Oxford Exchange
We landed, picked up the car, and headed straight for Ulele—no time to waste! 🚗 It’s pretty close to the airport, but wow, Tampa sure loves traffic jams 🚦. The parking lot at Ulele was almost full; we waited a bit before snagging a spot. A seven- or eight-minute walk later, passing a cute kids’ park, we arrived—and no wait for a table, score! 😊 Following Xiaohongshu recommendations, we ordered fried alligator tail (\(15), pineapple bread pudding for dessert (around \)11), and seafood risotto. The risotto is on the dinner menu, not the lunch one, but you can still order it for \(38. With tip, the total came to \)80 for two—worth every penny. Everything was a bit salty, but so delicious! The fried alligator tail looks like fish but tastes like fried chicken—crunchy outside, tender inside 🐊. The seafood risotto? Creamy, moist, and loaded with huge scallops, plump shrimp, and crawfish tails 🍤. Pure comfort in a bowl. The pineapple bread pudding was the perfect finish: ice cream on top, with pineapple and toast underneath. After all that savory food, the sweet, fruity flavor was a bright contrast 🍍. Kick ourselves for forgetting the pork shank—probably on the dinner menu too—but two dishes were enough, no need to overdo it. After eating, we strolled around and soaked up some sun before driving to Clearwater Beach. More traffic, but the hour-long ride was worth it 🌞. We used credit card points for two nights at Hampton Inn—such a good call. The room has a balcony, and the bathroom has a separate dry and wet area. Love their Zero/0 shampoo and body wash—such a nice scent 🛁. The hotel has its own little beach, a pool and hot tub on the first floor, guest parking from floors 1-4, and the lobby on the sixth. Oh, and a breakfast buffet there daily from 6-10 AM 🥞. We hung out on the beach downstairs until sunset—20-something degrees, perfect weather. Couldn’t ask for a better start to the trip! 🌅 By the way, we also tried another great spot with some pros and cons. Pro✅: The food was really tasty (we ordered brunch flatbread, omelette, steak sandwich, and french toast🍞). The guy serving us had a great attitude, and the bill came in a real book, which was super cute! The prices were very reasonable too. The environment was nice, and other parts of the store sold books and some small items. It's highly recommended to buy books📖 here—they're reasonably priced, and the printing and binding are quite distinctive, especially the Cthulhu collection in picture 3, which is extremely exquisite! Cthulhu is giving out sugar🥵🥵🥵. Con❌: Never, ever, ever buy those small commodities here❌. They're ridiculously expensive😱. A small bowl with no texture sells for $125. I really want to say excuse me. I'm sorry, but I accidentally wandered into a wealthy neighborhood💩. It was also extremely slow. We had a reservation at 11:30, arrived early, and were told we had to wait. We finally got a table at 11:45. The food also came out extremely slowly; I could cook two dishes in the back kitchen faster than them👩🍳. All in all, it's still worth a try, but just make sure to set aside enough time. #Patan#Finefood#Treasurerestaurantsharing
