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.