Pulpo Kitchen & Lounge is a new (year-old?) Latin and Peruvian-inspired restaurant and bar in St. Pete’s Grand Central District.
I like their thin wine glasses and the patterns and colors on their plates.
We’ve
· Arios – bit too dry
· Camino de Navaherreros
· Castro Ventosa
· Clos de Los Siete ‘C7’
· Pork belly – soft
· Shrimp – succuent
· Pulpo – tender
· Squid ink rice chimichurri – good
The white is on the dry side, but the three red wines are delicious.
I appreciate well-prepared pork belly, and theirs is, although a little sweet, the texture is right. The pulpo and squid have distinct tastes: yummy.
We went there to have a few drinks before the Rays game, but two men at the bar explained that their happy hour starts next week. Oh well. I like their decor enough to stay. Other than drinks, we had a few small plates.
They’ve an outdoor section to the side, and sidewalk has a few tables too.
• Fried calamari
• Salmon
• Grouper
• Fish taco
• COD sandwich
• Coral reef pasta
All are very good. Their chunky marinara is wonderful (not sweet), and so is the calamari. The salmon is fine.
The service is cold and slow. A lone receptionist was on the phone for a long time before getting to us. Our server was slow while other serving staff were chatting loudly by the station near our table.
We frequent here, and I really love to give them 5 stars, but I couldn’t: there is something that just doesn’t warrant the full count. This time is the rushing and the rice.
Our reservation was at 5:15, but we arrived at 4:45. At the time of the reservation, I asked for a balcony table. Maybe it was too early to open that section. But they sat us by a door, the worst table in the area. Why? It wasn’t busy, with many available.
My paella rice isn’t fully cooked.
The server began removing the entry plates and utensils while most of us were still eating.
We’ve
