I tried many great dishes in 2020 in Metro Phoenix Arizona this year. I haven’t been everywhere but I’ve gone to lots of places. Most of the food I did this year was take outs because that is how we rolled most of the year. Here are the best that I’ve tried in no particular order. I do warn you that I live around the upper west side of the valley so it’s not logical to bring back food from too far away. I also might have forgotten a few great ones. It’s hard to remember a whole year. I note that I do happen to fancy fish when I go out because it is hard to get fresh fish to cook or eat near my home. Chula Seafood and Nelson’s are 40-45 minutes of mostly highway driving for me.
The Combo with Curry & Jerk Chicken is so good from Desert Island Eatery that I can’t move on to try something else. I must note that this food is always good. The take out version is slightly drier because all the sauces soak in…..but it is always very good. During the pandemic Desert Island Eatery installed a patio but are converted to take out only. Maybe that will change in a few months????
From Confluence is Carefree I got an amazing dinner. Everything is perfection and delicious but that special bit of magic is the way that way that everything is so flavorful and the way goes together. It’s like here’s a green bean…WOW I never tasted a green bean like this before…………but then the magic really happens when Parsnips, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, red quinoa and pomegranate go together so amazingly well. It’s just magical.
The Flaming Cheese from Greek Palace is Peoria is Awesome! I’ve had flaming cheese before but this one is the next level…YUM!
I have to give another to Confluence for their Lunch Fried Chicken with Chilitepin Honey sauce……I’ve had this one a few times and the sides do get changed up now and then but that fried chicken is among the Yummiest Tastiest Best. YUM!
Tacos are not part of my heritage but I’ve tasted many tacos. I tasted many tacos on several trips to Mexico. I’ve also tasted many tacos from many of the taco festivals in metro Phoenix and then some. The mild chicken habanero taco from Taco Fusion in Glendale is one of the BEST chicken tacos that I have ever tasted. It’s served on a hand made flour or corn tortilla (your choice). You do have to ask for the salsas….I think the chicken taco is best with the pineapple salsa.
OMG These sandwiches are a THOUSAND Times better tasting than they look. The smoked corned beef special from Naked BBQ is a wonder of the world. It’s a crime that this isn’t on the menu. It’s so great that I would tell a vegetarian to eat it.
🙁 🙁 🙁 Sadly we lost the really great fast but unusually delicious food from CHZBURGR in Glendale. This sandwich was a million times more delicious than it looks. Crispy well seasoned delicious juicy super flavorful breaded chicken THIGH, a special bun from Philadelphia, crafted pickles, mayo, honey mustard (I added Calabrian peppers) Was just awesome. My husband used to enjoy the flat style CHZBURGR. (It was greasy in a good way type of cheeseburger.
The Bianco Pizza (middle) is among the best pizzas in Metro Phoenix from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. It is made with hand pulled in house mozzarella, creamy rich ricotta, Sicilian oregano, garlic, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil (I add on Calabrian peppers). It’s just a taste sensation!
All the food from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery always makes us happy. Here are those tasty pot stickers and the lotus root salad. This great lunch was also only $9.
The salmon from Twist Bistro & Gallery in North Scottsdale was unusually great! It’s pretty rare to get salmon cooked to such perfection. I enjoyed this a few times and several other dishes from Twist Bistro and Gallery.
The Halibut special from Fabio On Fire in Peoria was amazing. It might be the very best fish that you can get on the west side of metro Phoenix. The gelato…especially the strawberry is also the best…maybe in the whole darn country. That little ear pasta is also pretty darn special.
I got an amazing Forking Delicious feast from The Barrio Cafe in Phoenix. Everything was Forking Great! I sure wish her fabulous smoked salmon was still on the menu. I loved it so much!!!! Everything was FORKING delicious even down to the spicy ketchup condiment.
The Fried Chicken Take Out Special from FnB in Scottsdale was incredible. Even all the sides were EXTRA SPECIAL….I never had such GREAT sides with great fried chicken before.
This dessert from Confluence in Carefree was incredible. It’s yuzu curd with angel food cake, nuts and sake poached pears. It was incredible. It was just as spectacular as the food from Confluence.
The other BEST dessert (and Fabio’s gelato) was this noodle cheese pastry from Alzohour Market in Glendale. Actually most of the food from Alzohour Market is incredible.
My first take out from Stratta Kitchen in Scottsdale was completely amazing. The salmon was one of the best that I had in Metro Phoenix….The bread was Noble Bread and is great, The Caponata was the best I’ve had and that chocolate fudge cake was a really awesome treat. Since my first visit prices were cut and some things are not the same. You get smaller amounts of bread and appetizer. The fish is now smaller pieces cooked to well on a skewer. It’s still really REALLY good but not Phenomenal like it was.
The salmon from Tarbell’s Tavern is maybe the best salmon that you can get in metro Phoenix. Everything here was delicious. There is this Indian spiced cake that came with it that also was memorable.
The sand dabs from Lure Fish House were crazy fresh and delicious.
The beets with Smoked Salmon from FnB in Scottsdale was well crafted, detailed and delicious. You can almost taste it just by looking at it. Actually everything we had from FnB was incredible. It was had to pick one plate from that visit because EVERY FORKING PLATE is deserving for here.
Lemon sole in a basil white wine broth with fennel salad and house made noodles from Twist Bistro and Gallery in North Scottsdale. It was all prepared to perfection and was also interesting and a little different.
The salt crusted whole striped bass from Bandolero Cocina de Mexico is as good as fish can get. The fresh flavor and texture was incredible. The mojo sauce was also really extra great!
My husband said that this pork shank he got from Ocotillo needs to be on this list. He really enjoyed it. I enjoyed a salmon meal that was pretty darn good too.
I just started going to Desi Fusion in Peoria. I forgot to photo the South Indian Fish Curry. That was really great! Really everything I tried so far was great from Desi Fusion. Sometime next year I will know what dishes I like the most.
My take out from Seoul BBQ and Sushi in Phoenix also blew me away. Everything was delicious and they might have made a mistake and accidentally gave us too much food. They gave us a complimentary vegetable pancake and 16 side dishes. Our mains were a chicken bulgogi and a bibimbap. Everything was delicious!
The market salad from Pizzeria Bianco at Town and Country was amazing. This was the BEST bitter greens salad that I have ever tried. It was the only one that tasted balanced to me. The gorgonzola and the sweet Asian pears help to tame the bitterness of the radicchio leaves. Bravo!
From Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante on Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide I got this incredibly delicious tender falling off the bone Chicken Cacciatore that was laced with DELICIOUS Calabrian Chili Peppers. Underneath it all was creamy cheese polenta.
My take out from Mrs. Chicken in Phoenix is deserving of a SPECIAL MENTION. They are a Nashville Style Chicken Restaurant. They do deserve a special mention because Mrs Chicken is a 40 minute drive for me and the chicken had a shattering crisp exterior and a juicy perfectly cooked interior when I got it home. (I brought home a lot of chicken this year…even from some closer places the chicken came home dry.
We both got the two piece dark meat on the bone.
The Better Dishes I tried from Metro Phoenix Restaurants 2020
And That’s The Forking Truth
