We were on our way back from Orlando and stopped at Yummy House in Tampa for dinner.  I’d read some reviews that said how awesome the food was, so we had to check it out.  It’s not a very big restaurant and it was packed.  We weren’t greeted when we walked in and that always bugs me.  From the get go, it just wasn’t a friendly environment, but the food was really amazing.

We decided to try the salt & pepper calamari since a lot of people had recommended it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the name, but this dish had some amazing flavors in it.  The calamari was thick and tender with a wonderful crunchy coating on it.  The pepper in it was hot red pepper, which I ended up scraping some off since it was really intense.  Loren liked the combination of scallions and cilantro that it was tossed in.  Very, very yummy.  Our entrees came out almost immediately after the calamari, so timing of the meal wasn’t great.  I guess since the line at the door never stopped, their main goal is to get you in & out as quickly as possible.

Loren ordered the Kung Po chicken.

He said it had a depth of flavor to it that just kept him eating more.  The chicken was tender and it had zucchini, celery, peppers and peanuts in it, plus a few of those really spicy peppers too.  I ordered the orange chicken.

This dish had a really tangy sweet orange sauce and perfectly cooked chicken.  It was really good.  Our waiter asked us if we wanted rice and then forgot to bring it out.  When we asked about it, he finally brought it out, but I was a bit dismayed to find out that a bowl of rice costs an extra $2.

Service was strange here.  I’m not sure if the same server came to our table more than once.  We had different people taking our order, bringing our drinks, bringing our food, our bill, etc.  While they were at the table, they seemed friendly, but otherwise they all seemed rather aloof.  I think this is a restaurant where I’d order take-out because the food was delicious, but probably not want to eat inside the restaurant again.  Total bill with a very flat Pepsi was $30.

Yummy House
2202 W Waters Ave
Tampa, FL
(813) 915-2828

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We were headed to the Fringe Festival in Orlando and stopped at Dixie Belles Cafe for breakfast.  It was a cute, clean little restaurant with friendly servers.  Loren got some scrambled eggs, bacon, ham steak & pancakes while I went for some over easy eggs, hashbrowns & a biscuit.

The ham actually came with my breakfast combo, but I didn’t think I really wanted any meat with my breakfast so I put it on Loren’s plate.  Then I tasted it and ended up eating half of it anyway.  The ham wasn’t overly salty or sweet, it was just tasty.  The pancakes were light & fluffy, so was the biscuit.  Eggs were cooked fine and the hashbrowns were crispy on the outside & soft in the middle.  Overall, just a pretty good and inexpensive breakfast.  Total bill was $14.50.

Dixie Belles Cafe
7125 S Orange Ave
Orlando, FL
(407) 812-7012

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Since we figured we’d be waiting for a table no matter where we went for dinner tonight, we decided to get some Italian food at Johnny’s.  Surprisingly, the wait was only about 10 minutes tonight.  We got the best part of the meal out of the way first thing, the Johnny bread.

Hot & fresh out of the oven with a garlic oil dipping sauce that will have you tasting garlic for days.  It’s so good.  We kept going back & forth about whether to get calamari or crab cakes for an appetizer and settled on the crab cakes.

I think we’d have been better off with the calamari.  Though the crab cakes were ok flavorwise, they just had no texture whatsoever.  They were mushy and definitely needed a crunch on the outside.  The two sauces served with them were spicy and spicier.  The red pepper sauce was miserably hot.

Loren got a salad and I went for the clam chowder.

The chowder lacked seasoning tonight.  A bit of salt went a long way to improving it.  Loren ordered the Chicken Fra Diavlo.

He liked it.  The sauce was spicy and the chicken was tender.  There was easily enough for two meals in the bowl, so he had some leftovers.  I went for the fettucine alfredo with mushrooms & onions.  I’ve had it here before and really enjoyed it, but tonight’s version was quite inedible.

As soon as the waitress put it on the table, I knew there was a problem.  It wasn’t creamy.  The alfredo sauce had completely separated.  It was a bowl of pasta in oil basically.  She took the bowl back to the kitchen & added some additional alfredo sauce to it, but the damage was already done.

I get that alfredo sauce separates when it’s reheated, but it should be able to stay together through the first serving.  They did take it off our bill which ended up being $27.  This was sadly an off night for one of our favorite Italian restaurants.

Johnny’s Italian Restaurant
2907 SR 590 #1
Clearwater, FL
727-797-2940

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We were going to a movie this morning & decided to get breakfast beforehand, completely forgetting that it was Mother’s Day.  We went by three different restaurants with lines out the door before we finally got a table at Consciousness Blossoms.  They were pretty busy too, but at least we were able to get some breakfast and get to our movie on time.

Loren went for an omelette and pancakes & I got a breakfast croissant with home fries.

Fresh & tasty all around.  The eggs here are just so light & fluffy.  Loren enjoyed his veggie omelette and the pancakes had a nice texture and consistency as well.  They even came around and gave all the moms a sample of one of their smoothies and a chocolate covered cookie.  Total bill with some juice was $20.

Consciousness Blossoms
3390 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-789-1931

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Sometimes the simplest dishes can be the tastiest.  We went to Nana’s Restaurant in Tarpon Springs for brunch and Loren was just as happy as could be with his BLT sandwich and soup.

The sandwich just made him happy.  Crispy bacon, lightly toasted bread, mayo, crunchy lettuce and tomato.  So simple, yet so tasty.  Plus he really likes their black bean soup too.  I went for a Country Scramble.

This was one heavy dish.  Eggs, potatoes, cheese, sausage gravy, biscuit and it also came with bacon that I got on the side.  There was way too much of it for me to finish.  It was good, but one note texture-wise.  Total bill with a drink was $21.

Nana’s Restaurant
857 E Klosterman Rd
Tarpon Springs, FL
727-944-5788

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I’ve been on vacation all week & took a drive down to Sarasota for the day.  On the way home, I got some take out pie from Yoders.  There are no photos because once I took the first bite, it didn’t last very long.  The mixed berry was really good, but the blueberry cream pie was probably the best blueberry pie I’ve ever eaten in my life.  I don’t know that I’ve ever had a blueberry pie with blueberries that were so fresh and crunchy.  Sadly, all the blueberry pies I’ve ever eaten were just mushy inside.  And Yoders makes some of the best pie crust around too.  Mmmm… I think I need to take another trip to Sarasota soon.

Two pieces of pie & a side of mac & cheese that was awesome, creamy and yummy ended up being the most well spent $13 to date.

Yoder’s Restaurant
3434 Bahia Vista St
Sarasota, FL
(941) 955-7771

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