Sunday, July 24, 2005
Byblos Cafe
2832 South Macdill Avenue,
Tampa, Fl. 33629
I'd been here one time before but it was a sit-down dining experience with the obligatory belly-dancing. That was with one Shaun Berthelsdorf who had never had eastern mediterranean type food before nor anything from that part of the Orient. So that time was more spent explaining a lot of the things to him - not a chore but the focus was less on the quality of the place.
This time I went there with Megan and as we stepped into the restaurant on a rain-drenched Saturday night, we saw it was packed and braced ourselves to be turned away. The friendly hostess said it would be a 20 minutes wait in the bar area, apparently where we could also eat. As we were lead into the bar area, I realized it was silly not to eat in the bar area. No wait, comfy couches - though not so practical for eating unless you want to eat off your chest. I didn't understand why everybody didn't eat in that section.
We had the Byblos Mezze and a Beef Showarma. With the amount of food in the Mezze sampler, we didn't need an entree. The food was great; lots of purees to dip pita bread in; but what made it great was the atmosphere. The only thing that was missing was a hookah. Alas, the smoking ban in Florida restaurants has already taken place.
The belly dancing is a little distracting since I always feel the urge to put food on the women who do it. It's either that or put money in her belt which is also no good for me. I'm too poor and would feel weird tipping her like I would a stripper.
So Megan and I lounged there and ate the mezze and showarma slowly for about 3 hours. S'that invitation enough to say it's good?
2832 South Macdill Avenue,
Tampa, Fl. 33629
I'd been here one time before but it was a sit-down dining experience with the obligatory belly-dancing. That was with one Shaun Berthelsdorf who had never had eastern mediterranean type food before nor anything from that part of the Orient. So that time was more spent explaining a lot of the things to him - not a chore but the focus was less on the quality of the place.
This time I went there with Megan and as we stepped into the restaurant on a rain-drenched Saturday night, we saw it was packed and braced ourselves to be turned away. The friendly hostess said it would be a 20 minutes wait in the bar area, apparently where we could also eat. As we were lead into the bar area, I realized it was silly not to eat in the bar area. No wait, comfy couches - though not so practical for eating unless you want to eat off your chest. I didn't understand why everybody didn't eat in that section.
We had the Byblos Mezze and a Beef Showarma. With the amount of food in the Mezze sampler, we didn't need an entree. The food was great; lots of purees to dip pita bread in; but what made it great was the atmosphere. The only thing that was missing was a hookah. Alas, the smoking ban in Florida restaurants has already taken place.
The belly dancing is a little distracting since I always feel the urge to put food on the women who do it. It's either that or put money in her belt which is also no good for me. I'm too poor and would feel weird tipping her like I would a stripper.
So Megan and I lounged there and ate the mezze and showarma slowly for about 3 hours. S'that invitation enough to say it's good?
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