Edible Escapade
An adventure of incredible edibles.
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Hawaiian Shaved Ice
469 Atlantic Blvd
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
This interesting spot is located in a little plaza next to a subway, I have only heard about this place recently, but apparently it’s been open for about a year.Upon entering the shop, it had a very “mom and pop” feel to it. The owners were very nice! (I’m pretty sure those were the owners). There were plenty of random Hawaiian like items for sale around the store and it definitely gave off a beach-like feel. It also seemed like a very popular spot to the locals, either that, or it just seemed packed since there was only one person working the front.
With a name like “Hawaiian Shaved Ice,” you would expect it to be just that: shaved ice. Oddly (but fortunately) enough, THEY HAD FOOD! Like, legitimate entrees! Although the food menu was limited, the shaved ice menu took up three boards compared to the one board for food.
I decided to grab the Peaches and Cream shaved ice cream and a hot dog. The shaved ice was really good! It was pretty sweet, I would say sweeter than all of the other ones that my friends bought and it was also creamy, but regardless it was still great. The hot dog on the other hand, this thing was amazing. I mean with fresh cut onions, cole slaw, relish, mustard, ketchup, a side of Lays chips and a pickle for $3.99, that definitely is a pretty good deal. It tasted very home made (that’s because it was pretty much home made), juicy, and savory mixed with a bit of tartness from the mustard. I might just go here the next time I’m at the beach just to grab a bite to eat.
I forgot to mention, the shaved ice was priced at $4.99, which isn’t bad considering the amount that you get (the picture doesn’t justify its amount).
PS. You like how I use a lot of parenthesis?
- adp
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Mimi’s Sports Grill
1021 Atlantic Boulevard
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
I feel as if the only way you’ll ever hear about this place is by word-of-mouth. This place is definitely a place you shouldn’t miss out on though.
It threw me off that it was a “Sports Bar,” but it was ran by a little old asian lady. When I mean ran, it is literally ran by her and only her (okay her son helps out also). Basically, she does ALL the cooking, which is very inefficient, but I think she does it so no one steals her recipes. I can imagine that too because her food was really
good
I mean wow, for a restaurant, I wouldn’t have expected to get home style cooking!
The ambiance of the restaurant was very sports like. There were TVs around the tavern-like restaurant. There was an area for karaoke, billiards, and even ping pong! I wish my friends and I would’ve tried it, but we had How I Met Your Mother moments instead.
I ordered the Kal Bee beef which came with rib-eye beef along with an assortment of cabbage, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and mushroom. After I began to eat the food, i can only imagine why she wouldn’t want anyone else cooking her food. Like I said, it was.. GOOD! She probably doesn’t want anyone stealing her recipes, which is understandable.
The only bad thing about this restaurant I would say is its inefficiency and the lack of items. Since it is only ran by her, some items may run out, which may limit the menu options.
The bill ended up to be $10—something. I give an estimate only because she misheard us and thought we wanted our bill on ONE check. We meant to say everyone is separate except for my girlfriend and I, so my friend got stuck with the bill, sorry! It actually caused him to overdraft, but we paid him back.
- adp
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Aroma Corner
5111 Baymeadows Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32217&
11757 Beach Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32246Finally! Aroma now has two locations. Fortunately, one is 5 minutes away from my house!
This little eatery specializes in boba teas and tiny desserts. It looks like a little mom&pop bakery.. Asian mom&pop to be exact.
I believe they sell food, although I have never really ordered an entree from them, except this one time when I ordered “cold noodles.” It taste a lot better than it sounds, but it was so long ago, I can’t even remember what it tastes like.
I typically always order a Taro boba milk tea or smoothie (depending on how I feel that day) with a dessert. I choose Taro because it taste like the Ube, Ube, or purple yam, is a root vegetable typically found in Asia and is known for its sweet flavor.
I decided to pair my boba with a Taro mousse dessert. I was hesitant at first because I thought it would just be a redundant taste, but surprisingly it paired well!
Oddly enough, I paid more for the boba than the dessert. A regular sized milk tea is $3.25 without the boba. With boba added, it would come out to be $3.75. the Taro mousse dessert was $2.95 for a little square unit.
PS. if you didn’t know what boba was, they are little squishy tapioca balls.
- adp
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Pei Wei: Asian Diner
4849 Town Center Parkway
Jacksonville, FL 32246
The grand opening of Pei Wei was on Monday so a couple of buddies and I decided to go check the place out.
Wow.
