A Food Adventure in Tampa Bay

I spent the last couple of days in the Tampa Bay area, managing to travel through seven (I think it was seven) counties in the process. I ate a TON, and most of it was amazing. I had bought a Groupon for The Brunchery in Tampa, so I headed there first. I've got to be honest, after reading all of the good reviews The Brunchery had online, I was a little disappointed. In fact, had I not had the Groupon, I would've been very disappointed. I ordered the lox omelet, which came with home fries and toast, and an iced tea. I'm wondering if maybe their sweet breakfast items are better than their savory ones, as those were the ones most touted online. Nothing I ate was bad, and the home fries were actually pretty good, but the omelet, which was advertised as being full of "lox, onions, tomatoes, and cream cheese," had what appeared to be just salmon inside, not actual thinly sliced smoked salmon (lox!!). Other than that, though, it wasn't bad. I enjoyed my food, and I left full, I just did not get as high a quality experience as I'd expected.

Oh! While this isn't exactly a food-eating adventure, it is still worth sharing. While stopping for Starbucks on my travels, my supreme nose for a bargain (have I mentioned I'm Jewish? Ohhhh stereotypes!) sniffed out an excellent find. There was a gourmet supermarket and deli that was open for its very last day. That made me sad, as once I stepped inside it looked like an amazing place for out of the ordinary cooking finds. However, because it was their last day, they were running a special "we need to get rid of everything" sale. A plastic shopping bag could be filled with products for $10, and a shopping basket for $30. If it hadn't been the last hour of the last day, I could have easily filled a shopping basket or two. However, the pickings were a bit slim, so I stuck with one bag. Boy, though, did we manage to cram a lot in one shopping bag! I can't wait to start looking for recipes to use the random things I purchased (from pure pink Himalayan garlic salt to Java Rub to rose water to mirin); I'd say there was at least $70 worth of stuff in there.