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

824 Lomax Street

Jacksonville, FL 32204

(904) 301-1188

www.sakehousejax.com

One of the old standards for sushi in the 5 Points area of Jacksonville, Florida, has been Sake House for the last several years now. When you visit Sake House one of the things you can count on is good food and inconsistent service. There have been times I have walked out on Sake House due to the service. Mind you, it takes a lot for me to walk out on any restaurant. But the quality of the food is always very good if not great.

Back Dining Room

 There are two entrances to Sake House on either side of the 5 Points intersection. With plenty of parking in the front of either door, you should give them a try. The door on the Margaret Street will put you in to the larger and more romantic dining area. Another feature to the Margaret Street side is the out door covered area to dine. Another reason for people to sit in the patio area is this is the smoking area due to the no smoking law in restaurants in Florida. The other door is on Lomax Street. If you enter on Lomax you will be able to sit at the sushi bar and watch them make your order right in front of you. The sushi bar is nice and seems to be popular for the happy hour crowd.

Sushi Bar

Before we ordered I wanted to wash my hands. When I entered the rest room I noticed that it is your standard small facility. The room is a one commode room with a sink. It is obvious that they wanted to make it very accessible for the handicapped. The room is clean and the only drawback I can see is if the place gets busy you will need to wait. I can only believe that it is the same for the ladies room. When I got back to the table I was happy to see mushroom soup waiting for me. As a fan of the mushroom I looked forward to the bowl, and I was not disappointed. The soup was hot and refreshing.

Usually when I go to the Sake House, I enjoy a salad with ginger dressing. On this stop, the salad was not even offered to me. However, I am not going to complain (this time). If you have read my ‘about me’, then you know that I am not a sushi fan. On this particular visit I decided to go the sushi route even though Sake House offers Hibachi, Teriyaki, Katsu and Tempura items. In every sushi place there are different names for certain items that may be offered at other places. What I ordered was the Egg (okay, this one is basic. Just chilled scrambled egg on rice). Also a JB Roll which is smoked salmon and cream cheese. The last of the rolls I ordered was a Jimmy Smith (named after the former NFL football player no doubt). The Jimmy Smith consists of smoked salmon, crab, cream cheese and deep fried with a spicy sauce on top. As a side I ordered fried rice and some shrimp sauce to pour over it. The staff never even offered a fork to us. For me this was not an issue, but to others, I can see how it would be. In my opinion chopsticks are not that difficult, but that is just a personal belief. 

The rolls took a little longer to come out than I had expected. But they were well worth it. The amount of food was perfect and the flavor was wonderful. One of the things I have not experimented with is the wasabi. It has been enough of a challenge to get me to eat sushi mind you, but on this visit I decided to put a little wasabi on the JB roll, then dip it into the soy sauce. Oh now that was good! This will be an item that I will absolutely have again. The Jimmy Smith was hot in both temperature and spice. The rice was a great topper for my meal. If you noticed I did not mention the egg item. The egg is always the same at almost every place you visit. The one thing about the egg and rice is that if there is a distinct flavor then you can be sure that there is a cleanliness issue there. You see, the egg will absorb any odor (good or bad) that may be in the cooler.

Tempura Fried Ice Cream

The server came to take our plates and leave the check. Before she left she offered us ice cream tempura. We could not refuse, well I could not refuse. Rhonette has the gluten allergy thing going on so I ate the outer shell and left the ice cream and whipped cream for her. Well, the shell was good and the little bit of ice cream I had was too. They did a great job on the presentation of the dish as well.

 This whole meal was under $40 which for sushi is not that bad. There have been times when I have gone for sushi with friends and it has cost almost double what it was for us per person. Now I will point out to you that we did not have any alcohol with our meal. I had a Diet Coke and Rhonette had a Hot Tea (which she said was very good). Just an FYI for you that the Sake House offers beer, wine and a very extensive sake selection.

