Although we first told you about the opening of Rudraksh Indian Cuisine at 4424 Friendly Way, Suite 115, in Downtown Avalon Park in our May 13 issue, owners (top photo) Manashi Borush (left) and Amit Ghorpade celebrated the “official” Grand Opening of their upscale Indian restaurant on Aug. 9.
And of course, yours truly had to be there to enjoy some more unique flavors and wish the owners and their general manager Dee well.
“A lot more people have been giving us a try since Tallo (the Caribbean-American fusion restaurant next door) opened,” Dee says. “But, they keep coming back because they found out that they love the food (like the tasty Tandoori lamb seekh kabobs below) and the atmosphere here, too. We have been super-busy on the weekends and the lunch and weekday dinner business is growing, too.”
The place definitely was packed with both regulars and newcomers for the Grand Opening event, which included a complimentary glass of champagne and an incredible 30% off your bill. So of course, I had to grab a seat at the gorgeous, premium-liquor bar and not only try the lamb kabobs (right) but also the butter naan (below; I still prefer the lamb chops and garlic naan), and indulge in my still-favorite Rudraksh dish, the Lehsoni Gobi (crispy cauliflower with garlic sauce). For more info, call (813) 355-3914 or visit RudrakshIndianCuisine.com. — GN
Lima Rotisserie Chicken & Peruvian Cuisine owner Oscar Escudero is well aware that his restaurant, located in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (a mile or so south of the Pasco County line), has been among my favorite restaurants in either of our distribution areas since he first opened in Feb. 2020.
“Yeah, we opened less than a month before the pandemic hit,” Oscar remembers all too clearly. “And then, only a few months after we opened, the chef I brought over from Peru, Felix Picasso, suffered a stroke here in the restaurant.”
In other words, no matter how much a certain editor has always loved his place, Oscar has faced several challenges, including having to take over as the main chef in the kitchen — despite previously working in real estate — and even though he had never even cooked in a commercial kitchen before.
“Felix taught me how to take our recipes, which were mostly my mom’s anyway, and cook them for a large number of people,” Oscar says. “I have put in some 100-hour work weeks trying to keep this place going.”
But, not only has Oscar kept Lima afloat, in the five+ years since he first opened, his newfound experience in the kitchen has helped him expand his already-delicious Peruvian-Chinese fusion menu with ongoing specials that are a treat for both your eyes and your palette.
If you’ve been reading my reviews of Lima over the years, I’m sure you know that I’m basically addicted to his all-fish (since I can’t eat shrimp) Ceviché de Pescado, which is as good as any I’ve had anywhere in the Tampa Bay area, with its perfect blend of South American lime juice and spices, those delicious, giant Peruvian corn kernels and sliced red onions. I don’t eat the raw onions themselves, but the flavor they add is a necessity. I also love the wedge of sweet potato that’s soaked in the ceviche’s delectable juice.
Well, on our most recent visit, Jannah, photographer Charmaine George and I sampled three new specials, including a “Marina Trio” (above left), which featured a nice-sized portion of that amazing fish ceviche, flanked on one side by Arroz Chaufa (Peruvian-Chinese-style fried rice) Mariscos, with shrimp, calamari, mussels and clams one side and by fried white fish fingers called Jalea on the other. Although I couldn’t eat the fried rice, Jannah and Charmaine agreed that it was delicious. I can vouch for the fried rice with either chicken or beef tenderloin tips, though. Yum!
Next up was the Aticucho de Lomo de Res (top) — tender, tasty beef tenderloin tips (the traditional dish is often made with beef hearts) on skewers on a steaming dish with sizable sides of crispy potato wedges and grilled Peruvian corn. The only warning I’ll offer is that if you don’t like a very spicy dipping sauce, the innocent-looking side of pink rocato sauce is literally an eye-opener.
And, even though Jannah doesn’t like her meal looking back at her, even she admitted that the third special we tried — the whole, deep-fried yellowtail snapper, served with thick yuca fries (right) — was excellent. The snapper was super-flaky and the flavor is unlike other whole snapper/fish you’ll find at other restaurants.
The only regular menu item we sampled on our most recent visit, because we had never tried it before, was the aptly named Lima Bowl (below left) — a heaping portion of creamy (and well-spiced, but not spicy) chicken salad, made with Lima’s signature rotisserie chicken, served over white rice, black beans and Romaine lettuce with Peruvian-style pico de gallo. So good.
Our Old Lima Standbys
Of course, anytime a local place continues to attract my attention, there are always dishes Jannah and I allow ourselves to indulge in on a regular basis. Mine always starts with the aforementioned Ceviché de Pescado (although I also loved the new Ceviché Lima, which adds fried calamari and a savory golden pepper sauce to the usual ceviché), but Jannah’s absolute favorite dish at Lima is the Tallarin Saltado, which is similar to a Chinese lo mein-style dish, but combines flamed, sliced onions, tomatoes and cilantro, blended with fettuccine-style pasta and Peruvian soy sauce with a touch of sesame oil.
