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A Collection of HORRIBLE Frightful Foods Served To Me In Metro Phoenix AZ – The Halloween Special Edition Of The Forking Truth

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The Forking Truth is that not everything is amazing. Restaurants don’t always serve great food. Here is a collection of some of the obvious bad dishes I had served to me in metro Phoenix Arizona. I already reported these offenders once so I did my job. Once is enough. If you regularly read my blog then you will know where these monstrosities came from.

The above photo is a little fishy.

Here’s a close up.

This is suppose to be polenta. But it is oddly stiff……

I don’t know if it’s happy to see me or if the chef was just pissed off…???

This next one looks like a cinnamon or chocolate pastry…..But it is not.

It’s a burnt roll.

Also got a burnt pizza crust somewhere. Maybe the cook was sauced?

Don’t you hate when foreign objects are in your food?

Dessert isn’t always a sweet ending.

They gave us a dessert that is hard as a rock. We said something to (I think the owner) and he said that nothing was wrong with his dessert. He said they soften up when you heat them up…..WTFork was I suppose to do? Heat it up with my butt!

This next one was even more horrible than it looks.

The fish was fishy tasting (I couldn’t eat it) and was topped with raw sour tomato paste (like fresh from a can mixed with lemon juice and was just plopped on the fishy fish. It was surrounded by starchy tasting corn splats of different disgusting textures. I didn’t know at the time but latter found out that the chef left. I guess they let their dishwasher take a swing at cooking. I told my waiter about it but nothing was done…Then they went out of business.

Bad food can come from a food truck.

This was suppose to be some sort of corned beef stuffed roll. You can see it is greasy but THANK GOD you can’t taste it ….It tasted like it was cooked in rancid oil…..

This next one was a restaurant week dinner.

This dinner looks like it threw up on it’s self.

This sandwich was very unappetizing in appearance.

It looks like it was dragged threw a lake. (or maybe a mop bucket?)

Even pizza can bum you out. it’s so disappointing when you get a slice of pizza with zero topping.

BAH!

Had the worst taco in the whole world.

Even the tortilla was decomposing on it’s way to me. It was stuffed with DRY as can be flavorless chicken.

I also had the misfortune to try out the WORST Mediterranean food that I ever had anywhere.

Well the rice and tomato was good. But everything else was horrible but photographed well. Falafels had uncooked hard as rock chickpeas in them. The chicken shawarma tasted like chicken baloney. The pickle they gave me was old and decaying. I think it also came with a Sr. Citizen card.

I went to a new (at the time) BBQ place. The meats they served us were undercooked with hard fat. THE GRITS YOU CAN SEE WERE UNCOOKED that they served us.

We told someone about the grits. Nobody said that they were sorry. Nobody said that they’d take them off our bill. Nobody said that they’d get us something else.

It’s always horrible when they serve you…….”The I already ate plate” (no that wasn’t an appetizer…It was suppose to be my $16.00 Lunch.

Here’s another “I already ate plate”

This isn’t enough food for a gerbil. BAH!

Sometimes some restaurants are just bad.

I got this salad somewhere. They used processed chicken fingers that weren’t cooked correctly. It seemed they they cooked them in the microwave until they BLEW OUT the centers of the chicken and the outside of the chicken got incredibly hard. Then they chilled them and added them to my salad.

My husband got something similar but different here.

He said that his chicken fingers were a little better but the cheese with a combination of hard and melted at the same time.

This next one is also just bad.

I got questionable trout, from frozen boiled vegetables and GREEN mashed potatoes. I did ask my waitress why the mashed potatoes were green. She ran and asked the chef. She said the chef told her that mashed potatoes turn green when you add black pepper.

I think the worst meal I had came from a Chinese Restaurant that I enjoyed before. I ordered the fresh fish because it was very good last time.

I have no idea what the FORK they served us. This fish was like it was made of rubber. I think it was dead and embalmed. It was next to impossible to pull the meat off of it. WOW! was my husband mad at me for recommending this place. He was so mad that when the owner asked us how things were he said ok just so the guy would leave. Then when we got the bill he was really SORRY that he didn’t say anything because they charged us over $80.00 for this fish we couldn’t eat.

All this crap was NOT Worth a Fork!

