I’ve seen the orsay menu, it’s a little far for dinner. We met a local who suggested Caps at Vilano.
Also, I have a nephew who loves bourbon and rye, apparently he’s tried over 2000, and he likes the chain whiskey cake, one opened up in Jax and we took him. Thought it just ok but if there’s a whiskey lover in the family, worth a try for their flights. the whisky cake they serve for dessert is delicious and the burger is just fine.
We also tried domu, good noodles but nothing special compared to nyc.
For sure but we have friends up there nd stayed overnight.
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I wonder if we should ask an admin to broaden the title to include both Palm Coast and St. Augustine?
Anyway, we gave Lotus Noodle a try. The chef was formerly the sous chef at Le Bernardin, and it shows in the food, the presentation, and yes, the prices.
We started with two orders of beautifully presented buns, served with honey butter molded into a honeycomb:
Unfortunately, the buns were delicate to the point of blandness, and at $14 per order, they felt… kinda stupidly expensive.
We also tried the banchan, which included a gorgeous hunk of pork belly. Probably not something we’d reorder, but each component of the banchan was delicious in its own right.
For mains, we had two orders of lobster noodles and two of the spicy duck tan tan. After eating ramen in Tokyo and NYC, I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by a $45 bowl of lobster ramen but I was completely blown away. The lobster broth was deeply flavored, and the noodles were perfectly prepared. The duck tan tan was also excellent, though I’m not sure I could distinguish ground duck from ground pork at a much lower price point.
Given the scarcity of great Asian food in these parts, I can see us coming back a couple of times per month.
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I can change the title of the post. No problem. I can’t believe the chef worked at Le Bernadine. Have you tried Saint? Menu looks good.
here’s the chef’s bio: https://www.lotusnoodlebar.com/about
I’ve heard good things about saint and llama but haven’t been to either. we try to avoid old city traffic and parking though this time of year, not too bad.
might try hillary’s for chicago style pizza before we head out.
Thanks for thee info about the chef!
Llama is on A1A so traffic there is not an issue. It’s close to the Chop House… have you shopped there? We’ve been to Llama a few times. Food is good, but if you get one of the dishes with pasta and meat the meat is tiny and you are basically paying $48 for pasta. But the ceviche is excellent. We plan to try Saint in a couple of weeks. When do you head back up north?
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we stopped by the chop house last week, the sausage and meat looked great but unless we’re purchasing aged, I haven’t found much difference between costco prime and a butcher’s prime. Having said that, the owner of lobell’s lived in our westchester town, he brought some of their brisket and fillet to a couple of charity events and it was much better than costco prime (at 3-4x the price).
have you been to kyles for raw seafood? We’ve been getting them to fillet fresh sheepshead and they’ve been great. people swear by their fish, soup and key lime pie (which someone makes for them).
we’re heading to the midwest (with a stop in memphis for ribs and graceland) in about ten days.
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I agree about chop house except their brisket is really good and I love their lamb. I don’t think they are really butchers as they just kind of serve meat. I do love their bacon!! We have not been to Kyle’s. We’re not big fish eaters. Have a safe trip!
oh, wait, I thought you meant the chop shop butcher 
We haven’t been to the chop house, is it good?
I did mean the butcher. I always do that with the name!
