Thursday, April 19, 2012

J. Ryan's Bar & Grill, Sarasota, Florida

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/1282972/restaurant/Tampa-Bay/J-Ryans-On-The-Grill-Sarasota%22%3E%3Cimg alt="J Ryan's On The Grill on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1282972/minilink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:130px;height:36px" /></a>

I had viewed the menu for this restaurant online and saw lots of yummy things I really wanted to try.  The restaurant is new, on Clark Road near Sawyer, in the plaza where The Big Kitchen used to be.  It is really a lovely, more upscale restaurant.  The owners have obviously spent quite a bit on redecorating.  Nice, but nothing really fantastic.  I ordered the Walnut Chicken Salad on a bed of field greens.  The chicken salad was very dry and tasteless.  It did have a lot of whole walnuts sprinkled all over the plate, which was nice, but I would have preferred to have them in the salad; maybe that would have livened it up a bit.  It desperately needed some mayonnaise.  The greens were pretty, but kind of limp.  My companion had a French Dip sandwich, which was on what looked and tasted like a hot dog bun.  He got about 5 french fries with it.  For over $10, not a good deal at all.  My salad was also over $10.  Someone has to pay for all those fancy wavy clouds on the ceiling!  I would like to go back and try something else next time.  It is a nice place to eat, just not a good value.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Currents, a restaurant in Tarpon Springs, Florida. 

I almost wept when I walked into this fabulous restaurant in the heart of the historic restaurant in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  I had been searching for a decent restaurant in this town, and finally I had found what I was looking for.  I was totally sick of Greek food and could not wait to find some real food!  This place is beautifully decorated with lovely details everywhere.  It's located in a old building with lots of huge windows looking out on the street scene of Tarpon Avenue.  I ordered the Red Sangria first, which arrived in a large glass; I don't think I could have handled more than one!  I had the meatloaf with a blue cheese and raspberry sauce - to die for!  It came with a salad, home made mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Loved it!  Totally delicious!!!

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/1578601/restaurant/Tampa-Bay/Currents-Tarpon-Springs%22%3E%3Cimg alt="Currents on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1578601/biglink.gif" style="border:none;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>