Thursday, June 13, 2024

Grub Crawl - Universal Area: Voodoo Bayou and Krembo Cafe

I tried these spots on Sand Lake Rd last Thursday at lunch. The first replaces Moonfish in the strip mall northeast of I4. The second is in the southeast strip mall at I4.

Voodoo Bayou - I'm conflicted by them. Some good qualities. Some bad. I had the four piece fried chicken with biscuit for $19. The chicken had a lot of crust. Too much. Like it had been fried before. It also came out way too fast to be fresh. The crust also fell off far too easily. It had no taste. You needed hot sauce or something. The bottle they provided should have embarrassed them. It was nearly empty. I didn't use it because of that. There was a wing a drum and two large breast pieces. The meat was moist enough. The biscuit was great. Square. Fluffy. Hard crust. Like a croissant. They gave you some good earthy honey with it. The app biscuit costs $14! Maybe more than one? The menu is pricy. $49 steak. $29 red fish.  All apps at main prices. They have a $15 pick two option that doesn't come with a side. Typical Nola wanna be menu. The place is limited by low ceilings. It's black with stained wood and garish gold railing. Fake vintage tchotchkes. Plus sign looking cross inserts. Black tables. Red leopard cushions. Open kitchen on the right. Bar on the left. Both span the front area. There is a further rear area. Not walled off. Plenty of dressed staff. Including in the kitchen. But not professionally adept. They have three other locations. Mostly in Jacksonville. Open for one month. Parking isn't a problem. Owners looked mobbed up. So, like I said - conflicted. Some of the chicken was good. But it could have been better. Portion size was generous. Justified the price. But I would rather have less food and a cheaper buy in. Or quality. Biscuit was amazing. One of the better ones I've ever encountered. They spent a lot on the build out. But it is a bit tacky, dark and low ceilinged. I also think their mood music wasn't good. I can't remember. I didn't trust them enough to try some of the more adventurous dishes. Maybe that was a mistake? Go on and try them for me and report back. It's a definite maybe for me.

Krembo Cafe - I'm so disappointed by them. They replaced some sandwich place a year ago. I drove by them when I sampled that Boiled Fish place months ago and tried to try them on the last Florida road trip. It seems that it was Passover then. They took three weeks off. I thought it was a week? Anyhoo. I just grabbed a bagel with cream cheese to go after the large meal I just had. There were some nice sesame ones in the case and all the dull things they offered up were bad values. So, I grabbed my ankles and forked over $8. Then they didn't even deliver the bagels in the case! A Lender's looking piece of shit with a non-deli serving of garden variety cream cheese. A total rip off. They had two semi-interesting options. Shashuka and some eggplant dish I had never heard of. Its a kosher place. Smallish, square layout. Modernish. I think it had a soft gray color scheme with a fake grass backdrop. You can skip it.   

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