Wine Dine and Play: Central Florida Restaurants
Showing posts with label Central Florida Restaurants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Central Florida Restaurants. Show all posts

Osaka Sushi Thai

Best Sushi on St Pete Beach

Seminole, Florida, USA
Dined in January 2016
By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

My fiancé and I were doing some errands and looking at properties in the area along the beach, and were getting hungry for lunch. We were both in the mood for some sushi, and asked around. The best place recommended was Osaka Sushi a few blocks inland from Gulf Boulevard.  The restaurant was spacious, and had a large menu, the sushi was top notch.


Glossary of Restaurants on Wine, Dine, and Play:




Executive Chef:
Wen Liang



Main review:
When we arrived there were a few people in the dining room, but the major lunch rush hadn't started yet. It was also a weekday, and from the size and scope of the restaurant, it looked like it was more of a dinner atmosphere type of location. My fiancé enjoyed a Pinot Grigio while I had a Kirin Ichiban Japanese beer. Their menu was huge with large amounts of offerings from:

  • Appetizers
  • Salads
  • Soups
  • Lunch Entrees
  • Lunch Bento Box
  • Specialty Sushi Rolls
  • Dinner Entrees
  • House Specialties 
  • Noodle Sides
  • Sushi Menu

We started each getting a spring roll, and some miso soup, which were both wonderful in flavor. The soup had a few peaces of tofu, which my fiancé and I tend to avoid since 100% of the tofu produced in the United States from soy beans is all genetically modified, but the texture and perfect amounts of miso paste, stock and dashi were outstanding. Other soups on their menu included vegetable, Tom Yum, won ton, and potak which is a spicy Thai and sour seafood soup, with mushrooms, onions, lemon grass, galanga, and lime juice. That will be the next soup I try when we visit again. The spring roll was vegetable but meats such as shrimp and pork are also available on the menu. There are sixteen items on their appetizer menu including soft-shell crab, satay, tataki, squid, and rangoon to name a few.

We both bypassed the five salad offerings, though the nam sod salad and Thai salad both looked very appetizing. Under the lunch entrees for smaller size, there were eighteen choices from teriyaki chicken to to ton kutsu, and even some Thai panag curry. We had our minds set on the sushi, but to go with it, they had a selection of bento lunch boxes, five in all. A Bento (弁当) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento holds rice, fish or meat, with pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. We both shared box number 2 with the teriyaki chicken, steamed vegetables, shrimp tempura, pork dumpling, and steamed rice and ginger salad.

We then each chose an item from the speciality sushi rolls portion on the menu. On this menu they had nearly 80 separate sushi selections with very colorful names and descriptions for each such as the 007, Fat Bastard, Bubba, Red Dragon, and Shipwreck just to name a few. My fiancé had number 70 which was nicely titled the U La La with fried shrimp, tuna, avocado, spicy mayo whole roll deep fried and topped with eel sauce and spicy mayo.


I had the number 19 which was the Fat Bastard #1, a tuna, salmon, escolar, and yellow tail combination with cucumber, scallion, fish egg, spicy mayo, topped with tempura escolar, eel sauce, Honda sauce, wasabi mayo sauce, scallion, and fish egg. God it was fantastic. both of our entree selections were severed on the same plate, that was we could also share, which is something we both do in every restaurant we go to. There wine list consisted of basic house brands, but their main focus is on saké and beer.




Dessert:
We were both completely fool and could not get dessert, however they had a few options that looked really good to include fried cheesecake, tempura ice cream, and fried bananas. 