I’m also partial to the variety of fried fillet of fish dishes, especially the Pescado a la Chorrillana, which is topped with sautéed spices, onions, tomatoes and cilantro, with a splash of wine, and served with jasmine rice, as well as the Asado de Res con Ensalada Rusa, which was a special I told you about last year that is basically the Peruvian version of beef pot roast/brisket, served with a Russian-inspired potato-&-beet salad.
And yes, I’m also a fan of Lima’s signature crispy-skin, Peruvian rotisserie chicken, but I get almost as much enjoyment simply from the aroma of the chicken anytime you enter the restaurant.
“It’s a very special oven we make the chicken in,” Oscar says. “We have quite a few regular customers who never get anything else.” If you’re one of these regulars, I get it, but my opinion is that you need to broaden your horizons.
Don’t forget dessert. Charmaine and I both flipped for last year’s Cake de Maracuya, which is sort of like a passion fruit cake & flan combo. It’s light, airy and delicious. We also agreed that the special we tried this time around — the Tres Leches de Lucuma (right) — definitely had a different flavor than any tres leches we’ve had before, thanks to the South American lucuma fruit which we agreed is a combination of maple, butterscotch and caramel that is light and not too sweet.
Other desserts include a creamy torta de chocolate, arroz con leche (rice pudding) and alfajores, which are crumbly cookies filled with dulce de leche (always on the front counter).
Lima also serves beer (I usually get the Peruvian Cusqueña) and wine, as well as Inca Kola (regular and diet) and Peruvian juices in passion fruit and mango. The kids menu includes Salchipapas (French fries topped with diced hot dogs), as well as chicken tenders and fried fish strips.
Lima (19062 BBD Blvd.) opens every day at 11 a.m. & stays open until 8 p.m. Mon.-Thur., 9 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 7 p.m. on Sun. For more info, call (813) 304-0205, order on UberEats or DoorDash, visit LimaTampa.com — and please tell Oscar I sent you!
CITY Furniture is under construction on a nearly-9-acre site next to Chicken Guy & the Floor & Decor store on the north side of S.R. 56. The Home2 Suites hotel is planned, but is not yet under construction next to the Hyatt Place hotel. (NN map is not to scale & only shows approximate locations)
We first told you back in 2023 that CITY Furniture was planning to build a 120,000-sq.-ft. showroom on a 400,000-sq.-ft. (8.92-acre) parcel valued at $3.774 million, across S.R. 56 from the Tampa Premium Outlets, near the Floor & Decor store (see map).
Well, the site work for CITY Furniture recently began (photo below; the Silversaw Apartments are in the background) and Maitland, FL-based Miller Construction Co., is doing the construction. We’ll keep you posted as CITY Furniture gets closer to completion and its opening.
To the east of the latest furniture store planned to open in the Wesley Chapel area will be the Home2 Suites by Hilton – Wesley Chapel hotel that will be developed by Impact Properties, the same group that built and still owns the nearly adjacent Hyatt Place Tampa Wesley Chapel hotel.
Although we don’t know when the construction of the 103-room, five-story, 66,913-sq.-ft. Home2 Suites is expected to begin, the last update we received said it was expected to open sometime in 2026.
An interesting thing about the hotel is that it will be constructed on only a two-acre site (less than 1/4 the size of the CITY Furniture site), valued at $1.112 million. — GN, with research by Joel Provenzano
Wednesday, September 24, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. – North Tampa Bay Chamber Economic Development Briefing. At Pasco Hernando State College, Porter Campus (2727 Mansfield Blvd., Conference Center, 3rd Floor). Tampa’s Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital has been providing care to the children of the greater Tampa Bay area for almost 100 years. In order to bring expert care closer to home for many children, for the first time, a brand new pediatric acute care hospital will open in Wesley Chapel. Join the Chamber for an intriguing discussion about a myriad of topics with our panel members: Justin Olsen, COO & Joseph Perno, M.D., VP of Medical Affairs – at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital; Teresa Campbell, architect & principal in charge, HKS Architects; and Bryan Durkin, operations manager, Robins & Morton. The cost to attend this event is $25.
Congratulations to owners Moudy Shublaq and Didi Abdulnabi of the new Wondergrounds Play Café, which has been open for about a month next to Smoothie King in the small strip plaza in front of the Super Target at 1041 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (at County Line Rd.).
Photo Source: Facebook/Jasmin Rico
“We wanted to create a secure place for kids (ages 6 & under) to play indoors where their parents can enjoy delicious coffee and tea (and other beverages) and a comfortable place to sit and watch their kids,” Moudy says. “We’ve already had great support from the local community.”
Wondergrounds also offers a delicious variety of rotating, locally baked cakes and pastries, although Moudy says, “We will always have the rainbow cake (lower left in the photo below).”
The unique play area, which offers extra-wide spaces for parents who want to join their kids, also offers a colorful “village” area (below) with different small buildings and a fire truck.
Wondergrounds (open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. every day) has a party room, membership plans and single-day pricing on weekdays and weekends (please note that reservations are required for non-member weekend play) — with grip socks on sale for just $3. For more info, call (813) 575-7529 or visit WondergroundsPlayCafe.com. — GN
