The Real Deal

I still haven't gained pounds from all the eating I've done in the past few weeks. I thought that I would have since I've been keeping on stuffing my mouth even more than my stomach's extent. Seriously, almost every single time that I came out of a restaurant, I would have a pudge and could barely breathe because my jeans became tighter in the waist area. What's worse is I usually wear skinny jeans too.

Eating at new restaurants, I would say, has become one of my favorite past times just because I started this blog. Although it's a hit-or-miss thing, I don't really mind just because I love food. True, it may be that I would encounter mediocre, or even bad places, but I wouldn't be able to find good eats that have become my favorites now. It's just a matter of loving what you do, and risking whatever you have to be able to find what you're looking for. Sounds heavy, especially for a restaurant review blog. But in my case, it's all about risking my precious taste buds. It's pretty scary if you think about it. It all boils down to making my taste buds suffer because of disgusting food, or making them sink into an orgasmic experience. Serious and heavy stuff, right? Ha!

Before, I didn’t really expect much from this whole review-a-restaurant-and-blog-about-it experience. I thought, “What the heck? I’ll just be eating. What’s the big deal?” I was expecting to have my fill, pay for my meal, and then write about how awesome or how gross the food was. It was such a natural thing to do. Everyone eats. And I’m pretty sure that everyone remembers his or her experience even a few hours after. The only difference is that normal people don’t jot them down. I guess you could say that I’m abnormal then. But, with the kidding aside, people actually remember whatever they felt in that point in time in that specific restaurant maybe in a conversation with a friend or something. However, problem was I didn’t even have set plans on where I’ll be going, or what I’ll be comparing my perspectives on. I was still not sure of what cuisines I’ll be focusing on. There was one thing I was certain of though: my best friend would be eating with me because of budget constraints. Seriously.

Now, I’m just so glad that everything fell right in their places. I would have to admit that starting this whole project was kind of rough. I didn’t know where to start. It was my first time to do it. I didn’t have a basis. I just looked at it as a trial and error activity. Throughout the ten weeks of going to different restaurants, I began to appreciate the various cuisines that I was exposing myself to. I know that everyone knows going to a fast food joint is a whole different experience from eating at a restaurant. However, what I’ve noticed is that, not only is the feeling not the same, but I actually believed that it was so much more worth the money you’re spending. True, you’re paying for the ambiance, but you’d have to think that you’re paying for real food, and leftovers too! Fast food places don’t have that.

Furthermore, I was able to understand that eating is not just stuffing your face with what you think is good. It’s about exploring the different cuisines that you can offer your taste buds with the interplay of all the ingredients. I learned that you should not just focus on your sense of taste solely. Eating is so underrated because of this. I believe that most of the senses have to partake in the entire dining experience to be able to judge if a restaurant is good or bad. Eating is all about that and so much more.

They say all good things come to an end. I say my blog might end just because of time constraints due to my hectic life of juggling being a full-time student and having two jobs. Despite that, I have no plans of terminating my never-ending quest for inexpensive, yet good eats. Life is pretty hard nowadays, and money couldn’t just be picked up on the street. However, because I exposed myself to this whole project or reviewing restaurants, I was able to have a new appreciation of not only food, but also the dining experience as a whole. I’m willing to save my hard-earned money to go out and eat a few times a month. As long as my best friend is with me, then I am bound to have a good time, and a restaurant to criticize. It may not be jotted down, but it will forever be stored somewhere in my head, ready to be filtered out when a conversation about it arises.

I am still going to wear skinny jeans when I go out to restaurants. It’s not really a sentimental thing because of my blog of reviewing these kinds of places, but because those are actually the only style of jeans that I have in my closet. I have a lot, so my only problem is to choose what color. Eh. I am still going to look forward to having a pudge and hardly being able to breathe due to stuffing my mouth extensively. I do have one thing I’m concerned about though. I know I’ll still be on my quest even a few years from now. However, although I don’t want to admit it, I’m pretty sure that my metabolism is going to slow down. I’ve been tiny my whole life, and I guess I’m not ready to change that as of yet. Hopefully, my body wouldn’t change how it works its wonders and I wouldn’t be gaining a countless number of pounds. I’m just crossing my fingers, and my toes too.

Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

“Your job is straightforward: Point people in the direction of high-quality, brightly flavored fresh food, and paint a vivid picture so they can decide whether to go. You help consumers make informed decisions about where to eat. As a result, you may encourage them to try something new, educate them about new foods or cooking techniques, or inspire them to visit a new neighborhood.”

DJ’s theory of pointing people to good restaurants is extremely useful because it sheds light no the difficult problem of a reviewer’s job of making criticisms about the food, service, place, and experience. She could not have said it any better. Reviewing a restaurant is tough. You may encounter bumps and people might criticize your criticism. But it’s all a part of it. One thing should be the focus: the satisfaction of a consumer with his or her dining experience. That’s the main reason why people write reviews. This is why you should be honest with what you write. It’s all about relaying your escapade, and hopefully, your readers will thank you for introducing them to that certain restaurant that they tried because of you.

Dear Basil, Come Sweeten Up My Life

Thai Sweet Basil. Sounds inviting. It’s my last stop for Asian cuisines. It says so in the restaurant name. It’s the everywhere-you-look-there’s-probably-one-in-a-five-mile-radius restaurant. It’s pretty hard to find a really good one since they seem to be dotted all over the place. True, it may not be as much as Japanese and Chinese, but still all over Tampa, I would say. Looking for an awesome Thai restaurant is like a treasure hunt. I love Thai food. And I love treasure hunts, nothing wrong with that. Sweet.

Now, I’ve never heard of this Thai Sweet Basil until I came across it on UrbanSpoon. Oh, the wonders of the internet. How can we live without it, right? It wasn’t such an advertised restaurant. My best friend even said that it was a horrible spot to be in. I definitely agree. It was at a dead end in a small plaza. Like as if people would actually go to the very end to see what’s there. Honestly, I would just make a U-turn even before I hit that part. But I’m happy I already researched. I was going to this place no matter what.

Walking in the tiny restaurant was a whole different thing. We were welcomed very warmly. At first glance, I actually thought that I was underdressed or something. It looked so fancy, a simple yet classy kind of fancy. They had a few booths and a few tables. They also had some neat artwork hung up. The tables were even set up, and the napkins were folded really nicely. I thought we were going to have to pay a fortune for our food.





The menu didn’t live up to the whole fancy schmancy interior though. It was just like laminated pieces of paper. But whatever, it didn’t mind, as long as the food we’ll be getting is good. We didn’t have much to choose from too. They didn’t have that much variety. Just the usual, I observed, noodles, curry, and the like. It was really helpful that they put snippets of information about the dishes though.

Our server was really friendly and patient about explaining to us what the dishes were, and what dishes were spicy or whatnot. Thai food uses a lot of herbs and spices, and I guess Asians love their spicy food. I know I do. This time, we didn’t order any appetizers because we already knew what we wanted since there were only like ten things on the menu. Kidding. There were more than that. But, lo and behold, we order Pad Thai as one. I think that a Thai restaurant could prove itself in one ways more than one if their Pad Thai is good. C’mon, you seriously can’t say that you have eaten at this one Thai place if you haven’t tried that one certain dish at said restaurant. We had a choice of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp and even tofu or vegetables, for the ones who look out for their figure and can’t take eating meat. We chose chicken. I would say it wasn’t that much of an adventurous move.

It came to our table and it just smelled heavenly. Instead of an orgasm in my mouth, it somehow transferred to my nose. The smell made my mouth water. I couldn’t wait to dig in. The rice noodles, first off, were perfect. They were the right kind of gummy. It came with an egg, scallion, bean sprouts, and ground peanuts in tamarind sauce. The chicken came perfectly cooked too. It was obviously pre-cooked since the food came out in like two minutes, but it didn’t matter because it was extremely good nonetheless. The scallions added a little crisp to the dish and I loved how the fish sauce was not too overpowering. I could say it was one of the best Pad Thais I’ve ever had.