Food Prices 
(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)
$£€¥ -                Under 50.00 
$£€¥ x 2 -          51.00- 99.00 
$£€¥ x 3 -          Over 100.00 
$£€¥ x 4 -          Over 200.00 
$£€¥ x 5 -          Over 400.00 

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**

My food bill:
Currency:
Price chart:
$58.00
United States Dollar (USD)
$$
£40.00
Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
£
€52.00
European Union (EUR)
€€
$73.00
Canadian Dollar (CAN)
$$
$75.00
Australian Dollar (AUS)
$$
¥377.00
Chinese Yuan (CNY)  
¥¥¥¥


Review basics: 


Corkage fee’s:
American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
Restaurant style:
Casual
Reservations:
Not Required
Walk-Ins:
Accepted, but not guaranteed
Dress code:
Casual, or Conservative attire
Child policy:


The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette
Hire a Babysitter. 
Cuisine style:
Contemporary, Japanese, Thai, International, Fusion, & Vegetarian
Experiences:
Place for foodies, Hot spot, Great outdoor dining, Good for special occasions, Beautiful décor, Trendsetting, Tourist grabber, and a Neighborhood gem.
Payments:
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:
Private lot
Wifi
The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:
Low
Smoking:
Nonsmoking restaurant, but smoking patio
Patio:
Yes

Restaurant address:
13800 Park Blvd
Seminole, Florida
33776

GPS Coordinates: 
27.843485
-82.829383

Contact Information: 


Maître d, Reservations:
727-397-3885
Restaurant Website:
Serving Hours:
Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00)

Closed on Monday’s
Tue-Fri 
Lunch: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Dinner: 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Sat-Sun
Lunch: 12:00 am - 3:00 pm
Dinner: 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Contact Page:

Social Media 
Accolades:

Facebook Link                



Reviewed by:
Sean Overpeck (CFE)


I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working in the food service industry for the past twenty years, and am currently with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, Dubai, and Antarctica, also working in restaurants in and around Atlanta prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army food service program. The idea for the Wine, Dine, and Play Blog started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by others to write down the experiences from a few Jordanian restaurants, plus the wine from the region that I tasted, and locations of interest such as Petra, and the culture. Since that time, nearly 200 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide; exotic world locations such as Dubai, Petra, and African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; country cuisines such as Afghan and Peruvian; and of course wine from vineyards in California, Oregon, the Carolina’s, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia

Who is John Galt?




“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, 
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)



TTFN


Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro

St. Petersburg, Florida
Dockside Drinks and Lunch
Dined in September 2015















My girlfriend and I were spending the morning driving around the city of St. Petersburg, just checking out the sights as we were both new to the area. One discovery besides the typical museums and the failing pier as it has become known, is that there are a lot of parks to walk around and see the sights, the usually amount of shopping, and of course restaurants. The large pier going out into the Tampa bay that the city government used a large sum of tax payers money to build and maintain was failing because no one really went their and the business’s were failing. Now the city is working on a renovation project using even more money, but so far no business’s are willing to buy the new slots, most likely because they feel it will be a failure like the current pier. As we traveled around, walking the parks we stopped for lunch at a location that my girlfriend had been to before many years ago, and we had our dog with us which was fine for the restaurant as well. Most restaurants and stores in this area are very dog friendly as a heads up for when you travel here. The restaurant we stopped at was called Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro, where the patio was attached to a large dock with hundreds of boats ranging from small craft to large yachts. 





Follow Wine, dine, and Play:






Main review:
My girlfriend and I had just finished walking our dog at one of the downtown parks called South Straub Park before heading to Fresco’s for lunch. Like every restaurant they had a very typical indoor dining setup, but a little darker than most dining rooms. We sat on their large patio looking out at the dock filled with boats and the pier in the background. As we reviewed the menu, the server brought out a bowl of water for our dog, to which she was very happy. It was a hot summers day for Central Florida, so besides water to drink, we ordered a bottle of Chardonnay from the St. Supéry Estate Vineyard in Napa, a nice crisp wine, that was wonderful in the heat of the day as well as to pair with our lite lunch. (Scroll down below the main review to see wine tasting notes

The starter menu consisted of Yucatan Spring Rolls with grilled chicken and bacon, Smoked Fish Spread made with Mahi Mahi, Amberjack, and Marlin, Thai chili sauced Calamari, Bruschetta, and Shrimp Scampi to name a few. We decided to share two appetizers beginning with the Ceviche dish of citrus marinated Corvina (Drumfish or Croaker Fish), with Gulf Shrimp (pink shrimp, white shrimp, brown shrimp, and royal red shrimp), topped with avocado, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes and cilantro, served with tri-colored tortilla chips. 