That was a collection of not all but some of horrible frightful foods served to me in metro Phoenix AZ.

This was the Halloween Edition of The Forking Truth.

The Forking Truth

Take out FOOD in Metro Phoenix AZ During the CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 32 – La Piazza Al Forno, Peoria Artisan Brewery, Taylor’s Chowder House

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We hear on the news that delivery and take out have a lower risk of covid spread than dining in. So we have have been doing take out. We do plan to do some patio dining at off times.

Our first take out of the week was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They are a little different from most of the other pizza places. They offer certified Neapolitan pizzas and the mozzarella taste different because it’s made in house.

On the left is their Funghi Pizza. In the middle is the house salad and on the left is the Margherita. I’ve had the Margherita here a million times so I knew what to expect but I never had the Funghi (don’t call it mushroom here or else….you’ll be sorry…I did and I was….) It’s different than any other mushroom pizza I’ve tried anywhere. The cheeses are different because it’s their house made mozzarella, parmesan with fontina for a different taste but it’s the rosemary that is a really great touch. I think the rosemary is such a nice accent to mushroom or Funghi pizzas.

Our next take out was from Peoria Artisan Brewery in Peoria.

I got the strawberry salad with added salmon. My salad was mostly arugula and it was adorned with a little high quality blue cheese and some candied pecans. We shared some pickled fried vegetables that were interesting and my husband had the Italian beef sandwich with beef au jus. My dogs enjoyed some of the salmon and beef.

Last take out of the week was from Taylor’s Chowder House in Phoenix. They are a budget seafood restaurant where the portions are usually large and the prices are low.

We decided to try the house battered mozzarella sticks because they are only $6.95. WOW! Each piece is as big as a banana. They must have given us extra by accident. I tried the Idaho Brook Trout with almonds today. They gave me TWO fish filets topped with toasted almonds and bread crumbs. I picked the house vegetable that was zucchini marinara and a plain baked potato. My meal was only $14.95 and is two meals for me. My husband got the Two Plus Two (2 fried shrimp and 2 battered filets (cod)). It’s a lot of food….Even my husband couldn’t finish everything. There is also a roll we couldn’t get to yet. Taylor’s Chowder House is GREAT VALUE Seafood…When you consider the price and portion it is only fast food priced and is much better than fast food. My dogs enjoyed a little mozzarella stick and some fish.

That was week 32 of take out in metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Peoria Artisan Brewery – Peoria

Taylor’s Chowder House – Phoenix

Every THING is subject to change and we hope everything does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food In Metro Phoenix AZ During the CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 31 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen, Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, Chino Bandido

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Experts say that take out food is a less risky option than dining in during the pandemic so we are doing take out instead of dining in. We will consider patio dining as soon as the weather is nice.

Our first stop for take out was from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They offer around a dozen different Banh Mi baguette sandwiches, many Vietnamese favorites, but no pho here. Portions are very large and prices are low.

Today we both got rice plates. They come with an enormous amount of moist delicious tender meat, pork egg rolls, rice, pickled vegetables, fish sauce (to dip meat in) and chili sauce. For many people this can be two meals. We recommend getting the grilled chicken (thigh), shaken beef (rib eye that is tender like filet mignon), Grilled pork. These plates are a value at only $10.00 each. My dogs are always very yappy…I mean happy to help eat all this delicious meat.

“We LOVE eating Banh Mi Bistro Food!”

Another brand NEW restaurant opened in North Scottsdale that we wanted to try called The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen. The chef is from a very nice restaurant that we used to go to called Sassi. They offer an interesting American type menu and have a distillery in house. The restaurant is big, bright, modern and airy. They also offer lots of patio seating.

We took out wings, a porchetta sandwich with chips and a wagyu pastrami sandwich with a side salad. Some things we really liked a lot. Some things might not have traveled well. My dogs sure enjoyed what I gave them.

We also did take out from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

We got the most delicious mushroom pizza ever and we tried the truffle pasta special. The dogs got different leftovers.

