Off the Beaten Path...

Found this tasty place in Key Largo yesterday much by accident.  Calypso Seafood Grill is good food tucked away in an unlikely place.

My daughter, Hannah and I, went driving around Key Largo to check things out, and found ourselves around a small commercial fishing district.  We had been driving around for a little over an hour, at the lunch time hour, and were in need of something...so when we drove past this converted house with an 'Open' sign next to the marina; we decided to pop in.

We chose to sit out side on the back porch that backs up to the docks.  Local patrons boat up to the docks and come for lunch.  We saw a couple of groups in the course of our meal leave by boat.

Now the service was just OK.  Kinda seemed like it was a second priority for the lady, but I wouldn't say she was rude or forgot about us.  She just gave the appearance that she was still trying to get her side work finished...And oh yeah she could have mentioned before we ordered that there is no credit cards.  There are a few small signs posted about, but if you come in and keep your eyes facing the boats, you won't see 'em.  There is an ATM inside, but yesterday it chose not to work.  Thankfully my daughter had cash on her...

Any way the food...Food was definitely above average.  Not what I was expecting in this little hole in the wall.  1st off the menu's came in this blue leather bound book that you would expect in a high end place, and had a pretty decent selection.

Hannah had the Buffalo Shrimp, because the menu used the phrase:  Buffalo my Butt! I had the yellow fin tuna crusted in horseradish with a homemade horseradish sauce sandwich.

Hannah doesn't normally eat spicy.  But the sauce must of had Habenero based hot sauce in it, cause it did linger for a while. And even though it was spicy still had a unique flavor to it, more than just your normal buffalo drenching. The pinks were good size, fresh and butterflied, and then battered.  She made it a personal goal to eat all of 'em.  It took a good bit of the blue cheese and celery to cut the heat, but she tasted victory in the end.

Now my sandwich which came with fries, was tasty and I must confess a little runny and messy (just the way I like it).  The tuna was cooked medium rare, leaving the meat a with a good amount of the pink left, but not chewy and just enough time on the grill to leave the horseradish golden, not charred and bitter.  And the fries were homemade, just the way my grandmother used to make 'em.

It is definitely a place geared to the locals.  Wide selection of good food, and atmosphere that says come sit for a while.  If we make it back down to Key Largo again, I probably will.

Sean

Yuengling Brewery Tour

Another 1st for Sumptuous Consumptions:  Florida Brewery Tour #1.  My girlfriend Terri and I, are committed to touring all the Florida Crafted Beer Breweries in the state and reporting back to you here.  We started with one of the larger breweries closer to home this past weekend: Yuengling Brewery.

Yuengling brews 7 beers on a regular basis with a few seasonal beers along the way.  There are 3 facilities brewing beers under the Yuengling name, the original in Pottsville, PA, Tampa, FL, and Mill Creek, PA. 
Janis, our tour guide, was knowledgeable and made sure the large group was well informed.  She pointed out that this brewery was originally built in 1958 as a Schlitz Beer brewer, and was bought by Yuengling from the Stroh's company in the 1990's, and was up and running in 3 weeks after the purchase.  The grounds and facilities still have that 1950's feel.  The color's, building materials and the lab equipment are still the original, as well as the hospitality house the tour starts from.

It just so happened that the day we chose to tour the brewery the Master Crafted Beer Association was meeting in the hospitality house, where they were voting on beers from around the state.  Randy the Tampa brewery chemist, made himself available to answer questions that you wouldn't normally have access to on a Saturday.  Between himself and Janis, we were able to learn about the brewing process from start to finish, to include QA, crafting new brews, and how Yuengling maintains consistency throughout their facilities.

Of course part of the tour is tasting the output of the brewery.  Now if you have been reading the blog regularly  you would know that I am already a fan of the Lager.  The other popular line is the Premium.  Janis made sure as a blog we were able to taste as much of the samples as we could. 

Now all the beers are tasty.  The Lager I could drink on a regular basis, and the Porter (a little heavier brew) is definitely my favorite, while Terri chose one of the seasonal beers, the Bock, as her favorite. 

I being a big fan of IPA's did enjoy the Chesterfeld Ale that I had heard so mush about, but it seemed like it would be better enjoyed with a meal than just on its own.

Janis and the rest of the Saturday staff were all very friendly and accommodating, and as an outing we had an enjoyable time.  The beer of course was tasty, and we wasted no time on the way home to pick-up greater quantities to more thoroughly familiarize ourselves with the Yuengling craft.  Stay tuned for our next entries to follow in the next couple of weeks.

Sean

Got a little Tampa in me, well maybe that was Cuban

I had the best $3 Cuban I have ever had today.

Went with a buddy of mine in search of locally roasted coffee (future blog post coming) and on the way back he asked a silly question, "was I hungry?"  To which I replied, "I could eat."

So as we are driving down 50th street in Tampa headed towards the ports, he swings it into this blue low-frills 1950 looking general store. And then proceeds to take me in the back door, with blue-collar guys hanging around chewing the fat.

Turned out to be this Cuban family run place with all the standards listed on the placard.  The guy behind the counter recognized my buddy, and says whadaya having today Jim, and he spouted off his regular custom order. Turns to me and asks me for mine and I said all-the-way hot.  Next thing I know we were being handed bags and we were out the door.

The whole experience just made you feel the nostalgia that is old Tampa...a hole-in-the-wall place that only your buddy could take you to, to know about.

Took it home and man was that good!  It pays to know people who knows people...