Lunch Date: Carmel Kitchen

I had the pleasure of visiting Carmel Kitchen & Wine Bar a few weeks ago and thought I’d share my outing. Hope you enjoy this quick post! Spoiler alert: I order pasta.

Carmel Kitchen South Tampa

Dress: Love Culture, Blazer: Miss Guided, Wedges: Lucky Brand, Wristlet: Coach

We dined at Carmel Kitchen’s South Tampa location off Swann Avenue. *Update: the South Tampa location closed and only the Countryside location is open* We chose to eat a later lunch to avoid the crowds. I notice when I eat during peak hours, at any restaurant, the meal is often less appetizing. I try to always dine at off times when I try new restaurants so that I get the best first impression possible.

Our Menu Picks

As usual, I couldn’t resist indulging in creamy pasta. The Seafood Bucatini did not disappoint! It was described to be  bucatini pasta with shrimp, scallops, and mussels tossed in a creamy saffron sauce. It was the best sauce I have tasted to date! I want to say they use alpine cheddar to give it that sharper flavor but I haven’t narrowed down their recipe yet. Next time I will most likely forgo the mussels, although they look pretty on the plate.

Brandon ordered the Steak Frites which he forced me to try. I’m not a big beef fan so I nibbled on a corner of the medium rare Angus and was surprised at how flavorful it was and so easy to chew. It was great, but my pasta was still the winner. Definitely stole a few of his fries though haha.

Here’s a bathroom selfie to share my odd appreciation for pretty public restrooms.

Me trying to eat pretty versus me stuffing my face.

We loved the lunch and atmosphere at Carmel Kitchen. I’ll be back for the addictive saffron sauce!

Update

We returned to Carmel Kitchen on August 26, 2017 and the Seafood Bucatini was removed from the menu. It was a sad, sad day. However, here is what we ordered from that visit. I believe these are all still on the current Carmel Kitchen menu.

I had the Spinach Gnocchi and Brandon had the Pesto Chicken Alfredo. I found the sauce on the gnocchi to be really creamy and almost reminiscent of the saffron sauce but a little less flavorful. We also did the $20 wine deal where you order as many glasses of wine from a select list. To finish off the night we had the Chocolate Cake Stack dessert which was so yummy!

Pasta is my Achilles’s heel, what type of dish do you usually order when dining out?