Eating Out

Started by Annie and added on by Secay here's me continuing on the restaurant listings.
The rules are:
1. Name and link to the person who tagged you.
2. Name the state and country where you reside.
3. Name your five favorite local restaurants.
4. Tag others

I love and live in Florida, the Sunshine State. Its been more than 2 yrs that I've been residing here, before which I was in Oklahoma. I still remember when my husband came to "officially see me" for the 1st time, (yeah arranged marriages still do occur in some parts of India) and I was unwilling to relocate to Florida, halfway through my Masters programs, he said, "once you come and be there, I assure you that you'll love it." And that did happen.

So here's me in Florida now, and the rest of the story which you could make out from my blogs, now its time to pick some of my fav eating out places in and around Tampa. OK but before that lemme explain that I'm a veggie, (or rather an eggetarian) so my picks would be mainly those which satiate me, coz my taste is limited.

1. I love Thai food, and there's never a time when I wouldn't want to have that. Our local fav hangout place, by the Channelside Tampa, where you get beautiful waterside view and restaurants, music, movies, shopping and everything a city like Tampa can ask for. There's this traditionally decorated Thai restaurant, Thai Thani, which is open late, and has the best soups I've ever had in Thai restaurant, not to mention the panang curry, green curry and the special basil and eggplant fry there.... Then there's my husband's anytime fav Thai Ruby in North Tampa, (closer to our home, now so we can go there more frequently).
2. The best Gobi Manchurian I've had in a long long time, reminds me of the authentic Indo-Chinese dish, the ever fav Gobi Manchurian that I used to adore when I were in Trivandrum, India. Though this special Indian style food still tastes best in Trivandrum- Hotel Horizon, you get very similar taste in Cilantro Indian Restaurant, in Tampa. Cilantro originally started in Jacksonville as an upscale Indian restaurant to satisfy the American palate, they maintain a clean environment, good service, and awesome food there. A must visit for Indian food lovers.
3. Thinking about Masala dosas filled with potato-onion curry, and a special hot n' spicy powder mixture, nothing comes to my mind other than the Hindu Temple of Florida, temple canteen food. I am a big food junkie, and loveee Indian food. Ofcourse I can make super crispy thin dosas and also the fav uttappams, there are times when I need break from my own cooking, (and unless my husband cooks) we need to eat out. So saturday/sunday calls for a sure Temple visit, for 2 main reasons....you got it.
4. Come a lazy friday night, and you are too lazy to go bowling or movie (one of our most common friday night activities) and no friends to come over to play 28, carroms too... thats when you go to CDB pizza, a local pizza place, kinda a family owned local place near the USF, they have the most filling dinners not too heavily priced. The freshly baked garlic bread starters with soup and salad and the main course, a lasagna or a veggie parmesian, is all that you want to start a happy friday night with, coz they close early, so you can finish dinner soon and come home and relax with a good movie.
5. How can I forget California Pizza Kitchen, where we can order (yes just specially for us) the tropical style tandoori pizza with ripe mangoes and special veggies to match the tandoori chicken taste. Yeah, just substitute the chicken with your fav grilled veggie, topped with just the right amount of Indian style garam masala powder, and zip-zip-zoom, get reminded of Ambrosia(again one of the local favs in my hometown, famous for pizzas).

Annie had mentioned only 5, but there are many more in my favourite list, and many more places on our list to explore,... The Spagetti Warehouse, located in the famous party hangout place of Tampa, Centro Ybor, in the heart of Tampa downtown...Then there's a Middle eastern place yet on the list, Zaeem Palace, where they have live belly dance all night long... Oh just waiting for some special occasion to explore special places...

Now to mention the not so local ones, mainly Indian, coz thats what we explore on our trips.

1. Saravana Bhavan, in Sunnyvale, CA, the heart of Indian software hub, where they have the best Indian restaurant
2. Madras Palace in Gaithesburg, MD, the best way to spend a Sunday morning, with the most variety of dosas and other southy junkies.
3. Madras Saravan Bhavan in Atlanta, GA, go there well in advance, and prepare to wait for a couple of hours, or else you better reserve your place there.
4. Had heard about this place from my friends a couple of times, and really got convinced that it was simply delicious, the Ganesh Bhavan, dosa place in Detroit, (psst book a night flight, from Detroit back to your hometown, and go to the restaurant early enough to have special dosas dinner and pack some for your breakfast the next day; yup thats what we did.
5. Disneyworld, EPCOT world showcase, where there's no need to specifically mention what its famous for, world food... Go there, get into the rides, spend the whole day exploring countries and their exotic food and culture.

Now its time for me to tag Thas along for this fun blog.

A new day everyday !!!

Been over a month since I started my new job, and life has been so different all these days, like I posted in my last blog, (well I try to come back to write atleast once a month, though I would love to write more, its the same lame excuse) same routine; work's not hectic at work, but time consuming, and I still hate this interstate driving, and guess I'll keep cribbing about it... Traffic is certainly getting bad in Tampa and the rest of the nation

I was reading an article this morning on msnbc on Smart Cars; whether the Smart cars were a dumb idea to introduce in this "fat nation" where BIG is Better !!! This 8.5 feet x 5.5 feet cutie comes in handy to make those swerves and turns and move fast with over 40 mpg, but will the SUV loving nation prefer her? ( I've done a lot of research as part of my project at school, and have seen that the love for SUV is taking a toll on this nation, in every aspect.)

Well, here's a glance at our beauty, meanwhile I have some tips...

In this regard, I have some small tips for interstate work commute, I've been making more than 50 trips now, and guess I have the experience to share what I feel:

1. Never expect the same day everyday - Initially I tried leaving home around the same time everyday and never felt that the traffic was the same, yes its never predictable
2. Prepare to listen to some music in the morning, and if you are someone like me, who's just out of the bed, dont sleep off, so take some fast numbers
3. Take a book or even a newspaper additionally, incase of worst back up... lol
4. Never go to the leftmost lane- Though the left lane can be faster and help you drive for a longer distance, it doesnt work in the mornings
5. Never let anyone overtake you, or even speed ahead of you, coz no one lets me in before him.. Its not about aggressiveness, but about ethics which you almost forget on the road, during the peak hours
6. People are rude, so be prepared for that- I wasnt initially and used to feel bad
7. Experience a new day everyday and enjoy the ride :)