clark's fish camp

just read the lowest reviews and look at the dates… theplaceis rapidly going downhill. there are no replies to the bad reviews, they don’t care.

awesomeplacemust go to if u in jax beach area!!! if u want pretty much any type of meat cooked they have it from alligator to yak. but we stuck with shrimp scallops etc

my favorite restaurant in duval.. i've avoided clark's for years in jacksonville believing it couldnt be as good as everybody said. i was wrong. my gf was visiting from out of town, and although theplaceis under construction and temporary toilets had been erected outside on the swamp that didnt dampen our evening, let me address this thing about service, our seating hostess and server were terrific. however, thisplacehas the worst bartenders i have ever seen. they are aloof, redneck idiots and need to be replaced. we were the only people at the bar and asked the bartender to change the channel off the friggin michigan game to the auburn game, the bartender looked boored and said "the auburn game is on that tv" pointing across the bar.... so we moved. now to thisplacebeing "expensive"??? thats the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. entrees here are cheap for what you get. i mean come on, they have a 3.5 lb, prime rib for $28 fer cryin out loud. i paid the same at the chart house the night before for a 16. oz cut, all other entrees were very very reasonably priced. my gf had the ahi tuna and it was perfectly seared and melted like butter in our mouths. likewise my filet was great. the selection of wild game is amazing from llama to python to ostrich to gator ribs, yes gator ribs. we got out the door with 2 rounds of drinks for less than $60, anybody that says thisplaceis too expensive is a moron. the decor is so bizarre and rustic its hard to explain. imagine having dinner in the jungle surrounded by tigers, lions, leopards, and even a giraffe. they were everywhere, the collection of taxidermy and the way its displayed is beyond belief. the website doesnt do thisplacejustice at all.

anyway, if you're visiting jacksonville you need to check thisplaceout. ignore the negative reviews, these people are either out of it or are some kind of snob that just cant appreciate aplacethis unique. remember though, its under construction right now so if that kind of thing bothers you..... btw, the parking lot was overflowing when we got there but we only waited 20 minutes for a two top. great place.

satisfying past-disappointed now. my family went to clark's for my husbands birthday dinner. arrived early so it wasn't very crowded. my husband and i have been many times in the past and have enjoyed looking at the different animals. when my son was young, he was in awe at all the exotic animals. at 18, he was less than enthused to see "stuffed" animals staring at us from every direction. he said it made him feel guilty for eating there. i was looking forward to having broiled scallops but was told by the waitress that because i was ordering the scallop "basket", it had to come fried. that was disappointing that the cook wouldn't throw them under the broiler. my efforts to eat healthier went out the window when that big plastic basket of fried food arrived. my husband ordered the jamaican jerk shrimp skewers. they forgot his fries. he thought being a jerk recipe, it would be a rub perhaps allowed to marinate before grilling, instead it was just a jamaican spice sprinkled on the mere 10 medium sized shrimp. needless to say, he ended up eating some of my son's food as well as mine. my son had breaded chicken planks that were way overcooked. some parts were inedible because he just couldn't chew them, they were so tough. the waitress was nice enough but we waited way too long to receive our check. there was only one table of about 8 people next to us and by the time we left about 5 other tables filled up, mainly couples. not enough reason to keep us waiting for so long. as far out and remote as thisplaceis, i think we'll choose a closer resturant with better quality food. by the way, she told us the "cook" was the one who brought out my husband's fries. he must've been 19 yrs old, if that. guess he had a problem with broiling scallops if you ordered them in a basket instead of a platter. i chose to go with the basket because i knew the platter would be way too much food, so, my bad (and it was). next time if we're going to drive out of our way, we'll head to trent's on the westside.

my old navy buddy really wanted to take us here. the ambiance is quite different, it's like a huge diorama on a bayou, quite eclectic but a really good time. we showed up right as it was opening so the crowd was minimal but within a hour theplacewas packed, on a tuesday. we shared some crab dip which was top notch and i had their catfish which was excellent, it was not fish fillets but 3 whole bone in fish that was perfectly battered and fried. fish must have been pan fried because it was so crispy and not oily at all. the wife had sautéed shrimp that she would not share. crazyplacebut excellent food, the captain and cokes were very tasty also. we ate on the covered porch over the water and watched baby gators and turtles doing their thing, very cool experience.

bland, flavorless, underseasoned and overpriced. did i mention bland?. thisplaceused to be a lot better, now it's basically just an over-hyped, overpriced tourist attraction.

