Category Archives: Forking Thoughts

Random Forking Items of Interest

Smoked at Ocotillo in Phoenix AZ hosted by Arizona Foodie was Smoking HOT & FORKING Great!

Smoked is a brand new event that was hosted by Arizona Foodie at Ocotillo Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona March 23 1-4pm. Top local chefs offered exciting “smoked” creations. There also were offered smoked cocktails samples, fun activities such as make your own candles, make your own succulent jewelry, a photo booth and live music. This was a 21 and older event. General admission tickets were $35.00 and VIP tickets were $50.00 that got you in early. Parking was free and close.

First stop was from Proof at the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale at Troon North.

Tiny detailed grilled sandwich on house baked bread…..God so Forking Great!….It’s a smoked opah BLT with red onion jam, cured yolk, tomato and lettuce……Just delicious! WOW! I could scarf down one (or more) of these every day!

Next is another doozy…..The INCREDIBLE…INCREDIBLE smoked brisket ramen…(I think that’s what is was called) from Obon Sushi and Ramen.

Flavors are OFF THE CHARTS! This is insanely delicious. A little brine-ee, smokey, a little spicy, really balanced. The brisket is also amazing…..As soon as I got home I looked this restaurant’s menu online and didn’t notice this dish on their menu……It NEEDS to be there! I actually woke up the next day imagining I was eating this again….It really was that great!

Last sample as delicious and amazing as it was ….was also quit large and next to impossible to stop eating…..Took a break but my husband said that this one was up there too.

Fat Ox offered grilled piadinas with fried mortadella, smoked pancetta, oregano mustard, olives, arugula and parmesan.

There was Seagram’s 7 offerings and a photo both in this area.

After that we were on to Jewel’s Bakery and Cafe for smoked salmon, smoked poblano on everything bagel chip with quail egg.

It’s just Forking Stunning and DELICIOUS…..so exciting. It certainly was by far the most attractive plate.

The Clever Koi had an attractive offering but I forgot what it was.

After that was Handlebar Diner with this really Forking Awesome smoked house reuben fries.

OMG this is far better than my picture shows. The house corn beef is amazballz………best corn beef I’ve eaten in like 10 years. That PERECT corned beef flavor…….Everything in this cup is way..WAY up there. Frit street kennebel fries, house corned beef, smoked beef fat Russian dressing, Swiss cheese fondu, pickled cabbage and hickory smoke. I need to see if this on the Handlebar Diner menu….so good. This is another one of the dishes that I wanted to sneak an extra one out for later.

From Nook Kitchen was an attractive smoked ahi tuna roll with smoked wasabi cream, smoked tobikko and micro cilantro.

I didn’t do this one the justice that it deserved….I should have had this dish before the last one because the flavors are far more delicate…….think I’m still tasting the last dish in my mouth……….But it was good!

Roka Akor offered smoked iberico pork with rhubarb emulsion and charred carrot relish.

I did many of the photos blindly. The sun was very bright and I couldn’t see anything on my screen…just hit button and hoped for the best.

The Delta and The Larder offered this absolutely STUNNING Chicken on a Hoe Cake.

It’s such a joy to eat such masterfully prepared chicken and the hoe cake is so tasty too. WOW this sure was a treat that was so GREAT to eat!

Then Ocotillo offered a few goodies inside.

Mesqite grilled beef ribs with house bbq sauce and jalapeño chimichurri.

WOW look at that! They are like enough for dinner! They are not over seasoned or too spicy either. They are the kind you have to eat on the bone.

I’m pretty filled up by now but my husband eats this one from Ocotillo. It’s a smoked baby back rib on buttermilk bun with spicy rhubarb bbq sauce and house pickles. P.S. he said this was really REALLY GOOD!

Then we stepped out.

I try a cocktail that’s a mezcal union smoked Paloma and a water.

Look ! *********When have you ever seen a jewelry bar like this before?

How neat! But I couldn’t bring myself to rip out a plant from it’s roots and glue and string it to a ring…..but I eat plants…? …….So I took a plant home to sit on my windowsill instead. Hope the plant is happy.

I thought I was in line to try a cocktail but found out that is was candle making.

They also had live music.

They had a few more cocktail areas……I hit one more.