Pad Thai

Our next dish was called Massamun Curry. It was your choice of meat simmered in curry paste with peanut, potatoes, coconut milk, onions, and topped with a deep-fried shallot. My best friend was the one who actually picked it. Since we both like spicy food, he asked the server to make it hotter. Also, since he’s a brat, he ordered both beef and pork. What’s good about this restaurant is you can easily add a different kind of meat for a couple of dollars, you can also tell them how spicy you want the dish. It’s very versatile and they can adjust the dishes to your liking. The creaminess was amazing. It was exceptional. My best friend loved it, but I kind of thought it was too sweet. I’ve been accustomed to really spicy and peanut-y curries, but it was still pretty good. The potatoes were cooked great although I didn’t really see the point of the shallot.


Massamun Curry

The last we got was called Pad Pring Khing. On creativeloafing.com, Brian Ries wrote a review, which states:

“That same heat is left wild and free in pad prik khing ($9.95). Every tender green bean and slice of mild chicken is permeated by brown sauce tinged with brick-red highlights. Each bite stokes the fire in my mouth higher and higher, but it's so good I can't help myself. Such delicious torture.”

First off, I deviated from the chicken and actually got the beef. The beef was very interesting and it wasn’t really something that I expected. It was tender, but the taste was something I haven’t encountered before. It had a lime-y taste to it. It was very different, but I could say that it was extremely refreshing. All the tartness was mixed with spiciness. The green beans were crispy, surely not overdone. Again, I love the heat in my mouth, so when Ries described it as delicious torture, I knew exactly what he meant.


Pad Pring Khing

All in all, this restaurant exceeded my expectations. I didn’t really imagine it to be that good just because it was at a place when no one can even see it. Not only that, I’ve never even heard of it before. But, all is well and good. From the ambiance, to the decorations, to the service, and the food... Thai Sweet Basil is definitely a restaurant one can visit not just one, but multiple times. Affordable food mixed with everything great. What more can you ask for?

Unfortunately, this amazingly fun project has run its course. Due to the lack of time, and our hectic lives, my best friend and I are finding it hard to find time to go out together to eat. I’m sure it won’t be the last of our adventures, but we might not be able to go to another Thai restaurant. Hopefully, we get to find time in the next few days though.

However, for now, my best friend and I are already more than satisfied with our find. The first thing my best friend said after our meal was, “I think I just found another favorite place!” I won’t argue with him at all. My experience at Thai Sweet Basil was awesome. Not only were we full, we can barely even walk, but also successful in finding the treasure in our hunt. Sweet!

Thai Sweet Basil
3875 Northdale Blvd., Tampa, FL 33624
Phone 813-961-8898

Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

It’s a good idea to take notes, but not at the table, because you won’t want the restaurant staff to discover you. A notepad small enough to fit in your purse or pocket is a great place to assemble your impressions, preferably in a restroom stall. Or record your thoughts in a tape recorder after leaving the restaurant., perhaps in your car. Steal the menu if you can fold it up in your pocket or purse. If it’s only paper, don’t feel guilty. Later it will come in handy when you can’t remember the name or ingredients of the dish or when you want to evaluate the types of food presented.

DJ is right that you have to have a way to remember your experience in a restaurant, but she seems on more dubious ground when she claims that one should steal a menu if possible to see the variety of food and all that. This steal-the-menu idea is just crazy. First off, even if the readers of this book are most probably adults, it still shows the fact that stealing is okay, even though everyone should know that it’s not. In addition to this, I don’t know what restaurants you’ll be reviewing if their menus would be easily folded by paper. Usually, restaurants that deserve reviews have book-ish menus or at least laminated ones that you won’t be able to fit in your purse unless one has a bag for traveling or something. I totally agree with her about having a way to remember what you experienced as a whole in the restaurant. I have my own way, which I developed throughout the course of this. I actually take pictures when the server is away. Also, I pretend that my best friend and I are also taking pictures of us to make it less obvious. I take pictures of the menu too. By doing this, not only am I reminded of the taste of the dishes, I’m also sure I won’t forget the name and the ingredients.

Sushi Alive (and Kicking!)

Still hung-over from the previous orgasmic experience that I had at Zen Bistro, I couldn’t think of any other place to top my encounter. I did my research online and saw one that caught my attention. Friends and colleagues have told me about this place. They actually said that it’s worth checking out. It’s name: Sushi Alive!

Once again, my best friend and I prepared for another Japanese journey. He still is, by the way, not over Zen too. But what the heck, right? The place we were going to was said to be only five minutes from us. Plus, we were fond of this certain Asian cuisine. In the end though, I think we just wanted more sushi. Yeah, I think that was the reason it boiled down to.

Looking and finding the restaurant was a breeze. You could see the bright sign. And the whole façade looked like every inch of it was covered in Japanese characters. There was instrumental music playing too. How very Asian of the place. Stepping inside was a feast for my eyes. It was a pretty small dimly lit room, but there were spotlights at just the right places. They shone only on the tables, just so you can see your food, I presume. The booths were very oriental, with a modern feel. Looking up, you would see inverted parasols adorning the ceiling. It was mellow and hip. The ambiance was amazing.



One thing that sparked my interest was their “table cloths”. They weren’t really made of fabric, but of something like a huge sheet of crafting paper. Every time a table was bussed, they just folded the whole thing and threw it away. They would just replace it with a new one for the next guest that arrives. I did not find it tacky at all. I thought it gave the restaurant an attitude. I kind of thought it was classy-slash-fun at the same time. It was like a huge placemat. Use, throw, replace. Genius.

I knew we were going to take a while to look over the menu and finally decide what we wanted for our main course, so I quickly scanned the appetizers. The gyoza seemed to call my name so, I immediately asked for that to start off with just when our drinks were being served. They didn’t have much on the menu. They seriously had two pages. Still, we had a hard time choosing just for the reason that everything seemed to be so good. Thankfully, our appetizer was deep fried so it bought us enough time to finally make up our minds.

Our gyoza arrived and I would have to admit that it didn’t really look that great to me. I looked at it as just fried things on a bed of leaves on a fancy plate. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve tasted a million gyozas in my lifetime. It’s just that it looked so normal and seemed as if there wasn’t going to be any flair factor to it. When I bit into it, I was glad to eat my previous words and bury them deep into my stomach. It was so delicate. The crispy covering was such a great way to introduce the perfectly seasoned pork concoction inside. The sesame ponzu sauce made it even more gratifying. I usually drown my gyoza with it, and this time around, that was still what I exactly did. The sauce was so incredible that my best friend didn’t want the server to take it away.


Gyoza

It was my turn to choose what sushi roll to get so, he ended up ordering the Tokyo Stir Fry. It was made with Japanese udon noodles with mixed vegetables in a sweet and tangy sauce, and guest’s choice of chicken, beef, or shrimp. It also included Miso Soup or House Salad. I made him choose the latter. Yes, I was the one who told our server that was what he wanted even if he already said “Miso soup.” I made the rules here. Ha. Just kidding.

Being the brat that he is, he asked our server if he could have half chicken, half beef. I’m glad our waiter was really accommodating and friendly. It made dining there a lot more enjoyable even though it was already pleasant as it already was. I was still looking over the sushi menu since I couldn’t decide which of the two recommended rolls I wanted to have when his House Salad came. It looked different in a good way. I would say that the bowl it was in didn’t really facilitate in the mixing of the ingredients, but it did not matter as soon as we sank our teeth into the crispy lettuce covered in their oh-so-heavenly Ginger Dressing. Believe me when I say I’m a die-hard Caesar Salad fan. Caesar, meet Ginger. I think my favorite dressing just met his match.


House Salad

Just like the ponzu sauce, we asked for the remains of the sauce to be left at the table. As embarrassing as it may sound, we were taking turns literally drinking it like it was tea or something. By the way, when I said that my best friend is a brat, it was just half-meant. He would probably hang me upside-down as soon as he reads this post. I’m trying to do some damage control here.

My best friend’s Tokyo Stir Fry came with what I finally decided on, which is the Godzilla Alive! Roll. Let me describe his dish first. It looked very inviting, with so many different ingredients tossed on the thick noodles, which were, I must say, cooked perfectly with the right kind of gumminess that I think Asian noodles should have. The cucumbers and carrots were all right. They weren’t as crispy as I hoped, but they can pass because they tasted fresh. The mushrooms added were a plus for me. My best friend loved the beef and the chicken. I, on the other hand, wasn’t really a fan of the meat just because I thought both of them lacked taste or seasoning. Gratefully, my best friend was innovative enough to dip each in the ponzu sauce that we saved. I thought it was an absolute hit!


