Hot Tuna Sushi Bar & Grille just opened up in Oldsmar, so we headed over there for dinner tonight.  We went early and were the only ones there for a while.  It’s an elegant looking space, but the thumping music they had playing just didn’t do it for us.  I admit, I’m not a twenty-something looking for a party atmosphere.  I just wanted a nice, quiet, tasty dinner.  They did deliver on the tasty part.  We started off with a salad and some dumplings.

Loren liked the dressing on the salad and we both enjoyed the dumplings.  They were a little crispier than I had expected, but the filling was flavorful.  For our sushi order we decided to try the fresh salmon nigiri, a California roll, a Mexican roll, a Gator roll, a Rainbow roll, and a Lollipop roll.

Though I loved the way the Rainbow roll looked with it’s rainbow colored fish eggs, the crawfish salad inside of it was a bit too spicy for me.  I didn’t eat the Gator roll since it was also spicy, but Loren said it was good.  The other rolls were also fresh and tasty.  I did find the sushi rice to be a little colder in temperature than what I’m used to.  Loren didn’t notice it, but it was the first thing that hit me about my first bite.  We both enjoyed the freshness of the lollipop roll.  The crunch of cucumber instead of rice is just such a nice change of pace.  I also couldn’t pass up a dessert called the chocolate trilogy.

It was beautiful to look at and tasted wonderful; however, it was frozen solid.  It absolutely needed to be thawed out for a while before serving so that it would have had more of a mousse like texture instead of ice cream like.  Besides the annoying music, I also found the use of brown butcher block paper on the tables to be less than appealing.  Every drink or cool dish left a mark on the paper.  It just seemed inconsistent with the vibe of the rest of the restaurant.  Total bill with a drink was $66.

Hot Tuna Sushi Bar & Grille
3689 Tampa Road #302B
Oldsmar, FL
813-818-8862

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With so many Thai restaurants in the area, we decided to circle back to Ban Thai for dinner tonight.  They were crowded as usual, but had a few tables open so we didn’t have to wait.  I’m still on my “must have dumplings” kick, so that’s where we started.

I think this is the first time we’ve ordered them here.  They were tasty little bundles of pork and veggies, but very dense.   Loren went for the ginger chicken.

He said it was very good.  I find the flavors here to be on the dark side.  I don’t know if that makes any sense or not, but there’s just something about their sauces that don’t thrill my senses.  Loren likes it though.  For me, it’s all about the lobster roll.

This one sushi roll is a meal in itself.  It’s huge, incredibly sloppy to eat, and oh so good.  Besides the actual rolls, there are also chunks of lobster piled up on the side.  It’s my favorite roll here.  We also shared a Rainbow Roll.

This was very fresh and tasty.  It’s a huge contrast to the sauce drenched lobster roll, but perfectly delightful in its own right.  With sushi, simplicity can be quite awesome.  Total bill with a drink was $45.

Ban Thai Restaurant
2519 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL
727-724-2992

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Back out to Mike’s Sushi tonight to order way more sushi than two people should eat at one sitting.  Ok, we did have some leftovers and they were pretty good too.

Tonight’s selection included some salmon, a make-your-own with salmon, tuna, avocado and cucumber, a Mexican roll, a Crazy Roll, a Yami Yami roll, a Pink Dragon, and a Blue Moon roll.  This was the first time we tried the Yami Yami roll.  The sauce on it was sort of like a bbq mayo.  I don’t know how else to describe it.  It was tasty though.  All the sushi is excellent here.  Total bill with a drink was $60.

Mike’s Sushi 
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

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It was a dark and stormy night and sushi seemed like a perfect way to chase away the gloom.  We headed over to Ocean Blue since it was close and I could hear the Super Crunchy calling to me.

Luckily Loren isn’t quite as enamored with it as I am, either that or he’s just afraid I’ll swat his hand away if he tries to eat too many pieces of it.  I just love that roll.  We also got a Mexican roll and a Rainbow roll.  Both were delicious.  Yeah, you didn’t think we stopped there, did you??

Loren had to have a spicy tuna and a Scott roll plus one more that I can’t remember.  I think it was tuna or maybe salmon, either way, it was good.  As always, everything was fresh and tasty.  Loren also got a salad.

Oh, and remember that dark & stormy night?  About the time we were finishing up, the sky opened up and a deluge of rain poured down.  That could only mean that we had to order dessert, right?

Fried cheesecake is one of the strangest and tastiest desserts around.  Soft and slightly frozen on the inside, crispy on the outside.  Very tasty throughout.  Finally the rain let up, our taste buds were happy, and our wallet was $62 lighter.