Last take out of the week was curbside pick up from Chino Bandido in North Phoenix. Chino Bandido is famous for offering Chinese Take Out Style, Mexican Style and more BIG PAN Combos of food that is only priced starting at less than $10.00 and also comes with a big snickerdoodle cookie. The combo is two selections from the menu. You can upgrade either or both entrees into a quesadilla. Then pick a rice and pick a beans….It goes something like that…….Maybe you want a jade chicken quesadilla with carnitas jerk rice and refried beans????????? Or maybe you want egg foo young with pollo diablo with black beans and steamed rice????? Food Network calculated that you can pick from over 80,000 different combinations.

On the left my husband got hengrenade chicken, a Chile relleno, white rice and black beans. On the right I got a chile relleno, emerald chicken, white rice and black beans. The Chile relleno is always good. They use a fresh tasting pepper and stuff it with lots of cheese and give the pepper a crushed cracker coating. My favorite protein there is the emerald chicken. It’s a moist sliced breast with a gingery-garlic and onion type sprinkle. But my husband likes the hengrenade chicken better because it has a coating and is flavorful and spicy. This time we got sides of the spicy hot pepper, garlic, onion sauce. WOW that stuff peps thing up. Oh and did I mention that these are BIG PANS of food. My husband ate most of his but I get another meal out of mine. We also share one of the snickerdoodle cookies and I had lots to share with my dogs too!

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

Week 31 of take out food in Metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen – North Scottsdale

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Chino Bandido – North Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week – 30 CHZBURGR, Just Biryani, Pomo Pizzeria, Chula Seafood

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We have been doing take out during the coronavirus pandemic because experts say that there is less risk to catch the virus if you do take out instead of dining in. We are also trying to give support to as many small business restaurants as possible because they are all suffering during this crisis. Besides we are spending much less these days on shopping, groceries, entertainment and vacations that we missed. We have a little extra to treat ourselves to extra take out food. The weather will be nicer soon and we hope to do patio dining soon at off times on uncrowded patios.

Our first take out of the week was from CHZBURGR in Glendale. They serve especially great cheeseburgers and fried chicken thigh sandwiches. They also offer hot dogs, milk shakes, specials children’s meals and MORE! It’s hard to believe but the food is only priced about the same as from Jack In The Box and is a BILLION TIMES better than from Jack In The Box.

Crispy Chicken Thigh, Triple CHZBURGR and Tots

I had the crispy chicken thigh sandwich. The chicken is very good, moist juicy, flavorful, nicely seasoned and crispy. To elevate the sandwich they use hand made pickles, Asian mayonnaise and I was told that the buns are special and come from a Philadelphia Bakery. I liked it best when Calabrian Peppers was an option to add on. They haven’t had them lately so I just add my own on and it taste amazing that way. My husband always gets the Triple CHZBURGR. He says that it is just perfect. He says the fat, juice and cheese ratio is perfect. The tots are really good here too. My dogs can’t wait to eat some chicken.

Next take out from from a brand new restaurant that just opened in North Phoenix called Just Biryani.

We started out by trying the samosa chaat. It’s seasoned chickpeas with exotic flavors, a little heat, sauces and wet bread mixed in. Then we shared the gongura and ulavacharu chicken biryani dishes. They both are mostly fluffy rice with a little raw onion and half a boiled egg and a small amount of chicken. The gongura is made with tender boneless chicken. It has more flavors and some heat compared to the bone in ulavachara chicken biryani. My dogs got to try some.

Then we did take out from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. They an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. They are currently running a limited special fresh Burgundy Truffle Menu that we ordered from.

We started by sharing the tortelloni tartu. OOOOOOh this is really great! It’s like a twisted spinach ravioli stuffed with ricotta and gorgonzola cheese in a buttery sauce with truffles. This is really great! I also really liked the Bianco pizza. This pizza is ultra thin like paper. It’s topped with DELICIOUS stracchino, mozzarella, parmigiana cheeses, and truffles. My lucky dogs got some cheese and truffles.

Last take out of the week was from Chula Seafood in Phoenix. We took out the Saturday Surprise grilled Alaskan Halibut Collar for TWO special ($35.)

