My husband and I love the Tampa Bay area and when we are able to get a date night from our three little kids, we like to make our outing pretty special. We had the pleasure of being invited to a complimentary tasting menu at Pelagia Trattoria Restaurant in the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel to sample their 2016 Christmas & New Years Menu.
I personally had never heard of the restaurant and so I was definitely intrigued to taste their food. When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the elegant and beautiful decor of the restaurant. The servers were very attentive. The chef came out and explain each dish so we knew what we were eating.
We were able to taste nearly a dozen different dishes from their 2016 Christmas and New Years Eve Menu. Overall the food was absolutely delicious! My husband and I will definitely return here for a fine dining date night very soon.
Pelagia Trattoria features modern Italian cuisine that offers seafood, steak, pasta, soup salad and more at their fine dining venue. All offerings are prepared from scratch daily and they are open year round for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In true Family-Friendly Tampa Bay form, we would love to show you our top picks from the menus.
Appetizer:
Lobster En Croute Escargots Style
I am not a fan of shelled seafood and this lobster definitely changed my mind. I am now a Lobster fan! No more avoiding this delectable seafood option. It was seriously delicious. Perfectly cooked and the added pastry made it taste like fine dining comfort food.
Salad of Duck Confit, Sunchokes, Frisee, Pomegranate and Port Vinaigrette (Top Left)
By far, my favorite menu item at Pelagia Trattoria’s tasting night was the Duck confit. It was so flavorful and delicate. I love the addition of the pomegranates which provided a nice burst of texture. Don’t be fooled by the world “salad” it definitely was more than just that and it was very filling for a sample portion. The regular portion will definitely be bigger.
Grilled Pear, Watercress, Maple Bacon & Walnut Dressing (Top Right)
Whenever I eat pears, they are not grilled and they never include bacon, so this was a great combination of flavors!
Main Course:
Colorado Rack of Lamb & Blackberry Sage Demi
Can’t have fine dining without a beautifully cooked lamb. I loved the nice crust on the rack of lamb. The Blackberry Sage Demi was an amazing sauce to accompany this lamb dish.
Almond Laced John Dory, Pernod & Black Truffle
This main course was melt in your mouth goodness! I could have eaten three or four of these in one sitting. It was that good!
Dessert:
Cardamom Spiced Creme Brulee
Yum! All four desserts below had their high points. The Cardamom Spiced Creme Brulee was definitely one of the winners for us. If you’re a true chocolate fan than you will definitely love the richness of the Chocolate Strawberry Truffle Bar on the top right.
These were some of our top picks from the tasting menu. Make sure to Check out the Christmas & New Years Menu at Pelagia Trattoria Restaurant in the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel.
We hope you enjoyed our review. We really did enjoy our experience at Pelagia Trattoria and we hope you will too.
Review written by Miriam Cook, founder of Family-Friendly Tampa Bay.
