Dynasty Chinese American Restaurant has recently opened in Cave Creek Arizona. They serve mostly Chinese-American favorites but they also offer other unique dishes like crispy Brussels sprouts, truffled filet mignon, and black truffle fried rice.
They are newly opened and on the day of my visit they are without a sign….The previous restaurant in that spot was J Chen and you see that very clearly where the sign was removed.
We walked in and were greeted ad seated quickly.
We started out by sharing the crispy Brussels sprouts.
The Brussels sprouts were crispy and tasty. They seemed like they were free of oil. They also gave us a very large portion and we sure didn’t mind taking some home for latter.
I was going to order the black truffle fried rice. I was told that they didn’t have truffles today but would have some tomorrow. I was thinking about ordering the sizzling sea bass but I didn’t know if they would do fish well so I thought for my first try here I’d try the Szechwan garlic chicken.
The chicken is masterfully moist (yeah!) vegetables are tender crisp. It has a nice heat to it. This is a very large portion….It is flavorful but it does run sweet.
My husband tried the kung pao with chicken, beef, and shrimp.
All the proteins are tender and moist. It is flavorful, a bit spicy, and it also runs sweet.
Went back for a second visit.
Started with the vegetable rolls.
They are expertly fried and are ever so slightly garlicky….
This time we got the black truffle fried rice with added chicken.
It does have a nice black truffle aroma….It’s really different. Most of the rice is steamed but some of the rice is crunchy and there’s soft fluffy egg. The chicken is very moist and tender. It’s subtle with truffle taste….I smell it more than I taste it until I hit a cluster of truffle dust. It’s also a little peppery. It’s really different…Never had a fried rice like this before.
We also shared the black pepper filet mignon. It comes out on a sizzling hot bubbling skillet. The filet is mixed with tender crisp red bell peppers and onions.
The filet is tender like butter. Honestly you can cut it with your fork. The sauce is slightly garlicky but you taste more black pepper like you should.
They have a sign now.
Dynasty Chinese Restaurant – Newly Opened in Cave Creek
When a new buffet opens up it is usually as great as it is going be so I like to check them out as they open when one pops up in the area. This particular one recently opened. It’s open everyday for lunch and dinner. They offer over a hundred dishes to choose from.
They have a small koi pond inside. It’s set up like the zoo. You can feed the fish for a dollar.
It looks very nice inside.
We pay on our way in and then get seated. And now we are off to try things.
We usually start with the sushi. They didn’t look the best so I only picked one to try. For some odd reason the fish felt hard and crunchy on the ends…..(ick!) …….Today it’s better not to eat the sushi.
Moving on…..
The food looks ok for buffet food.
They have all kinds of chicken dishes, a few beef dishes, a little shellfish. They have soups, lots of desserts and much more. It looks like everything is labeled today.
I took Sichuan chicken, chicken on a stick, one piece of orange chicken, mushrooms, green beans, flounder, and some noodles.
Oh my…….none of the chicken I took is chewable….The orange chicken is hard as a golf ball……The mushrooms and noodles have an unpalatable taste…..it’s so horrible it’s too painful to eat. ………It FORKING doesn’t even taste like food!*********When I get to the flounder.it is edible but is unseasoned and unflavored….Only the green beans are good….. (I was thinking that they must have purchased the green beans….I didn’t think they taste like they could have came from this place.)
My husband took different things with the same results….All the chicken, beef, and shrimp dishes were un-chewable. Everything we tried with the exception of the green beans tasted terrible….so terrible that I can’t even describe….so bad the food is just painful…..to eat.
We decide that we must try the Mongolian grill….It just has to be better……
I make a plate with chicken and my husband makes a plate with beef….
The beef came out hard and chewy.The chicken came out moist but the flavors are unpalatable…….ICK! I can’t eat this!
We left.
My husband left hungry and wanted to eat someplace else.
I felt kinda sick to my stomach and didn’t want to eat anything.