We got a very large halibut collar, a root vegetable tangine, herbed couscous, za’atar labneh and roti bread. WOW! it’s really great and everything goes together well. It’s a big portion of fish too. Had enough for two dinners and some left over for a lunch. Glad I was able to do this special.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 30 of take out in Metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

CHZBURGR – Glendale

Just Biryani – North Phoenix

Pomo Pizzeria – Scottsdale

Chula Seafood – Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 29 – The Rec Detroit Style Pizza, Confluence, Jalapeño Inferno, Rocket Burger

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Instead of dining in at restaurants we have been doing take out because experts say that take out food involves less risk to catch the coronavirus during the pandemic. We will consider dining out on uncrowded patios when the weather gets nicer. Some experts do say that out side patio dining can be a safer alternative to dining in.

We haven’t been to The Rec Pizzeria in Peoria/#UpperWestSide in a while. They serve Detroit style pizza. Detroit style pizza is thick dough pizza that is cut in squares. It is cheesed up dough with a thick rich sauce dripped on top. But what is most different about it is the cheesy crisp crust ends.

Today this pizza is a slightly different batch than what I had the last few times. It’s still good but different. Not buttery tasting……Not as crisp and hard cheesy either. It used to taste like a grilled cheese on the bottom. (below is an old picture of what it used to be like)

It used to be just like a grilled cheese on the bottom

It’s still good but the cheese taste different too. Today it is more like a thick crust with a little Detroit style. Still good but different. Like the nice rich sauce on it. Gave my dogs a little cheese and leftovers from yesterday.

Next take out was Confluence Restaurant in Carefree. They are an upscale Modern American Restaurant. It’s a really amazing restaurant. The dinners from here are fabulous. They are always very detailed with wonderful ingredients that go together well in a magical kind of way.

We started out by sharing blistered shishito peppers with romesco, hazelnuts and basil. For my main I enjoyed fresh opah tacos with lime pickled cabbage, poblano chili, creama, and chili de arbol salsa with a side salad. My husband enjoyed the hardier pulled lamb and veal on house made sourdough bread that was packed with brussels sprout, oyster mushroom, red onion, and whole grain mustard. He picked the house made bbq chips for his side. My dogs didn’t mind a bit to sample the meats.

We tried a brand new restaurant that just opened this week in north Peoria called Jalapeño Inferno. It’s a Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant.

They gave us a BIG bag of corn chips and very mild salsa. We got the inferno sauce. I got the naked poblano (chicken, corn and beans in corn sauce) and my husband tried a combo plate with rice and beans. The inferno sauce is too hot to use straight but if you only use a very small dab it really adds a lot of flavor. My dogs helped with some chicken and shredded beef.

Last Take out of the week was from Rocket Burger in North Phoenix. They serve a variety of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, ice cream sodas and offer a big wall of around 300 different kinds of soda.

On the right is a double cheeseburger with fried onions. My husband said it is one of the best cheeseburgers around. It also travels well. On the left is the Mexican Fish sandwich with this CRAZY DELICIOUS SLAW with this awesome amount of YUM! It just has that perfect lime tang too it. They should bottle this and sell it somewhere. It is so delicious that it would make a hamster taste great. The fish is really big with a very light coating. It is so light and oil free hit almost doesn’t even seem fried. It just turns into a really delicious sandwich. I call it the Mexican Fish Sandwich but the actual name of the sandwich is called Pescado De Cohete and it’s only priced at $8.99. (double cheeseburger was only $7.) It’s only around the same price as Jack In The Box and it’s a MILLION times better than Jack In The Box…….My dogs were very happy to help eat the fish and cheeseburger.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 29 of take out in metro Phoenix during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rec – North Peoria

Confluence – Carefree

Jalapeño Inferno – North Peoria

Rocket Burger – North Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth is that Fall Restaurant Week Phoenix AZ 2020 Wasn’t My Favorite

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Around 140 Phoenix area restaurants were participating in fall restaurant week (September 18 – 27 2020). Most of these restaurants were offering three course dinners for $33.00 & $44.00 a person.

The first restaurant that I was excited to try was Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale because they were offering a fresh truffle option. I was going to do Sel in Scottsdale first because their menu sounded really special too but because of the fresh truffles at Zinc I figured that I better do Zinc Bistro first because the truffles will taste better now and might not be as good next week.

Here’s my take out from Zinc Bistro.

