Blue Bamboo

Another restaurant that seems to have been on my list for forever but we somehow never made it until tonight. Huge regret. Huge. Because we were missing out on something special! The interior of the restaurant has a modern but gorgeous feel with Asian touches. Loved the huge Bar/Mandarin sign over the bar area! The kitchen is "semi-open" with windows that can peer into the workings from some areas of the restaurant. Service is friendly, smooth, and unfussy. Timing of dishes was excellent with a short break in between courses and zero feelings of being rushed but still efficient. We (my husband and I) started with a couple of Happy Hour special appetizers: crab Rangoon and pork lumpia. We agreed the Crab Rangoon was top of the list for Crab Rangoon. The lumpia were tasty, but not quite as tasty as our friend's family's homemade secret recipe. But that's a pretty impossible act to follow. We both had a difficult time choosing between all the the delicious sounding entrees. Our server was happy to go over our front runners to help us decide. Ultimately, my husband- being a fried rice fiend - went for that with chicken added. I tried the red curry shrimp and grits, which I was informed by the server when we were discussing option that it is very different than what you'd expect to see with shrimp and grits. She was right! A generous portion of grits made into a grit cake topped with several shrimp swimming in a savory and rich red curry with onions and sliced green peppers greeted me. The taste? Divine. The red curry was a great compliment to the grit cake and shows a level of creativity balancing the global comfort-foods. It was especially nice since it was a cold evening - the perfect hearty meal to combat the chill! The fried rice was tasty and I had seen many New Yorker/New Jerseyians rave about it. Indeed, it does have that darker brown color and a great flavor. Portions were solid; we both took leftovers home (can't wait to try them after their second day rest!). We couldn't say no to the award-winning Mandarin Orange Cake for dessert even though we were full. The cake is a super moist sponge(ish) cake with a sweet icing and orange syrup drizzles. The orange flavor is not overpowering and, in fact, I enjoyed the extra orange boost of the syrup on my bites. All in all, we were really pleased with our dinner here and are looking forward to returning soon-probably with the kids next time! They'll love the robot food runner!We did learn from our server that for the rest of the year they are running Fried Rice Tuesdays, which provides options for a lower price for the fried rice (if I remember correctly, $12.99ish? But I could be wrong). That plus nicely priced happy hour appetizer options Monday-Friday makes for a pretty inexpensive weekday dinner so we'll be trying that out soon to help beat the Tuesday doldrums.I also forgot to mention both the manager and Chef Dennis came by at points during our meal to check in on us. Again, truly a welcoming and conscientious level of service everyone there provided us, from the hostesses all the way to the Chef!

Great meal- Lovely staff- Great menu- lots of variety-Lovely venue- Plenty of parking- Will definitely return-

We went when celebration g the Chinese new year.. year if the snake. The show/parade was enjoyable. The food delicious and bountiful. Loved how the hot and sour soup was served.

Super attentive and friendly staff! Beautiful decor. Absolutely delicious food! If we weren't traveling we'd have tried so many more items!

I attended a group lunch with 30 diners today at this restauarant. The space and building are both beautiful with plenty of parking all around the building. We were seated in a private room with 2 long tables, but there are plenty of other tables throughout the restauarant, as well as a nice bar area. We had 2 staff members providing our service, and it was excellent. The restaurant has a pretty big menu with 11 appetizers, 23 entrees, and 10 Cantonese stir-fries. Our group had Cantonese egg rolls, the choice of 4 different entrees, and Mandarin Orange Cake for dessert. I chose the honey garlic shrimp bowl. It had steamed rice, broccoli, crispy-fried shrimp, and a sweet honey garlic soy sauce. The Mandarin orange sponge cake with pineapple cream cheese frosting was the star of the show. I will definitely return for a future visit.

Server Brandon along with his colleagues were hustling on Christmas Day dinner! We arrived early for our reservation and it was no problem getting seated right away. Bathrooms clean. Food delivered to table via e-waiter.Food was hot and tasty. Would definitely recommend.

Happy Year of the snake! Joining in on the Chinese New Year festivities was an awesome experience. What a fantastic time. However, the real star of the show was the food. This is the Chinese food I grew up on in New York. I have been searching for dishes prepared authentically since living in Jax. Why oh why have I never been to Blue Bamboo before? I'm so sorry Chef Chan! The highlight of my meal was the fried rice. It was amazing. We also loved the hot & sour soup & the wonton soup, both flavorful & served with a side of fried crispy noodles. My husband raved about his roast pork with Chinese vegetables & my Sha La chicken noodles were wonderful as well. A great night of celebration & food! The best in Jacksonville for sure.

Chinese new year. We enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. The service and food were excellent. Meals were plentiful and authentic and what we took for granted living in NY.

Tiki night was great drinks on point and glasses are great. It was happy hour all night and we ordered a lot of apps. The edamame and the Huli chicken was super amazing. The rice was bland and the potstickers we sent back. Atmosphere was good severs did seem a little stretched but it was Friday night. Will be back for tiki

This place only gets better the more time you spend here. Had some fantastic cocktails, apps and entree. Could not have been happier. This is definitely a undiscovered gem in Mandatin