of grilled shrimp with a side of steamed broccoli and a baked potato.  Now that our dinner order was in, we got back to our appetizer.  Let me tell you, these sweet potato fries were amazing!  They didn’t taste greasy even though they were fried.  They were crinklecut and cooked crispy, but not hard and crunchy.  We dipped them in some honey mustard and before we knew it, they were gone.  As we were looking at the empty plate wishing for more, our dinner order came to our table.  Perfect timing! 

Sweet Potato Fries

Our waitress asked if we needed extra napkins, ketchup, more drinks and basically made sure that we had everything that we needed for our dinner.  The dinner was fabulous.  The ribs were to die for and the chicken was done to perfection.  The pork was pulled and not shredded into a pulp like many restaurants do.  I wasn’t thrilled with the brisket, but only because I am not a fan of that cut of meat…it kind of reminds me of corned beef and corned beef freaks me out.  It’s a texture thing I think.  Pie got 2 more plates of the shrimp.  Our waitress made sure that the next plate was right there when he finished the first one.  Many times when there is all you can eat shrimp, they aren’t that quick to bring you the next plate.  Not here!  He wasn’t a fan of the broccoli, it was seasoned with some spices and it just wasn’t his taste.  I put it with mine and finished it up.  When our dinner was finished, our waitress asked if we would like some dessert.  We settled on sharing a piece of cheese cake.  Great cheesecake!  I ate the top of it to avoid the crust and Pie got to eat all the crust and what was left over.  

Fall Display

We got our check with our dessert and paid our bill.  This was nice since most restaurants can’t get the timing of the check right.  They either bring it without asking about dessert making you feel like they want you out of that table; or they bring it way after you have finished your last bite and just about to slip into nap mode right at the table.  Dinner for both of us was about $35…not bad, not bad at all.  Well worth the money! 

Stuffed Lynx? with a Sucker in it's Mouth

When we were leaving, we asked for a menu to take with us.  They were coming in from the printer the next day the hostess told us.  She went out of her way and asked a couple of the staff if they knew if there were any stashed away somewhere.  They searched high and low to find one and they finally did.  They were so nice and friendly; so was our waitress.  They do have a kid’s menu although I have to admit that we didn’t look it over.  Cross Creek has a great restaurant going on Lane Avenue South.  If you are looking for great food, great service and a great price all at a place that makes you feel right at home and appreciated…go to Cross Creek (but wear some stretchy pants!).

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

4310 Southside Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32216-5474
(904) 998-4414

www.copelandsjacksonville.com 

We were looking for somewhere to eat late on a Saturday night.  I say late, but it was around 10pm.  Not much was open, but we came across Copeland’s on Southside Boulevard in Jacksonville, FL.  We are not much into chain restaurants, but we decided to give it a try.  The restaurant wasn’t too busy, a few large parties were finishing up and there were a few couples having dinner.  We were seated in the back of the restaurant and our waitress came to take our drink order.  We were looking at the menu and saw that they had quite a variety of food.  A little something for everyone. 

Burger Without a Bun

It’s tough for me to find something to eat sometimes; I have Celiac Disease which is an allergy to gluten found in wheat, barley and rye.  Basically, I’m allergic to flour.  This menu, as diverse as it was, posed quite a challenge for me.  Everything was breaded, battered and fried.  You will usually see me ordering a salad in a pinch, but I was salad-ed out this evening.  I finally decided on a burger minus a bun with an order of fries.  Pie had shrimp scampi on a bed of pasta.  The appetizers were all things I could not eat, so we also ordered an order of fries for a starter.  Luckily, the fries were good.  Our waitress was tough to find once she brought us our dinners.  It seems that they were beginning to close down the dining room and she was running around filling salt and pepper shakers and polishing tables.  We needed ketchup and some extra napkins.  Another waiter was nice enough to bring these to us.  We finished our dinner and were going to order a dessert.  The waitress was nowhere to be found again.  When we finally got her attention, she put down her cleaning supplies and brought us our check with out asking if we wanted dessert.  Oh well.  We paid our bill and headed towards the door. 

Shrimp Scampi

I must say, I was not impressed with their food.  It was ok and that was about it.  I didn’t find anything special about it at all.  Even though their fries were good, I wouldn’t care if I didn’t ever have them again, they were just ok.  The dinner was a little more than we usually spend, coming to about $45 for the both of us.  I thought it was too much given we had French fries for an appetizer and didn’t have any dessert.  All in all, it was a good experience; it was reinforcement as to why we don’t go to chain restaurants.  On our way out, Pie went to use the rest room.  He said there was graffiti on the walls and the bathroom was basically trashed.  This surprised him since Copeland’s seems to try to be more than an average restaurant.  We asked for a menu (we always do this when we leave so we can reference it later) and they didn’t have one for us.  It took some rummaging around for them to find a take out menu to give us.  We noticed they have a kid’s menu.  It has a variety of choices for the kiddies’ palate and all for under $4.00.  

