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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Oystercatchers Tampa Brunch Tour

This Sunday marked the 4th Tampa Brunch Tour stop at Oystercatchers located inside of the Grand Hyatt, Tampa. Ever since I moved to Tampa, Oystercatchers Brunch was on my "must do list". Myself along with 5 other Tampa Food Bloggers set out for an early Sunday morning brunch.

Upon arrival we had an introduction about Oystercatchers brunch from the talented Chef de Cuisine, Hector Pabon. Chef explained that he changes up the menu every week and during this visit, we experienced a Florida Cuba style brunch.

Finding ourselves among unlimited mimosa's & champagne (hooray for Chateau Ste. Michelle bubbles!). Seriously, our glasses did not go beyond half empty once.

A fully stocked Bloody Mary Bar with three different concoctions - traditional, clammato and extra spicy. Two different flavor rimmers and multiple options in the stuffed olive category. Oh - and BACON.

Walking to our table, I instantly fell in love with Oystercatchers Brunch - my caviar obsessed eyes went straight to this line up and I will be honest - if I were not here on a blogger brunch, I would have sat here for hours consuming this goodness. Oh caviar, I have missed you so!!!
What goes perfect with caviar? The most perfect smoked Salmon one could ever get their hands on, paired with everything a lox fan could ever dream of.
Then, my eyes focused on the cheese and caricature board. One of the cheese selections was "drunken goat" and I am currently in hunt for what may be my new favorite cheese.
 Let's move onto breakfast items, shall we. Our fantastic server greeted us with bubbles and explained the various stations. Breakfast, Lunch, Raw bar, pasta bar, salad stations, sushi and of course everything I mentioned above....oh and a dessert bar not to be missed. More on that later. He explained our omelet station would have every topping one could desire (it did) and various eggs, egg whites and QUAIL EGGS! I decided to get a spinach, mushroom, garlic, bacon and quail egg omelet. While it was delicious, I am generally an egg white kinda of gal and this was a bit rich for me. Also on the plate below is.....drum roll please......a lobster egg Benedict. My breakfast gods have died and gone to heaven.

One of the tables favorite items on the menu was the spring rolls with every dipping sauce you could imagine. I have a weakness for spring rolls - I don't feel guilty eating them and these were delicious. Oystercatchers had two different sushi rolls available this day, tuna and California.
Ceviche, roasted mushrooms and chicken salad. 
 Salads galore - see even brunches are diet friendly!!
 Roast of Veal
 My "lunch plate"

I was beyond impressed with the pasta station. Offering house-made pasta - everything from linguine to ravioli to gnocchi. 
I opted with a unique concoction - gnocchi, vodka sauce, prosciutto, sun-dried tomato, chicken and asparagus. I lost all self control. My flavors were a bit odd but the sauce and the gnocchi were very good.

Let's take a visit over to the dessert bar. I went in with a full stomach and wide eyes. If you ever go to Oystercatches on your birthday - let them know. You may get a special treat!

If this isn't every kids dream, I am not sure what is. An ice cream sundae bar beyond my wildest imagination.
Chocolate mousse in a white chocolate bowl, made to look like a glowing candle. 
 Apple Beignet!
 Bananas Foster!

Thank you Lauren for providing me with these shots.


Good lord, that was a lot of food and I didn't include half of my photos.
I will say one thing - Oystercatchers brunch is well worth the price, which varies if the Sunday falls on an event. On non-event Sundays, the price for brunch is $45 a person, including all you can eat/drink. Make sure you call ahead a few weeks for reservations as Oystercatchers books up far in advance. I am looking forward to my best friend Keri coming to Tampa next month because we are so going here! Also, since my bridesmaids are forcing a "let's say yes to the dress" day in Tampa sometime in the future, I may demand we start the day off with a fantastic brunch at Oystercatchers.

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3 comments:

  1. I'm in a food coma just looking at these photos!

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  2. Amazing brunch, can't imagine that it can be beat! Thanks for putting it together (as always!) Good times.

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  3. Such an amazing brunch - that one is definitely going to be hard to top!

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