For our second starter we enjoyed their Black N Blue Ahi Yellowfin Tuna seared rare & sliced thin, served with a seaweed salad garnish, and Thai chili sauce. Thought the appetizer was good, one notice from most restaurants in several states and even a few countries, is that the quality of yellowfin tuna has sadly decreased in flavor and quality over the years. Wether this phenomenon has to do with Fukushima radiological contamination of the sea, or just over fishing of the product in general.

The starters ended up filling us up, so for entrees we took it easy and shared a few items. From their lunch menu, they had an assortment of salads, flatbreads, quesadilla selections, pastas, “Between the bread” aka sandwiches, and of course main entree selections such as sirloin, Atlantic Salmon, Mahi, and chicken marsala. 

My girlfriend and I decided to share a cup of the Lobster Bisque from the starter menu and a steak portabella wrap with sliced sirloin, portabella (portobello) mushrooms, sautéed onions, roasted red peppers, provolone cheese, and horseradish sauce. The dish came with a side of coleslaw. By the end of the meal we were cooling down from the wine, and were full to a point that it would have been impossible to have dessert.



Wine Tasting Notes:

Wine & Grape:
Nose (Bouquet):
Palette Experience:
This Chardonnay presents with brilliant shades of pale yellows and green. Aromas of nectarine, white peach, lime, and kiwi combine with expressive orange marmalade. 
 This is a bright, exciting wine that  finishes clean and crisp with lots of exotic  flavors.
Wine Regulatory: 





Food Prices 
(excluding taxes & gratuity)
$£€¥ -                Under 50.00 
$£€¥ x 2 -          51.00- 99.00 
$£€¥ x 3 -          Over 100.00 
$£€¥ x 4 -          Over 200.00 
$£€¥ x 5 -          Over 400.00 

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**


My food bill:
Currency:
Price chart:
$51.00
United States Dollar (USD)
$$
£34.00
Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
£
€48.00
European Union (EUR)
$68.00
Canadian Dollar (CAN)
$$
$71.00
Australian Dollar (AUS)
$$
¥326.00
Chinese Yuan (CNY)  
¥¥¥¥

Cost of wines and other alcoholic beverages in $$ USD:
$39.00



Review basics: 

Wine selections by region:




0 of 10
I requested a copy of the wine list for this review, however there was no response from he restaurant, so I have given their list a zero rating, and can only determine what wines they have in stock by what we drank.
However if the restaurant does send me their list, I will update this portion.


New World: 

California: Napa
Corkage fee’s:
American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
Restaurant style:
Casual
Reservations:
Not Required 
Walk-ins:
Accepted
Dress code:
Casual
Child policy:


The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette
Hire a Babysitter. 
Cuisine style:
Bistro, Modern, Seafood, American, Southern, Mediterranean, & Vegetarian
Music styles:
Background instrumental
Experiences:
Place for foodies, Hot spot, Great outdoor dining, Good for special occasions, Scenic views, Trendsetting, Tourist grabber, and a Neighborhood gem.
Gratuities:
Industry standard is 18-20% added to parties of 6 or more
Payments:
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:
Street Parking
2 hour validated parking with charge
Transport options:
Bus, taxi, limousine, personal vehicle, and walking
Wifi
The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:
Low
Smoking:
Nonsmoking restaurant, and nonsmoking patio
Patio:
Yes

Restaurant address:
300 2nd Ave NE, 
St. Petersburg, Florida
33701-3502




Neighborhood:
Downtown St. Pete

Cross streets:
Bayshore Drive and The Tampa Bay


GPS Coordinates: 

Latitude:     27.773209
Longetude: -82.631457


Contact Information: 

Maître d, Reservations:
727-894-4429
Restaurant Website:
Email:
Reserve Online:
Social Media & Accolades:


Facebook Link                


Hours:
Standard Time (GMT - 5:00) 


Daily:
Monday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Tuesday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Wednesday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Thursday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Friday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Saturday
11:30 am –10:00 pm
Sunday
11:30 am –10:00 pm



Reviewed by:
Sean Overpeck (CFE)








TTFN






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