Shiro of Japan in Carle Place, NY

Goodbye Shiro of Japan in Carle Place, NY. I have happy memories of going here as a kid. Too bad they closed after being in business for over 50 years.

 

Soup

Salad

Rice, ginger, and mustard sauce

Salmon and noodles

Spris Pizza in Miami, FL

I ate at Spris Pizza in Miami. Spris was located in a food truck in The Wharf Miami. I had the Rucola & Prosciutto pie. This pizza was topped with mozzarella, tomato sauce, arugula, and proscuitto. I was impressed how generous Spris was with the toppings. With a lot of places serving proscuitto on pizza, you get a few slices but Spris loaded it on. Flavors were good. Crust was good. I enjoyed the pizza!

 Video of the pizza

Tabla in Orlando, FL

Tabla Indian Restaurant was interesting. They were located inside of a motel next to the former site of Mystery Fun House across from Universal. I've never had Indian food in a motel before. All of the open parking spots near the restaurant entrance were reserved for hotel rewards members. I chanced parking in the reserved spot and nobody checked. The inside of Tabla was well decorated, more upscale than I'd expect in a motel restaurant. Regardless, we had hesitations about what we'd be getting because of the strangeness of the motel and parking. Thankfully, the food was good!

Started with Mixed Pakora Appetizer. This was a big plate of deep fried cauliflower, potato, paneer, and onions served with dipping sauces.

Chicken Tikka Masala was served on a sizzling skillet. I've had many versions of chicken tikka masala in my life, but this is the first time I've ever seen it served on a steaming platter. I enjoyed the show.

Also tried the Butter Chicken. 

I enjoyed my meal here. The food exceeded expectations set by the sketchy location. Everything was good and portions were huge compared to most Indian restaurants in the area. It's rare that I eat in an Indian restaurant and have leftovers. This was the case at Tabla. I'd go back.
 

Hudson's on the River in Stuart, FL

Had lunch in downtown Stuart, FL at a waterfront restaurant called Hudson's on the River.

I ordered the Tropical Roll. This sushi roll consisted of coconut shrimp, avocado, mango, kiwi, pineapple salsa, and pear teriyaki. I enjoyed the roll. In regards to taste, I had no complaints. Only complaint was all aesthetic. The choice to put the brown colored teriyaki sauce on top of the bright colored fruit sort of made it look like the fruit was turning brown. It wasn't, but the presentation on this roll could have been better.  

 

Eggholic in Queens, NY

I tried a restaurant called Eggholic in Queens, NY. This was an Indian fast food restaurant where most everything was egg based in some form, whether it be actual egg or chicken.

Started with somosas:

I tried the Lachko. This was new to me when it came to Indian food and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. The menu described it as shredded green bell pepper cooked with cheese and running eggs. It was served with roti. I enjoyed it. The egg wasn't very identifiable, but the cheese very much was. It reminded me of eating the roti covered in a cheesy dip. 

 

Sweet & Salty Island Grindz Food Truck

I recently tried a food truck called Sweet & Salty Island Grindz who specialized in Hawaiian BBQ. I ordered their Kalbi Beef. The beef ribs were served over rice, with macaroni salad and a Hawaiian roll. Beef was flavorful in some sort of teriyaki-like sauce.

 

Cafe du Monde in Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

I had a layover in Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. While in New Orleans, regardless of if it is just an hour in the airport between flights, the tourist thing to do is stop at Cafe Du Monde. 

 I had a Cafe au Lait.

The beignets! As far as beignets go, I was reminded that Cafe du Monde's beignets are better than the beignets that I have occasionally in Florida. These were very fluffy, almost croissant like on the inside.

Pioneer's Pizza in Punta Gorda, FL

Jersey Meatball Pizza from Pioneer's Pizza in Punta Gorda, FL. This was a pie topped with meatball and ricotta.

 

Las Olas Pizza Company in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I had dinner at Las Olas Pizza Company in Ft. Lauderdale. This was a New York style pizza shop, serving pizza by the slice with a nice selection of pies to pick from.

I had two slices. One was their Supreme Pizza, topped with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. The other was the Margarita, which was a thin, square slice topped with fresh mozzarella. Both were nice and thin, with a nice proportion of all the ingredients. I think I preferred the Margarita of the two...

Bagels & More in Hollywood, FL

I had breakfast at a restaurant called Bagels & More in Hollywood, FL. Interestingly, they were cash only. Which doesn't seem like a wise way to run a business when cash seems to be used less and less (especially during COVID), but they were filled with customers. I guess it's working for them.

I had an everything bagel with lox cream cheese. They were generous with the amount of cream cheese, which also happened to be filled with lots and lots of lox.

The Piefather in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Piefather was a food truck parked in The Wharf in Las Olas. I ordered a pie called The Pepperoni. Pretty self explanatory. Nice thin crust with good proportions of cheese and sauce. The pepperoni curled, as hipsters at The Wharf would expect their pepperoni to do. I enjoyed the pizza...

Boston Bagel Cafe in Oakland Park, FL

I ate a sesame bagel with salmon cream cheese from a restaurant called Boston Bagel Cafe in Oakland Park, FL.

 

Chesapeake Bagel Bakery in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I spent a few days in Ft. Lauderdale. While down there, I sampled some of the city's food. The motel I stayed in didn't supply breakfast because of COVID reasons, so I ventured out to find food on my first morning there. I ended up a restaurant called Chesapeake Bagel Bakery. It took me way too long to get the pun in the restaurant name...

I had the Nova-Nova sandwich. This was an everything bagel, topped with Nova lox, red onion, capers, tomato, and cream cheese. 

I very much enjoyed this sandwich. Good bagel, and they were generous with the amount of lox and toppings in the sandwich!

 

Stillwaters Tavern in St. Petersburg, FL

I ate in a restaurant called Stillwaters Tavern in downtown St. Pete. There were a few different menu items that sounded good to me, so I asked the server what he would recommend out of them. His said that the Pan Fried Ramen was the most unique to the restaurant out of my choices, so that's what I ordered. The menu described it as: Chinese sausage, market veg, toasted peanuts, marinated soft boiled egg, bean sprouts, and Thai basil.

I enjoyed the ramen. The portion was huge. There was a good amount of sauce and other ingredients mixed in with the noodles, and everything was flavorful!
 

Rise Pies in Sarasota, FL

I had things to do at The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota and got lunch there. 

Besides having a horrible, overly complicated name, this mall doesn't have a food court, which was interesting. There were restaurants in storefronts, each with their own seating rather than one centralized location. I had food from one of these restaurants called Rise Pies.

Rise Pies was the same concept/setup as Blaze Pizza. It did seem like the topping selection here was a bit more limited than what Blaze offers. I had a pie with pesto for the sauce, topped with mozzarella, green peppers, kalamata olives, basil, sausage, and pepperoni. The pepperoni here curled while cooking into a cup shape which always makes pizza feel more gourmet. The crust was puffier than a lot of the fast food pizza competitors.

Not bad for a mall pizza!