July 15, 2010

Tampa Meet-Up

Yesterday I went to Tampa for a blogger meet-up at Trang Viet, a Vietnamese restaurant with a separate veg*n menu! Seriously folks, there were so many options that we all took 20 minutes just to narrow down what we wanted. But the most important thing was the company, which was great! I'm so glad Sammi put this together because it was awesome to finally meet bloggers face to face. We ended up spending hours at the restaurant just talking and getting to know each other; I met some cool people and had a good time.


Bloggers included Sammi, Trinity and Blake, and Lindsey plus some friends! It was a big group, which made it even more fun.

Unfortunately the food was just OK. I had high hopes for the restaurant because it came so highly recommended, but the best thing I ate was my appetizer: winter spring rolls. They were the only "season" spring roll that didn't have faux meat in them, so I chose them based on freshness. They were delicious and I liked the addition of jicama.



For my entree I debated between papaya salad and ginger "beef". I wish I went with the salad because the "beef" wasn't very good. It was lukewarm and didn't have much flavor. I asked for veggies instead of rice, which is a good tip if you don't want the huge mound of rice Asian restaurants usually serve with meals.



I wanted chocolate rum "cheese"cake for dessert but they were out, so I went with carrot cake instead. The icing was good, but the cake was unremarkable. It tasted kind of undercooked and it wasn't spicy enough.



Even though the food was mediocre, it was great to have my first meet-up, make new friends and enjoy a nice afternoon in Tampa. Plus, the restaurant staff was super sweet and accommodating. Thanks again, Sammi! Now it's time to pump some iron! :)



Trang Viet Cuisine on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

  1. yay for blogger meet ups! love the carrot cake.

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  2. Next I have to trek it up your way for a meet up at Mustard Seed. :P

    Carrot cake is one of the most perfect foods.

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  3. How fun on the meet up. I get to meet 2 blog friends (and friends on a workout forum) at the end of this month. Don't you just hate it when the food turns out to be on the disappointing side? At least the company made up for it.

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  4. Hey girl! It's Dani/cecesfurtdauter from LJ! Just letting you know that I read your blog relgiously, even though I'm not vegan, haha. The food you make looks incredible and I'm going to be trying out some stuff! I just tried the overnight oats and they were pretty good!

    Random question, you like sweet potatoes, right? Ever think of doing some sweet potato soup or bisque? I tried it once and didn't love it, but if you found a recipe you liked, I'd definitely give it another go! :) Just a suggestion.

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  5. I hope you have fun, Heather! The company more than made up for the food. :)

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  6. Hey girl! Thanks for reading! :) Overnight oats are tricky with me - I have to be in the mood for them to really enjoy them. I find that I like them a lot more when I top them with banana soft serve "frosting". The combo works super well.

    I love sweet potatoes and I haven't made a soup before, but now I want to! It'd be kind of weird to make one in July, but I'm down for the challenge. I already have an idea.

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  7. How exactly do you make the banana soft serve? Just blend up some bananas or..?

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  8. It's super easy. Just:

    - Freeze bananas
    - Put bananas in a food processor and process until smooth and fluffy. It'll take a few minutes, but you'll know when it's done.

    You can flavor it with anything you want - extracts, cocoa powder, cinnamon, etc.

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