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

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Just kidding, it was a lot of sushi from Mike’s Sushi in Palm Harbor.

Well, you see, we have to get a “make your own roll” with salmon, avocado, & cucumber, as well as a Rainbow Roll and a Mexican roll.  Those are the basics.  Gotta have them, always delicious.  Then we decided to try the lobster roll, which was really good by the way.  Loren always needs something spicy so he got a Crazy roll.  We also decided to try a shitake roll this time.  It was ok, but probably not something we’d order again.  Loren also wanted some salmon.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that we started off with some Shumai, which are shrimp steamed dumplings.

These were awesome.  Delicious little flavorful bundles of goodness.  I wanted more, but I knew there was an abundance of sushi coming, so I held back.  For me, I’m starting to favor Mike’s Sushi over Ocean Blue/Kaiko, mostly because of the variety at Mike’s.  Both have fresh, delicious rolls, and although nothing will ever top the Super Crunchy at Kaiko for me, the overall roll options at Mike’s bring me in more.  Total bill with a drink and a salad was $66.

Mike’s Sushi 
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

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If you read this blog regularly, you know we’re incapable of ordering a little bit of sushi.  We tend to go overboard and I’ll admit, it’s always me that says, let’s order one more.  But, leftover sushi is good too.  ;-)  We went back to Mike’s Sushi tonight.

Let’s see, we got a Rainbow roll, a Mexican roll, Blue Moon roll, a scallop roll, a spicy tuna for Loren and a make your own with salmon, avocado and tuna.  The Blue Moon is a fried crab roll that’s really tasty.  There was something about the scallop roll that I didn’t like this time though, it had a strong vinegary flavor.  The waitress also forgot to bring it to the table, but I was sure we had ordered six rolls.  Overall, it was pretty good and we had some to eat the next day.  Loren also got a salad & a drink and the total bill ended up being $52.

Mike’s Sushi 
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

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A new Thai restaurant just opened up on the corner of McMullen Booth & Enterprise.  Sabai Thai Cuisine is a cute little restaurant with a variety of Thai dishes and sushi.  We started off with an appetizer platter.

I’m a sucker for a plate of fried appetizers.  The shrimp were really good and my favorite on the plate.  I’d definitely order the dumplings again, they had some nice flavors.  The eggrolls, spring rolls and curry puffs were also tasty.  Since we ordered the appetizer platter, we only ordered four sushi rolls.  Surprising, huh?  We ordered a tuna and avocado, a salmon and avocado, a Mexican roll and a spicy tuna roll.

Their sushi menu is pretty standard without a lot of specialty rolls.  The sushi was a bit on the bland side, except for the sauce on the spicy tuna which was really spicy.  Loren took a lot of it off before eating it.  The shrimp in the Mexican roll wasn’t as warm as I would have liked it.  I’m guessing it was done before we had finished our appetizer platter and they just didn’t bring it to the table soon enough.  I wasn’t a fan of the texture of the tuna roll either.  It was like it was chopped up and as such had a mushy texture.  We’ll probably go back again to try the Thai dishes.  I’m not sure that this was the best location to open up another Thai restaurant though, especially with Ban Thai right across the street and Ocean Blue just across McMullen Booth.  Total bill with a drink was $42.

Sabai Thai Cuisine
2454 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL
(727) 330-7630

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We went over to Dunedin tonight for dinner at Tom Yum Thai & Sushi.  They were pretty busy both in the restaurant and with take out orders.  There were at least three waitresses all sharing all the duties throughout the restaurant which made it somewhat chaotic and disorganized.  Multiple people trying to take orders and bring out food and it just didn’t work all that well.  Loren ordered a coke from one of the waitresses and didn’t see it until after the sushi came out and we asked for it again.

We started off with some steamed dumplings.

This is the first time we’d seen open dumplings like this.  They were tasty though.  They had a nice blend of pork and spices.  We ordered three sushi rolls and Loren got an order of ginger chicken.

We wanted the sushi and the chicken to come out at the same time, but this was one of those areas where having multiple waitresses led to miscommunication.   We had to ask for the ginger chicken when someone came by to check on us after the sushi had come out.  I got the Dragon roll and the Lucky roll and Loren got a crunchy spicy tuna.  They were all ok.  The spicy mayo was really spicy and overwhelmed the rolls.  Overall, not the best experience we’ve had here.  Total bill with a drink was $54.

Tom Yum Thai & Sushi
104 Patricia Ave
Dunedin, FL
(727) 953-9898

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We ate dinner at Ocean Blue Sushi tonight.  This is the place we go when we want simple, fresh, and tasty sushi.  Ok, I actually come here specifically for the Super Crunchy roll, but everything else is good too.

