Food Tour: Young & Hungry Pt Two: It's New & Maybe For You | Rio Izykaya | Look of The Night Re-Play

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Food Tour: Young & Hungry Pt Two: It's New & Maybe For You:

🌼Isu St.Pete 

🌼Yugen SRQ

🌼Kurō Lakewood Ranch 

🌼Bosc on Platt St.

🌼 Ceiba Orlando 

🌼Quiote Tequilaria 

🌼Mei St.Pete

 🌼The Landon

 🌼Rio Izakaya 

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ONE MORE STOP LEFT AFTER THIS!

RIO IZAKAYA 

Westshore Marina District

This is a fairly new restaurant (I think they have been open for three to four months) in thr Gandy area if you are not familiar with Westshore Marina District. As a local we just say "South of Gandy." But this is a really nice area, its kind of like a suburb and this restaurant is in the location that Cru Hospitality once had a restaurant. Rio Izakaya is basically like a modern Izakaya which is quite popular right now; more and more concepts like this are popping up all over Florida.

In this post I am going to start with what my husband ate first and for the most part it is not gluten-free. Initially, I was hesitant to come here because the menu was different and it was not looking like there were any gluten-free options. To my surprise, as I am planning my food tour I decided to take another look and one week the menu was still the same and I went back and looked again the following week and then it was different. Well, hallelujah!

So, now we have stop # 9
Some of this food is my husband's so for example the Karaage is not gluten-free. He eats Karaage all the time and he was really impressed with how this was cooked. The sauce was great (on the side) and they added a heap of fried green onions which he said really added to that experience.

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This restaurant specializes in a type of yakitori grilled over coal. This one is a great way to just try new things because you can order them individually.  The yakitori can be gluten-free at some places and not other places, but in general its usually delicious.  Its definitely a must try.

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So, why this photo? Well, somehow all of my husband's food was served to him course by course and nothing I ordered evee came out. At some point like the manager and waiter kept walking up and apologizing, but I never got an answer why my food basically came out when my husband's dessert was being served. All I ordered was nigiri and caviar. At the least, the caviar should have come out immediately with his first course which was the Karaage. 

Full disclosure, I was impressed with this restaurant and with all that I saw, but I was like how do you serve my husband all his food and never serve me anything for like an hour and I ordered something so simple - and I wasnt offered anything to snack on in the meantime, they just kept saying sorry and saying they needed to go check on it.

              

So, my food is below and it is all gluten-free. It took like an hour for me to get this.  I liked it and I thought the price was good especially for the caviar, but the overall excitement was gone by the time I got my food my husband was eating dessert. 

So, some items that I was rold were gluten-free  would be as follows:
Obviously the caviar and nigiri i ordered was GF.
The Lobster fried rice
The chicken teriyaki without the sauce.
the edamame. 

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Overall, the restaurant was great. The nigiri was rather plain, the caviar made it better and the price was good and when I say "good" its on par with what other restaurants charge for the "Chefs Selection" which usually is served simple like this. 

I was told they have plans for a full scale upstairs omakase experience on the second floor which is exciting. I dined here when the old Cru restaurant was here and I never knew there was even a second floor.

Unlike any restaurant I have been to, they have like a type of yakitori omakase and its all meat (pork, chicken, and wagyu). So, if you love meat (especially chicken because I hear its a lot of chicken) then it may be something to try out. I tried to get my hubby to do that omakase because he does eat a lot of meat, but he wasn't in the mood.