If you are into overpriced chain restaurants with mediocre food, Copeland’s is the place for you.  However, we won’t be making a return visit any time soon.

 Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

824 Lomax Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

904.301.1188

Mon. – Thurs. 11am – 10pm
Fri. & Sat. 11am – 11pm
Sun. 12:00 noon – 9pm

www.sakehousejax.com

Sake House

I was in the mood for Sushi and being in Riverside and not wanting to cross the bridge onto the South Bank, the evening found us at the Sake House in the Five Points section of Jacksonville.  I have never been to this location; I always go to the location on the South Bank by my work.  They are owned by the same people and refreshingly, the menus were the same too.  We arrived at the restaurant about 5:15 pm and there was only 1 other customer in the dining room at the time.  

Back Dining Room

If you have never been to the Sake House, there is outdoor seating on the front walk and a back dining room for larger parties.  There is also a sushi bar where you can pull up a stool and watch the chefs create your meal.  We were greeted with a bowl of mushroom soup.  This is such a simple soup, a light, clear broth with thinly sliced mushrooms and sliced green onions.  While eating our soup, we put in our dinner order.  I ordered a Rock n Roll sushi roll and a side of grilled vegetables.  Pie ordered sushi and some fried rice.  They brought the grilled vegetables as an appetizer even though we ordered it as a dinner side dish.  There was zucchini, summer squash, garlic and onions grilled in light oil.  We ate those with chopsticks.  I love the grilled vegetables!  I usually go to the South Bank location for lunch and get their hibachi lunch special.  The lunch special has a small salad, noodles, grilled vegetables, your choice of meat on the grill, and your choice of white or fried rice.  

Sushi Bar

Our sushi came out and we requested some shrimp sauce.  Now I don’t know about you, but I could put that shrimp sauce on just about anything; heck I could probably drink it!  I have noticed lately in restaurants that serve sushi, that the shrimp sauce is tough to get hold of.  Weird, they never bring it out right away, you have to ask for it and when they do bring it out, there isn’t much in the tiny bowl.  Forget trying to get more, it’s like pulling teeth! Don’t know what is up with that.  Any hoo, the sushi was great!  My Rock n Roll had shrimp tempura, imitation crab, cream cheese and cucumber with those little orange fish eggs in it.  Tasty.  Pie put the shrimp sauce on his rice and ate that too. 

Fried Ice Cream

The restaurant began to pick up and was actually beginning to get full.  We were looking for some attention from the waitress to bring us our check and she came out with a complimentary fried ice cream.  It was vanilla ice cream battered in tempura batter, fried and topped with whipped cream and a cherry or two.  What a nice treat!  We paid our bill, grabbed a couple complimentary mints (they have the best!) and headed home. 

The Sake House on the South Bank is one of my favorite lunch time places.  I am glad we finally went to the other one in Five Points and for dinner.  The restaurants are basically the same, good and bad.  The service has a tendency to be slow and not very attentive and they take the longest time getting the bill to the table.  That’s minor because both spots have great food though and are well worth putting up with the service.  They have a great lunch special and a diverse menu variety without getting too complicated like many sushi places do.  The average dinner or lunch is going to be around $15 per person, but you will definitely leave full.  Give Sake House, either location, a try; add a little extra time to your lunch or dinner hour and it will be worth the trip.

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

 Basil Thai 

8358 Point Meadows Drive 

Jacksonville, FL 32256

Phone:  (904) 379-3446

Hours:  11 am – Until…

www.basilthaibistro.com

I frequently go to Basil Thai on the Southbank, one of my favorite places for lunch.  The girls and I from work could go there pretty much everyday.  I was thrilled when I saw that they opened another location on Point Meadows which is down the street from my home.  Yay!  I couldn’t wait to go there and give it a try.  I was hoping they had the same dishes they have at the other restaurant.  Again, yay!  They did.

We went there for lunch on a Saturday.  We were seated quickly and were given menus.  Great décor, kind of edgy and minimalist with rich woods and granite counters. There is a patio available for outdoor seating which some patrons were taking advantage of and they also have a full service sit down, stocked bar.  Our waitress, Laura, who never introduced herself, took our drink order and brought us our drinks and walked away without taking our order or bringing any sweeteners with our unsweetened tea.  This must be a pattern since the other Basil Thai location makes this mistake with the sweeteners too.  Laura seemed frazzled like she was super busy; however, there weren’t that many people in the restaurant.  She came back to our table and we ordered appetizers of spider roll sushi and fresh spring rolls, my lunch of Phad See Ew (rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, egg, scallions in a light coating of Phad Thai sauce) and Pie’s lunch of Jasmine fried rice with chicken.  The sushi came out without any shrimp sauce which Laura had to go back and get.  When she brought it to our table, instead of placing it on the table, she held it out for me to grab.  I told her she can put it on the table.  I’m thinking, “What?  No, she didn’t! Did she just try to hand me a dish?!”  She set the shrimp sauce on the table and scurried away.  The sushi was great; I wouldn’t expect any less from this restaurant.  Hmmm, where are my spring rolls?  Helllloooo?

