Hula Bay Sushi - Lodge Sushi - Redbox - SudsFest

A buddy of mine is in town for a couple of weeks, so we ventured to Hula Bay, off Westshore, south of Gandy on the Bay...and tried their Sushi...It was a Wednesday evening, and the outside tables at 7pm were all full, even Duke's Bar was completely full, so we were seated at a table inside, still with great views of the Bay. They have a listing of over a dozen specialty rolls, and of course your main stream Sushi and Sashimi. Surprisingly very fresh, and very good...I have never been dissapointed with the food at Hula Bay, and now the Sushi comes with good recommendations..with a great scene and views.
After dinner..we went to AMC (free popcorn Wednesday's)...and saw The Hangover...this one goes down as one of the classic's, like Caddyshack, Animal House, etc...one you will want to see a few times...just non stop laughter!!

Thursday, after helping a friend move into her new apartment in South Tampa, we met a few people at The Lodge, on Howard Avenue in Hyde Park neighborhood of South Tampa. Lots of pretty people, we put a few tables together outside, and enjoyed the company, and somewhat dry air(still very warm, but the circulating fans kept things cool on the patio). Their menu is all over the place..in a good way...from over a dozen kinds of sliders, to Steak and Eggs anytime, and my favorite>>Tatar Tots! We tried the Sushi here(as if I didnt already have enough this week), and found the Ahi Tuna App with cucumber salad to be very good, their specialty rolls are also all over the board..and the ones we tried were both very good, for a place that doesn't necessarily specialize in Sushi.

Friday was movie night with the kids....and I now find Redbox rentals so convenient and CHEAP. For $1, you can rent all the latest new releases, along with many older classics..you just go online, find a redbox near you(almost all Walgreens and SweetBay supermarkets), rent one on line..then just go to the redbox, slide your credit card, and out comes your DVD movie....return it within 24 hours, and its just $1, or $1 each day you have it...no late fees, you can return it to ANY redbox...so quick, convenient...love the RedBox!

Saturday evening was the annual SudsFest at the Florida Aquarium downtown Tampa - Channelside. For $50, they open the Aquarium from 7pm to 11pm, and not only can you enjoy all the attractions at the Aquarium, but throughout their were over a few dozen beer tables, sampling beers from all over the country...AND over a dozen local restaurants, dishing out their specialities...AND live music, inside, outside on the deck, and in the Shark Tank area...it seemed each time you turned a corner, there was something new....it wasn't crowded AT ALL, no lines for beer or food, and just turned out to be a great Saturday Night at the Aquarium with really good friends.

Buddha Lounge Tampa

Looks like a Sushi week for me...this evening some Friends of mine and I decided to check out Buddha Lounge at the Westshore Hotel on Westshore Blvd just north of Cypress Street...from the Green Iguana people, this a classy very loungy type place, with a sunken bar, and cozy sofas and chairs throughout, lounge music in the back ground. You can enter through the Green Iguana, has a separate entrance in the back, or through the Lobby.

We picked a cozy couch and chairs, very comfortable, and started with a few cocktails from a very friendly server. Moving on to a Ginger Salad and Edamame, both very good, lots of Ginger dressing on the large plated salad that had mixed Field Greens, shredded carrots and sliced Cucumber...refreshing. The tuna is best here...flown in daily from Hawaii, we tried the Ahi Tuna Tar tare, beautiful presentaiton and flavor with thin crispy tortilla chips for dipping/scooping the tartare...then onto some very fresh Sashimi, and a few Rolls....all very well presented, but best of all very fresh and delicious. I found me a new spot for Sushi, in a very loungy type atmosphere in the Westshore District of Tampa!

Hook's - St. Pete's BEST Sushi; and a Concert at State Theater

A St. Pete friend and I went over to Hook's for some of the BEST sushi this side of the Bay. On 9th Street and 11th Avenue, its a small place, very casual, about 10 tables and booths, and a dozen chairs at the Sushi Bar. Extremely friendly service by both the Sushi master(not sure what they call them), and the server. Rolls are always very fresh and large portions, there are probably 3 dozen or so types of rolls, they will make them how over you like. SOme Edamame to start, Ginger Salads, and then we dived into the pretty display of Spider Roll, Mexican, and St. Pete Roll. YUMMM!
Afterwards we headed downtown St. Pete to the State Theater, and old small theater that now has no seats, and shows independent and small national live music acts on stage. It holds a few hundred people..the FLOBOTS were playing this evening, a great new national Raggae-Ska type outfit(think Sublime meats Cake as my friend put it), very entertaining troupe, of course everyone was familiar with the song "Handlebars" but they had lots of other great tunes of course.

