This is a collection of the very best foods that I have tried from Metro Phoenix AZ Restaurant since the beginning of the year. They are pictured in the order I tried them.

The Kengi Burger from Then Burger in Glendale WAS worth traveling across town for. The burger is unusually delicious and flavorful and all the other ingredients are just magic here.*******UPDATE********Then Burger recently lowered their prices and shortened the menu. *******The Kengi Burger is NOT on the current menu.****** (but we can hope that it will return)

******UPDATE******

Unfortunately things do change. Then Burgers at the time of my second visit are no longer a blend of sirloin, short rib and chuck. They changed them to all chuck and they taste different and cook up different. Also the Kenji burger has been discontinued. I tried a marrow and mushroom burger. My husband tried another drugstore burger.

Both beef patties were dry like a hockey pucks. I had to send it back because this is a 36$ burger. I was promised that they could do better so I let them try. In reasonable time our second burgers came out. Again both dry like hockey pucks.

I FORKING have no idea on how the burgers are now but the first burger I had here was the FORKING BEST in all the land. I can only hope that Then Burger returns to the original recipe……..Maybe they will change again…..???????

Then Burger 9220 W Glendale Ave Glendale AZ – 623-328-9388

www.ThenBurger.com

Little Pickle KILLED it three times this year. TO DIE FOR Pastrami……I have to tell The FORKING Truth because that is my thing….The first time we tried the Brisket it was FORKING AMAZING……on a 2nd visit it was so different…not awful ….. but not amazing. I did contact Little Pickle about it and they told me that their help didn’t follow the recipe???????? I don’t know what happened there……..But then I tried the lox and it was like 100 times better than what you can get anywhere else in Phoenix. So they still killed it three times this year. I sincerely hope that the brisket returned to the original recipe.

This restaurant may or may not relocate soon….

Little Pickle – 2501 E Camelback Rd Phoenix AZ – 602-466-7098********UPDATE Little Pickle has CLOSED***** but is expected to reopen very close to the same location.

www.LittlePickleAZ.com

This was the best chicken taco that I’ve had in a long time. Who knew that it would come from a food truck? The chicken had a great developed flavor and a delicious char taste, flavors, and was tender and delicious. The tortilla was hand made and the salsa seemed house made. That handmade tortilla was incredibly delicious too.

Good Eats Only Mexican Kitchen Food Truck 623-521-8473

You can find them on Facebook

12 oz. N.Y. Strip – SW seasoning spice blend, bone marrow butter, tepary bean mole negro …from Tia Carmen

Tia Carmen makes many magical dishes. The Tuna Crudo alone is the single best dish that I tasted anywhere last year. This year it still is the best or among the best. The New York Strip is also an incredible dish. The tepary bean black mole FORKING takes a year to make!

Tia Carmen 5350 E Marriott Dr PHX AZ – 480-293-3636

www.TiaCarmenDesertRidge.com

The Puchka snack with passion fruit was a TIDAL WAVE of flavors. I tried it at the 2023 Dish Fest but it was from Feringhee Modern Indian Cusine. I’d love to go to that restaurant but it’s a 45 mile hike for me.

Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine – 3491 W Frye Rd Chandler AZ – 480-534-7178

www.Feringhee.com

This next one is really amazing but very hard to single out a single dish because the menu often changes…….If any beef cheek is on the menu when you happen to go here it would be crazy to miss out on those beef cheek dishes here………Once you try one it’s actually life changing. Nobody else’s can compare. Same with a lot of the other dishes. Fish dishes are always amazing. The desserts are also more detailed and more complex than from maybe any other restaurant I’ve been too. Actually when you go to other higher end restaurants you get disappointed because their desserts seem like nothing compared to desserts you get here.

Confluence in Carefree serves high quality modern-American foods. The chef is well seasoned and is very masterful. He has worked in impressive restaurants including Binkley’s.

The food is always masterfully prepared. The chef himself prepares the food …not a second line cook and also not some young kid that just started cooking. The Chef himself is cooking.

Here is the aged gouda and caramelized onion tart. It contains Iberia chorizo, horseradish, sunflower seed, arugula, pomegranate molasses, and freeze dried honey.

No other restaurant will serve such a detailed and complex dessert like the smoked butterscotch tapioca pudding.

Embellishments are blueberries, pepitas, candied butternut squash, and smoked vanilla creme faiche . The main courses are always perfection. If you catch a menu with beef cheek on it that is an absolute must get dish.