Tokyo Stir Fry

Now, moving on to my Godzilla Alive! Roll. The plating was very impressive and contemporary. That was, of course, the first thing that you would notice. I think it’s a brilliant idea to stir the sense of sight first before you indulge your sense of taste into the dish’s yummy glory. It was spectacular. Everything included in the sushi was cooked. It had tempura shrimp, crab delight, cream cheese topped off with grilled freshwater eel and slices of jalapeno. First, I had it as a whole. It was delectable. Then, I broke it down to every single ingredient to have a taste of each. I would say that the best parts were the melt-in-your-mouth crab delight and faint sweet taste of the fresh eel.


Godzilla Alive! Roll

Mary Patrick’s review for the Tampa Tribune couldn’t have described it any better. She characterized the Godzilla Alive! Roll as such:
“The specialty rolls are the real treat for your mouth and eyes. The showstopper is the Godzilla Alive roll of tempura shrimp, crab delight, cream cheese, asparagus and fresh jalapeno topped with avocado, eel and atomic aioli. There's a lot going on in this roll, with a variety of flavors and textures and colors, but it works together perfectly.
How good is the Godzilla? After eating the Mexican roll and finding it all right, our sushi-doubting companion ate the Godzilla and became a sushi lover on the spot.”
I have nothing to contradict with her perfect depiction. I agree that the Godzilla Alive! Roll and the whole lot that comes with it works together in perfect harmony because my experience above confirms it.

I’m not really sure what’s up with sushi and orgasmic tastes in my mouth, but that’s just the only description I could find fitting for them. Orgasmic, according the Oxford American Dictionary, is very enjoyable or exciting. Well, that is what my taste buds have been experiencing with the sushi rolls that I have been eating.

The only thing that disappointed me is the fact that the food seemed to be not that filling. It’s either that or their portions were smaller than the ones that were served to us in previous restaurants. Sadly, Sushi Alive didn’t fulfill this end of the deal. I guess the roll wasn’t as huge as I expected it to be, and the stir fried noodles weren’t as much as it looked. Yes, the food is mouth-watering, but I would like to walk out with a happy stomach-slash-pudge and an addition box of leftovers for lunch the next day.

In my book, all in all, this restaurant just proved to me that Japanese cuisine is one of the few that genuinely tries to push for that extra oomph in everything, may it be in flavors, plating, ambiance, etc. Like the previous one I went to, I highly recommend passing by for a visit. True, it still didn’t top off Zen Bistro, one place that I am madly in love with now, but Sushi Alive came pretty close… It really came extremely damn close.

Sushi Alive!
15451 N Dale Mabry Hwy Tampa, FL 33618
Phone (813) 341-5483

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

          The best reviewers visit each restaurant at least two times, often three. If you go just once, you won’t know enough to make
          decisions. Service, food, quality, and atmosphere may vary. One night service might be exceptional, and another night your waiter
          may be off having a cigarette while you’re waiting for the bill.

      First off all, I do not have the leisure of going back to the same restaurant. I’m doing this for fun. I don’t really have the money to
      eat out every single night. Also, I don’t have that much time on my hands to do so. If it were that easy, heck I would review
      restaurants for a living. However, I know that you have to have a name in order to have this job as a main resource to pay for your
      bills. Since I’m doing this as something close to a pastime, I do not believe that I have to come back to do the whole thing all over
      again. I must agree that seeing your server smoking a cigarette while in the process of waiting on you is extremely disgusting. I do
      believe that first impressions last. So, restaurants better be on their toes and make sure that they give their best to every single
      customer, may it be a critic, a regular, or even a child.

Sit Back, Relax, and Take it All In

Yes, I will allow you to call me biased. I have come to the point where I have another Asian cuisine to criticize. It’s Japanese this time around. It’s my ultimate favorite. This could work both ways. Either I’ll say everything is good just because I love eating Japanese food, or I’ll be more critical of the flavors that interact with my taste buds. Hopefully, for the sake of the readers, it will be somewhere in the middle.

My first stop is Zen Bistro in what I could consider the classy area of Westchase. I would say that it’s roughly about 5-10 minutes away from Citrus Park Mall. I’ve heard so much praises about this restaurant for the reason that even my friends have urged me to go try it out. I guess this is the perfect time for it.

My best friend and I went here on a Saturday night. It was pretty late, but of course I made sure that they were still open. Luckily for us that day, they close at around 2am and they also had a sweet deal since it was Hospitality Night for people who work in restaurants. Heck, we were hungry, and what best kind of food to satisfy our urges, but Japanese cuisine. My best friend and I have this as a common favorite. That’s one thing that we would never seem to argue about.

From the outside, it looked like a normal restaurant with a dash of flair to it. There were some tables outside. It was cold so I didn’t really expect anyone to be dining out there. The moment my best friend opened the door, all I heard was people chitchatting. I still heard the faint music in the background, but I knew well that it was packed. Stepping inside was a whole different experience. Yeah, it was crowded, and there were only two or three tables, but I felt this weird, but good feeling of serenity. You might be thinking, “What is this girl talking about?” It was a small dimly lit place. It only had limited seating. Probably around around 12 tables, 4 booths, and a number of chairs at the sushi-slash-drinks-bar. I think what struck me was the Zen-ish interior, hence, the name of the restaurant. All I can say is that it had a modern Japanese feel and walking to our table made all the noise in the background just seem to fleet away.





I didn’t mind the business of the place. All I wanted was to eat some good Japanese food in my state of being at ease. Our server came to us for our drinks. She came off a bit bitchy at first. It might have been because she was busy. I didn’t know, or neither did I care. I couldn’t believe it myself. I was like, really? Passing off on a rude server? When did that start happening? Just now, I guess.

Looking over the menu wasn’t a chore as I expected it to be. They didn’t really have a huge selection of food, but it seemed like they added a twist on almost all their items. Even if there was not that much to choose from, it seemed like everything that you could possibly order off of the menu was good. I hoped so.

We started with the Curried Crab Dumplings. I was skeptical at first just because I have never heard of curry being used in Japanese cooking before. But I would say that I’m so thankful that my best friend felt adventurous this time around. It was marvelous. The crispy gyoza skin was fried perfectly, while inside was just oozing with deliciousness. The real crabmeat was paired perfectly with the cream cheese. I actually thought that the latter would overwhelm the previous since that’s what I usually experience in other places. The hint of curry was perfectly blended in this food masterpiece. In addition to that, the chili sauce served with it for dipping was gave it an extra kick. I was so excited for the next dishes. My mouth just had a delightful orgasm.


Curried Crab Dumplings

By this time, I noticed that our server finally got more comfortable. I guess the late-night rush got their food and were stuffing their faces already. With a smile, she asked me what I would like to get. I ordered the Zen Lettuce Wrap. It came with Miso Soup, which was what I tasted first. I was surprised how grainy the broth was. I have never really had it like so. I mean, I’m not really sure if I liked it or not. It was just different, or interesting, for lack of better adjectives. Don’t get me wrong though. The texture was not really what I’m used to, but I would have to say that the taste was really good. It had seaweeds and tofu in it too. I love how Zen doesn’t just go for normal dishes. They make it a point that they put their signature mark on it one way or another.


Miso Soup

Now, about the Lettuce Wrap. I would have to admit that Laura Reiley’s brief review made me want to focus on this menu item. I would have to agree with the Times food critic when she said that this was the way to go if you happen to pass by. Goodness. I don’t even know where to start. There were so many various ingredients that I didn’t know how everything would fit into one leaf, no matter how humongous it may be. Every single one was fresh, with your choice of peanut hoisin, spicy sambal, and sesame aioli sauce on the side. It consisted of Japanese grain that I couldn’t even describe. It tasted good. They had their own take on their Asian guacamole and Asian slaw that I thought were better than their original versions. The dish also had normal bean sprouts and minced chicken. Although my main entrée already seemed so flawlessly appetizing, what made me love it most was the shredded apples, mangoes, and cucumbers. My whole life, I hated cilantro. And for once, I had to say, for the first and last time, that it was what made the whole thing phenomenal. It was just perfectly marinated with cilantro that it gave a whole new meaning to the word delectable.


