Indochine

Last week we ate up Downtown and found a new favorite place! It was so good that we went twice! I have heard nothing but good things about Indochine, so they have been on my radar for a while. I planned on visiting them last year during Eat Up Downtown but never made it, so I was really happy that they were participating again this year! Downtown always intimidates me because of 2 things, parking and crime. These are the 2 main reasons why I don’t visit as much as I should. There is nothing worse than driving around the block 50 times to find a parking spot, only to wind up parking 4 blocks away and walking past some sketchy people. Indochine actually has a parking lot next door, so this was very convenient for me! The restaurant is located on top of Burrito Gallery, so you have to go up stairs on the outside. The restaurant is a little small once you get inside, but they have made great use of the space. The décor is beautiful and it makes you forget that you are in Downtown Jacksonville.

The Eat Up Downtown menu was one of the best offered (in my opinion). You are given a choice of beverage (beer, wine, or specialty cocktail), one appetizer, and an entrée for $25. For our beverages, I got pink champagne and Ivan got a mojito. Also, the servers bring around these big water jugs and leave them on the table. Kind of weird, but pretty cool.

For our appetizers we got Steamed Dumplings (seasoned pork and vegetable dumplings) and Crab Ragoons (lump crab and curried cream cheese in deep fried wonton satchel).

 The dumplings were very tender and had a lot of filling inside. The taste was great and they were served with a little bowl of soy sauce.

 The crab ragoons were different from any ones I have had before. Instead of cream cheese, the filling was more of a sharp cheese and overpowered the crab. Ivan liked these better than the dumplings, so that worked out great. We both ate more of the ones that we liked best!

For my entrée I got the Pad See Ew, which was wide rice noodles in sweet soy sauce with egg, broccoli, and carrot (mild heat). I chose scallops and shrimp for my protein. I was extremely pleased with my dish. The sauce was not too thin and coated everything nicely. The scallops and shrimp were plentiful and the veggies were scattered throughout the dish. Also, the portion sizes are great, so there is no need to worry about that. I had a hard time eating it all, but I managed to do it!

Ivan got the Drunken Noodles, which are sautéed rice noodles with egg, celery, onion, mushrooms, and cashews with holy basil (4 heat). He chose shrimp and chicken for his protein. Ivan hates mushrooms, so he kept plopping them down on my plate. I told him to put them on the corner, but he kept tossing them in the middle, so I would go to eat something and get a mouthful of spicy!! He wasn’t doing it on purpose, but still! Ivan was also very pleased with his choice and ate the whole thing.

Verdict – Loved it! If you are a fan of Thai food, Indochine is well worth the trip. I love to eyeball all of the other dishes coming out of the kitchen, and everything looked great. Also, our waitress Andrea was really great. She was energetic and recommended different things for us to try. She definitely made the experience even better than it already was!