Maybe if you try this place as soon as they open for lunch there is a possibility that the meats might not be so leathery, hard and dried out. If you don’t mind leathery chewy dry meats and don’t care how food taste then maybe you might be alright here.
Based on just one visit I do NOT recommend Las Vegas Seafood Buffet in Phoenix AZ.
The Forking Truth is that Sometimes a Buffet isn’t your Best Choice when you go out to eat.
The Pacific Seafood Buffet is two locations again. They have one location in Chandler Arizona and One again in Glendale just two miles away from their old location that was torn down and will become a Cheddar’s Restaurant. The buffet is open everyday even holidays for lunch and dinner. They offer over a hundred different things to choose from.
Maybe you want to start with common sushi.
Or maybe you want some sashimi? Oh take both!
They have lots of fried tasty things. My favorite here are the little sesame balls stuffed with sweet bean paste.
They have dumplings, steamed buns and stuffed leaves and more! DIDN’T I TELL YOU THAT ALMOST NOTHING IS MARKED? Everything (almost) is a surprise. I took one of each steamed bun…Both I never had before. One was filled with sweet egg custard. The purple one was filled with sweet white bean paste. I saw a few different kinds of chicken feet here today and they added pizza as we were leaving.
They do offer several shellfish dishes. I took some mild whitefish with ginger scallions and a dish that I never had at a buffet before…The sweet and spicy mild fried white fish….It might have been the best dish I tried today. The other best dish I tried were the mushrooms….They were baby brown mushrooms that were really good. I also like the baby bok choy. They were smaller than what I usually find and were tasty and slightly still tender crisp.
That mackerel in the upper right was my least favorite today. I couldn’t stomach it.
The green beans were good. Next to it was a tofu stir fry. On the other side was some sort of stir fried tilapia that looked like chicken…..My husband tried it…….It was not great but edible.
Don’t remember what was in the pans below.
The desserts………..nothing too exciting. Fill up before you get here.
And the frozen desserts.
That was a little taste of the Pacific Buffet in Glendale AZ. It’s not high end but The FORKING Truth is that it is better than some places.
Cala is described as a Modern Mediterranean Restaurant. It is in the small boutique hotel called Senna House in Old Town Scottsdale Arizona. The restaurant is led by celebrity chef Beau MacMillan. Parking is difficult but not impossible. It’s just like city parking. You can valet there or search for a parking spot somewhere. The nearby lots are tow-away zones but we’ve found a parking spot down the main road.
We’ve found the hostess desk. Eventually someone walks by and says that a hostess will be with us. We waited about ten minutes. During that time I could look around.
inside with patio view
Inside is comfortable looking, modern, airy, and visually beautiful. There are lots of live plants. It’s like a big patio inside and also they have an actual outdoor patio with another bar outside.
inside bar area
It’s impossible not to notice that NOT ALL but most of the females working there are wearing very little up top and not enough down below to cover their panties. Two servers today are wearing long jeans with a tank tops. I can’t decide if they are going for a beach in the desert look or a Hooters at The Senna House look?
This photo was the most family friendly of what was seen…..Other women I saw had the daisy dukes with their buns exposed.
Cala is for sure a great destination for younger men or any males that enjoy looking at young women in skimpy outfits……maybe even your grandpa…… But maybe not so great for most other women, young children, or grandma.
Eventually a brestaurant hostess seats us…..She looked like a teenager……..She wore hot pants and a top that exposed 49% of breasts…whole middle and part of stomach)………..She seats us at a table where I have to brush away what looks like a big spill of granola from my bench….(sorry now that I didn’t photo all that I brushed off)
I thought I bushed it all and then I found this next to me.
We look at the menu. They have cocktails for the table. They also offer sharables like flaming cheese, and mezze plates ($58…that one seemed steep to me?), Cala power bowls, brunch plates like a green Chile pork burrito, burgers, banana French toast, insalada pizza, and a few desserts.
I thought that the spiced lentil & chickpea bowl with added salmon sounded good so I ordered that and I received a very large bowl of food.
