CUAISR ITNE
HA LONG BAY
A Chinese, Dim Sum
and Vietnamese Bistro
By Aaron R. Fodiman and Margaret Word Burnside
Photography by Nhan Nguyen
This delicious beef and broccoli dish is one of the many items available
at Ha Long Bay in Dunedin that makes it our choice for Asian cuisine.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 171
Fifty years ago, most large cities in
America had a Chinese restaurant,
but in the Tampa Bay area, there were
few, if any. Twenty years ago, the
Tampa Bay area had at least two fabulous
Chinese restaurants, TC Choy’s in Tampa
and Forbidden City in Clearwater. Both
are now gone, and that has created a
vacuum that this new Ha Long Bay
restaurant in Dunedin is filling. It is located
a short distance to the west from U.S. 19
north on Main Street (State Road 580)
at the site of a former restaurant. After
totally rehabbing the space, the new
owners have given Tampa Bay diners
a place to go to enjoy this ethnic style
of food that tops Mexican and Italian
cuisines in popularity in this country.
While dining on Asian cuisine, some like
to share a variety of dishes, while others
prefer to dine exclusively on their own
orders. Either way, your meal here is sure
to please you.
The most difficult decision at Ha Long
Bay is what to order. First, there are
traditional dishes that range from Chicken
Chow Mein (chop suey) to Kung Pao
Shrimp with peanuts. Then the menu
breaks your choices into categories such
as appetizers, BBQ, soups, fried rice,
noodles, vegetable, chicken, beef, pork
and seafood. Each has an extensive list of a
variety of preparations, combinations and
sauces. There are also clay pot and sizzling
plate dishes such as an Eight Treasures
Pot, and even a sizzling plate of frog legs
with ginger sauce. In addition, they offer
Vietnamese dishes such as spring rolls and
shrimp tempura and 16 beef Vietnamese
noodle soups, jasmine rice dishes and
rice vermicelli bowls. You can even order
Bánh Mì, the tasty, famous Vietnamese
sandwiches.
Further making your choice difficult
is the dim sum served from 11 a.m. to
3 p.m., an incredible, perfectly seasoned
assortment of small dishes ranging from
stuffed eggplant with shrimp to steamed
BBQ buns and special items such as roast
duck and salt and pepper calamari.
There are also many flavors of Boba
smoothies with sweet tapioca pearls. For
dessert, they offer fried bananas or mochie
ice cream in flavors such as mango and
green tea. The efficient, friendly service
allows you to enjoy the amazing skills of
the chefs, who must be wizards in order
to handle the diverse menu as perfectly as
they do. If you have not enjoyed a Chinese
meal for a while, dining here will reinforce
your desire to dine on this cuisine that has
proven to be a universal favorite. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ha Long Bay is located at
2192 Main St. just west of Belcher Road on
State Road 580 in Dunedin, (727) 734-3998.