I tried the first place at lunch two weeks ago on my way North. I tried the other two at lunch and dinner yesterday respectively. The first and third are near the center of Flagler Ave (by the beach). The other is in the old Local Pearl Oyster Shoppe spot on the land side of the Intercoastal.
Mimi K's Beachside Cafe - They are in that alley way that has the Cuban place I just reviewed. Breakfast and lunch. I think they close at 2pm. Weekends until 4pm. Also closed on T and W, I think. It seats about a dozen inside. I grabbed a Cajun Benedict because I wanted shrimp. It cost $14. I recall it being ok. Five or more shrimp. Ok egg timing. Can't recall what the bottom was. Probably a muffin. It seemed like there was one waitress, a prep guy and a cook doubling as a waitress too. That slows things down a bit. I actually jumped ahead of other tables and it still took twenty plus minutes. Place was full. Seemed a mix of tourists and locals. The menu had skillets, benedicts, sandwiches, ricotta pancakes, vanilla french toast, etc. Only around a dozen items. Charming enough to go back to.
City Market Bistro - Looks almost the same inside. They dropped all the oysters except IROCs. Owner/Chef had a place in Ormond Beach (or near there) before this. Changed hands in February. Open for lunch and dinner. Closes for two hours between 3 and 5pm. Limited menu. A dozen or so things. Burger, chicken sandwich, shrimp cocktail, mussels and three seafood mains are all that I can recall. I grabbed the grilled ciabatta for $8 to go because it was already 2pm and I wanted to get to the beach. It was different and better than I expected. Three slices of bread topped with dressed cherry tomatoes, black olives and pickled red onions and a creamy spread. Tomatoes were fresh. Alot. I think they can be trusted.
Atlantis Bistro - They have been in the queue forever. Open at 4pm. Really an Italian spot (one of those Italian bistros) with some seafood items. I call places like this a "to go menu" spots. They don't have "business cards". They print to go menus. The quality is usually lower. No outlier here. Perfectly pedestrian food. I think the owner was also cooking. There was a kitchen help sign in the window and some woman came out all exhausted and the staff treated her like she was in charge. The output wasn't great and it took a while. I surrendered to the Chicken Romano at $16. I didn't get the feeling they could do anything more extreme. And when the waitress told me the green mussels (why not black ones?) were frozen. I knew I dodged a bullet. Plus they wanted up to thirty bucks for the seafood dishes. Dull ones. With dull ingredients. Plus they went silent on the price of every special and when you asked you found out why. The only reason I contemplated the mussels was that they had a pithy name ) Mussels Lemonade. The chicken was to be topped with mozzarella and prosciutto. Terrible quality on both. If I wasn't informed it was mozzarella. I couldn't have guessed. Plus the chicken had no crust/color. Not sure if they dumped the wine in too quickly or what. It was pale and boiled. At least pan fry it if you won't finish it in the oven. It came with steamed broccoli or roasted potatoes. When you read what I've been eating lately, you will see why I chose something healthy. It probably wasn't. Alternately raw and mushy. With some carrots. It wouldn't surprise me if they reheated some old broccoli with the rest. That is what the complimentary bread seemed to have been. Hard as a rock. I'll bet that had been to two or three customers and reheated before me. Plus they served it with most repulsive "pesto" and olive oil. It looked like a loogy/phlegm in oil. Didn't touch it. Service was spotty. Never checked in. No refills. Ambiance is isolated to the ceiling of wine corks. Rest is pure mismatched junk like French wine signs and plastic grapes. Probably all dust covered. Clientele was mostly codgers. Probably from there. Probably from dives up North where this quality of food is the norm. I do not recommend it. Open for 14 years. Apps were all over priced and lame too.
*Updates on the area - The Thai place near 1 is now an Irish pub called The Spot. Was open at lunch. The bowl place (from Winter Park) near the draw bridge (Flagler) is closed. That spot is death. The Greek place (Beacon) near the beach on Flagler re-opened yesterday. A Mexican place opened above Boston's Fish House.
**Travel Notes - Florida: I have a whole East Coast trip that I will divide into three posts. I'll just do Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach on this one because I'm tired. Check back in three days. I grabbed a terrible poke bowl at Timoti's. They used hot basmati rice! I had ok sushi at Akari. I had an interesting brisket and pulled pork egg rolls just to sample at Area 51 BBQ. Was too full to try the good stuff. Plus they have a Korean menu too. Disgusting Oreo flavored cream cheese bagel at Aloha Bagel. Bagel not great either. They had lots of weird cc flavors. Like peanut butter and bacon ranch. Good pulled pork with pimento cheese on wheat bread sandwich at Happy Tomato Cafe. All these are in or around Fernandina. Stayed at Amelia Hotel for $122. By far the cheapest option.
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