Work takes me to Baltimore, MD for the rest of the week...

Looking forward to First Friday downtown St. Pete Friday, and 13th annual WaZoo on Saturday at Lowry Park Zoo, one of the 10 best Beer Festivals in the country.

Birthdays and Berryism in Tampa

Monday met up with a friend at Wooden Door, a few blocks form my house, they have expanded the outdoor patio. Jen our server was extremely friendly, and made sure we had everything we needed, we enjoyed listening to some great tunes outside, with the fans going it kept things nice a breezy out on the patio this evening. Afterwards I got a call to meet up with some other friends for a 30th Bday party, at The Tapper Pub. Its been ages since I've been here, I remember years ago for Happy Hour when they would put a huge cheese wheel in the middle of the bar with crackers...less than a mile from my house in the Britton Plaza, this place has been keeping people happy since the 60's. They always had great food like sandwich's of all kinds, the menu is all on boards across the top of the bar, only the prices have changed a bit. It looks like a typical store from the outside, but walk in and there is a huge A-frame wooden ceiling, very long large wooden bar, and some pool tables and darts in the back. We played a few rounds of darts, and listened to some great tunes on the juke box.

Thursday evening, picked up a good friend of mine and had the BEST sushi in Tampa at Yoko's..Yoko herself came by to serve the Sushi and make sure things were good...I LOVE this place and have talked about it lots on this site...afterwards my friend said she had loved going to D'Lites for dessert, but a new place called Berryism opened up, and we thought we would give it a try. Its frozen yogurt, three different flavors, custard-like, wild berry, and green tea. There is about a dozen or so toppings, everything from fresh sliced fruits of all kinds, to Captain Crunch and Fruity Pebbles cereals, and the other typical toppings you would see. The yogurt was ok, kind of light and a little watery for my liking, they were very generous with the fresh berry toppings I had(blackberry, blueberry and raspberry).

I'm looking forward to the weekend with lots going on as usual, a few things to consider:

Live After Five downtown Tampa
Lion King Broadway Show - Tampa Performing Arts Center
Downtown Art Walk - St Petersburg
SudsFest - Florida Aquarium
TampaBay Caribbean Festival

YOKO - LA CASA DOLCE!

Tampa's BEST sushi(YOKO'S) - Tampa's BEST Gelato(LA CASA DOLCE). Enuff Said!

Tampa Sushi and Gelato

Took a newbie to Yoko's, my favorite spot for Sushi in the Bay area. Located on MacDill Ave in South Tampa, its just around the corner from my house, and a typically a weekly stop. We did the Bucs Roll, of course, Love, Mexican, and Spider Rolls. Fresh, plentiful, tasty! Afterwards to cleanse the pallet, it was La Casa Dolce on Howard Ave in Hyde Park/SOHO for fresh made Gelato. I tried the Carmel and Nut with Kit Kat Gelato, so smooth, creamy and fresh. YUM! Debi and John tried the Chocolate Hazelnut, and Caramel/Nut and Cheesecake Gelato. It was a nice evening to sit out on Howard Ave, and watch the passersby.

Tampa Sushi

It was Yoko's on South MacDill Ave again. They have expanded and opened another section of about 6 more tables and 12 more seats at the Sushi Bar. I LOVE this place even more now!! The BEST rolls tonight were Bucs roll, Fresh Roll, Love Roll, and Mexican. YUMM!!!! We then headed to Urban Body in Hyde Park as I needed to pick up some new clothes for my trip to Vegas this weekend, but closed at 7pm??? Sad. So instead went to SteinMart in Britton Plaza - why are all those clothes for men look so bright(pastel red, green, orange), and why are the shirts so darn long - like down to my knees and i'm 5'9". I just feel everything is irregular, but I did find a Polo I liked...uggg, hate the shopping! Wish me Luck, be back on Tuesday!