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.
Will return: a small museum with a huge collection. It shares the parking lot with Sarasota Ballet.
On the Sarasota Bay, this is a good and manageable museum/gallery, which I don’t feel guilty for not walking 100 miles to cover portion of it -:). It’s a little surprise to see their vast and high quality exhibits, from ancient to contemporary. Not too shabby, compares to the oil and railroad barons, it sure gave them a good run for their money.
Larger part of the ground is closed at the moment, due to two recent hurricanes: Helene and Milton.
It was the home to Mable Burton (1875-1929) and John Ringling (1866-1936), of the Ringling Bro traveling circus fame. They were married in 1905, no children.
I’ve taken my kids to Ringling Bro and Big Apple at the Lincoln Center. But now to think of it, both are dated. Cirque du Soleil (1984-) seems to be the one to go to. So is the cycle or circle of life.
Among so many exhibits, (paintings, photographs, modern arts, …) I found Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) five large oil paintings by his workshop the most impressive.
The Triumph of the Eucharist by Peter Paul Rubens
These galleries feature five immense oil paintings by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and his workshop. The paintings reproduce a series of tapestries on the theme of the Triumph of the Eucharist that Rubens designed at the request of his patron, Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566- 1633), the ruler of the Spanish Netherlands. Isabella commissioned the tapestry cycle in 1625 for a convent near Madrid, Spain, known as the Descalzas Reales, which held special importance for her and her family (the original tapestry cycle is still preserved there). Why Rubens and his workshop also reproduced some of the tapestries at full-scale in oil on canvas-highly unusual for the time-is not entirely clear, but it is thought that Isabella may have wanted the paintings for her palace in Brussels, as a way of remembering her beloved convent from afar.
John Ringling purchased four of the canvases now in Gallery 2 from the Duke of Westminster in 1926, while the canvas on view in Gallery 1 was purchased by the museum in 1980. Gallery 1 also displays a 17th-century tapestry woven after one of Rubens’s designs for the series.
We got to visit the glass exhibit and the main hall/house. This orchid on bamboo, titled Paphiopedilum Bamboo is by Debora Moore (1960-), done in 2002. The painting grabbed me, but has no plaque to know more about it. It’s displayed in the man cave room, a coupe of room down from the Rubens’.
The green boxy structure – Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art, (趙廷箴/赵廷箴 1921-2008; a petrochemical & plastic industrialist, born in Suzhou, went to Taiwan before 1949 …) is eye-catching but contained very little interesting exhibits.
Dish w/ Two Unglazed Carp was from Southern Song, (12th-13th centuries). It was a gift from Ira and Nancy Koger in 2001.
Chinese body, late 16th-c. style, and European mount,
19th c.
Porcelain, gold washed mounted in Europe
This piece is a blue-and-white bowl with a lobed rim placed in a double-handled silver mount. The European practice of mounting oriental porcelain has a long history, but was particularly prominent in the eighteenth century as part of the interest in Chinese objects in France.
Gift of Ira and Nancy Koger, 2001, SN11122.60
Iznik Plate with Grape Vine Decoration Turkey, Mid 16th c.
Great view. Comfortable seatings. Very good service and great food.
The Beer Wall is cool (no we didn’t order it) – all you can drink but beer in the can is warm. The pizza is wonderful so is the buffalo bowl. However, Wine is served in the plastic tumbler – da beer is in the real glass -:)
Meats are tender but string beans are over cooked, too soft.