Tried a Johnie Walker Black Penicillin made with Johnie Walker Black Label, diner liquor, honey syrup, lemon juice and bitters.

Toasted Mallow ends things on a sweet note with a couple varieties of s’mores.

I felt the same way as this cat at Smoked!

Smoked was Smoking Hot & FORKING Great!

I enjoyed myself at Smoked!

www.ArizonaFoodieMag.com

Thank You so much to everyone and to Arizona Foodie for hosting such a Forking Great Event!

My first taste of Grandma Pizza at Crisp in Scottsdale AZ

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Grandma Style Pizza from Crisp in Scottsdale AZ

Grandma pizza is very rarely found outside of New York and is suppose to be similar to the kind of pizza that Italian Grandmothers make in their home ovens.

We happen to have a little pizza parlor called Crisp in Scottsdale AZ.

See it really is little.

The owner is friendly and says he will bring out our pizza in about four minutes. I pick a seat on the patio.

The Pizza looks like a toasted sandwich and is a five inch square that’s cut on a diagonal. I can see it’s topped with a rich thick tomato sauce, some melted cheese, a fine grated hard cheese and it’s generous with fresh basil leaves.

I take a bite.

Wow….it’s not really like any pizza I ever had before…….it is different.

The crust is so crisp….no wonder why this pizza place is named crisp. The crust is completely crisp and reminds me of toast. It’s light but a very sturdy crisp like an airy crouton. The sauce is very similar to most east coast pizzas that I have enjoyed. From what I remember east coast pizzas always are made with a delicious sauce. This sauce on this pizza is similar to east coast tomato pies……..The sauce is thick, rich, sweet …..but not sugary….sweet as in sweet tomato…. with a really good rich DELICIOUS tomato flavor. There’s a little melty cheese, fine grated hard cheese and a good amount of fresh basil.

This pizza is almost like a cousin of the Roman Style Pizza…..They are both are generously topped, both have sturdy crisp crusts but the texture and taste of the crusts differ. The grandma has a fine network of bubbles in the crust. The Roman has bigger bubbles in the crust. Both the grandma style and the Roman style are not doughy …….both have a sturdy but light airy crust with generous high quality toppings. Both the grandma and Roman style pizzas seem lighter and not as heavy as doughier pizzas because they both have lots of air in the crust.

That was my first taste of grandma style pizza at Crisp in Scottsdale AZ.

www.Crisp-Pizza.com

Try Crisp Pizza and see what you think! Give the grandma style pizza a try!

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

My Trip to The 2019 Persian New Year Festival in Scottsdale AZ

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The 2019 Persian New Year Festival took place on the Scottsdale Waterfront in Scottsdale Arizona March 9th. Around forty venders participated. What you could find here was food, music, dancing, Persian Tea, jewelry, crafts, Persian Rugs, clothing, fortune telling and more. This was a free event with proceeds that benefit brain tumor research.

Saffron Jak and Killer BurgersFood Food Trucks

A few food trucks participated.

Parking was free and close.

www.PersianNewYearFestival.com

My Forking Thoughts on Thai Coconut, Mexican Jalapeño & English Toffee M&M’s

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Three NEW Internationally natural and artificially flavored peanut M&M’s have just come out. Here are Thai Coconut, Mexican Jalapeño and English Toffee Peanut M&M’s. It reads on the bags that if you vote for your favorite that it is a possibility that you might win a trip around the world.

I opened them all up and tried them all. The one really weird thing about all of them is that after trying all the flavors I noticed all the peanuts break down the middle in your mouth….M&M’s are one of the few candies I’ve eaten all my life. It’s been decades since I was a child but I remember decades back the peanuts never separated…….This might sound gross but as a child when we had a dinner I didn’t like at home I’d eat M&M’s instead for dinner( as a child remember)……..I ate them very slowly and saved the peanuts for last sometimes…..so I do indeed REMEMBER!…………..it seems like they use peanuts that are more dry……..or maybe older these days?

