Lilac lived up to its one-star standing.
Berns is good if you like meat, potatoes, and especially wine. It’s a memorable experience due to the ornate designing rooms and incredible wine cellar. Boring steakhouse food though. Hardest reservation to get in Tampa.
I would skip Columbia Restaurant. I’ve been there four times. At best it’s on par with an average Tampa Cuban restaurant.
Rocca
We saw this restaurant the same way. Good restaurant, not up to Michelin one star standard. We liked it more than Antico Nuovo and less than Stella (for LA comparisons). Several dishes were significantly over-salted. On the plus side, the wine list was great (though not huge) and service was smart and knowledgeable (hard to believe they were making off-the-cuff remarks about the differences between the 2018 and 2019 wine vintages in Sicily).
Psomi. Pretty good, easy to like, would recommend to anyone. Exactly what I expected from this popular, Bib Gourmand Greek restaurant in Tampa. The Tampa area has a notable Greek population centered in Tarpon Springs (highest percentage of Greeks in USA).
Kosen: Hybrid sushi / kaiseki. High quality ingredients, good alcohol pairings. Generally on par with the top hybrid sushi / kaiseki restaurants in California, except the sushi rice was too hard and lacked umami. The chef is Taiwanese, but he trained in Japan, and I have no doubts regarding his knowledge and palate.
Many people associate Tampa with the Cuban community, for good reason. Some of my earliest childhood memories are visiting my Tía Toni in Tampa and eating guava pastries at nearby cafes.
But fewer people know there is also a large Middle Eastern community in Tampa. My older childhood Tampa memories involve lots of tahini, zaatar, dolmas, and pitas. I think Middle Eastern food in Tampa is at least as good as in LA and in some ways better. (I am excluding Persian.)
We were lucky to find Madent Al-Taybat today (on our way to another Arabic market). While they describe themselves as a Palestinian market, their biggest strength is an amazing selection of Turkish Delight (lokum) candies—the best I’ve ever seen. The staff pour you spice-infused coffee when you enter the store. The whole store is impressive, with big varieties of colorful nuts, spices, and sweets. It’s a hidden gem of Tampa and a great experience.
Streetlight Tacos. Enjoyed it, but it is nothing special by Socal standards.