It was a lot better than I expected (mainly because I literally had a dream about it the night before and it was really bad in my dream). Anyways, Pei Wei is a branch of of P.F. Changs and they serve the same cuisine that P.F. Changs does at a lower price. The interior was nice. It was mixed with a very modern-style decor. All the tables and ledges were painted black. The walls were mixed with an off-white/brick wall pattern. They even had their menus up on mini-jumbotrons (that’s oxymoronic)! I thought it was interesting that they decided to place the kitchen in the view of the individuals dining there. I honestly thought that the kitchen was way too crowded for everyone to be working.
For my entree, I decided to get the Thai Dynamite Crispy Chicken. It came with crispy chicken tossed in their Sriracha chile sauce, a fresh lime, scallions, red bell peppers, carrots, and Thai basil. After adding the lime, it became very apparent that it was packed full of flavor! It was a little overwhelming. I think the lime mixed with the Sriracha gave it a very zesty, spicy, sour taste. It was still good regardless. I did taste other dishes like the mongolian beef/chicken and it was amazing!
I did spend about $10 on my meal. It was a little pricey, but I chose to not get a Diner select. This option gives you the choice of a Pei Wei favorite plus one side for $6.25. This still excludes the drink though.
Speaking of drinks, they have TWO freestyle coke machines.. TWO!
- adp
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Re-evaluate what you’re eating. If you don’t like what you’re eating, why the hell are you eating it?Professor Jen Ross
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Crazy Sushi
4320 Deerwood Lake Parkway
Jacksonville, FL 32216
My girlfriend and I are considered regulars over there at Crazy Sushi. We will always know them for their Japanese-like restaurant style before they had expanded. They do tend to get busy, so they bought the vacant space next door and decided to capitalize on it.Overall, their food is pretty good, at least good enough for us to keep giving them our business. I have had better sushi though, but this is one of those “spots” that you can continue to return to. I say partially because the items are relatively inexpensive and you can get your “bang for your buck.”
I typically start off with a side salad w/ ranch and miso soup. Their salad isn’t anything to be excited about since it is mainly consists of iceberg lettuce and whatever dressing (sometimes I get the ginger dressing if I am up to it) you order it with, so no nutritive value. The miso soup tastes as if they use chicken broth, which I am pretty sure they do, which gives off this salty-like taste. they also add some tofu and spinach in it for texture.
I always order a side of Krab Rangoons. For the price of $3.95, you get 8 rangoons with a side of shrimp sauce. I personally think that it is definitely worth getting! Oh btw, for those of you who don’t know, it is Krab with a “K” to signify that it is imitation crab and not real crab.
For the entree, My girlfriend and I ordered a Miyazaki Roll and a Pink Lady Roll. The Miyazaki roll literally tastes like a ham sandwich. I’m not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. It consists of smoked salmon, krab meat, and cream cheese deep fried with eel sauce on the top of it. The Pink Lady Roll is an interesting roll since it is not wrapped in the traditional seaweed, but rather soy paper. The soy paper gives off the pink appearance (hence the name Pink Lady). Inside, it contains tuna and cream cheese and it is also fried and drizzled with spicy mayo.
Currently, Crazy Sushi has a rating of 72% on the Urbanspoon website. Definitely a place to swing by if you feel like budgeting your cash and want some decent sushi!
- adp
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Bento Cafe
4860 Big Island Drive #1
Jacksonville, FL 32246
For June only, Bento Cafe is running a special on the Filipino treat Halo Halo (pronounced hollow-hollow). This dessert consists of shaved ice, sweetened condensed milk, leche flan, whip cream, ube ice cream (similar to taro), and an assortment of jellies. For the price of $4.95, it is definitely worth trying, especially in this hot and humid weather (although lately the sun hasn’t been existing and it has just been raining). I would ask for extra condensed milk though depending on your sweetness preference.
- adp
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Some people have asked for it and I have been thinking about it! I’ve decided to create a blog of all the eateries that I have been to, mainly in Jacksonville, FL. Although, I may post about places that are not located in Jax since I do eat out frequently.
The term Edible Escapade came about when a friend of mine and I decided to go adventuring during our college Spring Break. Not to say we “coined” the term, more so just gave our experience a title. The deal was that Spring Break was about 5 days (we excluded Saturday and Sunday due to work) and every one of those days, we would find a different restaurant that him and I have never been to and try it. Since then, it had made me more comfortable to go out and try different restaurants.
enjoy!
- adp