The food was mostly very good. My soup was missing the parmesan crisp but it still was a delicious treat. The dinners were really great with complex interesting sauces….. But I traveled across town to do this take out and my fresh truffles were left off. My husband called to let them know that I didn’t get my fresh truffles to take them off the bill since I didn’t get them. The manager apologized and took my whole meal off the bill since I was disappointed. That was as generous as any restaurant can be. I DO appreciate that but I still missed out on fresh truffles.

My next restaurant week take out was from The Mission (a modern Latin) restaurant in Scottsdale.

A few things were missing from the descriptions on the restaurant week menu. My stone fruit salad was missing the goat horn dined cucumbers that sounded so interesting. My husband’s chorizo porchetta (lower left) was missing cotija cheese, possibly white bean puree (my husband insisted the little white tub wasn’t beans….we couldn’t identify what it was….) and arugula. Besides that there were some other issues. My salad was good but my fish was a little dry and fishy tasting. I did enjoy the chiltepin achiote sauce. It made my fish taste better. It’s hard to tell the size of the fish from my photo but if you compare it to the pork belly appetizer in the upper left hand corner you might be able to tell that it is a very small sized dinner. It didn’t come with the sliced vegetable on top of the fish and doesn’t look like the example this restaurant made to impress the press. (press picture is below…..My fish dinner is also pictured below the press photo)

www.facebook.com

I saw this on Facebook so I thought I’d get a nice piece of fish instead od two very small dry ends.

There were some other issues.

I didn’t try it but I was told that the crispy pork & cola glaze pork belly was dry.

The chorizo porchetta was very large but also was very dry with even dryer sausage and not much flavor.

I was told on the phone when I was ordering that the dessert that I wanted wasn’t available for take out so we tried the other two options that were carrot cake and pumpkin bread pudding. I do note that I normally don’t care for carrot cake but can usually eat some. This one I tried a taste and I couldn’t eat. My husband couldn’t eat it either. I’m not even sure why I found the cake inedible……I didn’t really like the bread pudding but the sauces and toppings were very good. My dinner was very small portioned so I still was hungry and had to eat something so I ate half of the bread pudding.

I was saving Sel in Scottsdale for my last take out for restaurant week but sometime after their restaurant week menu was posted they changed their menu a little bit.

We were both good with corn soup, grilled asparagus salad with black truffle fondue and other stuff. A grilled New York and the Halibut. The seconded course sounds so amazing…..Grilled asparagus salad with black TRUFFLE potato fondu, GRAFRETTE (waffle cut sweet potato), organic farm EGG 63, caramelized onions…WOW!!!!!!

Then the day I was going to order take out I saw this on the Sel Website.

It’s still a very nice menu but it isn’t as great for us now. We are both good with corn soup as course one. The amazing sounding asparagus salad was replaced with a tomato stack………..My husband can’t eat a plate of raw tomatoes so this doesn’t work for him. …..(so we can’t go….(BAH!). He also would have ordered the Grilled New York over the Filet Mignon.

Bummer…….. maybe the change of menu was better for some people?

The Forking Truth is that Fall Restaurant Week in Metro Phoenix AZ 2020 wasn’t my favorite. 2020 isn’t my favorite year either.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic In Metro Phoenix AZ Week 28 – Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, The Mission, Angelina’s Pho & Grill, Tim Finnegan’s

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Experts say that take out food is a less risky option during the pandemic than dining in….. So to me it makes sense to do take out instead of dining in. All restaurants are struggling these days and we missed two or three vacations this year so we treat ourselves to extra take out food and try to help support small business restaurants. It makes me feel a little better about missing out on things and I feel better thinking that I am doing a good deed to help support small business restaurants.

This week we went to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide for take out. Took my dogs on the way for a car ride. They love car rides. They knew where they were when we got here. They love Bottega.

My husband got the red lasagna and I tried the seasonal special of butternut squash ravioli. All was good here. They make delicious breads at Bottega that we started out with. The ravioli are what I call the flat style type because they are sort of on the flat side and don’t have much filling so they look a little flat. That makes them lighter so they aren’t too heavy. I also should mention that the filling that is in the raviolis is very flavorful and delicious. I like the way all that fresh sage infused the pasta with sage flavor. My in-laws make ravioli in this flat shape too. I also had this style ravioli at the Italian Restaurant that use to be in this spot many years ago called Tutti Santi. Gave my dogs some meat that was leftover from lunch.