It’s suppose to contain lentils, chickpeas, carrots, tomato, beets, cucumber, feta, and tahini-citrus vinaigrette. I wasn’t told but found out that the carrots and beets were missing and were replaced with crunchy corn nuts. (would have ordered the other bowl if I knew) Crunchy corn nuts seems like a bar snack………..and I believe that corn nuts are a South American food and don’t seem Mediterranean and also are not a replacement for carrots and beets. ….In a nice restaurant they usually let you know if they are out of something……..
Anyways-
I taste the dressing. To me it taste like tahini and lemon…….pretty much nothing else. I would expect to taste cumin, coriander, salt, and at least pepper. I can only guess that ingredients are missing from the dressing? ……I DON’T KNOW if ingredients are missing but I think so because the the bowl had missing ingredients and also the food I enjoyed from the chef’s previous restaurant was flavorful and delicious……so I was expecting flavorful and delicious here………
Then I taste the salmon. It’s prepared nice like it seems like it was slow cooked. It has a very good texture but it is also unseasoned and unseasoned is at the very least UNDER-SEASONED. For some odd reason it’s slightly fishy.
not seasoned
It taste exactly like the bloodline all the way threw. This bowl is mostly unseasoned. The crunchy corn kernels add a little salt. The best thing in my bowl are the tomatoes. They are extra sweet today. I could have sent this back but I usually don’t send things back at restaurants….especially when I can’t see into the kitchen. I used to work in restaurants and most were professional but I did work at a certain restaurant that was one of the busiest restaurants in the country. That restaurant was unique and very different from all the rest. They didn’t hire culinary students there to work in the kitchen instead they hired their cooks fresh plucked from the local jail to cook the food. When you sent food back…The cooks got unhinged….. you’d be sorry if you saw what they did to the food…….I’m not kidding….. It was exactly like from that 2005 movie called Waiting. When I saw that movie I thought they stole a memory from my head for the movie. Don’t send food back unless you can see into the kitchen….”You’re welcome.”
My husband ordered the shakshuka burger with fried cheese instead of the whipped feta cheese. He said that the fries seemed good and he received a very generous portion of fries. Also the bun was grilled nicely. He asked for the burger to be prepared medium (because he thought it was going to be made out of lamb..((his error…it’s beef)). (red pepper tomato jam, whipped feta, cilantro, fried egg, and fries)
The bun was grilled nicely.
The egg was a little under with some runny white and wasn’t seasoned. No seasoning is UNDER-SEASONED.
He said that the jam had very little flavor and the burger was extra dry. It was very dry. We brought home a small piece for our dogs and it was so dry that it was hard for me to break up.
*******Summing things up.***********
I had to wait ten minutes for someone to seat us.
I was sat at a bench full of crumbs that I had to brush off myself.
My meal was a very large portion but was missing some ingredients (beets & carrots). However it did contain an unexpected substitute (crispy corn nuts). It also was under seasoned (no seasoning on fish and possibly missing seasoning in dressing?) and the protein was a little off.
The burger didn’t seem seasoned and the egg was under seasoned (not seasoned). The burger was also cooked till dried out.
Maybe dinners are better or I hit them on an off day? I don’t FORKING know.
The next day I got an email from Cala asking me to rate the food and to write about my experience there. I filled it out and briefly explained everything I mentioned here. Haven’t heard back from Cala as of yet (and that was over a week ago as of 5-4-22).
That was my trip to Cala…Under-Seasoned, Under-Dressed, and left Underwhelmed.
Tia Carmen is a high quality contemporary southwestern style restaurant. They use Arizona purveyors and cook with a wood fired grill. The restaurant is led by Michelin star chef, restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and cookbook author Angelo Sosa (pictured below in the white chef shirt).
The restaurant is airy and modern.
inside
They also offer a very large patio and for V.I.P.S. semi private cabanas.
