Author: gatorgirl.outoftheswamp@gmail.com

Kobe Ichiban – Brandon, FL

I was really hungry for sushi when I was visiting Brandon, Florida. Not far from where I was staying was Kobe Ichiban. It is a Japanese steakhouse that had a pretty big sushi menu.

  

This restaurant had so many hibachi tables and every single one was full. Apparently people love coming to Kobe for their birthdays. The waiters bang a drum to celebrate.

  

I sat at the bar because it was easier for me. I figured the service would be a little faster.

I started off with the fresh salad with the ginger dressing and miso soup. The dressing on the salad was great. It was not creamy like some others I have had. It had a nice salty taste that added interest to the lettuce and cucumbers in the salad.

The miso soup had a very vibrant flavor. There was a lot of onion and mushrooms. This added extra flavor and a little texture. The one thing that was missing from the soup was tofu. That would have been a nice addition.

I ordered a spicy tuna roll. This is my favorite roll and I always make sure to order one. There was nice heat to it because of the wasabi. They sprinkled a little panko breadcrumbs on top which added a slight crunch. There was also a toasted accent that came from the sesame seeds on the outside of the rice.

I had ordered the sushi dinner. It was an assortment of sashimi, nigiri, and a California roll. I had no idea it was served on a little wooden boat. I laughed as soon as my waiter brought it out.

The sashimi included fresh ahi tuna, yellow fin tuna, and salmon. The nigiri included more tuna, yellow fin, salmon, plus shrimp, and eel. My favorite of all these options was the eel. The sweet sauce they drizzled over the eel was spectacular.

The California roll was very mild. It was a great filler and had a great crunch because of the cucumber that was inside.

If you are in the mood for sushi or want some fresh hibachi, you need to check out Kobe Ichiban. They have several locations all over Florida. Visit their website at www.kobesteakhouse.com to find one closest to you.

Enjoy!

T

Happy New Year 2018

Kama’ Aina Grindz – Everett, WA

I never expected to find a Hawaiian restaurant in Everett, Washington. That is exactly what I found when I was walking through the cute downtown area.

Kama’ Aina Grindz is truly authentic Hawaiian cuisine. The owner is from Oahu, Hawaii. The food he serves up are dishes he grew up eating.

The restaurant is decorated with artwork representing Hawaii. Even when I walked through the door I was greeted with a loud Aloha!

  

I was curious about the name he chose. I headed to the website to learn about the meaning. Kama means child and Aina means land. Putting that together is means “Child of the Land”. Grindz is Hawaiian slang for “Eat”.

They did not have regular soda on the menu. They had a locally produced soda from the Dry Soda Company. These were all natural sodas that are caffeine and sodium free. They had some unique flavors to try. I went for Cucumber. There was a slight sweetness that was all natural. This soda was very refreshing with the taste of cucumber.

For dinner I ordered the Wiki Wiki Noodles Miso Ramen. This fresh made soup was loaded with shitake mushrooms, Julienne eggs, cubed tofu, and fresh made noodles.

This soup was fantastic. It was a nice salty broth. The eggs were really sweet. The tofu did not add any flavor but did add extra texture. The noodles were great. I needed to use a spoon and a fork to eat the soup because the noodles were so long. This was definitely a soup that is a whole meal.

After I finished, my waitress brought me a small dessert on the house. It was a raspberry-papaya sorbet. To me it was like a Hawaiian shaved ice. The taste was slightly tart and sweet. There was a nice creaminess too.

Kama’ Aina Grindz was a really great surprise. I am really glad I checked them out. If you are interested in visiting them check out their website at http://kamaainagrindz.com/

Mahalo!

Enjoy!
T

 

Merry Christmas

The New Mexicans – Everett, WA

About 30 minutes north of downtown Seattle is Everett, Washington. Everett is home to a Boeing assembly plant. It is a huge plant that you cannot miss if you drive by. Everett’s downtown area is being revamped with lots of new restaurants, hotels, and fun things to do. One of those newer restaurants is The New Mexicans.

The owners are from Hatch, New Mexico. They are bringing some great flavors from New Mexico to the chilly North West in the form of their families recipes.

  

Since Hatch, New Mexico is known for their green chile peppers, I wanted to make sure I got a dish that incorporated them. The Green Chile Stew fit the requirement.

This stew had a green chile sauce base that was loaded with chucky pork, celery, okra, carrots, corn, and potatoes. The stew was deeply flavorful. The green chiles added more heat than I anticipated. The pork was extremely tender and fell apart as I picked it up. The stew was also served with a fresh hot roll. I used this to help cut down on the heat.

The table shared a basket of freshly made Sopapillas. These were amazing and acted as a wonderful dessert.  The dough was deep fried and came out extremely hot  and had melted butter on top. The dough itself was sweet and because of the butter there was a slight saltiness. These were addicting to eat. It was the pairing of both sweet and salty that did it for me.

This was the perfect place to grab lunch. When I talked to a few of the other patrons, this place apparently has a great happy hour and breakfast menu. Looks like I will be coming back.

Check them out at http://www.thenewmexicans.com/

Enjoy!

T

Harborside – Winter Haven, FL

Central Florida is not shy of water. There are dozens of lakes all around. Recently I visited Lake Shipp in the Winter Haven area. Unfortunately when I got there one of Florida’s famous pop-up rain showers started. So since hanging outside was out of the question I decided to check out a restaurant right along the lake called Harborside.

They had a great view of the water.