I’ll start with my least favorite….It’s the most unattractive one the English Toffee in colors that I’ll be nice and not describe…..I open the bag and it sort of smells something like butterscotch. Then I go to taste one and I almost gaged. It taste like a spoonful of bitter instant coffee followed by other taste like maybe artificial butterscotch and maybe artificial caramel all there….This has the usual chocolate with a peanut center but this one leaves an unpleasant chemical aftertaste……..This one I don’t like at all

For me it’s a bit of a toss up between the Thai Coconut Peanut and the Mexican Jalapeño. After my first taste of them I thought the Mexican Jalapeño had a slight edge because it tasted more like a Peanut M&M but with a burn…..When you open the bag it just smells like chocolatey M&M’s…….The Mexican Jalapeño M&M’s come in colors of yellow, red and green. They taste mostly like regular peanut M&M’s with a slight burn. Slightly disappointed because the burn doesn’t taste like jalapeño……….it just burns…….there is a very slight other flavor that might be something like cinnamon…..Not bad but not great.

The Thai Coconut package smells like coconut when you take a whiff. These Peanut M&M’s come in blue, lime green and yellow. The candy shells taste slightly different to me. Like the inside is coated with something that taste similar to saccharine mixed with coconut……but much more coconut to saccharine. It’s easy to taste the chocolate with this one. There is a slight other taste with the coconut but so slight and maybe too artificial for me to tell what it is suppose to be…….A few more Thai Coconut M&M’s later these M&M’s build up and remind me of coconut Easter Eggs. These Thai Coconut M&M’s are OK…not great..They differ from the Coconut M&M’s that were out years ago…..These are not as strong with coconut and also not as sweet. They don’t take me to anything Thai Food…….They are OK….like Easter eggs….kind of tasty……the peanut goes very well with these flavors…….not bad…not great.

Those were my thoughts on the International Flavor M&M’s of English Toffee, Mexican Jalapeño and Thai Coconut.

I do note your opinion and experience may indeed differ.

What NOT to do when you Open a Restaurant

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The FORKING Truth is that I am already disappointed with a new restaurant that I didn’t actually get to dine at yet. I was very excited about this new restaurants’ opening but dining there doesn’t seem like a possibility.

I live about 40 minutes away from this particular restaurant and don’t want to be turned away without a reservation so I attempted to a make a reservation. This is where all the Forking CRAZY unBELIEVABLE stuff happened……

I called the published phone number for the restaurant on Saturday 2/16/19 and requested a reservation for the next Saturday 2/23/19. It wasn’t until Thursday that I get a call back from the Chef/Owner of this particular restaurant that I called the wrong phone number and he gave another phone number to call. So my husband called that number during business hours and nobody answered the phone so he left a message that we still wanted a reservation for Saturday 2/23/19. Nobody calls us back…..So I wait until Friday 2/22/19 and I call the restaurant and ask if I have a reservation there and the person there at the restaurant says that I do not have a Forking (she didn’t say Forking… but I did) reservation. So I said good-bye and made a reservation someplace else.

We were very anxious to try out this new vegan restaurant somewhere in Metro Phoenix…..But it seems impossible to make a reservation with them and they don’t care either. We emailed the Chef Owner a similar copy of this story last Friday (2/22/19) and haven’t heard a thing back.

This is an Example of what NOT to DO When You Open a Restaurant.

My Forking Thoughts on White Chocolate Marshmallow M&M’s

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When I came across this bag of White Chocolate Marshmallow M&M’s I thought this was a strange flavor. I also thought these M&M’s might be filled with marshmallow cream but they are not. These M&M’s are white chocolate that is marshmallow flavored.

I start by opening the bag and take a whiff……It smells like white chocolate mixed with a little yogurt……I’m thinking that these will suck…….

I spill some out.

The M&M’s are shiny and slightly larger than regular plain M&M’s. The candy shells are white, Robbin’s egg blue and like yellow ribbon color.

I taste one.

It’s very sweet……maybe too sweet for some people…but to me it’s as sweet as vanilla cake frosting….To me it’s just right for this flavor. It’s almost like you really are eating a marshmallow mixed with white chocolate. I think I really do feel and taste cornstarch in my mouth like from a real marshmallow. I eat a few more….when you eat more you get the sweet more……..These melt better in the mouth than most white chocolate M&M’s…they aren’t waxy at all. Instead of an aftertaste like I was expecting I got some cornstarch building up in my mouth…….It’s kind of weird.