Spider Roll Sushi

Our lunch orders were brought out by the kitchen staff.  They looked fantastic topped with long, thin shreds of beets and carrots.  I love the way they plate the food…not too fancy but definitely not your average sprig of parsley on top!  Ehh-hemm, yoohoo…Laura…honey…spring rolls?  We got Laura’s attention and asked where the spring rolls were and she smacked her forehead and scurried away, again, to the kitchen.  We were almost done with lunch when the spring rolls finally came out.  Our waitress started with the apologies and I told her that we didn’t want them anymore; we wanted them as an appetizer.  We were sitting there with empty drink glasses and when our plates were cleared, we finally were asked if we wanted a drink refill.  We opted for the check, which is when we found out our waitress’ name, it was on the receipt.  Pie went to the restroom after dinner and claims it had to be the bestest bathroom in all of Jacksonville (I thought that might be worth mentioning.  Kisses!)

Phad See Ew

Now, my biggest pet peeve is customer service, it can make or break a restaurant.  If I didn’t know there was another Basil Thai location, I wouldn’t go back to this restaurant solely because of the service.  I know the Basil Thai I go to on the Southbank has great service and their only “ding” is taking forever to bring the check, oh yeah, and not bringing sweeteners to the table with the drink.  But that is all forgivable! The food is fantastic at both locations and both places are upscale casual (if there is such a thing).  The service at the Point Meadows location can kill this potentially successful restaurant in no time at all.  That would be a shame, I hope they make sure their staff knows how to waitress professionally and succeed at this location.  If you go to Basil Thai on Point Meadows, please…go there for the food, not the service and you won’t be disappointed.  

Review by Rhonette, email:  rhonette@piesplate.com

818 Post Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

Hours:  7 am – 4pm, M-F 

Gina’s is a little delicatessen on Riverside’s Post Street in 5 Points within Jacksonville, FL.  Pie has taken me to breakfast there a couple of times and has brought their food to me at work. (What a great boyfriend!)  Gina’s isn’t a fancy place, a couple of tables with plastic table cloths and banquet chairs.  There is a self service drink station with Coke products, coffee and sweet tea along with the popular condiment packets and plastic tableware.  They have a walk up counter with a register and a refrigerated display of their salad items which are made fresh every day.  Manning the grill is a friend of Gina’s family, oh yes, there really is a Gina and her family’s friend is there the whole time they are open, slaving over a hot stove.  She takes her work seriously and is usually in business mode. 

We were there for breakfast and they have a great breakfast special 2 eggs, bacon and your choice of grits or hash browns all for $3.99.  They also have other paired specials or you can order al a carte.  Now, me being me, I have a problem with food touching each other on a plate; don’t know why, it just freaks me out…yeah, I’m weird that way.  The first time I went to Gina’s I ordered the breakfast special without grits and requested hash browns instead.  My eggs and bacon came out on a Styrofoam plate served on top of a plateful of grits.  I sent the order back and they brought me my order without the grits; a new order, not just the same one with the grits scraped off.  This time when I ordered my breakfast, Gina’s family’s friend remembered me and served my breakfast just how I had liked it…not touching.  I was impressed that she remembered the last time I visited her establishment.  We grabbed a local entertainment publication and sat down at one of the tables, the news was on the flat screen installed on the wall.  Our breakfast was ready and the counter girl, who helps Gina’s family’s friend, brought it to us.  My eggs were scrambled, a little dry, but good none the less, the sausage patties were perfect.  They weren’t greasy or burned; just right.  The hash browns were the ones that are potato chunks and had a little bit of rosemary on them.  I never realized the variety of hash browns that are out there.  They are different by region and simply different restaurant to restaurant.  Gina’s cooks their hash browns by deep frying them.  Since I am not a fan of fried food, I prefer the ones that are cooked on a griddle or pan fried.  These weren’t as flavorful as I was used to.  Pie will bring me breakfast to my work, again…great boyfriend!  He usually brings me an al a carte order of hash browns and they are usually spiced with a little more rosemary and pepper than what was on my plate this morning.  I have heard that Gina’s salad special is amazing and the salads are fresh and fantastic; 3 or 4 salads for a low price.  I’m hoping I can review that next! 

If you don’t mind plastic forks, Styrofoam plates and a hardy breakfast, stop at Gina’s in 5 Points. Breakfast should be quick, fast and cheap.  Gina’s breakfast delivers .  I can say that the eggs were a little dry or the hash browns were fried, but the place is what it is, and it’s still a tasty value.  If you are in need of breakfast on the go, stop by Gina’s and say Hi. 

Review by Rhonette   email: rhonette@piesplate.com