Just Like (a) Human

Last week, I had a day off to hang out with my friends. We all wandered into Downtown Tampa at my behest, because I was excited and wanted to try out a new restaurant named Bamboozle Cafe.

Almost all of our meals that are away from home start with a walk or a taxi ride. I figured that it was closer than my mailbox, so we’d walk it, and work up an appetite. When we get downtown, it took us a good minute to find the restaurant, since Google Maps wasn’t quite the benefit we wanted it to be (Google Maps puts the user about a half block past it in a vehicle, forcing the user to circle around for the safest option to come back to the restaurant) .

As we walk in at one in the afternoon, we notice that the place is packed with many diners, and it would be a challenge to get a spot to sit and eat together as three. Waiting in line, we’re asked by one person what we’d like to order and handed a card that we can hand to the crew preparing our meals.

Shortly thereafter, the staff there are putting together boats of pho and beef rolls that remind me of spring rolls — not fried, filled with veggies and a hint of beef. I also picked up the Vietnamese coffee that day, since I was in a caffeinated mood.

Steve and I had both opted for the beef pho, while Chris chose the three beef rolls and the chicken soup.

The pho was served just the right way, with slightly firm rice noodles, flavorful broth, bean sprouts, basil, mint, thin sliced beef, and a serving of hoisin sauce on the side. There was also a lime wedge included, for those who like the bitter taste. I couldn’t help but savor the taste three times, first without anything added. The beef broth carried a light, but rich note when combined with the rice noodles and bean sprouts, making the dish quite enjoyable. 

After several mouthfuls, I moved on to adding the hoisin sauce, which just added a deeper flavor tone that is hard to describe. It was as if it drew the flavor further out of the noodles and broth.

I’m also one of those people who like adding lime to my pho, so I was more than delighted to squeeze my lime wedge over my boat, and re-experience the delicious contents of what was left in my boat.

Steve enjoyed his boat faster than I enjoyed mine. Perhaps it was because I was too busy savoring the flavors erupting in my mouth that I took so long in finishing. Chris enjoyed his chicken soup, and offered me one of his rolls, citing that he couldn’t finish it all (He didn’t, even with only two rolls and the soup — one roll went home with him). The roll was pretty good, as well, but its flavor was much more subtle than I expected it to be.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the iced Vietnamese coffee — it was rather bitter, as if it were overbrewed as a hot coffee, then stored to be poured over ice. I don’t know if this is actually how it should have been done or not, since I only have one base to compare it to, and that was a cup at my local Cafe Hey.

Either way, I wouldn’t mind dropping by Bamboozle Cafe again, and indeed, I already have, at least once — I needed a picture of the pho bowl while it had pho in it.