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Dining review: Hula Bay Club casts wide net with tasty food

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Hula Bay serves a wide range of cuisine, from the casual teriyaki burger with grilled pineapple to panko-crusted Ahi tuna, shipped fresh from Hawaii every day.

By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2009

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TAMPA - They say you can't be all things to all people.

But the new Hula Bay Club is giving it a try — and drawing enough crowds in Mercedes, bikinis and yachts to claim some success.

The waterfront restaurant (and isn't there a baffling lack of them in Tampa?) is built into the former Rattlefish restaurant property on a barely accessible and easily overlooked patch of land in South Tampa. It comprises an unlikely mix of deck dining, ultra lounge interior, poolside cabanas and flip-flop beer bar.

In the center is Hula Bay, the former Rattlefish. The interior has been gutted, most tables kicked out, and the space turned into a dark cocktail lounge, its sleek lines, sharp edges and contemporary lighting spiked with decorative bamboo and tropical foliage. Keep an eye out for Buccaneers players.

Out on the deck, you'll find the stunning waterfront view that helped make Rattlefish's name, plus a huge floating dock that attracts a dozen or more yachts on weekend afternoons, especially when there's a fishing tournament.

On the gigantic menu of what seems to be 101 items, you'll find burgers, fish tacos and Tampa-style comfort food such as grouper sandwiches, complete with round plastic plates, coleslaw and fries. But you'll also find some modern, if common, treats such as fresh sushi and sashimi, including an astonishingly good Tempura Lobster roll filled with sweet lobster, cucumber and mango, flash-fried in a light batter and served with a pair of sauces.

The quite good fish tacos come on two plates, fajita style, though they tend to fall apart, leaving you with a fish taco casserole.

Rounding out the menu are about a dozen very large, sharable appetizers that run between $4 and $16. Among these, the panko-crusted Ahi tuna — served with coconut miso and pineapple chutney — should make fish fans happy since the restaurant ships in fresh tuna from Hawaii each day.

Also out back, you'll see a very small pool/club, encircled with square cabanas, each renting for $200 to $300 per day on weekends. On one recent Saturday afternoon, they were all sold out.

Hidden around the corner, you'll find Duke's Retired Surfers Island Bar, built into the gap between the seawall and the underside of a small yacht club on concrete stilts. There, you can grab a plastic cup and drink cheap beer in peace, listening to a steel drum band or watching sports on the TV sets.

The same menu is available at the pool, in the restaurant and at the beach bar, so you can get a big cheeseburger and mingle in your flip-flops, nibble sushi on your yacht tied up nearby, or sip a frozen cocktail in your cabana.

The menu and atmosphere are still evolving, said general manager Mike Finnegan, since the place began with the sort of munchable bar food found at Green Iguana, whose parent company owns Hula Bay. Because patrons have asked for more, the kitchen has added item after item — befitting a waterfront spot that's casual enough to keep improvising.