Haldi Indian Cuisine recently opened a second location in north Glendale Arizona in Arrowhead. The original Surprise Location was awarded by Phoenix Magazine for BEST IN THE VALLEY for Indian Food. Haldi Indian Cuisine offers North and South Indian dishes. They also offer beer, wine, sodas, tea, coffee, mango lassi, basic cocktails and more.
Today we tried vegetable samosas.
They came with tamarind and cilantro sauce. Very tasty. Anyone would like them.
We also shared spicy chicken curry and vindaloo chicken (also spicy). They came with a bowl of fluffy basmati rice studded with cumin seed.
We ordered #4 out of 5 for heat spiciness. It was hot but not as hot as #4 from other places that we have been. ……We had lots of rice and tasty sauces left over so we took them home. .(OMGosh..the next day these not so hot with heat #4’s turned into #5’s and grew with lots of heat almost too much heat…WOW)……….The sauces both were very fragrant, delicious and were made with lots of exotic spices. The white meat chicken in both could have been more moist.
Haldi Indian Cuisine has recently opened in North Glendale AZ
NakedQ BBQ is a casual BBQ restaurant that serves dry rubbed barbecued meats at three locations in metro Phoenix. NakedQ BBQ is located in Glendale (Westgate), Scottsdale and in the Deer Valley part of North Phoenix. The Phoenix location is small and casual.
It usually has an appetizing smokey smell when you walk in.
You order at the counter and you pay and either take your tray of food with you to the table or they run the food out to you. This restaurant was featured in our local paper The Arizona Republic. According to Go Shindig the NakedQ BBQ in Deer Valley was listed on Go Shindig’s Ultimate BBQ Road Trip based on reviews and prices.
The meats they offer are pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket, sliced turkey, jalapeño hot link and ribs. Only a couple times a year they offer a FORKING AMAZING smoked corned beef. Most meats are offered on sandwiches that are priced around $8 or $9 that includes a side. Platters are offered in one or two meat platters that include two sides and a corn muffin. Most platters are priced around $14-$20.
The atmosphere is casual and woody with Naked Q BBQ logos all around.
They have a roll of paper towels on every table. They also have a small station of house sauces that you can add so your meat isn’t naked. They offer a North Carolina Style vinegar based sauce, a South Carolina mustard based sauce, a sweet sauce and a spicy sauce.
This day I got the Turkey Salad because on previous trips the BBQ Turkey was always my favorite meat. ($9.00)
The salad is kind of average but it seems fresh. The Turkey really is very good, moist and is full of great flavors. I like that this is a sensible portion of food. Usually I get overly stuffed at BBQ places.
On a different visit I got the garden salad with turkey.
The above salad was only $9……It’s almost fast food priced and is bigger and better than fast food.
My husband got a two meat platter and a side of hot links.
Another time my husband got the same plate…On this day everything was tastier and even more succulent. This time he asked for the fatty. You should ask for the fatty if you want succulent.
Above are hot links to go.
I was lucky enough to get that amazing smoked corned beef sandwich twice. One was FORKING FANTABULOUS…..the other was from the lean side and tasted great but was a little dry.
smoked corned beef sandwich
Above is the one that was a little dry.
smoked corned beef
The above smoked corned beef sandwich were OFF THE CHARTS FORKING INCREDIBLE……OMG….Succulent …so amazing….These sandwiches made the same would be a best sandwich of Phoenix.
On a previous visit we had a 2 meat platter with brisket and pulled chicken, a slaw, green beans and a corn muffin.
Here’s a pulled pork, sausage, macaroni and cheese and a corn muffin with beans on the side.
Another time I had a one meat Turkey platter with slaw, broccoli and a corn muffin.
A one meat platter with brisket, macaroni and cheese, bbq beans and a corn muffin.
That was a taste of NakedQ BBQ in Phoenix AZ.
www.NakedQ.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Ling’s Wok Shop recently opened in North Scottsdale Arizona. By day this is a fast casual Asian inspired food with a small full bar. By night they have wait service. On our visit we ordered at the counter and sat ourselves. Someone ran drinks and the food to us.
As you walk in you see a good sized patio.
It looks like this when you walk in. It’s very small with a few booths and a bench with a few tables.
The other side of the restaurant has seating at the bar.