I totally was expecting to hate these White Chocolate Marshmallow M&M’s but they are surprisingly realistic tasting and OK!

Adventurous Tasters might want to give the White Chocolate Marshmallow M&M’s a try!

Not my favorite flavor of M&M’s but worthy of a try

You experience may or may not differ.

Angkor Donuts & Daliz Ice Cream Y Mas in Glendale AZ – Pho – Tacos – Donuts Ice Cream and More!

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I found this business by accident and it’s quite intriguing. Angkor Donuts and Daliz Ice Cream Y Mas are two businesses that are one. They serve Thrifty Brand ice cream, freshly made donuts, Asian foods and and also Mexican Foods.

It looks like this when you walk in.

Most of the tables are set up with Mexican Hot Sauces, Sambal and Fish Sauce.

We just stopped in and got a donut. I got an iced donut with rainbow sprinkles. I have to say it was a great donut…..So light and fluffy it seemed free of calories….but I know it wasn’t…….The icing was thin and didn’t seem too sweet…..It was a really great donut that just melted in my mouth.

During my short stay there I noticed many people doing take out. Tacos were popular….I think they cost around $1.50@.

Some of the Mexican Foods they offer are Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas, tortas, agues frescas, Sonoran hot dogs and raspados.

Some of the Asian Foods I noticed were fried rice plates, Thai tea, boba and a variety of pho noodle soups. Some of the Pho Noodle Soups might be fusion style because some varieties were pollo and carnitas…?????

Angkor Donuts and Daliz Ice Cream Y Mas was a Forking Interesting Stop and The Donut I tasted was as good as it gets! I thought it was interesting. I never been to any other establishment that was like it. Who knew that there were restaurants out there like this.

Angkor Donuts Daliz Ice Cream Y Mas in Glendale – Ice Cream, Donuts, Mexican Food and Asian Food……Who knew!

I haven’t found a website or facebook page for them but I found Angkor Donuts Daliz Ice Cream Y Mas.

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

My Trip to Phoenix Tacolandia 2019 – Worth a Fork! #TacolandiaPHX

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Tacolandia is an all-you-can-eat taco festival that took place Saturday January 26th from 1pm-5pm at Margaret T Hance Park in Down Town Phoenix. General Admission cost $20-$40. depending on where and when you purchased your tickets and VIP tickets cost between $40.-$55. also depending on where and when you purchased your tickets. The VIP this year seemed only slightly different than general admission. The VIPs got into the festival slightly sooner, got two free drinks and were able to vote for favorite taco.

WOO-HOO! this was an All-You-Can-Eat Taco event! Over 20 taco venders participated. There was some free entertainment and libations were available for sale.

This event was dog friendly and parking was free and also metered depending on how far you wanted to walk.

(Don’t tell my dogs that this was a dog friendly event)

The 2019 Tacolandia went similar to the 2018 Tacolandia. The event was held at the same place and the festival goers trickled in the same way. The first hour from 1pm-2pm it was easy breezy getting around anywhere you wanted to go. Either no lines or very short lines.

Then about by 2pm lines ran about 25-30 minutes.

By 2:30 I got tired of standing and was very thirsty. The line for lemonade ran 45 minutes.

Just like last year some tacos were better than other tacos. Some were made with MADE TO ORDER FRESH tortillas that were mighty delicious! The Forking Truth is that only one vender used an awful tortilla.

This was all I ate from this taco. Filling was tender but bland and on a hard tortilla that needed to be grilled.

Here are what we tried. Just like last year my husband tried more tacos than what I tried. The majority of the tacos offered were beef, followed by pork, a few chicken and I only found one fish taco. There were two vegetable tacos offered that I noticed. I wasn’t able to hit every vender but between the two of us we hit much of the offerings. One vendor had trouble and didn’t have power so I don’t know if they got to serve. Another vendor started serving tacos about an hour or so after opening.

Bulgogi Beef with Kimchi Bun from Bao Chow at the Yucca Tap Room (this one ran salty)

Gadzooks Chicken & Cornbread Stuffing Taco – One of the best tasting tacos that I tried.

