the blue fish restaurant

a nice change in avondale. in place of sterlings in avondale is blue fish, a new trendy restaurant that offers lunch and dinner where seafood is the main fare. however, they do offer non-seafood options (as my non-seafood eating foodie friend, cathy is most grateful). prices for dinner are a bit high so i went for lunch there on monday this week to recover from an extended trip to dallas, texas for a cousin's wedding.

first, the decor is very blue and green, and i loved it. upscale casual best describes the atmosphere; the same ladies-who-lunch crowd is ever present in avondale. a gorgeous breezy sunny day, we sat outside and took time perusing themenuas there is a plethora of choices. i settled on the crab, cheddar, and broccoli quiche and seafood gumbo for $10.00. i wanted the crab bisque, but the waiter suggested that would be possibly too much crab. (is there such a thing?) okay, i said, and while it was not the best quiche i've ever had, i enjoyed my meal. the gumbo was flavorful, rich, and chock full of seafood; the quiche was nicely brown on top, crispy crust, and buttery and loaded inside with crab, cheese, and broccoli, very satisfying.

cathy, ever the mac-n-cheese fanatic, ordered the blackened chicken and mac-n-cheese for $10. she thought the chicken was juicy and tasty; the mac-n-cheese was more of a corkscrew pasta with an alfredo type sauce, but she did not mind. a very rich and dense chocolate peanut butter pie rounded out the meal for $4.95 which was so rich, we could not finish it. overall, it was a pleasant experience, and it's worth a try!

pre-mother's day dinner. with reservations made via open table, we were set to enjoy another meal at blue fish restaurant.

note to self: avondale is a very popular hangout now. take extra time to find a parking spot.

we arrived in avondale to find nearly every parking spot taken. luckily the old gas station provides a few places to park.

as we walked past the brick, which was very crowded and headed toward our destination, we were engulfed in the pungent smell of bar-b-que eminating from a new offering, mojo's. not sure how the residence of this snobby part of town allowed this to happen, but it will definitely not be a positive move.

upon entering the blue fish, we we greeted by avelee, the co-owner. the weather was perfect so we decided to sit outside in the courtyard. unfortunately, we didn't realize smoking was allowed so we asked to be moved inside. we were seated at a large table with a strategic view of the elclectic paintings and the front of the house.

our waiter was amazing, made suggestions for wine pairings and was well versed on the fresh fish of the day - 7 different fish selections. by the way, the fish is prepared fresh each day by avalee's husband.

one of the interestingmenufeatures is the half portion option. for about half the price you can get a half portion of protein with a full portion of vegetable and starch. just enough if you order a side salad and consume several baskets of their unique and nicely warmed bread.

what i like about this restaurant is that themenucaters to all tastes. even picky eaters like my teenager who order blackened chicken over home made mac n' cheese. not the orange-yellow velvetta looking cheese. this was the real deal. i had to move the dish from my daughter or i think she would have eaten that as well!

they also cater to large parties with a full banquet room next to the courtyard and a smaller semi-private area upstairs with a bar nearby.

will definitely return again soon..

great seafood. the blue fish has tasty seafood especially its shrimp. it has a great appetizermenuthat is available from 5-7pm. best appetizer deal near avondale.

my wife and i love to go to blue fish for happy hour. their happy hourmenuis amazing. the oysters are some of the best in town. their fish bites from their happy hourmenuare amazing! also from their regular menu, their shrimp and grits are the best in town. if you like shrimp and grits, you will love these. they are the best i have ever had. great place to go with friends and socialize. they have valet parking right next door. definitely one of my favorite restaurants in jacksonville. i have never been disappointed with anything on their menu. the service is also great.

amazing time...... the absolute best happy hour you will find anywhere in jacksonville. the owner (jim) is always friendly and comes out and hugs the guests, adam and shannon are the best bartenders anywhere and always make you feel like family, the people at the bar are always really friendly and welcoming to everyone and themenuis absolutely fantastic chef scott has put together. highly highly recommended!!!!!

