The River’s Edge Bar & Grill is average. Casual. Relaxing. Pool tables. Bikers. I don’t think they’ve deck guys to help boaters, on the Alafia River.
We’ve BLT and stuffed crab: all good. P.S.: they’ll take $1 off if you don’t want coleslaw & fries.
Bikers vests are beautiful.
Live music is about to start as we’re leaving at 1:30.
Their bathrooms are between permanent and port-a-potty: they’re outside but they have regular toilets and sinks. Not sure they’ve a/c too, during the hot days.
We pass by this restaurant all the time. So decided to come here for my celebratory dinner: the frivolous lawsuit filed by Hales Blackbrick of Tampa against me over my review in December 2023 has just been dismissed without prejudice this morning. They sure will come back and try again, but that won’t deter me from celebrating my first milestone: defending my right to speak truth.
Forbici has high ceiling, industrial decor, with great service and delicious foods. It has mixed clientele: dressed up women, and family/mothers with kids.
I particularly like
– deliciously red sauce
– good stems
– hot and frothy milk with hot coffee
– tiramisu – the best in Florida so far
The hot coffee claim: this may sound petty and bewildering but it’s NOT: the coffee at Hales Blackbrick was lukewarm – enough, resting my case here.
The hot milk – it’s the best because I love my milk hot and NO One that I’ve been to does this – this alone worth returning.
The wines – the super Tuscan is just super.
The staff is helpful and genuine – thank you.
We’ve
– Suppli: tasty and soft, filling.
– Meatball: yummy but not fluffy
– lasagne: yummy
– mussels: chubby and clean
– coffee: hot
– tiramisu: the best in Florida – both texture and taste
The meatball is rather dead – this is in light of me comparing it to Chinese lionhead which are large and soft. Silly me.
Hope they won’t forget the container for the mussel shells next time. The young kid did say that he’ll bring one but I’d rather use their bread plate – pretty.
The bathroom – neat and handsome. But the first two stalls are messy – one has toilet tissue on the floor and the second one has a plastic cup in the toilet bowl – hey patrons, pls pick up after your self, your cleaner isn’t there to do it for you.
Being at one end of the chichi street, it makes parking easier.
The CCC has just opened recently (1 to 2 years). The previous owner of the stripe was a Chinese who allowed up to three Chinese restaurants to open here.
We made a wrong turn from going to Beijing House, so ended up here.
No frill decor, decent food and good service, with one young man serving.
Per the Michelin guide, this restaurant operates by husband & wife team, Hongfeng Li and Ling Wu who are from Shenyang 沈阳, the provincial capital of Liaoning, one of three northeast provinces that collectively called Dongbei 东北, the rust belt.
Xinjiang, in the northwest, has sandstone hills, named Flaming Mountains 火焰山. Not sure they’ve any relation. But skewers 烤串 are popular in both regions.
The kitchen seems to extends to the front. I hear the clunking of the wok but don’t smell any cooking fragrance – good ventilation.
We’ve
A4 Malatang 麻辣烫
E22 Grilled eggplant 蒜蓉茄子
D3 Chongqing spicy chicken 重庆辣子鸡
A4 is way too salty, even for me, a salt lover. Three whole shrimps (with heads and tails) have thick black veins, are over cooked.
Eggplant and chicken are very flavorful.
Initially we ordered Spicy noodles 鱼香面 The chef yelled from the kitchen that he doesn’t have it, in Chinese. So both I and the server laughed, who doesn’t have to relay it to me.
“What doesn’t he have?” I asked
“The spice.” The server said.
The small strip has many restaurants, three are Chinese, including Beijing House. Above Red Bowl Sichuan (Szechuan) 川味龙, is this chamber of commerce.
The second floor has two doors. The double door has blue background with white letters: Union 301, 美国佛州西岸华人商会.
The door is unlocked. When I pushed it open, a man leaning on the sofa to the left, is playing with his mobile phone. To the right is a larger room, with couple of MJ tables. I thought he was sleeping, so I left without saying anything. It doesn’t look like an office.
According to the staff at Beijing House, they just moved in a year or two ago.
“What does it do for you?” I asked.
“Nothing. It’s mostly for Wenzhou people, who come here to play majiang … ”
Love flan and I finally made it to this cafe -:) All the times before was either they closed, or too late or forgotten.
It’s a full cafe, with a spacious room to the right.
Flans are in aluminum ramekins – I was hoping for a small cake, round or square or rectangle. The girl was nice, offered a box … without a bag. Oh well.
I tried four flavors:
original
coffee
coconut
salted carmel
They’re all solid, thick, deadly serious. All the flans I had and loved were light, airy and lively. The coconut flavor among the four is my fave.
This Mediterranean / Middle Eastern restaurant in Ybor City is authentic, clean and simple decor with fake greens and candles. Two sections in doors and one outdoor area.
Good service and food.
We’ve
Fried kibbeh
Baba ghanoush
Grilled halloumi
Spinach pizza
They’re all good, I liked the meat balls (kibbeh) and halloumi very much.
Four Arabic speaking aunts came, owner received them warmly. One of the aunt has a cute dog, who asked me if I was ok with it – it’s very ok -:)
The parking lot is across the street. Their bathroom has a spigot. I’ve never been to the Mideast but this is very common in Asia. When I redid my bathroom, I asked the contractor to install a drain and spigot. He didn’t, saying the drain would smell.
6am for 7:15 flight. The club is convenient located but busy. $50 fee is not really worth it.
Service is good, food is bland. The paper plates and plastic utensils at first, a turn off – but if it’s good for the environment, I’m ok with it. Alcohol serves after 7am -:)
Out of all cups I picked a chipped one -:)
A few passengers have their dogs, which made the place more welcoming.
The flight DL538:
The flight DL538 A321(Neo) took off a few minutes before the scheduled 7:15 departure time. The first class (2, 2) and comfort are full but the rest is half empty. Oh well, better luck next time. However the Delta Sky Club is full, can’t imagine how busier the lounge would be if our flight is full.
The charging ports work well but my screen doesn’t, reset three times and still not working. So they moved to Row 19 by the exit (a lot of leg room…) and watched 1917 by dreamwork; Chinatown, with Jack Nicholson, by … cut off half way: content unavailable. I then moved on to A Gentleman in Moscow.
We touched down at 9:22 local time, 21 min early; gated at 9:34, and off the plane at 9:38.
My seat Comfort Plus was an up grade but the screen didn’t work after three reset. The tall FA moved me to Row 19F which is the main seating area. I jokingly asked him for a refund. He said seriously that no ma’am, you want tv, I gave you a tv … It felt a dress down. He then went on, argued forcefully that I agreed to move, and he did provide service by asking me what did I want to drink. There isn’t a slight of apology. It was quite intimidating and discerning.
Why do I keep running into trouble at Delta? Two encounters this year, both with tall FA … do they just don’t like short people or what -:) Perhaps it’s the time to switch.
10 minutes after opening and we were not the first one. Efficient and good service, it’s pretty quiet (great). One diner has his lap top up -:)
The chicken feet is wonderful – ok someone might find it unappetizing, and it was me when I first encountered it in Hong Kong many moons ago, but very quickly, I come to enjoy it.
Two rice rolls dim sums are thick thinned and totally tasteless. The crullers should be crispy but theirs were mushy – a no no. Funny, I ordered it the last and the server made a comment as if to agree with me, said “it’s so crunchy …” oh well, better luck next time.