QUICK BITE: Where Can You Find A Great Calzone in Tampa?

While out running a few errands, my wife and I decided to stop for lunch at one of our favorite pizza places in Tampa.  This one happens to be in the plaza across the street from our house.

Cappy's Pizza is a local chain in the St Pete/Tampa area with five locations   Lunch was at their Tampa Palms location.  We have had their pizza here many times, but never the calzones.  Today was the day since they have a lunch special with a calzone and a drink for 5.99 as of the writing of this blog.  The calzone comes with mozzarella and up to two other fillings.

I went with meatball and mushroom!  It was the width of the plate and came with a savory marina for dipping.  The calzone came to the table piping hot and had been brushed with garlic butter.  The aroma of that hot garlic butter was mesmerizing!!

Unlike many calzones I have had before, this had a very thin crust although the dough was sturdy enough to hold the filling.  Too often calzones are a lot of dough with very little filling - or at least the ratio of bread to filling is way off.  They solved that at Cappy's!!  You can see there was ample cheese inside.  The mushrooms appeared to have been sauteed in even more butter and you could really get that umani!!  I wish the meatball had been more pronounced in texture and flavor.  I knew it was there, but it added nothing to the calzone.  I think next time I would get Italian sausage to add some kick.

One of my favorite items at Cappy's is the amazing Greek salad.  They also have caesar and a green salad which I also imagine are very good.  But I also get the Greek since it is so good!!  They serve it with two scoops of potato salad which I never knew was a Greek tradition until I had my first Greek salad in Tampa fifteen years ago.  When mixed together, the potato salad adds a creaminess to the slightly sweet dressing.  Combined with the very crunchy iceberg, kalamata olives, thin sliced sweet onion, shaved green pepper and roma tomatoes creates a flavor pop in your mouth!!   There are also some pepperoncini which are served whole.  That makes it easy for anyone who wants to make it a little more spicy without needing to be throughout the whole salad.  I also love that the salad and bowl are cold.  Too often a restaurant will serve you a salad in a dish freshly warm from the dishwasher.  If the salad was meant to be cold, that is quickly taken care of by the heated plate.  I appreciate that Cappy's make an extra effort to keep the salad a good temperature!!

QUICK BITE: The Simple Deliciousness Of A Publix Sub

I am sure everyone has their favorite sub shop in their area.  Some are chains or you may have a local place that is your "go to".  If you live in the Southeast, you are likely familiar with Publix which is one of the largest supermarket chains in that area.  All Publix have a deli counter which sells you normal sliced meats and cheeses.  In addition, they also make freshly made-to-order subs.  This is my "go to" if I am in the mood for a great sub.  What are the components that I need?  Super fresh bread.  Several choices for that bread.  Freshly sliced meats.  Lots of choices for toppings and sauces.  Publix hits all the marks for me.  I recently was having some work done on my car.  The mechanic was just a short walk from a Publix so it seemed like destiny was calling me.

I went with a sub that was on sale.  It was the Boar's Head Italian for $6.99 US.  In addition to the normal italian meats, I added provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, banana peppers and sub sauce.  SUb sauce is a combination of oil, vinegar and italian seasonings.  Sort of an elevated italian dressing but not as liquid.

If you are close to a Publix or happen to be travelling in the Southeast, you will want to check it out for lunch.  Many of their locations have cafe seating.  It will be a surprising place where you can get your great next sub!!

QUICK BITE: What Is On The Breakfast Buffet At The Melbourne Marriott?

Before checking out of the Melbourne Marriott and starting our long trek home to Tampa, we tried the breakfast buffet.  It was one of the most  varied buffets I have seen.

I am sure many might ask whether I saw vegemite a lot in Australia.  The answer is no.  I don't think this is something that Australians really eat - or at least the younger generation doesn't.  The first time in 2012 was at the gift store at the airport.  For this trip, the first time was one this last day in the Marriott buffet.  I had tried it in 2012 and it is salty and somewhat bitter.  Not pleasant in 2012 and I wasn't looking for a repeat performance.

One of my favorites:  Muesli!!

And you can always make your own Voodoo Donuts Bacon donut!!

I'll Take That Last Day In Melbourne . . .

Today was our last full day in Australia and we'd be spending it where it began in Melbourne Victoria.   Today we decided to visit an area of Melbourne that we had really enjoyed back in 2012 called Fitzroy.  We were definitely going to one of our favorite bars in any city called Naked for Satan.

Before we started that trek, we needed some breakfast.  We hadn't had fast food yet in Australia so today was the day when I would had to Maccas.  The name doesn't seem familiar to you?    Macca's is how McDonald's is marketed in Australia. 

