The Night I Used Two Groupons

I don't get to play Sugar Mama too often, but one night in late June, I cashed in two Groupons with a good friend of mine in tow. First stop: Queen of Sheba for an Ethiopian dinner.

My friend and I decided to split the vegetarian combination platter so we could get a little of everything.
Tikikl Gomen - potatoes, cabbage, and carrots

Ye Kik Alecha - yellow split peas

I like the salad.

This mushroom dish (mushroom wot) was a mutual favorite.

classic misir wot - stewed red lentils

Gomen - collard greens!

Atkilit Alecha - potatoes, cabbage, and green beans

The misr wot and the mushroom wot were our favorites. The only bad thing about this meal is that we ended up being double-charged when we had specifically said we were splitting one combination platter. It was difficult for either of us to explain this to our server, and if we pressed it further, it would have felt like we were haggling over our meal (who does that?!), but it really felt like we were charged double because we had the Groupon. Bummer.

Moving on to Groupon Destination #2, we went to Hooker Tea in South Tampa. As my friend and I were eyeballing their wall of tea and sniffing different varieties,

a girl walked in and was talking about her miniature pot-bellied pig that she had apparently just brought home. Naturally, I asked to see it.

After piggy cuddles and then washing our hands, our teas were brewed and ready for sippin'. I ordered some kind of coconut oolong business - iced, of course. At first sip it was kind of earthy, but extra agave nectar made it much better.

We plopped down on the little sofa near the entrance, chatted while flipping through Creative Loafing, and people watched through the big window.

Hooker Tea is a nice enough tea place, but my tea lovin' heart still belongs to Kaleisia. Although, now I hear that the South Tampa location has changed their name and has a liquor license and is serving up tea cocktails. Hmm...