Eat here: Blue Bamboo

Five reasons why you should be eating at Jacksonville's Blue Bamboo:


1- It's a locally owned and operated restaurant on the Southside. In the commercial bustle of Southside, it's sometimes hard to remember that there are locally owned businesses that do a wonderful job. Blue Bamboo is one of those businesses.

2- There isn't anything like it in Jacksonville. This is Asian fusion at its finest, in a beautiful setting, with innovative cocktails and a great staff. Check out their menu to learn more!

3- It's a classier way to end or begin a night at the movies. Just down the road from Tinseltown, it's a way to get out of your dining rut.

4-Dim Sum Sundays. Once a month, they offer Dim Sum on Sundays. If you've had good dim sum, you're already making plans. If not, well, this needs to be part of your life.

5-Dennis Chan is part of Jacksonville's food legacy. His family has run about dozen restaurants in the past 60 years.

For more on what Blue Bamboo is all about, check out this interview at metrojacksonville.com

Upcoming August Food Events

Just two food events coming up this month that you might want to consider:

August 15 Japanese Favorites Cooking Class One Saturday each month, Blue Bamboo‘s Chef Dennis Chan hosts a cooking class. $38 per person, includes lunch and a glass of wine. 10 am-noon, 3820 Southside Blvd

August 17-23 Eat Up Downtown Save the date and your appetite! Downtown Vision, Inc. is dishing out exquisite cuisine at an affordable price during the third annual Eat Up Downtown, Downtown Jacksonville’s dining week. More Downtown restaurants have joined this year to promote Downtown as a dining destination including Charthouse and Morton’s Steakhouse. From hip cafés to elegant steak houses, participating restaurants each offer specially selected, three-course dinner menus for $25 per person. There are no coupons to clip or tickets to buy, simply view the menus online, select a restaurant and call the restaurant for reservations. Try a new restaurant or visit an old favorite and Eat Up Downtown!

Hip Asian Comfort Food

I'm excited about my latest cookbook acquisition. It's by local a chef named Dennis Chan from Blue Bamboo on the Southside. Not only are the recipes straight from the Blue Bamboo kitchen, but they also have some great tips. (Assign one hand wet and one hand dry when breading and how to use knuckle measurement when cooking rice.) Chan also includes a little story on each recipe, as to what inspired it, or where it came from.

You can find the cookbook on his website ($34.95) or just go to Blue Bamboo itself on Southside. You can also find it at Cork and Keg in Julington creek, Wine Warehouse in Atlantic Beach, The Book Mark in Atlantic Beach, and Hong Kong Trading Co, next to Blue Bamboo.

If you're a bit more hands on, Blue Bamboo holds cooking classes one Saturday a month. Includes lunch and a glass of wine. 10 am-noon, different theme every month.

April 18--Blue Bamboo Favorites
May 9--Hip Asian Comfort Food
June 20--Floribbean

Blue Bamboo 3820 Southside Blvd. (904) 646-1478