You order and pay at the counter during the day. They offer small bites such as lettuce wraps, edamame and shishito peppers. They also offer a variety of wok fried dishes that you can add on chicken, grass fed beef, shrimp, scallops, tofu, or salmon. Other areas of the menu are signature dishes, noodle dishes, soups, salads, and side dishes.
We shared a side dish called a complements dish on the menu of Korean Cauliflower.
The cauliflower is fried in a tasty combination sauce of sesame, soy, oil, and is topped with a mild gochujang aioli and micro greens.
We also shared the Buddha’s belly (under Wok-Fried……with grass fed beef). The beef is very tender and the dish has delicate Asian flavors that is described as a stir fry sauce.
and a Ling;s Signature dish of firecracker chicken.
I think the firecracker burned out before it made it’s way to our table ……Everything was all mild here……and a bit one note. Maybe something was left out? Some pieces of chicken are crispy and some are not.
Our favorite dish we tried today was the Budda’s Belly with grass fed beef. It was made with fresh vegetables, tender beef, all laced with balanced mild Asian flavors.
Everyone working there was helpful and efficient. The restaurant seemed sparkling clean.
Ling;s Wok Shop has newly opened in North Scottsdale AZ
Zinc Bistro is a New York Style Parisian Bistro Located in Scottsdale Arizona in the Kierland Commons. They offer ever changing menus of lunch, Afternoon menu, dinner, brunch and more. Whatever you order the food is finely crafted, detailed, and quality. The atmosphere is charming and sort of yesteryear…..Tin roof and classic fixtures with some nods to France.
You can choose patio, limited courtyard dining, bar seating and traditional table seating.
courtyardinside
The tables are set with crisp linen and heavy silverware.
The menus do change but one dish that is on all the menus but IS OMITTED FROM BRUNCH is the onion soup gratinee made with six month aged AOP gruyere cheese.
Traditional French Onion Soup
This soup was featured on Food Network TV Show called, “Best thing I ever ate.”
It really doesn’t taste like any onion soup I had before because it’s better….It taste like very developed onions….The onions are the star and everything thing else is just delicious with it…..
Other appetizers we’ve tried.
roasted beet salad chicken liver mousse, fig and port compote and grilled Noble bread (fall restaurant week 2021)Escargot Bougugnon vichyssoiseScottish salmonKale saladfoie gras raviolis in consomme
Lunches we tried. (We’ve also enjoyed lunches from the Phoenix Airport location called Zinc Brasserie)
chicken curry salad sandwichbrisket pastrami sandwich (this is very small)fries
white peach upside down cake (fall restaurant week 2021)upside down apple Tart Tatin with malted cascara ice cream, luxardo cherry , and cocoa nib crumblepeanut butter eclair hazelnut toffee chocolate tortechocolate soufflé cadelles de bordeaux
That was a big taste of Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale AZ.
It is Restaurant Week here in Phoenix Arizona. Around a hundred and fifty restaurants are participating and are offering three course meals for set prices of $33., $44., and $55. Usually I look forward to going to a restaurant or two that I have never tried before during Restaurant Week. Tonight we made reservations to Fuego at The Clarendon in Phoenix. It’s a Latin Fusion type of restaurant. I do note that this restaurant has earned a 4.5 star average out of 5 stars on Yelp from nearly 900 people so that means that most people enjoy what they order here.
It looks like this when you walk in.
To left is a musician playing the piano.
To the right is the cool looking bar area.
We get seated in the main dining area. It’s early and it’s already a very energetic atmosphere.
All around the main dining area is a wrap around patio. We start with margaritas that seem good.
My husband gets an extra starter and starts with a cubano sandwich off the happy hour menu. (only $5.)
He said that the cubano was very good and tasty……THE CUBANO WAS VERY GOOD!
I soon get my appetizer the salmon croquette.
It looks nice but taste fishy….not spoiled fishy…It taste like the type of fishy fish my local Safeway sells. I’m hungry so I eat it anyway.
My husband got the pernil nachos.
They also look nice. But you can’t see that the pork is dried out tonight. Or maybe this one sat under a heat lamp too long and the fresher ones were carried out first?
I just received my complimentary red sangria. It taste like it was made not good, past it’s time wine. I can’t drink it……………. just tasting it makes me feel queasy now….
I soon get my dinner.
Most of the food on this plate looks great but most of the food doesn’t agree with my palate.