It was still restaurant week so we thought we’d try the Mission at Kierland in Scottsdale.

We took out a stone fruit salad, crispy pork with cola lime glaze, red snapper al pastor, chorizo porchetta, carrot cake and pumpkin bread pudding. Some things were missing from the descriptions. The porchetta was missing cotija, bean puree and arugula. The salad was missing the goat horned brined cucumber and the fish came with sauces but little else. I did enjoy the chiltepin sauce that came with the fish. I thought it was really great and some of the other sauces were very complex and delicious that I tried. A few weren’t for my taste. These meals did not travel well and all were dry when we got them home. The driest of all was the sausage…..My snapper was a very small portion so I still had room for dessert ( look at top left appetizer because it is nearly the same size as an appetizer). I was told the dessert I wanted wasn’t available for take out so we tried the other two desserts that they were offing….(carrot cake and pumpkin bread pudding) I tried the carrot cake and it wasn’t for my taste or my husband’s taste. I’m not a big fan of bread pudding for dessert but the sauce and toppings were very good. My dogs didn’t mind the meat being dry.

“DOGS WIN! “When meats are dry we get MORE!”

We also did take out from Angelina’s Pho & Grill in Glendale/#UpperWestSide. (This restaurant by same ownership plans to change name to Lemongrass Vietnamese Bistro)

We took out the house stir fry with shrimp, chicken, egg, vegetables and rice noodles. We also took out the pan grilled salmon with vegetables and rice. The food is always different here. It’s also always different every time you order it. It’s a new restaurant every time you visit. Even the decor and paint change often. However the pho is always good and pretty much stays the same. The pho is officially among the best phos in the valley according to our local paper. Prices are always very reasonable. If I tell The Forking Truth….(like I always do) The service is usually bad…When you dine there sometimes you have to ask to get your beverage. They never clear plates. While you are still eating they will drop off a check and never ask you if you want dessert even though there was a dessert case filled with fancy desserts…Even when I phoned my order in I was put on hold…..sort of…..the person forgot I was on the phone and had a long conversation with someone. After maybe ten minutes of listening to their conversation I called back and the line was busy. I had to call a third time to order…… But the food is always at least good more often great so we go back. Dogs were happy to try some.

I haven’t been to Tim Finnegan’s in a while so we did take out there. It’s an Irish Restaurant located in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

We ordered food items that we haven’t had here before. In the past we tried the fish and chips, a wasabi Caesar salad, corned beef, Shepard’s pie and those things were very good. Today we tried corned beef and cabbage taquitos, ahi tuna salad and bangers and mash with Heinz breakfast beans. Both of didn’t care for the taquitos because the filling was a blended up paste. The texture was off-putting to me…..but maybe other people might like it this way?? The ahi tuna salad was ok but not really too much like salad because it was over what seemed like slaw to me. The bangers and mash were all full of good flavors. Texture of banger was not the sausage type but more like a hot dog type. Gave my dogs some leftover dry porchetta from another take out.

That was week 28 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Restaurant we did take out from-

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

The Mission – Scottsdale

Angelina’s Pho & Grill – Glendale/#UpperWestSide

Tim Finnegan’s – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Every THING is subject to change and we HOPE it DOES CHANGE for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ Week 27 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, La Piazza Al Forno, Little Saigon, Zinc Bistro, Squid Ink Sushi Peoria

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We do take out food during the coronavirus pandemic because experts say that take out is safer than dining in. All restaurants are struggling these days and there is little to do safely so we do take out as much as possible.

One take out we did was from Banh Mi Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a small Vietnamese Eatery that offers most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I got the curry chicken with rice and my husband got the noodle bowl with grilled pork and shrimp. The food is always delicious, prices are very low and portions are very large. Not all but many of the meals can be two meals for some people. The owners are also very nice all the time. This is one of our regular spots. My dogs always love sharing the food from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.

Next take out was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They specialize in serving certified Neapolitan Pizzas. They also offer Roman Style Pizzas, American pizzas, Italian food and MORE!

