We drove into Crystal Beach tonight thinking we’d watch the last sunset of the year only to have a fog bank as thick as pea soup roll in.  Instead, we ended up at Thai Nana for dinner.

The last time we were here, we ordered a combo appetizer and I really enjoyed the Mee Krob.  Since Loren just wanted some soup, he got that for an appetizer & I got the Mee Krob.

I just love the tamarind sauce on this dish.  The noodles are crunchy and the sauce is sweet.  It’s just addictive.  The shrimp on top were good, but the chicken was really tough.

For our entrees, Loren went for the garlic beef & I got chicken with broccoli & carrots.

Both dishes were ok.  I thought mine was a bit on the bland side but the chicken & veggies were cooked well.  Total bill with a drink was $30.

Thai Nana
1462 Alt 19
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 787-0189

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We went to the Botanical Gardens in Largo tonight to see the holiday lights display and stopped at Los Mariachis on the way home for dinner.

Loren got the two taco dinner & I got the shrimp chimichangas.

Both dishes were ok.  Pretty standard Mexican fare around here.  I would have preferred beans to rice with my dish, but I just stole some of Loren’s.  The chimichangas were cooked pretty well, though could have used just a little more crunch.  Overall, a pretty filling meal for $23.

Los Mariachis
9100 Ulmerton Rd
Largo, FL
727-584-9739

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We were down in Madiera Beach tonight and at the recommendation of a friend, we tried the sushi at Osaka Japanese & Thai Restaurant.  As usual, we ordered way too much.

They started us off with a little cucumber salad.

Fresh & light to cleanse the palate and then came the sushi.

Yeah, there were only two of us and we had enough for lunch the next day.  We tried the Mexican roll, the Sexy Man, the John, Rainbow, Tuna Tornado, and a Tammy roll.  They were all very good.  The Sexy Man was the sloppiest since it was covered in a mayo/eel sauce mixture.  Overall, the sushi was tasty, but a bit pricey.  Total bill with a drink was $73.

Osaka Japanese & Thai
15115 Madiera Way
Madiera Beach, FL
727-397-3885

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We headed over to Big Bok Choy for some dinner tonight.  They were pretty busy, but the food was as tasty as ever.  We both started with the wonton soup and reverted back to our old favorites.

Loren got the hunan chicken and I got the honey garlic chicken.

Lots of flavor and perfectly cooked.  Definitely our favorite Chinese restaurant in town.  The chicken was very tender and Loren’s had lots of veggies and just enough heat to make it interesting.   The honey chicken here isn’t overly sweet, but has a nice tang to it.  Yummy stuff.   Total bill with a drink was $35.

Big Bok Choy Bistro
3730 Tampa Road #6
Oldsmar, FL
813-854-1961

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We ate lunch at Panera Bread in Oldsmar today.  I never go to this location because their parking lot is horrible and always full.  We missed the lunch crowd, so were able to get in & out fairly quickly.

Loren ordered a cup of clam chowder with half of a smokey turkey club.

He was less than impressed to say the least.  He liked the chowder, but his panini was just a train wreck.  The bottom side wasn’t grilled at all because half of the turkey was outside of the sandwich.  Definitely some poor quality control going on here.

I went for the chicken salad on ciabatta bread & a side of mac & cheese.

I was pretty impressed with the mac & cheese.  It was very creamy & had a nice unique flavor to it.  I’m hard to please with mac & cheese but this one ranks as one of my favorites now.  The chicken salad sandwich was pretty good.  Way more than I could eat in one sitting, so it was lunch the next day too.  Total bill with two drinks was $25.

Panera Bread
3181 Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL
813-849-6153

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Met my sister in Winter Park today & we decided to go back to Keke’s for breakfast.  It was really busy.  We ended up waiting almost 30 minutes for a table for two.

She went for the raspberry stuffed French toast.