bluefish oysters - hit and miss. it was my first time nov. 21 for my birthday. i chose this restaurant specifically to try their oysters. i did the half &half oysters - rockefeller and bienville. price was okay and actually fresh but it wasn't prepared great at all. for me, it had an odd taste to it and basically masked the freshness of the oysters. the bienville is worst than the rockefeller. the best ones i had so far was in pappadauex restaurant in houston, tx and i am hoping we have something close to it here in jax., fl. blue fish was far from it. i hope the chef would go to houston, and actually try what good rockefeller should be. however, i got lucky that the special of the day was the grilled oysters. excellent!!!!!!! that made up for all my disappointment. i hope that the chef will read this review and make the grilled oysters part of the regular menu. i will be there every friday if it is. my daughter had the eggplant with lump crabmeat. it was really good but didn't have sauce. need some kind of remoulade to complete the dish. the fired green tomatoes were perfect too but didn't have sauce. need remoulade to make it over the top excellent. my husband had the blackened grouper with red beans and rice and andouille sausage and it was excellent. the entiremenuhas great selection and we will be back to try more dishes. again, i hope the chef reads constructive reviews and make the grilled oyster part of regular menu.

it's cool blue atmosphere and variousmenuitems make it easy to accommodate any preference or price range. these people truly know how to cook fresh and flavorful seafood.

our waiter hovered and not very knowledgeable aboutmenuitems. soup was starchy and bland. fish was undercooked and when we pointed it out to the waiter he walked away and said nothing. do not fall for the $6 up charge for sharing and supposedly getting2× the sides. rip off. flavor was masked by soft mushy onions.

a delight. new to the avondale area, i was thoroughly impressed with the ambiance of this restaurant as my friends and i entertained a guest from out of town. nice art on the walls, friendly, yet professional staff made it an overall delightful experience. we enjoyed their sunday brunch menu, which included access to an open cold bar with a wide array of desserts, salads, and finger foods to enjoy as appetizers. the only problem i encountered was making up my mind what to try on theirmenufor my first visit...i reasoned i couldn't go wrong with the new orleans frittata (sp?) and it was a good choice. my friends were pleased with their selections as well. the complimentary mimosas didn't hurt a bit either. :)

graduation dinner party. with a bridal party and high school graduation party under our belt at blue fish, it was time for yet another celebration meal.

this time we celebrated our daughter's master's degree accomplishment with a party of 9 in the upstairs loft.

the server was very attentive and extremely good for serving a 9 top.

we started out with drinks and appetizers at the couches and lounge chairs and then moved to our private table for dinner and dessert.

all entrees were fantastic. from the blackened chicken to the chicken piccata to the grilled halibut and finally to the black & blue filets, everyone said the food was awesome.

we finished off our celebration with desserts, coffee and toasted the graduate for her well deserved accomplishment.

thank you evalee and the staff at blue fish restaurant for another successful event.


-----31 dec, 2009-----

a really nice lunch experience. the blue fish restaurant is a new entry into the crowded contemporary dining options in the avondale shopping center area.

it occupies the lower level of sterling's across from peterbrooke and biscotti's on st. johns avenue.

the large open sliding front window, eclectic blue interior and funky lighting drew us to view the menu. we decided to take a chance during lunch time and try the diverse menu.

from new orlean's po boys to fried chicken and waffles to fresh catch in a beurre blanc and lemon sauce, themenuis an interesting array and expansive.

the problem you will encounter is what to order. there are so many interesting choices, i suggest you go with friends and agree to nibble from your neighbor's plate. you won't be sorry.

our order consisted of tilapia in beurre blanc and lemon sauce, the 3 burger sliders, mango jerked chicken salad, and grilled seafood salad. in writing this review and re-looking at the menu, i realize that the grilled seafood salad did not come with grilled salmon as listed, but with a serving of tilapia. although the tilapia was cooked perfectly, the "grilled" salmon would have been a better pairing with the huge grilled u-10 scallop and grilled shrimp.

each entree was expertly presented and provided plenty of food, even as a lunch portion.

the server was very attentive to our needs and provided drink refills without having to ask.