Zen Lettuce Wraps

Of course, the whole Japanese experience would not be complete without sushi. My best friend decided to try Eternal Bliss. Just how they named it made my mouth water a little bit. It was a roll full of yummy treasures including salmon, yellowtail, cream cheese, cucumber and masago. It’s tempura fried as a whole, and nothing is raw. I know some new sushi-eaters are very picky about that whole uncooked fish thing. Not only that, but their specialty rolls are huge. On Urbanspoon, Sara D. Eater put up a review describing Zen’s sushi rolls as heaven. I would have to agree and disagree with her on this one. She is on point when she described this certain sushi roll as heaven, but in my opinion, the tasty goodness was something I couldn’t really put into words. I would say it definitely lived up to its name, giving me a feeling of eternal bliss the whole time I was eating it. For the second time in the same restaurant, what touched my taste buds was orgasmic.


Eternal Bliss

I don’t know in what other way I could express my delight. Everything did not just make me a satisfied customer, but my expectations were exceeded in more ways than one.
Driving out for dinner: Pricey.
Check for the food: In the budget.
Dining at a classy yet hip restaurant with not just good, but great food: Priceless.
I guess you just have to sit back, relax, and take it all in. That’s what I did.

Zen Bistro
9620 W Linebaugh Ave. Tampa, FL 33626
Phone (813) 792-8665

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

          You could try taking one person who understands that you’re working. Old friends or colleagues may let you concentrate and feel
          comfortable about not talking when you need to think. Most important is to choose people who will eat anything, and who will not
          take offense at rabbit in cream sauce, offal or duck’s tongues during dim sum. Make sure they understand that you might ask them
          to order particular dishes, not necessarily the menu items they’d like most, so that you can sample a variety.

      Although I agree with DJ up to a point, a whole lot of her points actually, I cannot accept her overriding assumption that when you
      need to think about something, you
      tend not to talk. I’m not sure, but this doesn’t really work out well for me. I’m very vocal, and I tend to say things on my mind out
      loud. That’s just how I think, I guess. Having my best friend with me, who completely understands that I’m reviewing restaurants, is
      extremely helpful. It’s as if whenever I’m looking for the right word to describe something even if it’s in the tip of my tongue, he
      does the job for me by saying exactly what the word is. We try to give each other a chance to alternate on getting something that we
      really want or something that we really have to try just for the sake of criticizing it. He not only makes reviewing restaurants easier
      for me, it makes it a lot more fun too. I think we got this whole thing down.

It's Okay, But Not Really

I am not really sure if there is such a feeling of satisfaction and disappointment at the same time. Han-Il Kwan was my second Korean restaurant to visit for a review. I must admit that I was pretty excited because I’ve seen a lot of good reviews about it. My best friend and I journeyed through Waters Avenue to not see any sign of this restaurant. I used MapQuest and all, and I just pulled in this Korean-looking place hoping it was what we were looking for. I was so confused because this is America, and the sign for the place was in the restaurant’s language. Like really? How do they expect people to find it? I literally had to step out of the car to ask them what the name of the restaurant was.

Stepping inside was a whole new experience. It was a kind of small, but it was really appealing to the eyes. You can sense a modern-Korean feel. The same server who I asked if the place was called Han-Il Kwan greeted us warmly. She led us to the first booth. I couldn’t help, but look around ‘cause of the beautiful decorations and bonsais made of glass. It was just weird that we weren’t given our menus. We just had our utensils in front of us. I was like, “Okay. I guess they’re expecting us to eat the table or something?” After what seemed like forever, the server finally came up to us and asked for our drinks. She then realized that we didn’t even have menus to look at. We were the only ones there, by the way.




Glass Bonsai

After a few minutes of trying to figure out the small selection they had, we decided that we needed to buy more time and started with the Mansu Soup as our appetizer. The server looked at my best friend’s menu, pointed to make sure that was what we wanted, and then took it away from him. Oh. My. God. I was foreseeing really bad service. To think that we even said beforehand that we still needed time for our main course, but wanted to have the soup first.



What they had wasn’t much. I would say there was an average of five to seven dishes in one category. They didn’t really have crazy dishes like the Asian restaurants I’ve visited before. They had a sushi menu though. But this wasn’t the right time. Even if I had a craving for weeks, I was still strong on focusing on Korean cuisine.

The Mandu soup finally arrived. I was surprised at how small it was, considering the price. It wasn't very appealing too. It just looked like broth with some greens and dumplings tossed in there. I would say that I had to eat all the words I just said when I tasted it. It was so flavorful. It was as if they boiled the meat in bone for hours on end to create the lovely broth. Biting into the dumpling was as good as it was for me to slurp the soup. It was a mix of different minced ingredients in a encased delicate film of wanton. Although I forget the name, it reminded me of a dish my mother used to cook in the Philippines; only, the wrapper was crispy and crunchy. I know I was eating Korean cuisine, but I’m quite glad that it kind of reminded me of home.


Mandu Soup

After finally deciding on what to get for our main course, we waited for our server to get to the table. It was all about waiting in this restaurant. I guess that’s the trend. We ordered Hoedeopbap and Pork Bulgogi. I know we got beef bulgogi in the previous Korean restaurant we went to, but we were curious about what take they have on the same dish with different meat.

I was pretty disappointed when they served our food to us. Aside from the extremely long wait, they just gave us 5 different side dishes, unlike the thousands that they gave us at Rice Restaurant and Lounge. In addition to that, they were not nearly as good. They didn’t really taste fresh. Even my kimchi-loving best friend had one bite of each of the two types they had. Their take on the seafood salad was so-so. The bean sprouts weren’t that good too. And the ginseng strips were still a no go for me.


Side Dishes

I was already starting to feel bad for actually going here. And I wasn’t looking forward to our main course. I got the Hoedeopbap, a bowl filled with a lot of different ingredients. At least I could say that it sparked my interest. It was very colorful and appetizing. It mainly consisted of sashimi, which was fresh, thank God! There were imitation crabsticks, greens, cucumbers, tamago (sweetened egg), avocado, greens, fish roe, and topped with a little bit of shredded seaweed. The addition of the last ingredient made my day (Well, not really.. Just kind of.) I love seaweed and I used to much on them when I was a kid. The objective of this dish is to have the rice and the spicy sauce that comes with it mixed perfectly with everything else. I’d have to say that I agree with kcchoi on his review describing this dish as huge and well made. It was interesting, I must say. I wasn’t really impressed when I tried all of items individually. However, as a whole, it was phenomenal even if you can’t really tell the taste of which is which in your mouth.


Hoedeopbap

The pork bulgogi was all right. That’s all I can say. The good part was that it was tender and spicy, but not as hot as qla at Citysearch characterized it to be. In my book, those are always good things when it comes to the food I eat. However, it wasn’t as great as I expected it to be, considering the fact that I was all praises when I ate the beef bulgogi at another restaurant. Also, I was kind of put off by the color. It was like a glistening red-orange. I wonder what stuff they put on the meat to make the dish look like that (It looks really yummy in the picture, but trust me, it wasn’t that appetizing in person.)


Pork Bulgogi

After eating our not-that-good-not-that-bad meal, we had to wait. What did we expect, right? When we couldn’t take it anymore my best friend finally stood up, asked for boxes and went to the our server to ask for the check. Seriously, we were irritated by their service. We were not really in a good mood anymore, but the table next to us had it worse. They had to wait 3 times longer for their sushi to arrive. Two people, I guess, ordered the exact same thing and the second one got his meal ten minutes after the first finished his. All I was able to do was watch the server and wonder what all the servers do while the customers are waiting. By the way, the whole hour and a half that we were there (including probably the different increments of 45-minute waiting) never came by our table to ask us if everything was fine. We had to wait and practically stand up and run to our waitress to get us more drinks and other things we needed. They had three servers on and two tables to attend to. Such. Great. Service.

