I tried these spots on Tuesday at lunch. The first is in a strip mall off 50. You can make a right on Hancock and the first left on Legends to come in the back way or try and find the small entrance on 50. The other is in Chinatown on 50. Far left corner.
Dim Sum House - The menu said they had the best something in Tampa. I guess that is the original location. I think I learned about them last summer. The menu has a mix of Chinese dishes as well as the dim sum. Fewer dumplings than I expected. They price the dim sum in four categories. They start at $6+. Most are in the more expensive categories. Soups start at double digits. Mains start at $17. The lunch specials are really the best way to stretch your dollar. The portions are very large and come with a spring roll and soup and white rice. I had the cashew shrimp with the corn egg drop like soup (choice of that or sweet and sour). Six, iron tasting, full shrimp. The rice was a bit too crunchy and dry. Lots of fresh vegetables. Lots of cashews. A slightly thickened, light brown/gold, savory sauce. Not salty. It cost a very reasonable $11. I also had an order of har gow for $7.75. Four. Big. Big pieces of shrimp. No real paste. Although they tasted of iron too. The problem was the wrapper. Way too chewy/glutenous. And they were too big to eat in one bite. Fall apart if you try and eat in bites. They delivered both at the same time. At least they delivered the soup and spring roll before that. Four wait staff/hostess. Pretty attentive. One waiter was a chatty Cathy around his section. He was a bit annoying to the rest of us. Twenty tables. Spaced far apart. A big room. And surprise surprise, the color scheme was gray and black with light wood. Is this page one of interior design catalogs now? Basket lamp shades and gold metal wall art. A bar area up front. Became around half full as I dined. Pop music playing. I'm not sure you have to trek all the way out here to get commensurate quality. Like a slightly better PF Changs. Not enough attention to quality or execution. But I'm sure they could if they wanted to. I do have a complaint about plastic chopsticks and slippery dishes. Are you trying to make it MORE difficult on us? Reminds me of the story/joke about the Chinese farmer that is out in the field with his pitch fork and shovel and sycthe and comes in at night and puts them away and pulls out his chopsticks to eat his dinner.
Saigonese - I just grabbed some cha gio (spring rolls) to go because they were the cheapest thing. $5.50. Ok. Pork filled. The usual. I may go back to try a real lunch. They had a full page of snail dishes that I don't recall seeing anywhere before. Concentrate on seafood. It looks cute. Yellow and black. Some 70s bric a brac. Murals. A few canvases of a Vietnamese girl. Iron basket lamp shades. Around ten tables. Obviously it has a Saigon theme. Dishes around $17. Opened maybe three months plus ago, but, still in a soft opening.
*I also went back to One Stop Dumpling to try some of those colored dumplings. I had the Six Fortunes Soup Dumplings for $11.50 to go. Six. A few types. One was spicy. They placed them in individual tins. Very smart. The soup inside was ok. The wrappings weren't too chewy. Held their form. Let me state that both dumpling orders I had this day were far superior to Zen Dumpling.
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