[CH] Adventures in Tampa
Tom Cuneo (forsite@forsite.net)
Fri, 12 Feb 1999 09:48:52 -0500
Hello All, :-)
Got back from a business trip last week in the Tampa/ St. Pete area and have
a few restaurant reviews for anyone travelling to the area.
First , the area is wonderful, nice beaches, warm weather, couldn't have
asked for a better trip to get away from the cold Indiana weather.
(usual Chile head disclaimer)
On our first night we ate at the Salt Rock Grill on Gulf Blvd, EXCELLENT
Food and service. Our Waitress went well out of her way to get us some Hot
Sauce that was around our high heat level. The Garlic-oil-herbs that they
serve with the fresh baked bread was wonderful in it's own right. I had the
Fish Kabob with stuffed shrimp . Rob had the surf and turf, he said his
steak was excellent as well. I highly recommend this place to anyone
travelling in the area for a great meal.
The second night we stopped in to Judith Stone and husband Daves' El PassO
Cafe, It's located in Tierre Verde and was pretty easy to find. Dave fixed
me up with his famous Shrimp in Creamy Chipoltle Sauce (Pure and absolute
heavenly).. Rob had the Enchiladas, which was made with Daves own recipe for
the filling. Dave and Judith added some habanero's to the dishes to meet our
taste in heat . The Food was absolutely fabulous. The cream Chipoltle sauce
will go down as one of the best meals Ive eaten that contained Chipoltle.
The service and hospitality was great as well. They were very eager to have
us
try the sauces they make and ALL were very good. My Favorite was the Madder
n Hell Sauce and the Green With Envy Sauce. We also tried some of new
stuffthey are coming up with and all were just as delicious. Highly
Recommended lace to have some GREAT food and meet some super nice
Chile-heads , They've ot a website but I do not recall exactly what the URL
was. :-)
The last night we tried a Thai place just up the road from the hotel called
Thai AM. The food was pretty good here as well , although not as good as we
expected after having eaten at the other places first hehe( guess
expectations run high after you've eaten at places like El PassO Cafe and
Salt Rock)... The lady who waited on us was more than happy to spice things
up though for us, and although it wasn't habanero hot, I did have "the great
sweat" running when we left. I had the spicy shrimp and asked them to make
it Thai Hot. It was a good meal, Rob had the Curry Beef but was slightly
disappointed as it was more like a coconut milk stew rather than a strong
curry flavor.
Well, this all we had to report, any of these places make a good meal, but
El PassO and Salt Rock will always remain above the rest in service, heat
and just plain good food.