 There are two locations of Sake House. This review is in the 5 Points area, the other location is on the South Bank near downtown Jacksonville. The location that we visited offers both dine in and carry out. They also accept reservations. Now I have never thought of doing reservations here, but on certain nights when 5 Points is busy you may want to give them a call. Otherwise, the hours for Sake House are as follows. Mon-Wed 11am till 10pm, Thur-Sat 11am until 11pm and finally on Sun 12pm until 9pm. These are the hours that are posted on the door. However, the hours on the take out menu indicate a two hour break from 3 until 5 on Mon thru Sat. I look forward to seeing you at Sake House.

Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com

1068 Park St

Jacksonville, FL 32204-3908

(904) 356-0227 

There are certain restaurants that exist which have legends attached to their name; the Derby House in the 5 Points area of Jacksonville, Florida is one of those. Some of the legends include the original location having a full service bar; even being known as a speakeasy or a ‘blind tiger’, if you will. There are stories of college football players being served liquor underage and even a night that Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe stopped in for late night visit. There was an article in Jacksonville Magazine that gave details to some of these rumors. If you decide to research this you should know the original name was The Green Derby.

Now located on the corner of Margaret and Park Streets in the heart of 5 Points The Derby House is still a local favorite. One of the busiest times to visit The Derby House is on a Saturday or Sunday morning. On the day of our visit we chose a Thursday. They were not real busy but they did have a few tables that were being used. When you walk into the Derby House you find your own table and a server will get to you when they can. This is rarely a long wait, and usually someone acknowledges that you have been seen. If you have much of a wait you are able to sit back and relax and watch the t.v. that is in the corner (and always on). 

We sat there and I was really craving some breakfast. One great thing about The Derby House is that they serve breakfast all day. After looking at the menu and the specials I decided to go with the waffle breakfast special. This is a waffle, 2 eggs, bacon and a drink. I am not certain if this is a regular special, so I am not going to quote a price on here. But be aware that it was very reasonable. Another item that makes breakfast desirable here is the Macedonia Omelette. This includes ham, bell peppers, feta cheese, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. They also make a great plate of corned beef hash and eggs. For the cost effective breakfast diner: you can get 2 large eggs, grits, toast and jelly for under 4 bucks. 

One of the favorite pastimes of those who visit the Derby House is to count the typographical errors on the menu.  The servers tend to share the duties when you visit, so don’t expect to see either a favoritism or jealousy with the staff and confusion about who is waiting on what table. After we placed our order it took a very short amount of time to get the order brought out to our table. My breakfast was very good. As a matter of fact the waffle was delicious! The servers kept our drinks filled and were very kind.

As you sit there and eat you do have an overwhelming feeling that there could be a cleanliness issue there. As far as I know they have not had any official issue with this though so I do not want to accuse them of something that they have not been cited with. However, you can make this judgment for yourself. 

After we were finished with our meal we did have to wait an extra long time to receive our check. My belief is that is you have already taken our dirty dishes then it is time to bring the bill. When you do get the bill you should know that it is best to take your money to the counter in the middle of the restaurant. On occasion they have let me pay at the table, but it can take a while. 

If you walk past the cashier and the kitchen area you will find yourself on the outdoor patio. This is also the smoking section. They offer breakfast all day, lunch and dinner is available Monday thru Friday. Some of the other favorites at The Derby House include the Big ‘D’ Super Burger, fresh tuna sandwich, even meatloaf or a N.Y. Strip. There are no items on the menu over $10 with the average price under $7. On certain nights of the week they do offer live music on the outdoor patio. The patio has about 8 tables that are all covered by umbrellas. If the weather does not cooperate they do bring the music inside. 

The Derby House is not a fancy place by any means. But it is very good and very consistent. Do know that on the Saturday and Sunday mornings that there might be a wait to get a table. As far as the hours go you are going to be best to give them a call at (904) 356-0227. 

Also, do not be surprised at all if you see me at The Derby House…maybe even tomorrow.

Reviewed by Pie, email:  pie@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