If you are a regular reader, you realize that food is an important and common part of my writings...because it is a highlight of every day! We've had a chance to try a few eateries worth commentary.
Top of the list, due to a combination of the taste, the cost and the event, was dinner at Charlie's Steak House in Tampa. It was Mom and Dad's anniversary dinner with Mark and I as the special guests. We began in the bar with martini, gin and tonic, manhattan and a kir royale. All drinks were well done except for the champagne and cassis which ended up more cassis than champagne. Then on to dinner.
We walked past the open fire grill in the kitchen which motivated Mark to select a big steak.
After sitting at our table, a waiter appeared with his own table, covered in a dark cloth over some lumpy things. I should have guessed, but was surprised to see hunks of raw beef when he removed the cloth. The menu was thus presented in the raw. We persevered, and ordered our cow hunks, along with appropriate wine for the occasion. The beef arrived, grilled to order except for Mark's. Amazingly, his steak was collected and replaced with a new grill within a few minutes so dinner didn't miss a beat. This was topped by extravagant desserts that included flourless chocolate cake with ice cream, apple cobbler with ice cream, and a hunk of chocolate cake that was 7 layers high. We had a wonderful meal and a wonderful celebration...with chocolate cake to last the following week.
Other dinners have been more pedestrian in nature and cost. Frenchy's at Clearwater Beach is everyone's favorite including ours. We have even expanded beyond the traditional grouper sandwich, though only if at least if one person has ordered it. The fish fajitas are excellent, the crowd is fun, and the beer is cold.
In the mood for Thai food, we ventured over to Thai Thani on hwy 19 in Clearwater. It was pretty good, but we need to visit again. The hot and sour seafood soup was full flavored and spicy as Mark likes it. The dinners were good, look for further updates.
There's a great BBQ spot, Eli's Bar-B-Que, almost literally on the Pinellas Trail just before you get into Dunedin. It is open only Fridays and Saturday's 11-6. We headed over a bit late on a Saturday and got there at 6:30. Due the the heavy rain, we parked in mud and trudged to the concrete block bunker that sits in front of a large screened room that holds the open flame BBQ pits. We stuck our heads in the open window of the bunker hoping to order but were told by the 2 occupants that all the food was gone, except for some miscellaneous items sitting at the bottom of the tray. We were welcome to the leftovers - all for $5. Sure, we were hungry and the remaining BBQ smell demanded that BBQ be eaten. We received a styrofoam container and plastic forks with thin paper napkins. Looking around, we spotted some picnic tables under the oaks and headed over. We opened the container and found....a half of a BBQ chicken and a bunch of smoked ribs. And it was all delicious!! truely mouth watering BBQ - even the leftovers. And we had enough for lunch the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment