Chew

The boyfriend and I both work in downtown Jacksonville (as of last Monday) which means we're finally able to take lunch together. As today is a special day, our one and a half year anniversary, I chose a restaurant I've heard so many great things about for lunch: Chew.

Though Chew is about 10 minutes from my office I am still unsure if the walk was worth it. I ordered the banh mi sandwich, boyfriend ordered the hot brown sandwich and we split the fried green tomatoes with gorgonzola fondue. The fried green tomatoes were good and boyfriend's hot brown sandwich was delicious. For those of you who do not know what a hot brown sandwich is you're missing out. My banh mi sandwich, on the other hand, was another story.

My banh mi sandwich arrived with a side salad dressed in a delightfully light and lemony vinaigrette. "This is gonna be good," I thought. One bite into the sandwich, and I was disappointed, firstly, with the pork was absolutely far too dry. Secondly? There was too much bread, not enough pickled vegetables and not enough chili lime dressing. I sent the banh mi sandwich back.

Round two of the banh mi sandwich was significantly better. The pork was crispy outside, tender, hot and succulent inside. While banh mi sandwich number two did not have more pickled vegetables than the first it did have more chili lime dressing, which helped to create a more flavorful sandwich overall.

Next time, I will not be ordering the banh mi sandwich, but I will be returning to Chew. All in all I am not quite sure I have made a decision as to whether or not Chew is as good as everyone else says it is.