I guess this experience proved that there is actually the feeling of satisfaction and disappointment altogether. In my mind, there might be a possibility for me to go back if the food was so-so, but the service was awesome. Too bad their food was all right, and their service was the worst I have ever had! My visit was okay since the food filled me up and kind of made my taste buds happy, but all in all, not really because I seriously did not enjoy every single minute that I had to waste waiting for everything. It’s such a shame because I think I could go to McDonald’s and get better service than that.

Han-Il Kwan
8104 W Waters Ave. Tampa, FL 33615
Phone (813) 806-1551


      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

“As for how many people to take, there’s no right answer. Reviewing can be distracting. It’s hard to taste, observe, and simultaneously participate in the conversation around the table. When you go alone, it’s easier to soak up atmosphere, experience and energy level. On the other hand, you my hate dining alone, and the downside is that you can’t sample very much food.”

      DJ is right that reviewing can be distracting, but she seem on more dubious ground when she claims that there no right answer as for
      how many people to take. It just that you know you’ll be doing a review, then why would you even think of bringing a whole party
      with you. That is just what I understand from this excerpt from her book. Like, really? If you do want to do a restaurant review, then
      you should know well not to bring the whole gang so that you won’t need to participate in whatever everyone else is doing at the
      table.

Rice for Two, Anyone?

Looks can definitely be deceiving. That’s one thing that I learned in the trip we had to Rice Restaurant and Lounge. This is the first stop of the two restaurants that offer Korean cuisine that I am visiting and criticizing in the process. We traveled for around twenty minutes to get to the place located on Hillsborough Ave. I’ve read a few comments stating that this place is hard to find so; I kept my eyes peeled to look for a small sign. It wasn’t tiny at all. It was a humongous bright yellow sign that pretty much lit up the whole plaza. I’m exaggerating. But seriously, the people who said that it can’t be seen that well due to the reason that it’s hidden is ridiculous. It’s literally blinding.

Walking in, I felt like I was in a Korean ghost town. It was a huge place, but it was eerily empty. They had a couple of tables to the right. All of them were made of wood. Pretty, but it amplified that weird awkward feeling. There was also a karaoke machine playing, showing a Korean singing. It was like silent movie since the place was dead quiet. Creepy. I realized we were the only ones there. It was dinnertime. I was puzzled. If people say that this is a great place to eat, then why is it that we were like the first customers of the night?

There was only one guy there who had his head buried in papers. He was probably the owner, since he stood up and greeted us with the biggest smile ever, complete with his eyes barely being seen. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m Asian and I know that feeling of your cheeks pushing up on your eyes to the point that you know they’re just seen as lines.

It was so empty that we couldn’t even choose where to sit. There were three booths with dandy little door-like arches. I didn’t know what to step into. We were walking back and forth, until this young lady came up to us and said, “First booth?” So, we finally sat there. She had the menus in hand and set them down in front of us. She seemed really friendly and got our drinks. While waiting, I looked around to absorb the ambiance of the place. I couldn’t really do it. I didn’t want to. All I saw was dirty everything. The walls were clearly not scrubbed for ages, the corners of the booths were not really swept thoroughly, and even the glass dividers weren’t wiped down. I just tried to get the thoughts out of my head so, I proceeded to pick up the menu to pick something to eat, but whoa was it heavy. I thought to myself, “Oooh. Fancy. I’ve never held a menu that weighs a ton and golden before. It’s like bling-bling.”



Looking through it was pretty frustrating and confusing. They had a vast variety of food consisting of appetizers, barbecue, stews, grilled fish, stir-fried and steamed food, rice specialties, noodles, sushi, etc. It was annoying how all the pictures did not have a caption and were not aligned with what it’s called. It was like a good-luck-in-doing-a-matching-type-test-with-the-pictured-food menu. What surprised me is they had a selection of cold noodles and stews. That’s kind of weird. I wasn’t that adventurous to try that one out and criticize it. I might just give the whole restaurant a bad review.

Our server was really nice and was patient to explain the different kinds of food that we might want to order. She answered all our queries about the dishes that I have not even heard of at all. However, my best friend and I decided to stick to what previous customers have already tasted. Sadly, the dishes were pretty pricey: more than the budget, actually. Thankfully, they had Dinner for Two Specials. It fit in the allocated money that my best friend and I had for the place. We chose the Rice Dinner for Two.

Only a few minutes after ordering our food, our server came pulling a cart full of bowls. I was pretty sure that we were the only ones there and I was wondering if all of the stuff she brought was actually for us. She then started setting every single one of them on the table. My eyes were darting back and forth to all the different types of vegetables that I guess were considered to be our appetizers. There were anchovies with peanuts, stems of sweet potatoes, ginseng, black beans, chilies, and so much more. The bowl of bean sprouts tossed in oil was really light and crunchy, while the seafood salad was very refreshing. One favorite that I had was the sweetened and cured potato. It was the right kind of mushy and the right kind of sweet to get your taste buds ready for the meal ahead. There were even three different kinds of kimchi served. My best friend lives for this stuff. He loved it. He said it was so fresh. The tartness was perfect. I never really liked it, but he made me try some. And, I could definitely say that the kimchi they had was, in my world, eat-able.


Appetizers-Slash-Sides

The next wave of food arrived, and it consisted of fish cakes, steamed egg in a pot, and bean paste broth. I have one word for the fish cakes: divine. It actually had a real fish fillet underneath the thin layer of well-seasoned coating over it. It was so fresh that it pretty much melts in your mouth, without that pungent fishy taste. It was delightful. The steamed egg in a pot was not my cup of tea. It had no taste at all. The only thing I thought of the dish was the fact that it was fluffy and watery at the same time. There’s one description that I can think of when it came to the bean paste broth. It was very interesting. It was a mix of spicy, gritty, kind of thick soup with various chunks of things I don’t even know of. The tofu in it was the best I’ve tasted so far though. It was perfectly cooked. It was spongy and gummy in all the right ways. The dish was not what I would say recommendable, but it is definitely something one should try if he or she is adventurous.


Fish Cakes


Steamed Egg in a Pot


Bean Paste Broth

Lastly, there was the grilled galbee, bulgogee and the grilled pike mackerel. I’ve tasted galbee before and I could say that this restaurant made me love the meat more. It was so delicious. I expecting a little bit too much with the grilled pike mackerel because of the review written by Sally L. in yelp.com. It’s all praises about the grilled pike mackerel and bulgogee. It pretty much gave me the impression that these are two dishes you have to try before you even step out of Rice Restaurant and Lounge. I’m not sure about the grilled pike. It was perfectly seasoned and all, but the bitter insides weren’t even removed and I had the disgusting taste in my mouth for a few minutes. I couldn’t even get it out with water. Also, there were like a thousand bones in there. I just thought that fish was not worthy of all the effort I had given to make sure I dug through every part to see if there were tiny bones that could get stuck in my throat. I enjoyed the crispy skin though. Call me gross, but it actually tasted like the crispy seaweed wrappers. I love those. However, I would say that the main meat highlight of the night was probably the bulgogee. Goodness, it was literally an orgasm in my mouth. It was so tender and so perfectly seasoned and cooked. Like the fish cakes, it had this melt in your mouth factor. I can’t even describe how good it is right now. It’s absolutely amazing.


Grilled Pike Mackerel


Galbee and Bulgogee

Stuffing our faces with all the food on the table ended up to be a tiring task for both my best fried and I. Once the bill came, our server smiled at us and knew we were satisfied. She was so thoughtful and even offered us to try some rice punch. Wow, it kept getting better and better. We were about to make our stomachs rest, and still, this sweet, rice-y, creamy goodness touched our lips. It was like a dessert-drink, if there’s actually something like that. It was the perfect way to end our meal.




Rice Punch

I can definitely say that this “Korean-ghost-town-of-a-place” deceived me. In my thoughts, I claimed that this was going to be a disappointing place to eat at as soon as I walked in. There was not a person in the restaurant, but it exceeded my expectations. The evidence is in the sincere service and the quality and taste of the food. It was amazing, and there were so many different flavors that you can have, especially with what was ordered. It’s like you won’t get tired of the taste because there’s always something new that you could put in your mouth to wash the previous taste off. The extensive choices of food set in front of you all at once makes your taste buds yearn for more. The whole trip was just awesome. Right before leaving the restaurant, my best friend turned to me and said, “You know that we’ll have to come back here again soon, right?”