This is one sweet breakfast item and she was Mmm, Mmmm-ing the entire time.  I went a little more traditional with a combo of scrambled eggs, home fries, and French toast.

Mine was ok.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The French toast could have used a little more flavor to it.  Maybe next time I’ll try it stuffed.  Total bill was $25 with two hot chocolates.

Keke’s Breakfast Cafe
345 West Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL
407-629-1400

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We drove into Clearwater tonight and ate dinner at Nauti-Nancy’s.  Last time, we had the crab stuffed mushrooms and couldn’t pass them up this time either.

Instead of 6 little mushrooms, we ended up with  5 larger ones this time.  The crab stuffing is tasty.  Loren went for a steak martini sandwich with fries.

He liked it, though the fries were sliced very thin and could have been a bit crispier.  I decided to try the lobster ravioli.

There were 6 nice sized ravioli and the filling was pretty good.   The sauce was ok, but after just having that amaretto sauce at La Trattatoria, it’s gonna be hard to please me with any sauce for a while.  They brought out some complimentary beignets to finish off the meal.

They weren’t as good this time as the last time we were here.  They didn’t seem to be fried evenly and parts of it were a bit too crunchy.  Tasty, but a little hard to bite into.  Total bill with a drink was $30.

Nauti-Nancy’s
700 Eldridge St
Clearwater, FL
(727) 446-3717

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I’ve been driving by Pit Stop BBQ on SR 580 for a while now and we finally stopped in tonight.  It’s right over the bridge when you’re driving into Oldsmas next to the Hess gas station.

Loren got a thin end rib dinner with collard greens and baked beans and I tried the rib & chopped pork combo with mac & cheese and potato salad.

Loren liked it more than I did.  It had a very smokey flavor and I thought my ribs were a bit dry with not a lot of meat on them.  The thin end ribs Loren got had more meat on them and were a little more tender.  The chopped pork was ok, but I like a moister BBQ.  Loren really liked the collard greens, but the baked beans were too sweet for him.  The mac & cheese had good flavor, but was really dry.  The potato salad was ok.  Total bill was $23.

Pit Stop Southern Style BBQ
3665 State Road 580
Oldsmar, FL
813-855-3136

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Went to Rumba Island Grille in Oldsmar for lunch today for a co-worker’s birthday.  She got the Ocho Rios dish I ordered the last time I was here & I tried the ahi tuna sandwich.

There was no way this could be eaten as a sandwich.   The ciabatta bread was way too thick.  I ended up just eating the tuna off the bread with a fork.  I also had to scrape off some of the sesame seeds.  It was really covered in them.  Otherwise, it was cooked a nice rare and the little bit of slaw on the side was tasty.  Total bill was $23.

Rumba Island Bar & Grill
3687 Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL
(813) 475-5974

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We ate dinner at La Trattoria in Dunedin tonight and every time we eat here, I wonder why we don’t do it more often.  If you haven’t been there before, it can be a little bit overwhelming at first.  There are no menus so you don’t know what anything costs.  The owner comes to your table and rattles off appetizer options to you with a very thick Italian accent.  Everything sounds delicious, but you have to draw the line somewhere, so we settled on some lobster bisque and an eggplant rollitini.  But first, some bread & pizza squares.

Both are tasty, but you have to save room for the lobster bisque.

I have never had lobster bisque with such big chunks of perfectly cooked lobster in it.  This was absolutely amazing.  It was creamy and had a lovely flavor to it.  The eggplant rollitini was tasty too.

We just got one to split. It was filled with ricotta with a nice tomato sauce on top.  Once the appetizers are done, the owner comes by with a cart of proteins and goes through a long list of ways he can prepare them for you.  There’s seafood, steak, veal, and pork and every preparation he mentions sounds better than the last one.  I come here for one dish that is like nirvana to me.  It’s penne pasta with crab in a pink amaretto cream sauce.