Today we got the Tavola Mista (meats and cheeses, vegetables and more plate) an Italian Stallion Pizza (house made mozzarella, San Marzano Tomatoes, sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto di parma sopressata) and a Bianco pizza (house made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, fresh basil, Sicilian oregano and extra virgin olive oil) with added Calabrian peppers. Everything was delicious and we shared some with the dogs.

I haven’t been to Little Saigon in Old Town Glendale in a long time. It’s a charming little Vietnamese restaurant that offers a long menu of many different Vietnamese foods. Decided to do take out there. The owners are family with the Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in Phoenix.

We tried some things that we haven’t tried here before. We started with the beef wrapped in grape leaves. It’s something like Vietnamese fajitas. You take a grape leaf that is stuffed with beef. You add a variety of vegetables, fresh herbs shallots, peanuts and rice noodles. You stuff them in a rice paper and wrap with lettuce and dip it in fish sauce.

They are very tasty……lots of good flavors here! It’s a treat!

For my main I had the Ga Xao Xa Ot (spicy chicken onions vegetables in lemon grass soy fish sauce. The dark meat boneless chicken was tender and tasty. The sauce was funky and kind of sweet. It was different but good to me. I never had anything that tasted like this before. But it wasn’t too spicy…just mild with slight heat. My husband enjoyed the tom xao thap cam cay (spicy shrimp stir fry with vegetables). It was good but also mild heat. My dogs enjoyed the food from Little Saigon too!

It’s restaurant week so we thought we’d try Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale because they were offering fresh truffles.

A few things were forgotten (including the truffles) but the mains were very good. I had an excellent Faroe Island Salmon. It was cooked to perfection. It came with carrots, roasted celery root, a salad of purslane and crispy sun chokes with truffle vinaigrette and this amazing barigoule (artichoke) sauce. My husband enjoyed the Prime Flat Iron Steak. It had this special black pepper crust, It was delicious and came with lots of seasoned fries and a complex sauce. My dogs sure enjoyed some meat scraps from Zinc Bistro.

P.S. my husband called to let them know they forgot the truffles so they would remove the truffles from our bill. They were extra generous and removed my whole meal from the check.

We decided that we could squeeze one more restaurant in. Our last take out of the week was from Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria/#UpperWestSide.

I haven’t tried their sushi yet but I did notice that they offer many dishes besides sushi that sound interesting. I wanted to try their Scottish Salmon because Scottish Salmon isn’t found anywhere in the Upper West Side. The salmon was prepared reasonably well and came with a variety of vegetables, LOTS of sliced avocado and tasty sushi rice. I think it’s a great find to find Scottish Salmon like this for only around $15.00. My husband tried the Beef Yakisobsa. It was also reasonably well prepared. It was made with very tender filet mignon and also came with a nice assortment of vegetables and Asian flavored soba noodles. As per usual my dogs couldn’t wait to try some.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 27 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

The restaurants we did take out from this week –

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro – North Phoenix

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Little Saigon – Old Town Glendale

Zinc Bistro – Scottsdale

Squid Ink Sushi – Peoria/#UpperWestSide

Every THING is subject to change and we HOPE it DOES CHANGE for the better.

The Forking Truth

The Most Delicious $5. or LESS Food I’ve Tasted in North Phoenix AZ that you can Take Out or Dine In

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Here are the most delicious $5. or less foods from restaurants around north Phoenix that I have tasted in no particular order.

Pictured above is the $3.00 delicious Beetroot Salad from a little casual restaurant called Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide . Next is their fresh herby delicious $3.00 tabouli.

My next favorite is the $3.00 Eggplant salad pictured below on the right. But everything is tasty. They also offer hummus and eggplant dip at similar prices.

All these reasonably priced goodies come from the small casual Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide.

Also in Glendale is Taco Fusion. They offer very good tacos on hand made tortillas. The tacos are smaller sized but are bigger than street tacos and are stuffed generously. They make a variety of house made sauces. If you can do spicy ask for the interesting flavorful but very (FORKING) hot black salsa. Get the regular salsa, the pico and the pineapple salsa if they have them. Our favorite tacos here are the mild chicken habanero (with pineapple salsa), carne asada, jaas, Lorenzo, fish (ask for corn tortilla here) and my husband likes the shrimp and barbacoa. We also like both beans they offer. Depending on what tacos you pick you might be able to get two tacos for around $5.00.