my latest meal there will most likely be my last. the overly-thick, wallpaper paste-like and bland crab soup appetizer (brought to me without a spoon, which i then had to wait another 10 minutes for) turned out to be an ominous portent of the disappointment to come. my first attempt at an "entree" was the #10 stuffed flounder, with buttered shrimp and scallops. while everything was cooked to the proper texture, at least, it was otherwise almost completely unseasoned and bland aside from the melted butter, which was pretty much the only "flavor profile" that dish had to give. the cream peas were also pasty and overly-thick, but the garlic red-skinned mashed potatoes were actually quite tasty. i kind of wish i had just ordered a big bowl of those and called it a night.

i was so disappointed with the soul-killing blandness of the flounder that i sent it back and ordered the seafood pasta instead. while marginally better, the cream sauce was - again, too thick and the dish was, you guessed it, very bland overall, but by this point, the rest of my party had already finished their meals, so i just went with it, ate about half of it and drowned my disappointment with some captain morgan.

i tasted some of my party's other offerings, fried shrimp and oysters were properly-cooked, but were... yep... bland and woefully under-seasoned. picking up on a theme, here?

thisplaceis set up to turn as many covers as possible in a busy saturday night, and it shows in their lackluster, flavorless and vastly overpriced food. i won't even get into the parking on a prime-time evening other than to say it's an absolute nightmare that you could live with if the food at least lived up to the billing, but becomes just another huge annoyance when the food disappoints this badly.

some of the nastiest food in the first coast.. first let me preface this by saying i love seafood. it is my favorite type of food, hands down. i am also not a spring chicken. not elderly in the least, but i say all this to say that i've had my share of good, bad and mediocre seafood in my lifetime. my husband and i had been looking for a good seafood spot and he has a pal that said clark's fish camp was good. we should have asked about the last time this friend had been there, because come to find out much later, it had been years ago.

my husband orders our food and brings home carry-out. when i tell you i opened the box and wanted to scream, i mean that emphatically. the strong odor of decayed fish hit my nostrils and singed my nose hairs until they burnt to a crisp and fell upon the open container like sprinkled pepper (that was probably an improvement to the meal). the seafood platter looked like something that had been sitting out in the blazing sun for three days and three nights. the soft shell crab was deflated like some dark orange balloon at a party that had been had about a week previous. now how the heck can an animal with a hard shell look soft and deflated? well, clark's fish camp managed to pull it off! now, let' get to the bake potato...

that thing was black as tar, skinny as a cigarette and old as the book of genesis. i could not believe my eyes. it was money down the drain. the shrimp were not de-veined, notta one of them, and they too looked to be part of some seafood contest to see how many times they could be re-deep fried before someone called uncle. that mess went promptly in my trashcan. my trashcan hollered out to me that it didn't deserve that sort of abuse, and would protest. i felt sorry for the receptacle, removed the items and took them out the garage where they would not smell up my house as badly.

all jokes aside (though i'm serious) my husband said theplacestunk, was filthy and he is surprised the health department hadn't closed it down. clark's fish camp should be renamed clark's fail den, because this was a big fail, a stinky fail, an over-priced mess fail, an old food served all day every day fail, a listen to these reviews because they are true fail. get it together, clark! band camp is cooler than you! (((cuing trumpet funeral music)))

yuck, yuck and yuck!. i am one of those people that always give everyplaceand everybody a second chance. well, i gave it to clark's and that is all they get! here's a suggestion.....spend more time training the servers and hostess, cooks in the kitchen and cleaning the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what keeps thisplaceso busy, and i suspect they know this, is the atmosphere. clark’s is the only restaurant in their vicinity with a waterfront view, and who doesn’t enjoy watching the sun set over a body of water while they dine? i always sit out on the back patio and it never fails that i come home with some bug bites on my ankles. be prepared. along with the peaceful backdrop of julington creek, my favorite part about visiting clark’s is, of course, the decor. chockablock with what must be hundreds of taxidermied exotic animals, clark’s is always a spectacle. i love stopping in around halloween and christmastime because they really go all out with festive ligh

clark's went from favorite to flawed...so sad.. thisplacewas a favorite of mine and my husband's ....along with all of our friends. we've celebrated many occasions there and were always proud to take our family and friends when they came to town.

sadly, this last visit was a huge disappointment. i have attached a picture of the "seafood platter" they brought my husband...and for lack of time, i will only highlight his meal instead of getting into the rest of the visit. when i took this picture to the manager and asked if he was okay with serving this dish and charging almost $20 for it, he was rude, dismissive and basically...couldn't have cared less.

