peony asian bistro Reviews

We love Peony's. They have the most authentic Chinese food Jacksonville has to offer, hands down! Their hot and sour soup is THE best I have ever had anywhere. We usually stick to some of our favorites, but we have also been adventurous on occasion. There has never been anything that we ordered where we would not order again. When the majority of the patrons on each occasion we have eaten there are Chinese it tells me it is a great place to eat. We agree!

Peony is fairly authentic, but it was never good authentic it was more like ok food you might find in cheap restaurant in China, but it was the best Jacksonville had to offer. Peony is NOT vegan friendly. They used to accept requests to use soy sauce instead of oyster sauce but they won't anymore and almost every dish has oyster sauce. If you are a vegetarian or are allergic to seafood, or just want a restaurant where they care about their customers, don't go there. It's a shame because I've been freaquenting the restaurant since it opened. They also don't like you ordering in Chinese, which is very odd for a restaurant that has menu items written in Chinese.

I wanted to like this restaurant because it was the closest to authentic Chinese food Jacksonville had to offer, but the food was only ever ok. Their poor customer service is what really brings the place down though. I actually got better respect in cheap restaurants in china and that's saying a lot. Peony will not adjust for dietary restrictions. They used to accept requests to use soy sauce instead of oyster sauce but they won't anymore and almost every dish has oyster sauce. If you are a vegetarian or are allergic to seafood, or just want a restaurant where they care about their customers, don't go there. It's a shame because I've been to the restaurant multiple times since it opened. They also don't like you ordering in Chinese, which is very odd for a restaurant that has menu items written in Chinese.

In a city where most of the chinese restaurants are buffets or take-outs, it is nice to finally find a good sit-down alternative (that you don't have to wait 2 hours to get into). Everything is cooked to order here even the Hot and Sour soup, which just might be the best I've ever had. Be sure to ask for both the english and chinese menus (both menu's have english descriptions). The english menu is for those of us with more americanized palates (Kung Pao, General Tso's, etc.) while the chinese menu has more traditional chinese fare for the adventurous.