The Bamboo Bistro

The family tried the Bamboo Bistro on 75th Avenue on St. Pete Beach tonight.  It was delicious.
The restaurant occupies the tiny space formerly known as Oscar's on 75th.  There is ample parking behind the building.  It sits next to the infamous "Shhh, Don't Tell Mama" adult store.

There is a lovely deck in the back with seating.  It has some Roman busts on the wall which is a bit of a disconnect.  It is still a pleasant spot to sit on a fresh cool November evening.  The interior has been painted in a deep red walls, black ceiling and large golden bamboo poles askew against the walls.  The floors are dark wood.

There is a very nice selection of sushi items and specialty rolls.  We chose a spicy tuna roll ($9,95) and one called red hot chili peppers.  Both were very good.  I particularly liked the read hot chili pepper roll ($13.95).  It had tuna inside and tuna outside, with jalapenos, tempura crispy something and it was very good.  I like spicy.  Both were plated beautifully and had generous amounts of wasabi and pickled ginger.

Beer and Wine selections are the usual generic versions.  Hot or cold sake is offered, too.  A generous glass of wine is $5.00 each and a Miller Lite is $2.95 a bottle.

The Daughter raves about the crab rangoon, and they were hot, fresh, crispy and had a nice dipping sauce.  Dad was very happy with his pork potstickers.  They were tender and flavorful.    I can't share a picture of my Tom Yum Shrimp soup, ($3.95).  We ate it before I remembered a picture.  It was tart, spicy, gingery with three perfectly cooked large plump tender shrimp.  Sooooo good.  Service can be a bit scattered but with food this good, we weren't complaining.

The Mr. enjoyed his dish of Mongolian beef very much.  The onions and beef were tender and flavorful. The Daughter could barely eat her entree of Broccoli Ginger chicken, only because she had too much sushi!!.  It was perfectly cooked, the chicken slices were not rubbery.  You could tell this was cooked to order.  The only miss of the night was the Bamboo Eggplant in peanut sauce.  The tofu cubes were lightly fried pillows of airy protein.  The sauce suffered by being much too sweet and cloying for my taste.  It needed a serious punch of lime and heat to counteract the thick sweet peanut flavor.  

Yes, we will go back.  Do the sushi,  Hot & Sour or Tom Yum soup and save some room for the desserts.  We want to try the Thai donut and the Bamboo Banarama Sundae.  Tempura fried bananas, ice cream, and hot fudge.  Just shoot me now.  Really that sounds like fun!

Those are the happy faces of my family after a good supper.  Please tell them Olivia sent you in to give them a try. .