Month: January 2022

Doc Fords – St. Petersburg, FL

The St. Petersburg Pier is a wonderful place to visit. The offer great views of Tampa Bay. You can watch boats float around and people fishing from the pier.

                        

There are several places to eat around the pier. I headed to Doc Fords for some fresh Florida seafood.

Doc Fords offers lots of seating options. You can sit inside or outside.

There is a huge aquarium right at the door when you walk in. If you are lucky, you can say hello to Nemo and Dory.

I sat outside on the patio to enjoy the fresh sea air.

I looked over their cocktail menu. I saw a Dirty Banana listed. I normally do not see this drink on menus. This is my go-to vacation drink when I travel to the islands. I wanted to make sure that I ordered one. If you have never had one, it is a blend of light rum, dark crème de cacao, banana puree, and a chocolate syrup drizzle. This is basically like an adult milk shake. The coolness of the drink was refreshing. The flavor of the banana and chocolate paired so well together. It really enjoyed tis drink.

One of the appetizers that came out was the Calamari. It was lightly breaded and fried. The calamari was tender. They served it with a homemade cocktail sauce.

Instead of the cocktail sauce, I used their three sauces that they had on the table. They were perfect on the calamari. They offered three different flavors:

Colombian Gold Pepper – This is a mango sauce with a mild, sweet heat

Chipotle Pepper – This has a smokey flavor with a mild heat

Amazon Sauce – This was made with habanero peppers and is very hot

Another appetizer was the Captiva Crab cakes. The jumbo lump crabmeat was pan fried so that a thin crispiness was on the outside. They served it with a jicama slaw. This is like a water chestnut. It added a nice crunch. They finished it off with a key lime butter sauce. The sauce made the crab cake delicious with a rich and creamy taste.

I ordered the Seafood Paella to share. I figured it would be a large dish that I could not eat all by myself. They loaded up with jumbo scallops, shrimp, mussels, and fish medallions. Their unique take was adding chorizo sausage. This added a little heat.

All the seafood was placed on top of tomatoes, peas, and saffron rice. The mussels, scallops, and shrimp really soaked up the flavor of the saffron. The fish medallions were flakey and tender. I ended up dipping the fish in the Colombian gold pepper sauce. I liked the sweetness of the sauce with the fish.

I also got to try the Panko Crusted Grouper. The grouper was pan-seared and served on a bed of brown rice. The grouper was flakey and moist. They also served julienned vegetables, spinach, and mushrooms. They topped everything with a honey papaya rum sauce. The tropical flavor of the papaya went perfectly with the grouper. It was not heavy although it was sweet. The spinach and mushrooms added an earthy flavor to the dish.

The food and views were amazing at Doc Fords. I was there during the week so there was no wait for a table. I can only imagine that this place is packed on the weekends.

Check them out at www.DocFords.com

Enjoy!

T

Chef T’s Garden Grill – Lakeland, FL

There is a cute old house in Lakeland that has been converted into a restaurant called Chef T’s Garden Grill.

When you walk in, each room of the house has tables set up for an intimate dining experience. I was there with a small group of friends, and we had a room all to ourselves.

We had a special dinner that was set up with a wine paring. Each wine was selected to go with the foods we were eating. It was a great combination of reds and whites, along with some sweet wines for dessert.

The menu that was put together for the winy pairing was delicious. It started off with the Beef & Barley Soup. This soup was amazing. The broth was thick and savory. It was almost the texture of gravy. The pieces of beef were extremely tender. The potatoes captured the flavor of the broth. The small cup was not enough; I could have eaten a big bowl.

For my dinner, I got the Shrimp Scampi. These fresh shrimp were sauteed in garlic, white wine, butter, lemon, and red pepper flakes. They sprinkled fresh parsley on top. All of this was served on top of fresh linguini.

The sauce was amazing. It was light but still had a creamy texture to it. The lemon gave it a slight tangy flavor that helped enhance the flavor of the garlic and white wine. They used a generous amount of sauce, so it coated the pasta perfectly. They included a side of vegetables that included cauliflower and carrots. They were delicious with the garlic butter sauce as well.

Meatloaf was the other option on the menu for dinner. I did get to try it. The meatloaf was moist and light. It was not dense at all. The herb seasonings they mixed in with the meat created a savory taste. The gravy was also fantastic on the mashed potatoes.

For dessert we got a slice of homemade Chocolate Cake.  It was a double layer of moist chocolate cake. In between the layers of cake was a creamy custard. On the outside was a rich and creamy chocolate ganache.

This dessert was spectacular. The chocolate flavor of course paired well with the red dessert wine that was served. The custard in the layers was light and fluffy. It was not overly sweet. The ganache was rich but also not overly sweet. It was the perfect dessert to end the meal. It helped tie the whole experience together.

The food was amazing at Chef T’s. The intimate setting was nice and helped me enjoy what I was eating even more. I would love to get to go back to try something else on the menu. It does change based on what ingredients are available.

If you are in Lakeland, check them out. Visit their website at www.cheftsgardengrill.com

Enjoy!

T

Salt Shack on the Bay – Tampa, FL

In the late 1930s there was an area in Tampa that was loaded with Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes. This area became known as Rattlesnake, Florida. Today tis is the area of Old Tampa Bay and the Gandy Bridge.

This is where you will find Salt Shack on the Bay.

This restaurant, right on the water, has beautiful views. The inside area has fire pits, tables and is complete with an old boat.

There is an open-air bar that you can grab a drink and sit at one of the many Adirondack chairs. It is a great place to just chill out.

Now if you are hungry there are tables both inside and outside. I got a table outside so I could enjoy the weather and the view of the water.

I ordered the Calamari Rings for a starter. The calamari were breaded and fried up nice and crispy. They also included some banana pepper slices that were fried up. They added a nice tangy flavor to the calamari, which was fresh and tender. They served a homemade “Island Sofrito Sauce”. It was a cross between a salsa ad marinara sauce. It added nice taste to the calamari.

For my meal I got the Coconut Curried Shrimp. This was sautéed shrimp with pineapple and peppers in a Jamaican curry sauce.

The shrimp were tender and soaked up the flavor of the curry. The sweetness of the pineapple complemented the slight hint of heat coming from the Jamaican seasoning in the curry sauce. The dish also came with sugar snap peas mixed in. It all sat on top of seasoned rice.

They included a pineapple salsa. This was delicious and I wish this was on the menu as an appetizer with tortilla chips. The pineapple was mixed with chopped tomatoes and cilantro. The overall flavor was sweet, but I did get some hint of sourness from the tomatoes. It was a nice contrast.

I also got to try the Fish Tacos. They used fresh Mahi that was blackened. They were layered in a flour tortilla along with shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, jicama slaw, and tomato salsa. There was a drizzle of chili horseradish on top. The flakey fish was seasoned perfectly. He horseradish sauce helped pull it all together with the right amount of tanginess.

The food and the views were fantastic at Salt Shack. I was there in the afternoon during the week, so I was able to get a table. I hear that they get packed on the weekends.

If you want to learn more about the Rattlesnakes that were once in the area, check out their website at www.salt-shack.com

Enjoy!

T