Tonight’s menu started with appetizers in a section called Light Bright + Fresh . They offered things like a seafood platter, avocado aguachile, lamb ragu with mesquite noodles,(a really FANTABULOUS) tuna crudo, –
Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen – corn coconut broth, smoked Chile oil, dill
and (really great) wagu kebabs (that might be twist on a Thai snack food called Miang Kham (stuffed perilla leaves).
They had three tostadas on the menu tonight. They were tuna, beef and beef bone marrow, and corn.
The entree section is called Charcoal + Wood + Fire. Some of the entrees that they offered tonight were mushroom menudo, whole mesquite smoked chicken, whole trout, third day dry aged tribal land Arizona grass fed New York Steak, Wagyu Tomahawk rib eye, (interesting and really good) Baja striped bass,-
Baja striped bass – Thai Basil, mole verde – The fish is encrusted with seeds, nuts, herbs and high quality sea salt. It becomes magical when you eat it with the foam and mole verde.
and Tia Carmen’s (the chef’s aunt’s famous chicken dish) Chicken Guisado with high quality olives, hard to find chimayo Chile, garlic, and turmeric rice.
Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado (very good stewed chicken)
The appetizers were delicious but very light. The striped bass also was very light so I did have room to try a dessert and tried the coriander torte.
coriander torte
Here is a better look.
coriander torte
It’s described as dulce de leche and orange cream. The tart is very well made with a perfect thin crust. It creamy but not very sweet or overly rich. I sort of want more orange but it still is very good and was a nice sweet ending.
That was a taste of Tia Carmen – Newly Opened and Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Phoenix AZ
The FANTABULOUS Dish means – Top of the line, Marvelously good, Peachy keen, and DYNAMITE! It also means that it is worth driving across town for. The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is all that and more! It’s from Michelin star chef, restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and cookbook author Angelo Sosa.
Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen
It’s described as corn coconut broth, smoked chile oil, and dill. The tuna is melt in your mouth silky fish with just the right amount of fresh dill,There is a little embellishment of roe that adds a little texture a little taste of the sea but THAT BROTH IS BOMB…….It amazing….It just turns all that very good into MAGICAL.
The only downside…..is that it is hard to spoon it all out. Maybe it should be served with a straw?
The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is officially a FANTABULOUS Dish and is WORTH A FORK!
WORTH A FORK!
Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Phoenix AZ
Dining out with dogs in metro Phoenix is just a “FLUFF” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started with my dog Louie. I’d take him out to eat now and then but took him out often as I could when he got diagnosed with aggressive cancer. We were told to only expect him to live maybe three months or possibly up to 6 months. Louie was already elderly too and couldn’t do a lot but he always enjoyed eating foods that he liked. We took him out as often as we could and instead of the 3-6 months Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when I can.
There are several things that you need to know about dining out with dogs.
One thing is that not all restaurant patios are dog friendly. You need to see a dog friendly sign or license displayed. If you don’t notice those things then you have to call the restaurant and ask if it is ok to bring your furry friend.
You might not know that it is ALWAYS BEST to dine at off times to avoid as many (potential problems) people and other dogs. Other people can be problems because some people hate dogs and other people are just allergic to dogs…It’s best to avoid other dogs because dogs love to bark at each other and this can be a disturbance and you might be asked to leave.
Here in Phoenix Arizona it is often too hot to dine out with dogs. Generally most (but not all) younger and healthy dogs can tolerate up to 90 degrees F with shade. Dogs ARE NOT AS HEAT TOLERANT AS PEOPLE. They wear fur coats, absorb heat up their feet, and can’t sweat. When there is any doubt it is always better to leave your dog safe at home.
Did you know that most food and drink that you consume can be harmful or even toxic to your dog. Educate yourself on this matter and get lists of safe and unsafe foods for dogs from your veterinarian. Usually a small lean piece of sauce free meat is usually a safe bet.
Once you make it to the restaurant there are also some rules to go by. Your dog must be by your side at all times. Dogs are not to sit on restaurant furniture or to eat from restaurant dishes. It’s a good idea to bring your own collapsible water bowl.