Rice Restaurant and Lounge
7525 W Hillsborough Ave Tampa, FL 33615
Phone (813) 889-7766

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

          “Your next decision is when to go. Reviews of dinner are standard, unless the restaurant relies on its biggest crowd at lunch.
          Monday and Tuesday are the most frequent chef’s nights off. Friday and Saturday nights put the most stress on the kitchen. (These
          are things to consider for your own research, but that readers don’t to be told.) You can go for lunch and dinner, but not just for
          lunch.”

      DJ’s theory of going to dinner for a review instead of lunch is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of when
      the best time to go is. I concur with this because during lunchtime, yes the quality of the food may be the same, but you don’t really
      get the vast selection of food that the restaurant offers. They just normally serve lunch specials at that time. On the other hand,
      going there for dinner is a whole different situation. They usually have everything that they can offer during this time. Also, knowing
      when the chef is more often not in the restaurant is very detrimental, especially if it’s a fancy place that will be reviewed. And
      everyone does know that Friday and Saturdays are really hectic and busy since people are mainly going out and ending their week with
      a nice meal out. So, naturally, one should not pick these days to go if you would want to consider the quality of the food and service
      you are given.

China Yuan: Second Stop, Second Rate?

The last restaurant I went to called, Yummy House, was yummy indeed. It lived up to the hype of the people blogging about it and giving it praises (except for the interior and the service, of course.) My next place to criticize was another place that I’ve read was fabulous. It’s also a Chinese restaurant located on Armenia St. near Busch Blvd. The place is called China Yuan.

This place was a little hard to find just because of the fact that Armenia is such a narrow road and you can see so many entrances to apartments and buildings and the like. My best friend just noticed a plaza and assumed it was there. Alas, he was right. Good job. You deserve a pat on the back. Okay, I guess you deserve a good meal for finding the place too.

Parking was not a hassle at all since it was a good-sized plaza. From the outside, China Yuan looks like a legit restaurant, with many customers’ cars outside. Great! A lot of people usually mean good food. I got excited.

As soon as I got in, I noticed the welcoming atmosphere of the place. On the right, there were fish tanks of fish to be caught and cooked fresh. And right beside it was like a booth where all the hanging peking ducks were. The lighting was bright, in a mellow way. If I’m not mistaken, the tables and chairs were made of wood, making it feel kind of like home. There was even a dragon ornament hanging from the ceiling. I was born in the year of the dragon. There were a lot of tables occupied. We were sat nearly at the back corner. I didn’t mind.



Our menus were set in front of us. This time, I didn’t really see any typos. Thank, God. Their menu confused me. Not because I couldn’t understand what was written, but because there was a vast selection of everything. I saw it as a good thing. There were appetizers, barbecue, soup, sharks fin and sea cucumbers, lobster, crab, fish, shrimp, oysters, clams, hot pots, squid, vegetables, meats, congee, fried rice, noodles. The list can go on and on. They even have a selection of frog meat.

I would have ordered a frog dish, but it wouldn’t be in my price range anymore. I have already tried it though at a different restaurant. It tasted good, actually. The only thing is it was pretty bony and muscular. There wasn’t that much meat to chew. Well, duh. What do I expect from frogs, right?

Our first dish was Shrimp Wanton Soup. It was the special request of my best friend since he wasn’t feeling really good. It looked very simple when it was served to us, a couple of wantons and very young Chinese pechay in a stock-like kind of liquid. It smelled heavenly though! I took my first slurp. Nothing. I took my second one. Nothing still. I didn’t really taste anything. It was so bland I had to put some soy sauce in it. Thankfully, it tasted better. The greens weren’t that good either. They were not very bite-able or chewable. They were like huge pieces and they cannot definitely fit in one’s mouth. The wantons were a different story though. They were so luscious and the shrimp inside was just a burst of seafood heaven in your mouth.


Shrimp Wanton Soup

We ordered Salt Fish and Chicken Fried Rice and Honey and Garlic Chicken. I was looking forward to the previous due to the reason that there was a review by Brian Ries that I read, which describes it as such: “Each bite is an explosion of intense salt, spice, garlic and oil, carried by the otherwise delicate wokked rice.” My first bite and I already begged to differ. I did not taste anything at all, not even the rice itself. It was a mountainous spoonful too. I gave it a second, and a third chance. A little bit of flavor whenever I would bite into the fish or the chicken, but that was it. All the other ingredients, again, just tasted plain bland. It was like eating plain white rice with bits of lost meat and minced vegetables stuck in there. Okay, that was an exaggeration. But still, this mirrors how extremely disappointed I was about the dish. Even Brian Ries’ suggestion of tossing the hot pepper garlic sauce in it did not help at all. It made it a little spicy, nothing else. His claim that it was an explosion of tastes of different ingredients rests upon the questionable assumption that it was a really good choice from their selection of fried rice dishes.


Salt Fish and Chicken Fried Rice

Our second one, Honey and Garlic Chicken was so-so. It was literally soaking in what looked like a pool of straight up caramelized sugar and honey thickened with cornstarch. They should have called it Chicken-Swimming-In-Honey. It was tremendously sweet and I didn’t even taste any of the garlic. But the good part is that after getting through that wall of batter and sugar guarding the precious contents, the chicken was worth all the cavities you’ll be having due to the sugar content. It was so tender and juicy, you’ll forget having previously chewed on what was covering it. It was also perfectly seasoned. Finally, food (not the whole dish though), that actually tasted like something. I just thought it was a bit too early for dessert.


Honey and Garlic Chicken

My best friend said that they had a conservative kind of cooking. With what I just tasted, and if he meant that to be a euphemism for bland, then I totally agree with him. Of course, this excludes the over-the-top-it’ll-make-your-arteries-clog-up Chicken-Swimming-In-Honey dish. Hey, if you’d like to save some money and have a main dish and dessert in one, this would be perfect. Kidding.

The quantity of food served isn’t that much, probably good for two really hungry persons. The only thing that was a lot was the fried rice. For the service, I’ll give them some slack. It was pretty busy and I understand that they had to run around a couple of different tables. Although they weren’t that friendly, they were still efficient and served our food in a short period of time. Their service was so much better than the previous Chinese restaurant we visited even though the latter had only two other tables to wait on. Our waiter even smiled at us. I love smiling servers.

All in all, it was a pretty disappointing experience. Everyone has been comparing China Yuan to Yummy House. With my visit, I don’t think they even come close to each other. Maybe China Yuan deserves a second chance. I guess you would just have to choose between the better food at the other place or the better service in this restaurant. I’m just hoping that if ever I pass by and decide to give it another shot, my smiling server would still be the one who will be waiting on me.

China Yuan
8502 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa, FL
Phone 813-936-7388

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

          “If you’re a freelancer, you might select restaurants on your own. Most of the time, I have decided which one to visit. Says the
          Phantom Gourmet, “Every new restaurant likes to claim it’s what they are doing is truly new or just a new veneer on something
          that was already passé ten years ago.””

      I’m of two minds about the claim that a new restaurant wants to say that what they offer is novel and not just something that they
      are doing again that was already done. On one hand, I agree that restaurants, especially new ones, must have present something that
      would set them apart from others, something like their trademark. On the other hand, I am not sure if it would matter if it would be
      like a remake of something that was done by other restaurants before. What I mean is that you can reinvent something and still make
      it your own. However, I don’t think that it’s possible to make up completely new ideas since just about every new one has been used
      and has been exhausted. Personally, it’s all about making your mark in the industry and living up to your name.

Yummy House: Great Expectations From the Name

Growing up in the Philippines, a country no one really knows about on the Southeastern part of Asia, I have been exposed to different cuisines from the neighboring nations. And for some reason, Chinese food was one of my father’s favorite cuisines to pick for a family night out so, I pretty much have intoxicated my body with then-MSG-infused dishes. Thankfully, Chinese restaurants don’t use this that much to flavor their food anymore. They at least give tell you if it contains it. That is if you ask.

First stop: Yummy House.