Below are 7 mostly different tacos and a container of black beans.

Wraps ‘N’ Curry is located in North Phoenix. They offer a $2.99 Naan Menu.

I’ve had their naan on a wrap sandwich but more recently I did try the stuffed chicken naan ($2.99 on the appetizer part of the menu). It was stuffed with boneless chicken breast, cilantro and Indian spices. It was different and also very tasty.

On my last visit we tried the Onion Kulcha $2.99.

This was very tasty!

I’ll try another one next time.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix really kills it with the $5.00 or less food and offers 9 tasty options. My favorite $5 meal is the chicken and cabbage salad.

It’s a good size for me and has a good amount of deliciously seasoned chicken in it. I also like the tasty $4 chicken potstickers.

Here is a better picture of the potstickers.

My other favorite salad is the $5. lotus root salad. (lower right)

I love the refreshing flavors in it. It comes with shrimp but I gave up shrimp a long time back and I don’t eat shrimp. I already gave the shrimp to either my husband or dogs. Their papaya salad is also good. I added that picture because I didn’t remove the shrimp yet.

This is a collection of the most delicious $5. or less food that I have tasted in North Phoenix AZ.

Restaurants mentioned –

Skewers Mediterranean Grill – Glendale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Wraps ‘N’ Curry – North Phoenix

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Prices are subject to change.

Every FORKING THING is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 26 – Tarbell’s The Tavern, CHZBURGR, Taco Fusion, Fabio On Fire

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Experts say that take out is a safer health option during the pandemic than dining in so we do take out. This week we did take out from Tarbell’s The Tavern in Phoenix. This restaurant is by chef Mark Tarbell. He is a highly decorated multi award winning chef and wine expert. The tavern offers elevated bar foods in a rock n roll man cave atmosphere. They offer the safest option curbside pick up. We took out the seared salmon, Scotch beef, a salad and coconut cream pie.

WOW! This salmon is really great! It’s so silky. Very few restaurants prepare salmon this well. This one is very different with sides of tomato broth and AZ honey mustard. It’s delicious! The curry potato cake is a really nice treat. It taste like it came from an Indian restaurant. I did taste the Scotch beef. WOW great flavors there and it was made with good wine too! The coconut cream pie was also very good. I think they accidentally gave me extra. It’s a large portion and we are getting 4 servings out of it but it very rich and delicious with this chocolate surprise coated crust. Treated the dogs so some salmon from Tarbell’s.

We also did take out from CHZBURGR in Glendale. They also are still offering the safest option that is curbside pick up. They serve the greatest cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches in town. We ordered the crispy chicken thigh sandwich with pickled jalapeños. We also ordered a triple cheeseburger with tater tots.

I thought my sandwich was a little different today but everything still was delicious. My dogs were happy to help me with the chicken sandwich.

We love Taco Fusion in Glendale. They serve the best tacos closest to me. They serve Sonoran Mesquite Style Tacos that are slightly bigger than street size tacos on hand made tortillas that really taste good.

My favorite taco is the chicken mild habanero taco. I think I like it best on a flour tortilla with pineapple salsa (if they have it). I also like the fish taco and the carne asada. (I don’t like carne asada at most places but it’s always tender and flavorful here) My husband likes all the beef tacos and especially likes the shrimp taco here. They opened just before the pandemic and used to offer a salsa bar packed with many delicious salsas…Now they cut it down to a few salsas a day and you have to ask for them. My dogs are always excited to try some.

Last take out of the week was from Fabio On Fire in Peoria/#UpperWestSide. This is a place for Italian Food, Neapolitan Pizzas, fresh baked goods and the best gelato maybe on earth. They offer curbside pick up here.

We got the ravioli ai funghi porcini, strawberry gorgonzola salad, and gnocchi sorrentina. Everything was delicious. Have different dog friendly leftovers for my dogs.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food!”

Week 26 restaurants we did take out from –

Tarbell’s The Tavern – Phoenix

CHZBURGR – Glendale

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Fabio On Fire – Peoria/#UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth