By Brianna Llewellyn, Staff Writer
On February 21 Saint Leo University took us to Spain Restaurant and Toma Bar the heart of downtown Tampa to celebrate February’s Food for thought event. However, the poor service and cuisine did not call for much of a celebration at all.
To begin the students were all seated in the middle of the restaurant. Soon after a waitress approached our table and offered drinks. Some of the drinks offered were not on the menu, so when they bought drinks students were given alternatives instead. For example, if a guest asked for Pepsi, the waiter bought Coke and if a guest asked for Sierra Mist, they were given Sprite instead.
The menu was composed of three options to choose from, ranging from chicken, pork or fish. Each dish was served with a side of yellow rice and plantain. However, the waiter said that the fish would have a side of shrimp and crab so must people opted for the fish, while only a few chose the chicken or pork.
Then while waiting for our orders to be prepared we were given some appetizers. One was a garden salad sprinkled with feta and balsamic vinaigrette. The other was basket full of bread rolls drizzled with garlic flavored butter. The lettuce was fresh and crisp and the bread was soft and seemed like it had been baked recently enough. So, there were no complaints with the appetizers.
The table where I sat was in front of a stage, so I asked if there would be any performances later on during the evening. There would be a performer, but the audience would be asked to pay a one dollar cover charge at the end of the night.
Finally, our food came one after another almost a good 10 minutes apart. The fish entrees arrived first. Nicole Virgo, Sophomore, got her meal first. To her surprise, it was cold. She allowed me to taste a piece of the fish. The fish was seasoned, but the texture of the fish was a bit too much for my palate. The fish had a type of creamy white sauce on it that made the fish taste like it had been smothered in creamy mushroom soup. Nicole described the dish as slimy and cold as well.
Next the chicken and pork dishes arrived and everyone prepared to feast because the food had taken so long to come. However, presentation is key. The chicken and the rice were all thrown together unto one plate like a stir-fry. There were exactly two pieces of sausage and a few sparsely scattered chicken strips. In my opinion the chicken was good. It was not great and not worth an entire eight dollars, but it was much better than the fish.
I was not lucky enough to try the pork, but Benjamin Potter, Sophomore, described the pulled pork in a way that was less than appealing.
“I cook a lot at home so I expect better quality food from a restaurant that charges so much per dish,” he said as he pushed his disappointing plate of food to the side.
Still, despite the mediocre food we stayed for desert and to watch the live performance. Nevertheless the live guitarist was talented, and did add a little bit of light to the night.
For desert I had flan and was disappointed again. The flan lacked flavor and was nothing like any other flan I had tasted before. In the sense, that it was spongy instead of creamy.
All in the entire experience was about a 5 out of 10 because although the location was great, the food needs a lot of work.