In addition to our daily long black fix, I tried the Big Brekkie Burger.

This was a burger patty with egg, bacon, cheese,  hash brown and BBQ sauce on a poppy seed bun.  It is okay. The bacon could be a lot crisper. And the BBQ sauce doesn't really go with the egg. 

In other fast food news, Hungry Jack is the franchise name for Burger King here in Australia. Except for the name of the restaurant, it is still the same Home of the Whopper you know (and maybe love) in the United States. I recall the reason is that Burger King was already a restaurant chain when Burger King came here years ago so they needed something different.

For our Fitzroy adventure we needed some lunch.  My wife found a place that was offering a tasting menu up in this area which sounded perfect. 

Amuse bouche which was sliced fresh radish with creme fraiche and a rice cracker with seaweed.  Both were great starts to the meal.  The radish was sliced super thin and perfect with  the creamy creme fraiche.  My favorite was the crisp rice cracker with salty seaweed.

Some delicious sour dough bread served with freshly made unsalted butter with sea salt on the side.  I loved that you could make the butter as salty as you wanted. 

This was the kingfish crudo.  A crudo is generally thin sliced fresh fish, served with herbs, oils and other accompaniments.    This was a great one mainly because the fish was so fresh.  Also loved the cucumber.

Fresh asparagus which a delicious tarragon sauce.  

Marinated cuttlefish.

The first entree we chose was the snapper.  This was really nicely seared with a perfect crust.  I loved that the savory sauce sat underneath the crispy fish do it didn't get soggy.  Too often I see kitchens spend so much time to get something crispy, such as fried chicken or chicken fried steak, and the pour a sauce on top, essentially ruining all that hard work.

This was the local pork chop.  It was cooked medium, was still a bit pinki so still had lots of moisture.  I know many people are afraid of pork that isn't cooked medium well.    However the USDA does say you can cook pork to 145 degrees F which is medium rare.  I usually don't like hazelnuts but they were a welcome addition for added crunch.

Dark chocolate cake.  This dessert was just okay.   I found the cake a bit dry.  The cherries were good with the yogurt ice cream.

The second dessert a strawberry dessert.  This was similar to a shortcake with a biscuit.  The most interesting addition was a drizzle of olive oil which added a savory not so it wasn't just "sweet".  I nicely composed dessert.

To finish, we received two chocolate truffles and two "jellies".  The jellies had a hint of rose essence and the texture of a gummy bear.  The chocolate truffles were smooth and creamy.

And of course, another chance for a long black.  This was the best cup of coffee I had the whole trip!!!  Served really hot with just the right amount of crema.

The Fitzroy area of Melbourne has lots of eclectic bars and restaurants so after our great lunch, it was time to explore.  We decided to do what my wife refers to as bartender's choice.  We would pick our first bar, and then have the bartender recommend the next one.  One our way to the first stop, we saw some great street art.

First stop was at Rook's for a great Old Fashioned made with a local bourbon.

The bartender at Rooks recommended the Shady Lady which was only a short walk away.  On that walk, I saw the name of this coffee shop which I loved.

Shady Lady is known for fancy cocktails.

The bartender at Shady Lady recommended the Black Pearl.

This was Beyond Bush.  

The top of the drink had a twig and some honeycomb.  It reminded me of Blair Witch Project.

The foam on the drink, which I thought was from egg whites, was actually from this ingredient which I had never seen before.  The bartender said it was very common in Australia.

After visiting a few bars, we now needed a snack.  It was time to visit one of our favorite bars from the 2012 trip, Naked for Satan.  They had some burger specials for $3 which would fit the bill.

Mushroom burger which was my favorite!!  It was a grilled portobello mushroom with more sauteed mushrooms on top.

This was a chicken burger with a cheesy ssauce.

This was the beef burger.  While it was cooked well, it was missing some beefy flavor.  I did appreciate that the lettuce was on the bottom so it didn't get soggy.

That would be the last place on our Fitzroy visit - at least for this trip.  We made the walk back to our hotel as we had to get up early tomorrow for our flight to Los Angeles.  Our two week trip was coming to an end.  We got to so many places and had some amazing bites.  If you have stayed for the whole journey, thank you very much for following along.  More blogs are coming for many upcoming trips so stay tuned to this blog for those.    If you are interested in planning a trip, whether it is exotic like Australia or maybe an all-inclusive in Mexico or even a cruise, please consider contacting my wife on her website https://www.tripswithangie.com.