El Tlacoyo – two different kinds of pork tacos

Ajo Al’s Brisket Taco – Taco shell was fresh made

La Olmeca – Beef Taco – before topping bar

Sylvia’s La Canasta – Fish Taco – only fish taco I found

Sylvia’s La Canasta – Vegetable Taco – VERY Cilantro forward and also spicy

Philly’s Sports Grill – Among the better tacos…a non-traditional Asian Fusion Beef Taco

Tortas Paquime – Among the better Tacos – Beef Tacos with House Made SPICY sauces

From The Lunch Box – Chicken Tostada and Beef

Some festival goers dressed for the occasion.

That was my Trip to Tacolandia 2019 – I’d say it was Worth a Fork!

www.TacolandiaPHX.com

The BEST UNDER $10.00 Plate I’ve Found in North Phoenix is from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – Worth A Fork!

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Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery is located in North Phoenix. This is a casual Pho-Free Vietnamese Eatery. I know that most of the food they serve is FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS because between me and my husband were tried most of the menu items….Some of my personal favorites that I enjoy from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery are the delicious Banh Mi Baguette Sandwiches, Chef’s Special Curry Chicken, Lotus Root Salad, Pot Stickers and of course The Rice Plate (Co’m Dia). Oh and did I mention that everything (as of January 2019…subject to change) is less that $10.00 each?

The Rice Plate (Co’m Dia) is what is known as a combination plate. That is made of a generous portion of white rice, pork egg roll, salad garnish with house vinaigrette and choice of protein. The protein choices are Grilled Pork, Grilled Pork Chop, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Shrimp, Shaken Beef or Tofu and Vegetable. There are condiments of fish sauce for dipping and a spicy chili paste for zipping some things up. I can vouch that the chicken, beef and grilled pork are tender like butter and developed with really delicious flavors. It’s like magically delicious. The chicken has a tasty char on it and is developed with yumminess. The chicken is slightly sweet and fragrant with Asian seasonings. The portion is really large and double of what I eat so this is two meals for me. I didn’t weigh the meat here but it seemed like about 8 ounces. I have no idea where you can get a better or tastier deal for only $9.00.

Other things we had at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery are pictured below. I really enjoy the Banh Mi baguette more than a hoagie type roll. It made of a combination of wheat and rice flour that makes it seem much lighter than a hoagie roll. The roll here has a crispy exterior and a soft interior. The sandwiches are made with pickled carrot and radish, slices of jalapeño and fresh cilantro and house made aioli. Some varieties of the Banh Mi also include house made pate.

Choice of Rice or Baguette with the Curry Chicken

We love going to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. The Food is always fresh and delicious! Portions are very large and prices are very low.

The Rice Plate from Banh Mi Bistro is the BEST under $10.00 Plate that I tried in North Phoenix!

(P.S. Tables are no longer outside but there is a folding table inside for guest that request it.)

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery is Worth a Fork!

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

“Forking Yum!”

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante is an Italian Restaurant located in Citadelle Plaza in North Glendale Arizona. Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante serves Neapolitan Pizzas, house made pastas, Sunday Brunch, monthly wine dinners, seasonal specials and more. They offer dining indoors at the bar or the modern dining room or outdoors with an indoor/outdoor bar or table seating.

Today we started with the Happy Hour Grilled Vegetables.

We received grilled eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers and a very tasty fresh herb seasoned oil. It was delicious with the vegetables and I also enjoyed the sauce on some fresh bread. I liked that the appetizer was delicious, seemed healthy and didn’t seem too heavy. For my main I received a very different Eggplant Parmesan.

The eggplant was not breaded. This eggplant parmesan was made of thin layers of eggplant with a texture like I never had before. The eggplant was very meat-like……It wasn’t mushy….It almost had a texture like a firm mushroom……..but thin like lasagna noodles. In-between the layers of thin meat-like eggplant was a little tomato sauce, Italian hard cheese some mozzarella. The dish also got topped with the biggest basil leaf I ever saw. This dish didn’t seem heavy at all…plus it had all the flavor. Eggplant Parmesan is much better this way.

My husband had the Tagliatelle Bolognese.

He said it was very good!

Went for dessert and tried the Torte Nutella. Delicious! Not too sweet, satisfying amount of chocolate….I would like more hazelnut but can’t complain because it’s delicious.