To the right is a cup of jalapeno creamed corn. I can only imagine that someone slipped in the kitchen and accidentally dumped a whole bag of sugar into it. It is so painfully sweet I thought I’d get sick eating it. It’s sweeter than dessert sweet. The green beans are good and very garlic-ee……..I forget what was under them (something like sweet cabbage?). but I couldn’t eat it. The salsa on top of the fish seemed good but whatever the fish is coated with taste unpalatable to me. I tried to scrape the exterior of the fish off but didn’t do so well.
This is what I left on the plate. I tried to eat it but couldn’t.
I’m surprised that nobody said anything to me……….about this.
Anywho-
My husband had different issues from his meal (surf and turf pasta).
It is very hard to eat a steak that is served in a bowl of loose pasta. My husband said that the steak and the pasta had little flavor. The person that ran the food promised to bring salt and pepper but never came back with any………….My husband said, that the beans had an unusual taste in them that he didn’t like. The signature jalapeño corn bread was tasty but very sweet and very rich. At some point during dinner someone did ask how things were….I lied and said ok. My husband was surprised that they accepted the ok the way I said it………. I’ve worked in restaurants. Some chefs are professionals…..and some are not. Some chefs get very unhinged when food gets sent back. You don’t want to know how some chefs get and what they might do to your food that gets “re-fired.” I pretty much never send food back when it isn’t an open kitchen.
Moving on…
For our third course we shared the key lime pie and the ancho chile torte.
These are both very good.
The good news is that currently Fuego at The Clarendon has a 4.5 average on Yelp from close to 900 people so that means that most people order dishes at Fuego at The Clarendon that they enjoy.
BUT The FORKING Truth is – Not every dish a restaurant serves is for your taste…..or maybe they just had some screw ups in the kitchen?
Remember that the cubano sandwich, key lime pie, and ancho chile torte are recommended.
Pomo Pizzeria is an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria with around four locations in Metro Phoenix Arizona (Scottsdale, Downtown Phoenix, Biltmore Phoenix, Gilbert). Pomo Pizzeria specializes in serving certified Neapolitan Pizzas made with high quality ingredients. Other pizzas (and focaccia) that they offer are North Italy Style crispy ultra thin pizza Light Crispy Rimini, Pinsa Romano Focaccia (72 hour leavening) and paper thin Focaccia Di Recco filled with stracchino cheese with black salt. Besides pizzas Pomo also offers appetizers, charcuterie, soups, salads, handmade pastas, seasonal foods and amazing house made gelato.
Pomo offers a modern dining room and a cozy patio with screen shades and a mister system.
This day I went for the salmon salad with salmon from Chula Seafood.
Oh my goodness this is a really great salad. It is made of spring mix, gold beets, fennel, grape tomatoes, lemon dressing. The salmon could not be more perfect. The skin is crisp. The fish is so succulent and fresh with nice grill marks. This fish just melts in the mouth. The grilled lemon is a nice touch. The pink peppercorns taste so great with lemon. It’s a brilliant combination!!!!
My husband got a pizza called the toto sapore (sausage, prosciutto cotto, hot soppressata, salame parma, tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil) My husband enjoyed the pizza.
They have some amazing house made gelato here so we enjoyed a gelato dessert made with Luna flavored Luna gelato. (Luna flavored is a pistachio/chocolate flavor)
These are some of the other dishes that we enjoyed from Pomo Pizzeria.
seasonal special estiva (cold Italian soup)
seasonal special – porchetta panini
seasonal special – fregula salad with added chicken
seasonal special – stracchino & rucola (arugula) pizza
focaccia di recco (filled with stracchino cheese and black salt)
focaccia di recco with house made pesto, stracchino cheese, and black salt
diavola pizza – hot soppressata, tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
parmigiana pizza rimini (this is an extra thin pizza with eggplant)
take out both are specials – tortelloni tartu and bianca truffle pizza
calzone napoletano stuffed with hot soppressato, ricotta, mozzarella, basil and topped with tomato sauce.
bacio di dama – chocolate gelato, gianduia gelato, chocolate mousse, chocolate pearls, a cookie, more chocolate, and hazelnuts
Peoria Artisan Brewery is located in North Peoria Arizona. They are a bar that serves craft American foods and their own hand crafted beers, and other local and regional beers as well as a full bar. They have around twenty beers on tap. According to The Arizona Republic Peoria Artisan Brewery does make a Top 25 Burger in the valley. They do use Arizona beef for their burgers.
It seems to be always busy.
