Amelia Island Eats

While we were staying at the Omni Amelia Island, it was tempting to stay at the resort the entire time. After all, there was plenty to do & places to eat. We did venture out a few times, though, to check out the local dining scene. Here are a few of the places we enjoyed eating…

Salty Pelican

This little waterfront place in downtown Fernandina Beach is no frills, offers fresh seafood & amazing marsh views. We stopped by Salty Pelican for a late lunch one afternoon & sat upstairs at their open air bar. Squeezed in the corner on two stools, we munched on fresh fish sandwiches & literally just-out-of-the-sea shrimp tacos. It was the kind of seafood joint I could see myself at every weekend if I lived there. My only regret? That we didn’t make it back for sunset over the marshland, because I’m thinking it would have been spectacular.

BarZin

When we booked our stay at the Omni Amelia Island Resort, we didn’t realize that it was a good 20-30 minutes south of town. Luckily, we ended up loving the resort so much that we wanted to spend as much time there as possible – or it could have been a huge bummer having to drive an hour round trip into Fernandina Beach for dinner. But when we headed out to BarZin for dinner on Friday night, we discovered that there was actually good food just a few minutes from the resort.

The restaurant is a comfortable bistro spanning several rooms in a little shopping center. We were handed three menus when we sat down: a wine list, the regular menu & a menu of specials almost as long as the regular menu. When our server Kaylie came over, she told us about even more specials. I love a good restaurant special, but this was getting ridiculous! We mulled over our options with a glass of red California wine.

Finally, we settled on our choices & a parade of food started arriving from the kitchen: we started with the shrimp bruschetta special appetizer, which was perfect sharing size. The crusty bread was light with a large shrimp on each piece & lots of tomato & basil bruschetta topping.

Next we shared the lobster ravioli. Rather than being several small ravioli like we were expecting, it was actually one large, plate-sized piece of pasta. It came swimming in a very heavy cream sauce & I was nervous just looking at it – there was no way this was going to taste good. Fortunately, one bite changed my mind – it was perfect. It was clearly homemade & was excellent.

This is where dinner took an interesting turn: the lights in the room started flickering on & off (& kept doing it the rest of the evening!), the table next to us started complaining loudly & outwardly mocking their server, & our entrees couldn’t have been more different. I got the grouper special – a piece of “fresh” grouper served with a mango chutney, thai-style spring rolls, roasted autumn vegetables & truffle mashed potatoes. The dish had interesting flavors, the spring rolls were totally random, but the fish was way overcooked & tasted frozen, not fresh. I ate a few bites of fish & enjoyed the vegetables & potatoes. Meanwhile, B was digging into “Andy’s famous” gumbo, which is famous for a reason. I immediately regretted not getting the same thing because it was an awesome good, hearty dish with great flavors.

A little bit stuffed, but never one to turn down dessert, we again had trouble deciding from the extensive selections. We ended up getting both chocolate fudge cake (SO rich) & caramel bread pudding (SO good). We had a few bites of each & called it a night.

Overall, our experience at BarZin was positive. If I was staying in the area again, I’d definitely give them another shot. The food was a little inconsistent & the atmosphere a little strange, but our server was excellent & if you’re staying on the south end of the island, the location can’t be beat.

 Our dinner at BarZin was provided compliments of Visit Amelia Island. As always, all opinions are my own.

29 South

We almost didn’t go to 29 South due to the previously mentioned fact that the hotel was 25 minutes from town. But everyone told us it was excellent, so our last night of vacation we headed into town to this downtown bistro. Tucked into a quiet side street, this house turned farm-to-table restaurant (literally – they have an on-site garden!) was so cute. Black & white tile – exactly what’s in our 1939 row house in DC – lined the walls of the restaurant & the tables were well segregated to allow for intimate conversation.

We started with the “Crust of the Day” – a daily rotating crostini. Ours came piled high with fall vegetables & goat cheese.

 For dinner, I had scallops, which were excellent. Perfectly seasoned & prepared, they melted in my mouth along with their accompanying rice. B had the most unique looking surf & turf I’ve ever seen. The steak was cut almost into an egg roll shape, but was nicely cooked. The turf was a seared scallop. I mentioned the tables were well spaced – they were – but not far enough apart for our the amazing smell from our neighbor’s rosemary garlic fries to waft over to our table. So we had to order a plate of those as well (B was puzzled by this, but they smelled SO good!).

While they’re known for their coffee & donuts dessert, we went with the brownie sundae instead & it absolutely did not disappoint.

I’m so glad that we went to 29 South during our visit. It was the perfect end meal to our vacation & is the kind of place I’d go to often if I was a local.

Publix

Because did you really think I was going to go to Florida without having an amazing sub sandwich from Publix? We enjoyed our subs & sweet tea on a little roadside bench on the way to the resort from the airport. That chicken fingers sub, the holy grail of subs, was so, so sweet. Don’t believe me? There’s even a Buzzfeed about it.