at the end of our meal the server provided a long list of desserts options, but unfortunately we were filled to the gills from our lunch. next time we will try one of the desserts.

i would recommend this restaurant for lunch and look forward to trying their dinnermenuon our next visit.

my new favorite! while my wife and i were discussing the fact that most seafood restaurants are either called camps, house or shack, we decided to look for something a bit nicer. we were not disappointed with the blue fish. our experience began with a fantastic server "g" who described themenuso well that we each decided on 2 small plates each instead of appetizers and salads. i opted for the shrimp and grits which was incredible. i never would've dreamed such a simple southern combination could have so much flavor and complexity, fantastic! i also ordered a small fresh catch grouper, blackened and served over cajun style beans and rice. again, fantastic! my wife decided on the shrimp and scallops over mac n cheese. no disappointment there either. it was served with white truffle sauce to complement. very rich and wonderful. she also had the fresh catch sole cooked with white wine and capers. very light and tasty. my compliments to the chef/owner richard, who came out and personally welcomed us and made sure we were enjoying our
meals. we will be bringing friends next time as our dining experience was extraordinary. thank you for a great evening!

since we had a good experience with the lunch, i would definately return to sample the dinnermenuas it will be a good benchmark of the quality and price point for the cuisine there

pricey, but tasty for the most part. ate here last night with some friends. service staff was great, friendly and attentive. love the bold city brews on tap.

the good: most of the food we ordered was delicious, doz. raw oysters were good; herb crusted mahi mahi was melt in your mouth delicious, buttery and well seasoned, mashed potatoes and broccoli were good; scallop and shrimp white cheddar macaroni and cheese was delicious also - the shrimp and scallops were cooked to perfection, the mac and cheese was sinfully creamy, also topped with 4 asparagus that were a bit overdone.

the bad: the half plate portions on the fish were pretty small - 4 oz. of fish, smallish sides. ( however, the half portion of scallop and shrimp mac & cheese was plenty). and the real stinker of the night was the seafood gumbo. the flavor was pretty good, but the seafood inside was unpalatably mushy - as if the gumbo was made a week ago and left simmering. the shrimp in the gumbo were the consistency of a cooked potato - blech! our attentive waiter could tell we didn't like the gumbo and immediately apologized and removed it from our bill. again, the service was amazing.

all in all, blue fish is a decent restaurant. a little pricey for what you get, and the food quality varied - the good was great, the bad was pretty terrible. the service (and the nice outdoor seating) will make us give it another chance.

i also eyed the bar and brunch menus - which looked very tempting. the barmenuoffered what looked like more value friendly options - tappas style items like sliders, etc. and the brunch offered some unique items like lobster mac & cheese - and our server mentioned mimosas are included.

the best seafood restaurant in avondale. the blue fish restaurant is my husband"s and i date night favorite spot. the food is excellent and prepared with care. the staff is wonderfull from the manager to the hostess to the server to the bartender. their specialsmenuis always updated and fun to try. the pan seared seabass is my favorite dish even though everything on themenuis delicious. also all of our guests that come to our bnb love it and they say that if you are looking for a great experience the blue fish is the perfect place to go :)

don't bother.... my girlfriend and i went to bluefish for dinner tonight as a belated "treat" for valentine's day. we are both in the service industry, and based on our visit, wouldn't go back.
it took 10 minutes for the bartender to come back to even offer us nothing. we decided on a table instead. the waitress was cool but didn't have even a basic knowledge of the menu. they seemed scared to even approach us. i know that their general appeal is to avondale blue bloods, but come on-we love good food, drink, and tip well. the food was over priced, but tasty, it looked like the floor manager was overbearing at best, with arms crossed sitting at a bar table, and even the other manager/owner didn't even acknowledge us when we looked perturbed at not being waited on. then, our waitress didn't even tell us thanks for the $23 tip on the $97 bill that included the stuffed sole that read $26 on themenuthat we were charged $28 for on the bill. looks like sterling's with different people working there. ugh.
fair at best.
don't even get me started on the portions for the price...