As soon as I looked at the menu the red sangria called out to me. It was very classic with oranges and maraschino cherries added in. The only thing I would have changed was the ice. Now that may sound really strange but the reason for this is because they used crushed ice. So every time I took a sip a bunch of ice came with it.

The waitress brought a fresh basket of garlic bread. This bread had just come out of the oven because it was piping hot. It was soft on the inside with a slight crunch with the crust. There was a ton of garlic and butter on the outside of this bread that additional butter on the inside was not necessary. I could have eaten the entire basket myself. But I knew if I did then I would have no room for anything else.

After tasting the bread, I knew the perfect accompaniment would be a bowl of clam chowder. This was not a thick chowder. However, even though it was not thick, it was still extremely creamy. I really like that it was not thick. I felt like the flavor was more powerful. I could taste the herbs they used. The chowder was also loaded with tons of fresh clams and chunky potatoes. The clams were tender, not chewy. They added a meaty taste to the chowder.

To continue my meal I ordered the crab cake. This crab cake came out in a metal pan because they broiled it instead of frying it. This crab cake was loaded with fresh lump crabmeat. They did not use any breadcrumbs to make it. I loved this because they made this all about the crab.

There was a creaminess to the crab cake that was enhanced because it was broiled. It was amazing. it also came with a side dish of my choice. I went for the mashed potatoes. They used red potato and left the skin on. I love them prepared this way because it adds more texture to the potato. I also love red potatoes because they are sweeter.

I also wanted to make sure I wrote about the lobster roll. Now I did not order this but someone at my table did. It looked really good so I got to try a little of it. This roll was loaded with large chunks of lobster. The meat was tender and somewhat sweet.

This lobster roll did not use mayo. The lobster was just prepared with butter and lemon juice. It was served in a roll that looked slightly like a hot dog bun.

I am really glad it rained that day I visited Lake Shipp. Because of Mother nature, I was able to try a great new restaurant.  Check out their menu at www.harborsidefl.com

Enjoy!

T

400 Beach – St. Petersburg, FL

Going out to dinner with friends is a wonderful experience. When friends of mine learned I write a food blog, they made sure to pick a new restaurant for us to try. That is one of the reasons we went to 400 Beach in St. Petersburg, Florida. The other reason is because it was my birthday.

It was a beautiful place with seating both inside and outside. Since it was way to hot to eat outside, we sat inside to stay nice and cool. There were tropical decorations everywhere.

  

We kicked off my birthday with cocktails. I ordered the Raspberry Cosmomosa. This was raspberry vodka, fresh lime juice, orange juice, cranberry juice, and simple syrup. They topped it off with sparkling wine. My waitress surprised me and included a candle for my birthday.

  

After being totally embarrassed and blowing out the candle I took a sip. It was tasty. it was very sweet and I could not pick out just one flavor. All the juices and liquor worked really well together. I liked the added bubbles that the sparkling wine brought to the drink.

Since we were there with a group, we ordered tons of appetizers to share at the table. Every single one of them was amazing.

First up was the fried calamari. It was lightly battered so that the tenderness of the calamari shined through. It came drizzled with a garlic aioli and topped with shaved parmesan cheese. The cheese gave it a slight saltiness.

The grilled sea scallops were my favorite appetizer. The scallops were extremely tender, almost like butter. They were also very sweet. What made this dish stand out was the Soba noodle salad that came with it. It was cold pasta but the sauce they used was amazing. It had hints of sesame oil for a nutty taste. Even without the scallops, this would have been great.

We also ordered the Artichoke Manchego Fondue with crab meat. I thought this would be like any typical artichoke dip but I was totally wrong. The Manchego cheese was super creamy. It spread nicely on the tortilla chips. The crab added extra texture along with the artichokes but the cheese hide those flavors. This dish was all about the cheese.

400 Beach offered several options when it came to oysters. We went for the Oysters Rockefeller. They were the perfect size for everyone to get to try one. They were loaded with spinach, bacon, and a delicious Hollandaise sauce. The salty, smoky flavor from the bacon really accented the brininess from the oysters. They were cooked well, so that the oysters were not chewy.

The Seafood Louis salad was also great for sharing. This salad was loaded with shrimp, scallops, and crab on top of Romaine lettuce, sliced hard boiled eggs, sliced avocado, and tomato. They covered it in a chili lemon Louis dressing. This was a fresh tasting salad.

It was time for another cocktail before the main dishes came out. The Sunset Martini sounded perfect. It was a combination of orange juice and mango rum. They added a little Chambord to add a little extra color. This was sweet but not as sweet as my first drink. With the orange juice it reminded me of a mimosa. the added mango flavor really made this a tropical drink.

For my main dinner I ordered the jumbo shrimp. I had them grilled. they came with rice and fresh vegetables. It was a lot of food. The shrimp were grilled nicely. They were great dipped on the fresh made cocktail sauce. The rice was really just filler, nothing special. The fresh vegetables were sautéed with a little salt and pepper. The natural flavor of the vegetables really came through.

I had the best time at 400 beach. I was there with great friends, I had a wonderful waitress, and the food was fantastic. I would definitely want to go back and try one of their other dishes. Check them out at www.400beachseafood.com

Enjoy!

T

National Cupcake Day

Today is National Cupcake Day. To honor that I wanted to share these cute pictures of Christmas themed cupcakes.

Enjoy!

T

National Cocoa Day

Today is National Cocoa Day! So grab a hot cup and enjoy!

Enjoy!

T

National Brownie Day

Today is National Brownie Day! A perfect day for this chocolate treat.

Enjoy!

T