We regularly go to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a Vietnamese Restaurant that specializes in serving the Banh Mi Baguette sandwich and offer close to a dozen different varieties. They also serve most of your Vietnamese favorites like rice plates and noodle bowls. The food is always good, always is a large portion and prices are low….But they Don’t serve pho.
Today my husband got a shaken beef banh mi.
The beef is unusually good here. This sandwich is made up of marinated ribeye (that is tender like filet), pickled carrots and radish, jalapeño, cucumbers, cilantro, and a locally made baguette. (banh mi also includes homemade mayo but on my husband’s sandwich as per his request)
She is very happy thinking about all the beef and chicken that she is going to eat.
I got the chicken noodle salad bowl with a veggie egg roll.
This is a very large delicious noodle salad packed with lots of rice noodles, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, scallions, pickled carrot & radish, peanuts, lots of tasty chicken and a tasty veggie egg roll. Both dogs insist on helping me eat it.
We always enjoy going to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
2340 W Bell Rd PHX
602-843-3637
Today we thought we’d try the Corleone’s Food Truck in Glendale for some Philly Style Steak Sandwiches.
They do have two picnic tables set up to use but we took the sandwiches to go and used a nearby park to eat at.
I tried the chicken steak hoagie. The chicken meat today is extra dry like chalk. I’ve had much better sandwiches from the brick and mortar Corleone’s restaurants. The bread from the food truck is also much thicker…..and they don’t offer cherry peppers for that authentic Philly taste. The dogs don’t mind the dry chicken. They are very sweet and are not as picky as I am.
I hear that the pizza cheese steak sandwich was much better than the chicken steak hoagie.
The dogs were also happy to eat that one too! (we are very careful not to let them have any onions…because onions are very bad for dogs)
Corleone’s Food Truck on Bell Rd in Glendale
www.Corleones.net
4961 W Bell Rd Glendale AZ
623-293-3035
Decided to try Phila-Deli in Glendale for their steak sandwiches.
My husband got a large cheesesteak with extra American cheese and pickled peppers.
The people at Phila-Deli are very nice and brought out a large dog dish of ice water for the dogs. Here’s the cheese steak.
Someone is quite happy about that.
I got the small size chicken hoagie type steak sandwich.
The filling is much better this week than from the sandwich last week but I’m not a fan of this Arizona style squishy bread. I’ll get something different next time.
Both dogs enjoy the steak meat and we are extra careful to avoid onions and pickled peppers for them.
Phil-Deli
www.PhilaDeliAZ.com
20219 N 59TH Ave Glendale
623-376-9333
It’s heating up in Phoenix. Got in this week to Casa De Falafel in Glendale. They offer a very limited menu of falafels, chicken and beef shawarma and wraps. They do not have a patio so we did take out and went to a close by park around Union Hills and 59TH.
Someone is drooling
We got two shawarma platters. One chicken and one beef. They came with plenty of sauces, chick peas, sumac onions, pickles, olives, lentil soup, and were packed with LOTS of meat to share.
chicken shawarmabeef shawarma
This one kept slapping me in the gut for more shawarma.
He enjoyed the shawarmas just as much.
Casa De Falafel – 4920 W Thunderbird Rd Glendale – 623-230-2920
www.CDFalafel.com
That was Dining Out With Dogs in Metro Phoenix April 2022. We hope to see you next month!
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
Pad Thai Cafe recently (4-1-2022) opened in North Glendale Arizona. This is a casual full service Thai Restaurant and Bar.
insideinside and bar area
They offer protein choices of vegetable, tofu, chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, squid, and seafood combo for certain dishes. The food is offered in a variety of heat levels and when you dine in you can customize the heat to your liking with a four compartment chile caddy. On the menu they also offer many of the usual appetizers like chicken potstickers, egg rolls, and chicken satay.
chicken potstickers with sweet and sour sauce
They also offer several noodle dishes. A few that you don’t see on many menus are the rad na (flat rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg), and the pad woon sen (glass noodles, egg, vegetables).
pad woon sen with chickento go – Drunken noodle (Pa Kee Mao) (ordered Thai Hot seemed more like hot)
Pad Thai Cafe offers a good amount of salads. A few of the salads are –
to go – Thai Beef Salad (hot)
Thai beef salad, larb, and two different papaya salads (Thai Style and Lao Style).
