Saigon Bay, Tampa

Welcome to restaurant reviews by go gin chow this is the  food ninja.  I have some insight on a Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon Bay in Tampa close to the USF campus. It really is a nice restaurant. From the outside you could not really see the great decor inside. The outside is really deceiving. I was impressed when I walked in with my family. It was like wow! They kept it modern, but authentic, with all the bamboo they used in different ways to dress up the place. They did a great job and the food was spot on in every way. The broth in my pho soup was really an awakening to my taste buds and the vegetables were fresh and crisp. The service was up to par. I'd say this is a great affordable place to get some great food for families and students. So please keep an eye out for this great little place in Tampa if you are anywhere near the USF  campus. Take from the food ninja look for this place and stop on in and please enjoy. You will not be disappointed.

This is Shadow for Go Gin Chow.  Definitely one of the best things about this place is its atmosphere.  Walls are decorated with bamboo poles giving the illusion that you are dining in the middle of a bamboo thicket, very cool.  Food is decent.  Soups come with a complimentary side salad, which is nice, salad dressing was good.  Respectable bowl of Beef Pho, broth was good, variety of meats, though meatballs are not included in the Special Pho and had to be ordered at an additional charge.  Seafood Pho was good, nice jumbo rings of calamari.  Shrimp and Crab with vermicelli soup broth was a little bland, but the crab claws were definately a nice touch.  Service was pretty good, though there may be a bit of a communication barrier (as they do not speak English very well), they were still very friendly and did their best to try and understand you.  Clean bathrooms.  Will definitely be back.

                                                           Saigon Bay
                                                           2373 E Fowler Ave
                                                          Tampa, FL 33612
                                                          (813) 971-0854

Complimentary Salad

Herbs that Accompanied the Soups

Pho Dac Biet with Meatballs (extra)

Seafood Pho

Shrimp and Crab Soup with Vermicelli

Close-up of Crab Claws in Soup

Ho Ho Choy

This is Food Ninja reporting for go gin chow commenting on a tasteful dim sum restaurant called Ho Ho Choy in Tampa. The prices were reasonable and the decor was nice and updated, way better than the last time I was there the dim sum was so good and filling. You definitely wont be hungry. Service was a little rusty, needs work. The servers need to be more attentive being busy is not an excuse to check on your customers. Well ok, back to the food, all in all the food was great. That is what kept me there. Honestly every little dim sum container that came to our table as nice and hot and flavorful and gave my taste buds lots of joy. Now if they can get a better service system this would right on spot. The decor is upbeat and clean. I felt good sitting at my table while I waited for our food. Definitely a place to go eat at. Take from the food ninja you will be back for more. As I always say, please enjoy!

Shadow Here.  Great place for Dim Sum.   The place can get busy though and with the handful of servers you may not always get the attention you deserve, though they were friendly and helpful when you could wave them down. Food is superb. Lots to choose from.  Everything tasted freshly made.  The skins on all the dumplings were tender and not too thick.  Steamed spareribs had a nice flavor to them similar to Pho broth.  The duck had to be the best Chinese style roast duck I have had in a while and definitely one of the reasons to come here, flavor was not too gamey, lots of meat not too much bone or fat and the skin was crispy.  The stuffed bean curd and stuffed tofu were both disappointing, cooked with similar sauce, they were bland and you can get better renditions of these elsewhere.  Bathrooms are clean.  All in all, solid choice to satisfy that Dim Sum craving.

                                              Ho Ho Choy
                                              1441 E. Fletcher Avenue Suite 125,
                                              Tampa, Florida,  33612
                                               Phone: (813)962-2159 / (813)962-2290

Shrimp Wonton Soup

Beef Tripe

Pan Fried Shrimp Dumplings w. Chives

Fried Shrimp Ball

 Stuffed Tofu

Stuffed Bean Curd Skin

Shrimp Dumplings

Shrimp Dumplings w. Chive

Fried Mixed Dumpling

1/4 Roast Duck

Water Spinach w. Garlic Sauce

Steamed Spare Ribs

Beef Ball

MD Oriental Market, Tampa/Brandon

Welcome back to restaurant reviews by the food ninja for goginchow. I have a nice little special place for you to go look at. It is an oriental food market located in Tampa/Brandon Area. This is definitely  a hidden gem they have everything you will need to quench your thirst as far as carying the vegetables and seasonings and many other great oriental related items that you will need in order to be cook up that creative Asian  dish for those you love. They have everything from frozen  foods to live fish. It is really something. The live fish will keep your kids attention for sure. They also carry some nice little souvenirs that are reasonably priced, varied on each item that would be good in your home. You are sure to find something you will find interesting and if you can not find it, they will be happy to assist you how ever they can. So in my opinion this a place to visit. So take from me, the food ninja, you can not only find good food here but you can find the ingredients to make great food. As i always say, please enjoy!

