Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, I always had Mina’s home cooking as an option. Trying the food scene was not a high priority when dishes like Burek and Smoked Mozzarella Bread were around. But returning to visit with people who are not from Jax has motivated me to explore the restaurant scene. Most recently, to Palm Valley Outdoors Bar & Grill.
Right off the Intracoastal, we were settled into the easy living of anorak chairs and some light, live music. That slow Florida lifestyle you come to love after 10 years in places like NYC, but did not appreciate growing up. You can’t have any worries when you’re sitting back here:
I was pumped to see scratch kitchen and local ingredients across the menu. Even more excited that a fish dip was at the top of the starters. My new go-to (move over calamari), it of course was where I started, Smoked Fish Dip it was.
Let’s start with the salt crackers. By far, it is the least enjoyable way to enjoy a dip. Tacky and tasteless, they add nothing to the dish. And while you sometimes just need a vessel, a smoked fish dip calls for at least some toasted bread. Immediately disappointed upon the appetizers’ arrival.
But let’s move on to the taste. If the visual was disappointing, the taste was downright criminal. This must have come straight from a can, maybe mixed with something else that was in another can. Not fresh, not smoky, maybe some fish taste, but overall very bad. Maybe I’ve been so spoiled with the delicious dips in Miami. I thought this was one of those things, like calamari, that are hard to get wrong. But unfortunately at Palm Valley, it’s a major miss. Save your calories from this one:
Without much direction on what to choose for the main, I went with a little bit of everything: the Seafood Platter. The catch of the day, blackened shrimp, fried clam strips, and oysters, served with hushpuppies, french fries, and coleslaw. Nothing missing, there is not one other piece of seafood you could add to this dish. It was the perfect way to get a taste of the place.
Starting with the blackened fish and shrimp. Coated in what seems to be a blend of paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, thyme, and oregano, and then cooked on a hot skillet, blackening has a distinctive spicy flavor compared to other cooking methods. I love the almost-marinade taste that it imparts on the protein. Nothing major to note in how these were made here, they were mediocre and fine to eat, and probably the best part of the seafood platter.
Now getting into the rest- all fried everything. First, fried clam strips and oysters. Strips of clam meat are breaded and deep-fried until golden and crispy, and served with tartar and cocktail sauce. This was my first time having these and wow, that texture is interesting. Very crispy on the outside, as anything battered and fried is, juxtaposed with the moist, succulent, slightly chewy, still a bit slimy inside. The clam strips themselves are tender and briny, a little taste of the sea. I don’t know what I expected but I was surprised by these. Not bad but not something I would order on its own again.
The fried oyster would be a bit more my style. Less chewy, with a more tender and juicy texture. The flavor is also more rich and creamy. Not slimy and more buttery, like a proper oyster tastes. I could get all of this from the oysters here once I got to the meat but unfortunately, these were so heavily fried in batter, it overpowered anything else. Take a look at the bottom right corner of the picture, these are like a chicken tender with half the chicken missing:
Not something you necessarily want but considering how not great everything else was, I’ll take the “not that bad of it all.” Fries at least never disappoint and hushpuppies are a welcome ball of fried whatever they are.
No comment on the coleslaw though, as it never arrived. I was too full to notice and, honestly, unimpressed not to care. A good spot to grab a drink in the back by the water, but a terrible place to start exploring Jacksonville’s seafood scene.