They offer several curry dishes-
to go – Thai green curry with chicken (hot)
green, yellow, red, pa nang, and massaman.
They have around five soups on the menu including vegetable, Tom Yum and Tom kha.
Most of the rest of the menu is broken down into entrees, chef’s specials, and fried rice dishes. Not all but a few of these offerings are…..spicy basil (made with holy basil),
spicy basil with chickento go – Mixed Vegetables with chicken (hot)
mixed vegetables, pad king, pad prik king, spicy eggplant with pork, pa nang short ribs, grilled salmon in green curry noodles, and fish three flavors.
take out – grilled salmon in green curry noodlesto go – Fish Three Flavors (hot)
They also offer desserts like mango or custard with sticky rice and fried bananas with coconut ice cream.
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ
Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ – 18425 N 51ST AVE Glendale AZ – 623-213-7297
Sometimes you just feel like ordering salad. You want something interesting and something that doesn’t seem too heavy. These are some of the better salads that I’ve tried in no particular order.
Seasonal Harvest Salad from Lure Seafood House in Scottsdale.
The Seasonal Harvest Salads from Lure Fish House in Scottsdale have been great so far. Here’s one with fresh just flown in medium/rare salmon, greens, radish, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, oranges and little cheese balls. I’ve had other salads here to that were good. The menu is seasonal and changes every so often.
Lure Fish House 8877 N Scottsdale RD Scottsdale 480-676-3323
www.LureFishHouse.com
Chicken noodle salad bowl ( also called bun) from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix
The noodle salad bowls from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix are very good. They give you a big bowl of thin rice noodles, with cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, pickled carrots and radish, scallions, peanut, TWO TOPPINGS (proteins grilled pork, chicken, shrimp and egg rolls pork, veggie, tofu veggie) and a sweet fish sauce vinaigrette. It’s tasty and also refreshing. It is a very large salad too and some people might make two meals out of it.
Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery 2340 W Bell Rd PHX 602-843-3637
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
Chula Salmon Salad was as great as a salmon salad can possibly be from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale
Here’s the Chula Salmon Insalate from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. It’s a bowl of spring mix, golden beets, fennel, grape tomatoes, lemon dressing and on top of the salmon are these pink peppercorns that are BOMB with the lemon dressing. The first time I had this the salmon was perfect and this was amazing. On a return visit not as perfect but still very good.
Pomo Pizzeria Scottsdale 8977 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale – 480-998-1366
www.PomoPizzeria.com
Salmon salad from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale was particularly good
I’ve tried the Arugula Insalate from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale. In the bowl is arugula, marinated fennel, pistachios, local citrus, pecorino, and citrus vinaigrette. Choices of protein that you can add on are salmon, chicken, or shrimp. This is just a very nice salad with flavors that work well together. (So far the salmon here has been exceptional and prepared to perfection. Do the salmon here if you like salmon)
Campo Italian Bistro & Bar 8260 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-597-9195
www.CampoItalian.com
This salad made with ahi tuna from The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen
The first time I had this salad called the Shipwright Ahi Salad from The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen in North Scottsdale it was amazing. It was made of Togarashi Ahi Tuna, arugula, local greens, carrots, radish, marinated shiitakes, wasabi peas, yuzu aioli, and ginger-passionfruit-sesame dressing. SOOOOooooo Delicious…….Went back and second time didn’t taste all the flavors…I don’t know if it was because too much wasabi was used or if some flavors were missing? But the first salad was so great that I would give it another try.