Shadow here.  Wonderful place.  It is huge and very clean for and Asian Market.  Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  They have a cooked food section were they sell roast meats like duck, pork and chicken.  I guarantee it will be hard to pass up when you see that whole roast duck hanging in the glass case on the counter.  Now is the season for tropical fruit.  I was thrilled to see that they have Lychee and the ever rare Mangosteen two of my absolute favorite fruits.  I have to wait a whole year to get my hands on these and both these fruits have such a short window for being in season and that window is almost over so run...run and get them while you still can.  They also had rambutan, rose apples, dragon fruit and much more.  On occasion I have even seen fresh Durian and Jack Fruit sold here.  My spoils this trip were of course lychee and mangosteen as well as cherimoya (custard apple/sugar apple), roast duck, and sliced pig ears.  Lychee were very good, they are fresh and Florida grown.  The mangosteen were quite pricy, not the freshest looking (they are flying them in from Thailand after all), but did not taste too bad.  If you have never tried mangosteen before, you are in for a treat.  The cherimoya was hard when I first bought it, but I allowed it to ripen in a brown paper bag for two days and it was superb, very sweet!  So head on down here and check this place out.  Happy Eating.

                                                 MD Oriental Market
                                                 10127 E Adamo Dr
                                                 Tampa, FL 33619
                                                 (813) 443-2188

Lychee

Mangesteen

Mangosteen (sliced open)

Cherimoya (Custard Apple/Sugar Apple)

Cherimoya (sliced open)

Roast Duck

Sliced Pig Ears

Jack Fruit

Sa Ri One

Welcome to restaurant reviews for goginchow. This is the food ninja giving you my take on Sa Ri One Korean restaurant in Tampa  a nice little place right off the 275. Small but cozy, the service was pretty friendly, prices reasonable. Our waitress seemed to be pretty occupied but the food was good. The two soups we ordered were unique in their own ways. The seafood tofu soup was great tasteful and spicy. The pork tripe and intestine soup not so much, a liver over powering flavor in a bland watered down broth. The squid in a sweet red chilli sauce that's supposed to be spicy, but I didn't think so. It was more sauce then squid not, one of my favorites but as far as the galbi beef, that I give two thumbs up. The squid tempura, again bland. Although the little side dishes were fresh and had a good flavor that were served with our meal at no extra charge. Over all the experience there was just ok.  So I would say going to this place is like a roll of the dice. So from the food ninja to you, this place is a gamble. well as I always say please enjoy.

Hi everyone.  This is Shadow.  Pretty good place for Korean in Tampa.  Small place, clean with friendly service.  The menu is pretty extensive and had a lot of nice colorful pictures that really helped to give an idea of what the dishes looked like.  So many choices it was hard to decide and looking at all the pictures really made me hungry.  The tempura squid I was not too crazy about, typical tempura style, but I did not really feel it worked well with squid, greasy and bland.  I loved the Seafood Tofu soup.  It came to the table still boiling in a ceramic pot, nice flavors here.  The tripe and intestine soup, might just be an acquired taste, but I could not get paste the strong liver flavor coming from the pieces of intestine, the vegetables in the soup were cooked well and tested good.  The galbi beef was excellent.  The squid with chili sauce for two came in a very generous portion (enough for 4 people, though the waitress did warn us it was a lot of food), I felt it was a tad too sweet and for the price I wish they did put some more squid in the dish.  I also enjoyed the side appetizer dishes that came complementary with the meal like most Korean places.  Overall, yes some dishes are a hit or miss, but I would still definitely recommend this place and I will definitely be back.

                                                                Sa Ri One
                                                                3940 W Cypress St
                                                                Tampa, FL 33606
                                                                 (813) 874-2911

Tempura Squid

Spicy Seafood and Tofu Soup

Tripe and Intestine Soup

Side Dishes (Complementary)

Galbi Beef

Squid with Chili Sauce for two