Knowing that this restaurant was on Waters Ave., I knew it was going to be tricky finding the place due to the reason that there are thousands of food junctions and other stores that line up the busy street. We went about an hour and a half before the store closed. Surprisingly, it was not that hard. One can see the humongous bright sign that says Yummy House. There weren’t really any people in the place. The only customers present were a table of four and another table of Chinese people who looked like they were regulars of the place. I was skeptical. This restaurant has been raved about by so many, but the number of people eating at that moment does not add up to all the hype.

I was like, whatever, I’ll be reviewing the place anyway. Maybe it would be better off that way since it was not busy at all. The servers greeted us in a not-so-friendly way. They pretty much just showed us to our table and gave us the menus, not even asking how we were and such. I wanted to take in my first impression of the whole place, feel the ambiance. However, it was like I just couldn’t. It looked like a very cheap place. The interior was extremely bright. Personally, I think the place was not inviting at all. Even the tables were covered with a plastic tablecloth. Yes, easy to clean. No, not much of a “I will take my other half to eat here” place to eat.

I look over the menu. I believe I am kind of obsessive compulsive, and lo and behold, there were so many typos in it. I’m not saying that they’re bad spellers, but come on. It has been an established restaurant and no one changed the menu since then. Their selection impressed me though. Well, fine. It impressed me and discouraged me at the same time. They had pots, appetizers, soup, seafood, sizzling plates, fried rice, chow mein, beef, chicken, pork and everything else you can imagine in a Chinese restaurant. They even had a page for tofu and vegetables. For vegetarians and people who don’t want to add to their cholesterol, I presumed. However, it was like everything had the same exact ingredients, just one or two others added or removed from it. They should have just called it mix-and-match meats or something.



With the bashing aside, we ordered Cream of Egg Drop soup first. I am not really a fan of cilantro. I eat it if I have to, especially like in a Mexican restaurant where all the things they serve include chopped up pieces of the green leafy herb mixed in. I’d rather not make my tummy growl at me, than whine about taking each cilantro bit out. Fine. I complain sometimes. But shockingly, I didn’t even care about it being in the soup. It worked so well with the other ingredients that I slurped it like crazy.


Cream of Egg Drop Soup

Our main course consisted of two viands. One was the Szechwan Chicken, and the other was the Eight Treasures Pot. Sounds interesting. I love spicy food. I live for spicy food. The Szechwan Chicken was perfect for me! This for me was the best kind of chicken I had in a long time. Even the vegetables with it were exceptional. The celery and cucumbers were just so crunchy that you would know they’re freshly cooked. Every bite was just pure orgasm for me.


Szechwan Chicken

The Eight Treasures Pot was great as well plus a little dissatisfaction for me. The squid was cooked just right. It was not gummy at all. It was like soft, but crunchy at the same time (I actually had to fight over the squid pieces with my best friend because he wanted to have them too). It was phenomenal. There were also scallops and chicken included in the pot. The downside to this dish was that the beef was kind of chewy. The vegetables were pretty mushy, maybe due to the great amount of sauce in it. Lastly, I felt that the tofu was undercooked. It was like an explosion of watery goo in my mouth when I took bites of it.


Eight Treasures Pot

All the dishes had a huge serving. I even had a box to take home. All in all, it was worth every penny that I spent. It’s just sad that service was really bad. The girl sitting at the table across us even had to drink from her boyfriend’s glass since she was waiting like ten minutes for her glass to be refilled. I understand that they were about to close and they were preparing the dinner for the employees, which made me assume that this is a family-run business. However, this is not an excuse to forego the needs of your customers. They made us feel that they wanted us to leave already. I didn’t care much though. My stomach was already happy. That is all that matters.

I went to creativeloafing.com and found a review that was made years before. I can say that I agree and disagree with the last person who commented on it. One person, with the alias name of DL, states, “The absolute best Chinese food in the Tampa area. The absolute worst service in the Tampa area. Superb food for the price, but I wish they would charge more and put some money back into the restaurant--avoid the bathrooms.” While DL is probably wrong when he or she claims that she wishes they would charge more and put some money back into the restaurant, he or she is right that they have ridiculously good food, and that the price is so affordable for the quality and quantity of food you eat. In my opinion, they should invest more into the interior and exterior of the restaurant, but I am definitely against them making their prices higher. Lastly, stay away from the restroom. DL is definitely right about it.

Should the exterior and interior of the place discourage you? No. Does Yummy House truly live up to its name? Yes, I believe so. It’s more than worthy to be called that.

Yummy House
2202 W Waters Ave., Tampa, FL 33604
Phone 813-915-2828

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ’s WWFF:

          “The second secret is that reviewing is difficult and time-consuming, even if all you do is write reviews. You may go out several
          evenings in a week. As a freelancer, I went out three to four nights per week to write one review per week for a weekly paper.”

      Can I just say that that is probably the most redundant part I’ve read in a published book? Anyway… I agree that making restaurant
      reviews is extremely difficult and time-consuming because my experience of attempting to do the same thing confirms it. Notice the
      fact that I added “extremely” to what she had already stated. I cannot emphasize how complicated and hard it is. In addition, if she
      says it’s time-consuming even though that’s pretty much all she does, more so is it for me, since I am a full-time student and I work
      not just one, but two jobs. There is so much effort that one needs to exert to do some restaurant reviewing. It’s crazy. Period.

Four Re-Orders and Then Some

Disclaimer: This is not a restaurant review.

I am not a pig, I just really eat a lot. When I say a lot, I mean a lot more than you can imagine. I usually get weird looks from people when I eat out because of the amount of food I consume. Thus, leading me to a question one might ask me: What was my driving force to choose something like restaurant reviewing albeit the fact that people see me as someone who can barely even eat a cracker? Surprisingly, I do have simple answers for that. I can put my reasons into two ideas: I’m a server and I love food. I know I just cannot leave you hanging like that so let me elaborate on each of them.

When I started this blog, I didn’t really know what I’d be talking about. The only thing that kept circling in my head was to talk about my experiences in serving. In the back of my head, I felt like it was not really a good idea because I was pretty sure it wouldn’t have substance and I would just be ranting or raving about customers here and there. I did not want it to be somewhat like an FMyLife kind of thing. Then, it hit me.. What do I serve? Food. Where do I eat food? Restaurants. Reviewing these places would not just be able to make me try cuisine at food places; it would also fill my stomach up. Not bad, I thought to myself. Yay me!

I love food. That’s another simple reason why I chose this topic. Just in case you haven’t read my profile and all, I am a female Asian standing 5’0” and weighing 90 lbs. I find it hilarious how people see me as a little girl incapable of eating more than 5 bites of the food on my plate. I don’t blame them though. I could see where they’re coming from. I’m tiny as hell. I could not be able to handle that much food in my stomach or I’ll probably explode. Wrong.

I have this one favorite experience that I could share. Not only is it one of my fondest memories, but also believe that it would be a perfect example. I went to this restaurant, which offered All-You-Can-Eat barbeque with my best friend. So, our server came to ask us what we wanted to drink. We told her what we wanted and proceeded to say that we were ready to order. I told her I wanted the All-You-Can-Eat Ribs with garlic bread, and mac and cheese and corn nuggets for sides. She looked at me like I was retarded. It was like a “are you sure you want to order all of this food and not just the salad bar ‘cause you might just explode if you put all of these in your stomach” kind of look. I glanced left and saw a couple, probably in their mid- or late-twenties, look at me with a surprised-slash-terrified look, maybe since they were thinking I might be rushed to the hospital afterwards or just pass out from all the food. Our plates came and soon enough, I had my first re-order. Then came the second, the third, and finally the fourth.

I had four re-orders of meat. Not all ribs, by the way. I had re-orders of sliced turkey, beef brisket, pulled pork, and back to ribs, respectively. The people beside our table still had that glaze over their eyes. I, personally, could not believe that I ate more than my best friend, who has a pretty muscular built, stands 6’2”, and weighs around 150 lbs. I knew I was making our waitress run back and forth, so I apologized since I am a server and I could easily place myself in her non-skid shoes. I couldn’t do anything. I was hungry. She said it was fine though. All she was wondering about was where the heck I put all the food I just consumed ‘cause I am so tiny. I told her I just threw all the meat in my purse. We laughed. My stomach kind of hurt because of the jiggle it produced.