Confluence – 36889 N Tom Darlington Dr Carefree AZ – 480-488-9796

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

It’s worth driving across town to dine at Alzohour Market and Restaurant in Phoenix for many of the dishes. BUT I DO WARN YOU that service is done by one woman that also is your chef, runs, the market, and clothing store so you are going to wait a while. The dish that she is most famous for is the B’Stilla. It’s her handmade pastry with chicken, sugar, almonds, and cinnamon. Other dishes that you might want to try are the grape leaves, kashe bademjam (eggplant & walnut on a sizzling skillet with vegetables and pita bread) tangines or mixed grill plates. Desserts are also not to be missed because the pastry is hand made in house. The baklava is really great and not too sweet. Maybe my favorite is the noodle pastry stuffed with cheese and topped with pistachios.

Alzohour Market & Restaurant

7814 N 27TH Avenue PHX AZ – 602-433-5192

www.Alzohour-Market.Business.site

You sure don’t find much laffa bread or lolas in Phoenix. My Spot Mediterranean Grill recently opened in North Phoenix Arizona. This is a super casual kosher Israeli type restaurant. The One dish that blew me away was the beef lola on laffa bread.

It’s like a giant burrito…I’ll open it a little so you can look inside.

The beef inside is amazing and isn’t like any other out there. It’s full of delicious flavors and is really moist and tender. Tahini sauce, spicy pickles, a spicy sauce, onions, cabbage really go amazing together. I recommend to get this with the works so you get all these flavors…….The laffa bread was also fresh made. This was a great surprise treat that I doubt you can find anywhere else in Phoenix.

My Spot Mediterranean Grill – 1601 E Bell Rd PHX AZ – 602-612-3955

www.MySpotKosherKitchen.com

The Banh Mi Baguette Sandwiches from Banh Mi Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix are always good. The shaken beef is almost like filet but is really ribeye. I like the chicken one too! My husband switches back and forth between the beef and bbq pork. We also do noodle salad bowls here, rice plates, and curry chicken. Portions are very large and can be two meals for some people. Prices are reasonable.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – 2340 W Bell Rd PHX AZ – 602-843-3637

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

Fabio On Fire makes the most delicious bread that I’ve tasted in Metro Phoenix. He makes this very special ciabatta pugliese bread with a hundred year old starter…….But it doesn’t stop there…..It keeps going and going……….Phoenix Magazine named his porchetta as one of the top 100 dishes of metro Phoenix. His Neopolitian style pizzas are FANTABULOUS and the crust has a developed taste unlike other pizzas out there that are flat in comparison.

If you are a fan of meat pizzas you might want to try the salsiccia fungi.

That one is great but the pizza with the most bells and whistles might be the bufalina.

This one is that amazing developed crust that’s perfect….Topped with San Marzano D.O.P. tomato sauce, sugary sweet local tomatoes, bitter arugula, oregano, garlic, creamy imported bufalina cheese that melts into everything. reduced balsamic, and extra virgin olive oil. It’s just layers of great flavors that dance all over your mouth. This is either number one or at least one of the BEST pizzas in Metro Phoenix.

You’d be foolish to skip dessert here. Fabio makes most of the best desserts on the west side single handed……..His gelato is the best in Arizona…..Maybe the best in the country……

You’ll never taste strawberry gelato as fabulous. Today we tried half strawberry and half limoncello..

JEEPERS the limoncello is as great as the strawberry. Some of the other amazing flavors are peach, passionfruit, and blood orange. Fabio SHOULD sell his gelato nation-wide!

Fabio On Fire

8275 W Lake Pleasant PKWY Peoria AZ 623-680-5385

www.FabioOnFire.com

I made it back to Tia Carmen for lunch. I didn’t want to mention this restaurant twice but as great as these dishes were I had to.

This tomato salad is FORKING AMAZING.

The tomatoes taste so sweet and so farm fresh . You dip them threw this extra flavorful corn puree and charred corn dust. Fresh basil, pickled onions, and serrano chile pepper for a little heat. So delicious, light and refreshing. A perfect light appetizer to share.

This fish torta sandwich is far more delicious than I can describe. It taste so FORKING FANTABULOUS that I MUST MENTION IT!

Oh and my husband doesn’t usually even like fish and he even thinks it’s amazing. The fish torta is crispy mild perfectly prepared mild tasting white fish that is really great. But it is the embellishments of turmeric sweet onion jam, FRESH DILL, and this really good spicy mayo….a little cilantro, and this delicious toasted bun that taste FORKING INCREDIBLE together. The sandwich come with hay fries. The spicy mayo reminds me of espelette pepper but I don’t think they’d use that kind because that pepper is expensive …whatever it is it is really delicious.

Tia Carmen – 5350 E Marriott Dr PHX AZ – 480-293-3636

www.TiaCarmenDesertRidge.com

BEST of January-April 2023 – WORTH DRIVING ACROSS TOWN FOR!

Every THING is subject to change.