Piquant – Tampa, FL

 

One of our Christmas presents from my parents was a stack of CL Deals to use for date nights!  So for dinner last night, we headed to Piquant in Hyde Park. 

It’s in a cute location right on the corner of Rome & Snow Avenues.  I don’t think we’d been there since Sophie’s French Bakery was in that location a few years back. 

The previous restaurant had more of an eclectic coffee shop feel – it still has the bakery, but now it’s a bit more upscale now with ghost chairs, high-back black leather banquettes, and mood lighting.

I ordered the La Tour Eiffel cocktail – the Ketel 1, passion fruit, St. Germain, bubbly & rosemary.  It was served with crushed ice, so it tasted more like a fancy slushy drink.  Lance had the Coppertail Unholy Trippel (served in a 3 Daughters glass…) We still haven’t made our wait to Coppertail Brewery in Ybor, but Lance enjoyed his beer, so we’ll have to check it out soon! 

They served some crispy baguettes before the meal – I had to restrain myself from eating the whole bread basket. 

For my meal, I ordered one of their Signature Entrées, the Braised Boeuf Short Ribs with gratin dauphinoise, wilted spinach with pine nuts & preserved lemons, bordelaise sauce, and crispy leeks.  The portion wasn’t huge, but it was plenty enough for me.  And it was clear that it was quality over quantity.  The meat was tender and flavorful, and the potatoes and veggies were perfectly cooked.  

Lance had the Piquant Burger – made with Niman Ranch grass-fed beef, topped with a red wine onion confit, heirloom tomato, and white cheddar on a challah bun. It included parmesan, parsley, and truffle oil fries.  It was the perfect burger & fries. 

We didn’t have room for dessert, but their pastry display was filled with all sorts of goodies including tarts, cupcakes, and their famous cronuts.  We’ll need to come back another day and just have sweets & fancy coffee. 

It was a really wonderful meal.  The CL Deal definitely helped with the price though, so keep an eye out on the Creative Loafing website to see whether they post another deal!

Piquant is located at 1633 West Snow Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606 and is open 8am – 8pm Sunday – Wednesday and 8am – 10pm Thursday – Saturday.   

Datz Delicatessen – Tampa, FL

 

I had dinner a few nights ago at Datz with my friend Maddie (who just got engaged!) I’ve done a few posts on Datz, but unfortunately my photos never do it justice (the dim mood-lighting doesn’t really make for appetizing food photos…) But the food was just as spectacular as ever! 

We started off with drinks – Maddie had the El Diablo with tequila, crème de cassis, lime juice, and ginger beer.  I had the Dogfish Head Sah Tea – I’ve actually had this beer at Datz before.  The wort (liquid extracting from mashing process during the brewing of the beer) is caramelized over river rocks, then the beer is fermented with German weizen yeast.  Then it is flavored with Finnish juniper berries and black tea.  It is 9% alcohol, so stronger than what I normally drink.  To me I tastes like a mix of beer and chai tea. 

 

For dinner, we started with the black truffle fries, which were served with san Joaquin cheddar, sea salt, and herb aioli (I would order them again for sure).  We then split the uptown BLT – southern style fried green tomatoes topped with homemade pimento spread, crispy pork belly bacon, shredded lettuce, and sweet-spicy tomato bacon jam. 

 

 

We finished with the fish tacos – 3 blackened mahi-mahi soft tacos served with cilantro lime rice and Mexican street corn.  The tacos and corn were great – the rice didn’t seem like anything too special to me though. 

 

You really can’t go wrong with Datz – I’m sure I’ll be back again soon!

Datz is located at 2616 S MacDill Ave, Tampa, FL 33629 and is open Monday –Thursday 7am – 10pm, Friday 7am – 11pm, Saturday 8:30am – 11pm, and Sunday 8:30am – 3pm.

Fly Bar & Restaurant - Tampa, FL

Last night we headed to Fly Bar to celebrate our friend Katie’s birthday.  That was actually one of the first restaurants I reviewed on my blog back in June (you can see the post here). 

We had a large group, so we sat outside and pulled 4 tables together.  We had originally planned to eat on their rooftop bar, but it is apparently not open on Sunday nights. 

 

Fly Bar has some really great cocktail options.  This time I tried the Hella Radler – with vodka, cappeletti, lime, and grapefruit beer.  I love anything citrusy, so of course I enjoyed it.  I think I still like the Bees Knees that I’ve had there more though. 

 

For dinner we ordered the Truffled Mac & Cheese, Jerk Braised Oxtail, and Beef Sliders. 

It definitely isn’t your everyday mac & cheese dish – they use smoked gouda and truffle oil, then top it with fresh herbs. 

 

The oxtail had nice flavor – it was served with a curry sauce and some greens.  But it was actually a very small portion - the meat was mostly hidden underneath the yucca fries. 

 

We loved the sliders.  They were topped with white cheddar, sautéed mushrooms, and caramelized onions. The ketchup actually had a bit of spiciness. 

 

We had a Restaurant.com gift card to use – I got it over a year ago, but it had a lot of restrictions, so I haven’t been able to use it until now.  It wasn’t valid on Fridays or Saturdays, and it was only valid for food purchases over $35 (last time we went in June we spent over $35, but that was only when we included our drink purchases, so we couldn’t redeem it).  I think it’s better to use Creative Loafing deals instead. 

I’ve always been very satisfied with Fly Bar and last night was no exception.  If you haven’t been there yet, go check it out!

Fly Bar is located at 1202 N. Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602 and open from 4pm - 3am Monday through Sunday.