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Tasty Fusion Or Just Confusion?

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

Twisted Bamboo Bar & Bistro's fare includes Deluxe Sampler, Shaking Beef and Sushi Roll Salad.

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By NICK BERGUS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 21, 2008

TAMPA - Authentic ethnic food rarely, if ever, comes in nice packages. To get the real stuff requires air travel or venturing into restaurants where the menus are indecipherable, the tables wobble and foot traffic has scarred the floors. The food may be authentic, but - and here you imagine Anthony Bourdain noshing on some animal's nasty bits during a jaunt through Asia - it's risky.

Twisted Bamboo, which opened three months ago, isn't risky and doesn't claim authenticity. Judged on its own terms, it does just fine. Deciphering what, exactly, those terms are is the trick.

Its menu comprises a host of American pseudo-Asian favorites: General Tso's chicken, coconut shrimp and pad Thai. For those afraid of the overly Asian, a smattering of Hawaiian- and Caribbean-style dishes fill out the menu - half a rotisserie chicken with a pineapple-sweetened teriyaki sauce, for example - all safe choices.

The appetizer sampler, featuring some delicious pork and shrimp pot stickers, a surprisingly spicy crab cake, spring rolls, calamari, coconut shrimp and a variety of dipping sauces, is a nice start to a meal. The flavor of the four accompanying sauces - lemon-mint, sweet Thai chile, sesame-soy, and a mango-pineapple chutney the restaurant calls "island relish" - set a tone for the rest of the menu. These flavors make repeat appearances, presumably because that's what Floridians believe Asia tastes like.

What the restaurant offers, the kitchen executes ably if unspectacularly. The Laui pork tenderloin we had during a recent visit was nicely seared and juicy (though some diners might consider it undercooked). The restaurant's pretzel-crumb-coated grouper transformed what is a relatively bland fish into a flavorful dish. It might have been the nicest surprise of the meal.

The menu's eclecticism continues with Twisted Bamboo's bar offerings. The bistro offers a wine list of mostly West Coast whites and reds at a variety of prices, throwing in a few European numbers for good measure. Although the bar offers a few sakes - a natural fit to the cuisine - the selections don't appear on the menu, a problem the restaurant says it plans to correct. But in the meantime, if you're having trouble, the dining room servers are friendly and able to help.

The bar serves a multitude of signature mixed drinks, some of which are hard to take seriously: the Duke's Blue Hawaiian, for example, is a neon-blue frozen number served in a glass the shape of bamboo and garnished with a maraschino cherry, a pineapple frond and a huge chunk of pineapple.

The drink would feel more at home poolside than in the restaurant's dining room, which is full of high-backed booths with throw pillows that offer seclusion even when the restaurant begins to fill. The darkly stained wood and candles on the tables offer an elegant feel. (Seating is also available on a patio.)

The style of the dining room made the contrast of the background music during our visit - a mix including steel drums and calypso - stand out. Oddly upbeat and, well, Caribbean.

And that's the biggest criticism: Twisted Bamboo can't seem to figure out what exactly it is. As a result, nothing it does is great. Still, everything is pretty good and its scattershot approach to menu-building means that Twisted Bamboo is accessible - even to the pickiest of eaters.

DINING REVIEW

Twisted Bamboo Bar & Bistro

BOTTOM LINE: Eclectic if unadventurous taste of the tropics with a strong Asian influence.

WHERE: 3687 Tampa Road, Oldsmar

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m to midnight Friday and Saturday

CREDIT CARDS: All major

RESERVATIONS: Yes

CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes

ALCOHOL: Full bar and wine list

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

PRICE: Entrees range from $8 to $22

CALL: (813) 749-8999

Tribune reviewers dine anonymously.

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