The Craftsman Kitchen & Cocktails 20469 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-401-1102
www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com
Another better salad was the Kale Salad from Chula Seafood Uptown in Phoenix. This salad is made of kale, barley, sweet potato, apple, fennel, parsnip, and cashew vinaigrette. Your choices of portions are salmon, shrimp or maui.
Chula Seafood Uptown 100 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-354-3599
www.ChulaSeafood.com
I still think about a few better salads that I haven’t had in while but would love to eat right now.
The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Phoenix
The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Downtown Phoenix isn’t a beauty but has flavors like no other (I’ve had it a few times). It’s an unusual combination of smoked beets, grapefruit, goat cheese, avocado, and almonds. Proteins that you can add are grilled or fried chicken, smoked turkey, or smoked brisket.
Angel’s Trumpet Ale House 810 N 2ND St Phoenix 602-252-2630
www.AngelsTrumpetAleHouse.com
Another salad that I really enjoyed was the Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix.
The Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix
This Twisted noodle salad has a lot going on with it…..It’s made of kale, soba noodles, avocado, cucumber, arugula, scallions, herbs, peanuts, carrots, and a chile-lime vinaigrette. Choices of proteins are marinated filet, charred shrimp, or rotisserie pulled chicken.
The Collins Small Batch Kitchen 3160 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-730-3533
www.TheCollinsAZ.com
This was a collection of some of the better salads in Metro Phoenix AZ.
******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS******Tandoori Times 2 is a full service Indian Restaurant that is located in North Glendale Arizona. In addition to Indian cuisine some Pakistani Dishes are offered. They also offer some gluten free dishes, vegan dishes, a children’s menu, weekend entertainment, and a bar.
Tonight all the window tables around the restaurant are reserved with nice leatherette menus listing the bar drinks offered. Everyone else sits at an inside table and receives a sheet of paper of just the food.
We try several of the appetizers.
Chili Prawns
The chili prawns are nicely cooked but are in a sweet plain sauce.
Bhutta
The corn lacks Indian spices and heat…….Taste like a combination of bitter citrus and a burnt taste with chewy dry kernels.
chicken 65
The chicken chunks are wonderfully tender but are also extra mild tasting. The onion & pepper garnish is where flavors and heat are.
This chicken 65 is not at all similar to the chicken 65 we enjoyed from the now closed for business Desi Fusion that used to be in Peoria. See below the chicken 65 from Desi Fusion.
Desi Fusion – chicken 65
The Desi Fusion Chicken 65 was also tender but was layers of many delicious flavors and LOTS of heat….(maybe too much heat for most people…but it was delicious)……I could also taste nuts in the seasoning…. These dishes are so different. I wish that I could give you a taste of each.
Here is the Tandoori Times 2 again.
Tandoori Times chicken 65
The Forking Truth is that everyone is different and some people enjoy spicy and flavorful and other people enjoy milder and less notes. Its impossible to please everyone….(that might be why Desi Fusion went out of business…They started out serving full flavored spicy Indian food and later went mild to please all the people that complained about too much heat….bah) :
We also shared two entrees.
The better one was the one called chili spicy curry with fish.
chili spicy curry with fish
We asked for extra spicy but received no heat at all. This dish contained bell peppers, onions in a mild Indian laced sauce.
We also shared the Vindaloo Goan spicy curry with chicken. (We asked for extra spicy)
vindaloo Goan spicy curry with chicken
This dish also came out without any heat and very little seasoning…..To me it taste mostly like tomato paste spiked with turmeric.I do note that the chicken is very tender but the potatoes in this dish are undercooked and hard.
We also shared chili onion naan.
chili onion naan
It’s very tough….and taste burnt to me.
Our server only asked once on his things were and that was before we tried anything. My husband told the server that we didn’t try anything yet and she never asked again.
I note that I don’t know if what I got is typical? Maybe my server ordered extra mild? Or maybe they were out of all kinds of pepper today?
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Tandoori Times 2 – 5626 W Bell Rd Glendale AZ 602-993-1422