Loren started off with a salad and then we got a Mexican Roll, a spicy tuna, a California roll, a lollipop roll, a Scott roll and a Super Crunchy roll.

The rice and fish here are very fresh and the rolls aren’t drenched in sauces that hide the flavor of the rolls themselves.  Instead it’s just a tasty simplicity that you rarely get from a lot of sushi restaurants.  It’s not about being fancy or bigger, it’s just about being good.  And the Super Crunchy roll just has the flavor and texture that makes it one of my favorite foods in the area.  Loren likes the spicy tuna and Scott Roll.  I don’t like the texture of the tempura chips in the Scott Roll and I’m too wimpy to eat any of the spicy rolls. We both really enjoy the cucumber wrapped lollipop roll.  It’s just a burst of fresh crunchiness and a little zing.  Total bill with a drink was $52

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

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Believe it or not, I think we actually ordered the right amount of sushi from Mike’s Sushi this time.  Either that or we were both really hungry. The “Ooops” came when I tried to pick up a piece of the Rainbow roll only to discover the roll hadn’t been sliced.  We both started laughing and when the sushi chefs saw it, they started making jokes about how it’s a new way to eat sushi, just pick it up like a candy bar and bite off the end.  I think the whole restaurant got a good chuckle out of it.

As for the sushi, everything was really fresh and tasty.

The shrimp in the Mexican Roll was fried perfectly and the fish in all of the other rolls was very good.  Besides the Rainbow & Mexican rolls, we got a scallop roll, a Pink Dragon which is a California roll topped with salmon, a Crazy Roll which is spicy tuna with avocado, crunch & smelt roe, and a “make your own” with tuna, salmon, avocado and cucumber.

I know I say the same thing every time we come here, but it’s just worth noting that we really enjoy those sushi restaurants that don’t drench everything in sauces.  It’s those pure, clean flavors that tickle the taste buds and at least with this visit, tickled the funny bone a bit too.  Total bill with a drink & a salad was $57.

Mike’s Sushi
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

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Let’s face it, we have a sushi problem.  Loren tells me we ordered enough rolls and I always think we need one more.  Trust me, tonight, we needed two less rolls because we had enough left over for another entire meal.  Between the different sushi restaurants we frequent, I forget which ones serve large rolls.  The ones here at Ban Thai are 10 pieces each, plus I ordered the Lobster roll, which is huge, and decided to try the Snow Crab roll, which is equally huge.

We got a spicy tuna, rainbow roll, and a salmon roll.  The lobster roll & the snow crab roll were almost identical in taste, so I won’t be ordering both again.  They’re both drenched in sauce too.  All the sushi was tasty and was just as tasty for a late night snack since we had plenty left.

I don’t know if the regular staff was all off tonight or if the restaurant has changed owners.  We come here fairly frequently and I didn’t see any faces that I recognized.  In fact, the waiter that first came to our table had to go get someone else to take our order because he didn’t understand what I was trying to order.  Total bill was $69.

Ban Thai Restaurant
2519 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL
727-724-2992

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We ate at the Lazy Maguro Sushi Restaurant tonight in Palm Harbor.  It used to be Wasabi and our memory of that restaurant was the overwhelming chemical smell when we walked in.  The restaurant may have changed name & owners, but the smell is still there.  It’s right next to a pool supply store and from the moment you walk in, that’s all you smell.  I had a headache and my nose was burning by the time we left the restaurant.  Really, really unpleasant.

As for the food, it was just ok.  We started off with some Asian pork dumplings.

This was the best thing we ate here.  They were very flavorful and cooked perfectly.  I’d order these again… as take out… if I didn’t have to go inside to pay & pick them up.  Loren ordered a salad, but there’s no photo because the waitress never brought it out.

As for the sushi, we actually ordered a reasonable amount tonight.  Mostly because I wanted to get out of there quickly and not too many of their rolls sparked our interest.  We ended up with a KC Salmon Roll, a Buccaneer Roll, a Spicy Tuna Roll and a Salmon Lover’s Roll.

The rolls were just ok.  They had way too much green onion in them for me and for some reason I ordered two rolls that have cream cheese in them and that just overwhelms the flavor of the fish.  Total bill with a drink was $41.  The food could have been amazing, but you still couldn’t drag me back in here under any circumstances.  The chemical smell is just that overwhelming.

Lazy Maguro
36221 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-784-6020

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Time for too much sushi as usual.  This time around it was back to Ocean Blue in Safety Harbor.  Loren wanted a salad and I wanted some egg rolls to start off with.