From the first bite to the last, I’m making giddy “Mmmmm, Mmmmm” noises.  There are just some flavors that sing to me and this dish tops them all.  It’s very sweet, so Loren doesn’t like it, but it was all I could do to not lick the plate clean.  There are large chunks of crab in it and the pasta was cooked just right.  I’m salivating just thinking about it again. 

Loren went for the NY Strip prepared pizziola style which also came with a side of pasta.

Yes, those are large chunks of garlic in the sauce.  The steak was a little overcooked on the ends, but the center was a perfect medium.  Considering how thick it was, I was amazed at how well it came out.   He did have to add a little salt to it, but otherwise, he enjoyed it.  In fact, he ended up taking half of it home because it was so big.  We didn’t have any room for dessert tonight; we were both stuffed and with very happy taste buds.

This is definitely not one of those restaurants you want to go to if you’re in a hurry.  Service was pretty slow, especially when we were waiting for our check.  One of the funniest things about the experience was that the owner always addressed me, “Senora, what would you like?, Senora, how was everything?”, but when it came time for the check, he very pointedly put it in front of Loren.  Total bill with an iced tea was $66.  Well worth it in my book as it was one of the tastiest meals I’ve had all year.

La Trattoria
2152 Main St
Dunedin, FL
(727) 733-5664

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We headed over to Pacific Thai Cuisine for dinner tonight.  My entree came with soup & salad & we also ordered some crab rangoons.

The crab rangoons had a curry flavor to them.  They were pretty good.  Loren got the same thing he had last time, the Nam Sod.

He likes it because it’s light and tasty.  I went for the massaman curry with chicken.

Spice level of mild is definitely up for interpretation in this dish.  It was a bit spicier than I had anticipated.  Very flavorful, but a bit more heat than I wanted.  I ended up bringing some home for lunch tomorrow.  Total bill with a drink was $29.

Pacific Thai Cuisine
4058 Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL
813-855-6633

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I went to lunch with some co-workers today at Maloney’s Irish Pub in Westchase.  I forgot to get a photo, but on Wednesday’s all their burgers are $5 and come with fries.  I got the mushroom swiss burger and it was really tasty.  Definitely check it out if you’re in the area on a Wednesday.   Total bill $5.35.

Maloney’s Local Irish Pub
9540 W Linebaugh Ave
Tampa, FL
(813) 749-0859

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We ate dinner at Cody’s in Clearwater tonight.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I should just order rolls and salad here and not bother with an entree anymore.  The last few times we’ve eaten here, it’s just been disappointing.

Loren munches out on peanuts and I devour the yeast rolls.  Ok, he devours them too.

These were fresh out of the oven and so delicious.  The cinnamon butter just puts them right over the top.  The salad is also yummy minus the onions.

Loren ordered their 7 oz sirloin steak & shrimp special.

He said it was ok, not great.  It lacked seasoning, but was cooked ok.  The garlic shrimp were also just ok.  I thought I ordered something that couldn’t be screwed up, a mushroom burger with baked potato.

The bottom bun on this was soggy, not juice running off of the burger juicy, but actually soggy.  It was just gross.  By the time our waitress came back to the table, Loren was finished eating, so they just took it off the bill and instead charged me for a side salad.  Total bill was still $22.

Cody’s Original Roadhouse
26210 US 19 Clearwater, FL
(727) 726-6800

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Stopped at Famous Green Salads on McMullen Booth for a gyro today.

The pita was very soft, but overall the gyro was tasty.  I liked their tzatziki sauce.  I could have done with a lot less oregano sprinkled over the potato salad, but otherwise it was good.   The staff there was very friendly.  Total bill was $7.44.

Famous Greek Salads
2508 A McMullen Booth
Clearwater, FL
(727) 797-4998

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We went to Kaiko early tonight to avoid the Friday night crowd.  Along with our regular assortment of sushi, we tried a fresh cucumber wrapped roll as well.

