Boca Hyde Park - Seasonal Fresh Ingredients from Local Farms

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Boca Hyde Park (aka Boca Kitchen Bar and Market) in South Tampa with my pal Lauren (Tasting Tampa & Tampa Uncorked). This was my second opportunity dining at Boca and they did not disappoint. Boca's farm fresh concept uses local ingredients and brings them to the table. Everything from your cocktail to your dessert has seasonal fresh ingredients from local growers.

Boca has one of the best Happy Hours I have seen which features craft cocktails. From 11am-6pm, a variety of their specialty beverages are $2! They also have a name of the day game on Facebook, so make sure you are following them. If your name is drawn, it means free drinks for you and three friends. For our cocktails, I ordered the Indian Summer - watermelon, apple shrub, basil, bombay. I substituted the bombay for Kettle One. It was very sweet but a refreshing cocktail.

Indian Summer

Lauren, aka the princess of everything spicy, ordered the Hot House Collins - cucumber, lime, bombay, tonic. She also substituted vodka for the gin. I was very impressed with her drink and would order it. I actually stole one of her peppers to give my drink a little heat!

Hot House Collins

Lauren and I started off with two appetizers to share. I was excited to try out the Mason Jar Breads and Spreads with dolce bleu cheese and walnut spread, a chorizo and citrus hummus and an arugula pesto. The chorizo an citrus hummus was my favorite of the trio.

Mason Jar Breads and Spreads

When Lauren and I decided that we were going to do our girls night out at Boca, we both started stalking the menu. She was very excited to try the Blistered Shisito Peppers. I was on the fence. I am not a huge fan of peppers and am a big old baby when it comes to spicy stuff. I am a team player and went for it as I knew how much she wanted to try them. One week later, these bad boys are all I can think about. They are addicting. When the shisito peppers were presented to us, we were told that  only one of every 12 of these is super hot. Lauren got one and I luckily did not. Smoky, roasted red pepper and salty. It was a true savory treat and I want more.

Blistered Shisito Peppers

Time for our entrees, I ordered the Yellowfin Tuna with Moroccan vegetables  roasted garlic cous cous, chamoula aioli and grilled Meyer lemon. Overall it was amazing. The aioli had a flavor that reminded me of curry and citrus. It paired perfectly with the cous cous and vegetables. I could put that on everything. 

Yellowfin Tuna with Moroccan Vegetables. 

Lauren ordered the I had the Nor Cal Flatbread. This consisted of pulled chicken, artichoke, spinach, goat cheese, and pomegranate syrup. The pomegranate syrup was more like a balsamic and was a perfect topping to this huge flat bread.

Nor Cal Flatbread

For our desserts, I got the Chocolate Cherry Bacon Cake. Say hello to my little friend. I am not a huge fan of cherries so luckily, I was able to push them aside. I could eat an entire batch of the candied bacon.

Chocolate Cherry Bacon Cake

 Lauren ordered the berry cobbler with ice cream. This should be called a Berry with a side of cobbler. It had more berries than I have ever seen in a dessert. Very good!

Berry Cobbler

Overall, I was very impressed with Boca Kitchen Bar & Market. If you are in town on November 7th, there is a Beer vs. Wine dinner at 6pm! Click here for more details.

You can also have your holiday party at Boca, or have them cook your Thanksgiving dinner. Call 813.254.7070 for more information.