A strip plaza off State Road 54, just past the Suncoast Parkway interchange in Lutz, is where my girlfriend and I end up at least once a month — and if I ever had to pick a last meal, this would be in the conversation.
It’s not that we’re chasing something new every time. It’s the opposite — we go back because it never changes. Drinks get refilled before you notice the glass is empty. I hate waiting at restaurants, genuinely hate it, but this is one of the few places where, on a busy weekend night, I’ll put our name in and actually stand there for it. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, nobody’s grumbling in the car about it afterward. One reviewer online summed the place up as quick service and a relaxed atmosphere, and that’s the same thing we’ve gotten every single visit, not just a good night they happened to have when we showed up.
That consistency carries over to the food. Whatever we order, the portion is genuinely large — not “large for the price” large, just large — and it comes out seasoned the same way it did the last ten times, not watered down because it’s a strip-plaza spot in the suburbs. This time it was soup first, tom yum with shrimp for me and tom kha for her, same base of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime and straw mushrooms in both, just hot-and-sour versus coconut-rich. Ordering one of each and trading bowls is basically a ritual by now. We usually lead with an appetizer too — the spring rolls, the curry puff, shrimp in a blanket, the Thai-style crab rangoon — whichever one we’re in the mood for, since all of them are good enough that we don’t actually agonize over the choice.
From there we split a Mexican roll, the pad Thai, and a Panang curry with shrimp. Nothing about the order was adventurous — it’s the same handful of dishes we always land on — and that’s sort of the point. We know exactly what we’re getting before it hits the table.
She got the fried ice cream for dessert, which we don’t always have room for — a scoop battered and fried so the outside goes crisp while the ice cream inside somehow doesn’t melt before it reaches the table, chocolate drizzle, whipped cream, a cherry on top. When we do stay for dessert, this is the one.
The one thing still on my list after all these visits is the chef’s special, Pla Lad Prig — a deep-fried, battered whole red snapper topped with chili sauce. It’s market price, a little above what we usually spend on a trip here, which is the only reason I haven’t ordered it yet. I’ve watched it go by to another table more than once, though, and one of these visits it’s finally happening.
Good to know: Bangkok Sushi, 16541 Pointe Village Dr, Ste 101, Lutz, FL 33558 — off State Road 54 near the Suncoast Parkway interchange. Mon-Fri 11:30am-10pm, Sat 12pm-10pm, Sun 12pm-9pm. (813) 920-9777.
— Robert