The cucumber wrapped roll was delicious.  Very fresh tasting and the vinegar liquid it was in was tangy and tasty.  Definitely one we’ll order again.  Everything else was yummy too.  We have a pretty standard list that we order here, Super Crunchy, Mexican, Rainbow, Scott Roll, and a spicy tuna.  Total bill with a drink was $60.

Ocean Blue Sushi Bar & Kaiko Japanese Restaurant
2475 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL
727-953-9828

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Surf Shack Coastal Kitchen just opened up in Westchase where Chico’s used to be.  They made some changes to the interior, knocking out the front wall & putting in a garage door for an open entry to the patio.  There’s also a huge TV at the back of the restaurant.  I’m sure this place will get crowded during sporting events.

They brought chips & salsa to the table.

Loren said the salsa was ok.  They season their chips here, so they had a little spice to them.  We started off with some dumplings.

I liked them and the sauce was a spicy sweet.  I thought the filling was tasty.  We both went for tacos tonight.  Loren got the filet tacos and I got the west coast tacos and added avocado (wouldn’t you think a west coast taco would include avocado?) and a side of mac & cheese.

Overall, the tacos were just ok.  The avocado wasn’t quite ripe enough.  I don’t know what it was, but there was just something lacking about them.  The mac & cheese was pretty good.  The cheese sauce was a bit on the thick side, but otherwise it was ok.  Total bill with a drink was $27.

Surf Shack Coastal Kitchen
12217 West Linebaugh Ave
Tampa, FL
(813) 475-5916

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We ate lunch today at MecaFresh.  It was such a beautiful day for the beginning of December that we just had to sit outside.  Loren got the ahi tuna salad & I got half an eggplant parmesean and some lobster bisque.

This is probably the combo I get the most here.  There’s just something warm and delicious about it.  Loren likes the fresh ahi on the salad as well as the wasabi dressing.  I finally finished off one of their rewards cards, so one meal was free today.  Total bill with a drink was $14.

MecaFresh
3235 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-773-8839

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Went over to Laziz Indian Cuisine for dinner tonight.  There wasn’t any other customers when we got there, but it filled up pretty quickly.  I’m not adventurous when it comes to Indian food and Loren wanted something he knew he liked, so we ended up with the Chicken Makhani and the Chicken Jalfrezi plus some garlic Naan bread.

I always think I’m going to have leftovers, but I never do.  Loren took some of his home though.   The food here has wonderful flavors.  Total bill with a drink was $34.

Laziz Indian Cuisine
2475 N McMullen Booth Rd
Clearwater, FL
727-797-7541

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I was craving some German food, so we drove up to Holiday to have dinner at The German Restaurant.  They had live music tonight.  It was amusing to say the least.  I’m not a big accordian fan, but the tunes were bouncy and the yodeling definitely made me grin.

Loren got a salad and I decided to try the brussel sprout soup.

Now, I’m not a big fan of brussel sprouts, but I gotta say, the soup was pretty good.  It was very creamy and had an interesting flavor.  If I didn’t know what was in it, I’d have said it was pea soup.  Loren went for the roulade tonight.

He said the roulade was very tender and had some good flavors, but found the cabbage to be a bit too vinegary.  I was craving schnizel, so I got the Jaeger schnitzel which is covered in a mushroom gravy.

I was one happy camper.  It was delicious.  The pork was very tender and the gravy had a nice flavor to it.  My only complaint was that it seemed to be a bit greasy and not as crispy as the last time I had it.  There was also plenty of leftovers given that it came with two big pieces of pork.  The homemade spaetzle was also tasty.  And I just can’t leave this restaurant without having a piece of the Black Forest cake.

Mmmmm… It’s a tasty cake, but like I’ve said before, the whipped cream on the plate needs to be sweetened a little more.  Service is a bit hit or miss here.  During the meal, it’s pretty good, but we found ourselves waiting way too long for the check.  Total bill was $41.

The German Restaurant
2616 US Hwy 19
Holiday, FL
727-937-7400

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