Now, you would think that we’d order less sushi since we got an appetizer, but sadly, that wasn’t the case.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the Super Crunchy is my most favorite sushi roll around.  Everything else was fresh & tasty as well.  I really like the no rice cucumber roll too.  I think what we both like most about this place is that they don’t drench all the rolls in mayo or sauces.  They let the fish be the star. $60 later and we had to roll ourselves back out to the car.

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

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We haven’t been to YoYo Sushi in Oldsmar in a while, so we headed over there for lunch today.  Though they have some lunch sushi specials, the options didn’t call to us today, so we went for some other rolls instead.

Along with a salad, we got a California Roll, a Rainbow Roll, and a Jessica Roll and we weren’t wow’d.  In the past, this was the place we went to for really fresh sushi, though on the expensive side.  Our lunch was just as expensive, but didn’t have the overall awesomeness that we expect from here.  The avocado had a lot of brown spots and the fish just wasn’t as vibrant and fresh as we’ve had before.  All the rolls had crab salad inside versus a chunk of crab. Loren doesn’t really like it that way (I kinda do), but it made the rolls lack texture and they all just seemed sort of mushy.  Perhaps our choices were just too similar, but they all tasted the same and bland. Also, charging $3.95 for this side salad was a bit much.

It was an expensive lunch at $35 with a drink and definitely not the best sushi we’ve had here.

YoYo Sushi
300 State St E, #110
Oldsmar, FL
813-814-0216

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Ummm… yeah… we ordered too much sushi again at Mike’s sushi.

I admit, it’s my fault.  Loren says stop, we’ve got enough, and I always want to try one more thing.  I have to get a Mexican roll and it just wouldn’t be right to not get a Rainbow roll….  And, they let you make your own roll, so the official Cathy roll is tuna, salmon, cucumber and avocado…   And Loren likes to have a spicy roll and a couple of pieces of salmon… And, I couldn’t pass up the Blue Moon roll – blue crab, avocado & mayo fried crispy… and the special scallop roll is so tasty…

Add a salad and a drink and the total bill was $57.  It’d be one thing if we actually brought some home as leftovers, but we managed to eat the entire boat of sushi…. and it was soooo good.

Mike’s Sushi
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

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I was off work today for MLK Day, so we headed into Dunedin and ate lunch at Tom Yum Thai & Sushi.  This is one of those places that I really like.  The service and food are both very good.

Our lunches started off with a little salad and soup.

I liked the dressing on the salad and the chicken & rice soup had a nice flavor.  They even brought mine out without scallions since I had asked them not to put scallions on my pad thai.  I really like places that make that connection.

Loren got the spicy tuna bowl for lunch.

It was a beautiful color and he liked the dish.  He said it wasn’t killer spicy, which was good and there was plenty of tuna on the plate.  I ordered the Pad Thai bento box.

Besides the Pad Thai, it had an egg roll, California roll, three pieces of sushi & three pieces of sashimi.  The fish, tuna, salmon & escolar, was really fresh and tasty.  Everything on the plate was good and it was definitely too much for me to eat in one sitting.   For $23, definitely one of the tastier lunches we’ve had in a while.

Tom Yum Thai & Sushi
104 Patricia Ave
Dunedin, FL
(727) 953-9898

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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 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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Ban Thai on McMullen Booth is a busy little restaurant.  They make some really tasty food and tonight we both started off with some soup.

Loren got the chicken & rice and I warmed up to some of the chicken in cream of coconut soup.  I love the zing of the lime in this soup.  It’s got such a wonderful flavor.  Loren went for ginger chicken while I dove into some sushi tonight.

The lobster roll is definitely my favorite here.  It’s very messy to eat, but it’s worth it.  The kanisu roll was pretty tasty too, krab, avocado and smelt row in a rice vinegar sauce.  We also got a fresh salmon roll.  Total bill was $56.

Ban Thai Restaurant
2519 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL
727-724-2992

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We went back to Ocean Blue Sushi tonight and there was much rejoicing to see Charlie behind the sushi counter.  They closed the original Kaiko and moved a few doors down into the bigger Ocean Blue space.  And the happiness continued as I bit into my super crunchy roll.

We also got a rainbow roll, a spicy tuna, Mexican roll, Scott roll and one other one that I can’t remember since it had smoked salmon in it, so I didn’t eat any of it.  Loren liked it though.  The thing we really like about the sushi here is that it’s not drenched in any kind of sauce.  They let the flavor of the fish and rice shine.  Total bill with a drink was $58.

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

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