i won't get into the entire experience as i think this $20 dish speaks for itself. we had always been happy with the food, the portions and the service. now-- i'll go the extra mile to cap's on the water in st. augustine and pay that kind of money for a true find dining experience-- or i can go to long john silver's instead.

good seafood. greatplaceto eat. it's a bit eccentric with all the taxidermy however the food was great. i tried a few different dishes such as the gator which was very good. i also tried antelope, kangaroo, and shark. overall it was a goodplaceto eat.

a group of us, both locals and relatives from out of town, went in last november and it was a wreck. we called about an hour before we arrived and was told they'd have a table ready. we arrived and was told they didn't have our reservation. great. we were told to wait in the bar and our party would be called. about an hour later we inquired about our table. the hostess looked utterly frightened and told us they had, again, "lost" our table. she quickly ushered us to the table where we were told that the kitchen just closed, so very limited items were left available. the food is always meh, so dragging people out there is pretty pointless when theplaceis chaos.

more emphasis on atmosphere rather than food. i was really eager to sample some of the exotic offerings from the fish camp. quail, rabbit, and alligator were some of those options. we tried the "gator eggs." they are quail eggs wrapped with gator sausage and fried. the sausage was overpowering and very salty. my wife requested rabbit, but unfortunately they have discontinued it for reasons unknown. the charbroiled quail was decent. i had the etoufee. it was a generous portion but lacked some of the exotic flavors i expected. the crawfish and shrimp seemed fresh.

the one thing that kills it for me is it seems as though this establishment relies heavily on its décor to bring people in. that being said, they should make sure its clean. the wholeplaceseems dirty. a walk past the kitchen reveals an even better glimpse on how clean theplaceis. is not. if you're going to let people walk past your kitchen, make sure what they see is clean. if what i can see isn't, than i can only expect that it gets worse for what i can't see.

our food was decent, but not exactly up to par for the price paid. the service was moderate to fair. being that gratuity is automatically added to the bill, it didn't seem as though the service was willing to go above and beyond... but it wasn't bad service either.

if there were an undecided or middle of the road rating, i would vote that way. i wouldn't go out of my way to eat here again, but i wouldn't avoid it either.

still great. on a thursday night theplacewas very busy as usual. cars were parked on the shoulders of the roads too. about a 25 min well worth it wait. thisplaceis two and a half hour drive for me.
again the service was great.
again the food was over the top great.


-----28 oct, 2012-----

loved the place. i went out of my way to try the place.. short this all up.. glad and went and would love to go back. for the price you get too much food. i had the scallops, (cooked any way you want) and loved them. cooked properly (not overcooked) there was 12 dollar sized flame cooked. seeing other meals going by and containers to go, i would say all meals look good.
the staff might be a little crude, but this is a people place.
the decor was worth the trip alone. there was no cobweb at all with the extensive collection of animals on display.
thisplaceshould be on your list of places in florida.

try somewhere else. simply not worth the money and time. i heard all about clark's from some of my coworkers in jacksonville. driving up to the place, i felt like i had chosen the rightplacefor dinner. the parking lot was packed and i could see a line of people outside waiting. walking into theplacei saw a small gator in the marsh right outside....very cool to me, as i am from south texas and don't see gators often. walking inside was overwhelming. lots of stuff inside. fish tanks with baby gators and cool looking fish...lots of stuffed exotic animals...too many. very tacky decor, but almost charming. the wait for a table is 30 min, which to me was great for as many people that were there. i had a good feeling early into my dining experience. when we are seated i immediately notice that there are many empty tables. i almost couldn't believe it, as there were so many people waiting for seats in the bar area and outside.
our waiter came by and got our drink orders, but when i tried to ask him about an appetizer on the menu, he acted uncomfortable, as if he was in a hurry to get back to something else. i realized he was slammed. i knew why so many people were waiting. they were completely under staffed. he finally made it back and i asked him to tell me about their crawfish. he said,"what do you wanna know about 'em"? i almost laughed and asked,"are they frozen or fresh"? he says they are frozen (bad sign). i order the raw oysters. my buddy asks how the stuffed flounder is. he says its not very good. says it comes pre-stuffed and frozen (another bad sign). i then ask how the jambalaya is. says its ok but i want something like that, i should go for the gumbo (bad sign). i order blackened jumbo shrimp.
the oysters come and are great. small but tasty and seem fresh. the shrimp come out and are nowhere near jumbo. and the were rubber. obviously frozen and terrible. my buddy ordered mahi mahi and i tried it.....dry and awful.

this restaurant looks like its a tourist trap. it's such a good location and seems like its had better days. i would have been embarrassed to serve that junk if i was our waiter. i wouldn't recommend thisplaceto anyone.