In the end, when my best friend and I finally left the restaurant, we realized we didn’t really have any more money to spend, but we did leave with extremely full and happy stomachs (his stomach was still flat, while mine, on the other hand had a huge pudge that looked like a was having a baby.) and also the fleeting question of where the tons of food I eat go. I still could not figure out where it goes or where it is stocked. If I say that it’s all in the super fast metabolism my wonderful parents made me inherit, it wouldn’t sound too exciting and mysterious. So, I’ll just say that I still do not have an answer to that million-dollar question. I guess I just really love food.

      Extra Thoughts on Ms. DJ(Dianne Jacob)’s WWFF(Will Write for Food):

          “Though you might notice that not much is published about mediocre and bad food. Most publications keep negative reviews to a
          minimum, unless the place is famous, expensive or new and opened to great fanfare. Most editors and writers believe it’s best to
          tell readers about places that excite them and give them a reason to go out, rather than telling them where not to go”

      DJ is mistaken because she overlooks the fact that people value their time so much. In this hustle bustle world, people tend to
      overlook the simplest things in life. I believe that wherever they go, they expect to be satisfied… They want to be satisfied. This does
      not only apply to going out to restaurants to eat, it applies to other aspects of life as well. They do not really have the leisurely time
      to go somewhere and just be disappointed with what they were offered. With this said, I believe that editors and writers should also
      tell readers about places that are not really that good so as not to waste precious minutes, or even seconds. In my opinion, it is our
      right as consumers to know these things.

I Know It's Not Right, But I’ll Be Cheating.

Before I indulge myself in food, and enter unknown territories that actually serve edible things, I admit that I am somewhat scared and hesitant about this whole restaurant-reviewing thing. First off, I have never ever done this. I have never in my life thought about writing what my experience is about a certain place I ate at, especially their food. Before, whenever I ate out, it’s just because of the fact that I was hungry and wanted my fill, hoping that what I would order would be delicious. If it were like an orgasmic feeling in my mouth (Warning: Even if it’s not really an appropriate adjective, I still like describing things as orgasmic so, you might encounter that in my blog a couple of times.), I would most probably crave for it and then come back another time to have the same thing. On the other hand, if I did not like the food, I would just not go back to that place ever and remember not to get the same dish again.

It would be different for me in the following weeks though. Every time I would go in a restaurant, there would be another more important purpose. It would not only be to have my fill, but also to see if the place is as great for me as it would be great for other people. This time around, I have to look in at the details, absorb the things happening around me in the restaurant, take in the taste of the food fully. Now that I think about it, it’s like working while having my meal for lunch or dinner. I picked this topic because I thought that it would just be a breeze talking about food and what not. I guess it was a wrong move on my part. Ha. We’ll see. Maybe it would not be as hard. I’m crossing my fingers.

Since I am a novice on matters of reviewing restaurants, I knew I needed help. I was pretty sure I could not be able to do this alone. So, I called a friend. Her name is Dianne Jacob. Okay, fine. She’s not really my friend, and I didn’t really call her. I had her sent to my apartment though. She’s the author of Will Write for Food. In this book, one chapter is what she calls the Secrets of Restaurant Reviewing. I figured that if I had this cheat sheet, well, there are a lot of pages so I guess I have to make it plural and call them cheat sheet(s), I would have a guide and maybe I’ll get this whole thing right.

I guess you could say that I will be doing restaurant reviews with Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food book as the basis. So, not only would I be writing my criticisms about a place I ate at and their food, I will also be writing my thoughts about the book/cheat sheet/guide/whatever-you-want-to-call-it in most of the blogs I will post. Let me actually start with the introduction part of Chapter 5. Being a restaurant reviewer is one of the greatest jobs one can ever have since they get to go to all these places, and eat the best food in town. However, these people also encounter what the author describes as mediocre or bad food, and might think that that place was just a waste of their time. I agree that people may see the work of a restaurant reviewer as having pros and cons because my experience as a normal consumer of food confirms it. Never have I ever gone out to eat and went home extremely satisfied every single time. There were times that I still had the bad after-taste of a dish or get annoyed at the service of a place. I just couldn’t imagine how people could make a living out of it. True, they do have the time of their life by getting paid for it. However, you still have to think about the fact that they do go through some bad restaurants and actually have to tell write their criticisms about them, no matter how negative their experience may be.

By the way, I might use DJ in short for Dianne Jacob. We’re not really close, but I’ll be mentioning her a lot in this blog so I chose to give her a pet name to spice things up a bit. (Ms. Dianne Jacob, if you’re reading this blog, which I doubt you are, I hope you wouldn’t mind!)

So, you think restaurant reviewing is easy? Think again. I’ll be using a cheat sheet.

Just Another Food-Slash-Restaurant Review Blog?

First off, let me warn everyone that I'm not that great of a writer. I am not like others who would elaborate on things in a very flamboyant and extremely embellished way. I do not use fancy words. I don't really care though. I just speak my mind with my own words, simple words, in my own way.

Not to scare you off that this blog is going to be an elementary-style thing, but I'm just being truthful. This is my first time to type my own thoughts, more so criticisms, and share it to internet for everyone to see. I guess this is where I tell you a little bit more about myself as a person so you will know and understand whose brain these so-called typed thoughts are coming from. I am a just a normal full-time student from a university in Tampa, FL, now in my third year of majoring in Psychology. At the same time, I work two jobs. Yeah, it is a hectic life. However, I should be thankful that I'm still breathing and I haven't dropped to the ground from brain overload malfunction or pure exhaustion. The other things you should know is that I am female, which I would say adds up to the possibility that I might be more meticulous and tend to criticize things more. I am also Asian, particularly Filipino. I was born and raised in the Philippines, hence my taste buds are very accustomed to food from the far east.

So, what exactly is this blog going to focus on? The title probably gave it away already. Yes, I am going to review restaurants. However, these restaurants must fall under certain specifications. If you live by Tampa, by the scope of the 813 area code, then you are in luck since I'll be visiting the ones nearby, which would be not more than a 20-mile radius from my place. I am just doing a food blog, not a food-and-travel-infused-together blog.

I am not just looking for good eats, but also affordable ones. Everyone would agree that money is tight nowadays and I cannot really spend a lot of money. For one restaurant, the maximum amount of money shelled out would only be around $10-$15 per person. In order to be able to taste more than just one dish or viand, I have asked my best friend to accompany me throughout my food adventure. Not only will I be able to blog about what his feedback is, but also have a comparison on the fact that he grew up in America, thus making him less accustomed to the different Asian cuisines. I am not saying that he does not have the ability to, it's just that I was born and raised in an Asian country, making me very used to and familiar with the weird tastes Asians have.

In addition, I will also not forego giving comments about the appearance and ambiance of the place. I might even be peeking in the restroom too. I presume that an excellent restaurant does not only focus on the taste of the food, but the amenities that the customers use as well. Since I am a server myself, I am also going to rate their service with 3 criteria, which would be friendliness, efficiency (includes attentiveness), and promptness (depends on how busy). I am still undecided whether I should stick to 5 Asian cuisines and visit 2 restaurants each within the ten weeks that I am planning to do this or 10 different restaurants with various cuisines. I am leaning toward the previous one since I think the latter one would be harder to have a standard rating system. Either way, I am just extremely excited to enter a restaurant and have a taste of their cuisine.

I do know that there are hundreds of sites that do restaurant reviews, heck, there might even be thousands. Although the people behind these may have different goals in doing so, may it be to let others know where to eat or where not to, what dishes to get and what to stay away from, or even to either praise or bash the owners, there is still one main interest, which is the love for food. The purpose and importance of these blog reviews are clear. Time is gold and they advise people what restaurants are worth going to so as not to waste their precious minutes. Food is a necessity, and it is definitely one thing we cannot go without. So, why not make sure that you'll enjoy what you consume? Through this blog, I would like to share with you good eats worth every penny spent.

Come tag along with me while I journey through various restaurants by the 813. (Sounds Dora the Explorer much?) Let the food adventure begin!

Just another food-slash-restaurant review blog? Maybe. But then again, maybe not.