I noticed that many people are ordering the pretzel…..I don’t know how many pretzels were served by me……….but it was a bunch…..The pretzels do smell delicious..I got to smell many of them.
They also have patio seating.
I’m not a beer drinker so I went with the cocktail of the day.
A hibiscus mai tai …..(that seemed pretty darn strong)….and my husband tried some sort of blond beer. I did try a small sip of the beer and it was smooth and had a softer hops taste than what I usually taste in beer.
They have all kinds of things on their menu. They have a selection of bar type foods like pig ears, sliders, and wings. They also offer a smoked dish of the day, salads, sandwiches, entree plates like salmon, flat iron steak, and Macaroni and cheese with added meat options, sweets, a children’s menu and more.
Today we started with a garden salad.
It was accented with crispy onions and the gorgonzola cream was tasty.
My husband went with the BBQ special.
Today it was brisket, turkey breast, pickles, links, and beans. Everything was prepared reasonably well. The pickles are very good.
I went with the smoked trout. I thought that it was odd that the server asked me how I wanted the trout done……. ( My BAD……..I should have changed my order…but it was the reason that I wanted to dine here tonight)
Anywho-
It looks nice……
I tell The FORKING Truth so here it is…………This meal is described as with AZ citrus, herbs, and a fennel blood orange salad…….The fennel blood orange salad is mostly bitter fizzy lettuce with sour oranges. The herbs are very good and I do like the citrus. The trout didn’t taste good to me. It taste like a combination of ammonia, fishiness, smoke, and deep funk to me. My husband tasted it and to him it just didn’t taste good and was fishy. I couldn’t eat it. Our kind waitress did offer to get me something else, I declined and she took it off our bill.
On a previous visits we had
French Dip
Scottish salmon with crisp skin, baby spinach, grilled pineapple, and confit garlic. This was very good!
On a return visit I wanted to get that really great salmon that I had last time……… When I got the salmon this time I thought the chef was replaced. I was so bothered by this that I called them up the next day and inquired about the chef and was told same chef.
I tell The FORKING Truth so here it is……….salmon with less finesse as the first one over couscous that taste like seawater accented with some vegetables.
Same visit as above salmon – cubano good but missing the mortadella from the menu discription.
Take out – salmon salad and an Italian Beef. These were ok.
www.PeoriaArtisanalBrewing.com
Strong cocktails, smooth beer, food is a bit hit and miss but the pretzels sure smell good.
De Babel is a semi/fast casual Middle Eastern type restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. It isn’t a fancy place but seems shiny and clean. They offer many of the usual Middle Eastern Mediterranean offerings and some that are not that usual.
Some of sandwiches offered are falafel, meat shawarma, chicken tawook (classic Lebanese chicken marinated and usually made on skewers…), a burger, ribeye, wild mushroom and more. They offer some plates, platters, salads like tabouli, fattoush and freekah. Some of the sides they offer are truffle fries, cole slaw, mushroom soup, bread bowls, and roasted cauliflower.
You order at the counter, grab a beverage, pay, and seat yourself. They run your food to you when it is ready.
We shared a vegetarian platter of hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaf platter with added chicken shawarma so we could taste that too.
hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaf with added chicken shawarma
It’s very crisp, moist and green inside and flavored well. The hummus is nice and creamy and accented with oil, chickpeas, and Aleppo pepper. The baba ganoush is smoky and the top of it glistens with pomegranate. The grape leaves are very tender, rolled thinner than most and taste laced with allspice. I think that the chicken shawarma is seasoned nicely and it is flavorful but is a little dry today. Same with the meat shawarma…… It’s seasoned very nice but is a little dry. The tabouli is bright and lemony fresh and flavorful. The rice is also flavorful here too.
That was a little taste of De Babel in Scottsdale AZ.
Vecina is a modern American Latin style restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. This is a small casual restaurant that offers seasonal elevated sharing plates, interesting dinners, and upscale desserts. Only high quality ingredients are used and the seafood comes from Chula. Vencina is loved by many but might not be for everyone. The majority of the dishes contain chili peppers and the atmosphere is energetic and noisy.
If you don’t have a reservation you sit at the bar or at a high top table behind the bar.
The dining room is very small and only is two rows of tables. I think I counted only around eight tables in the dining room.
For a small restaurant I was very surprised to find twenty two different menu items tonight. Remember that this is a mostly but not entirely small plate type of restaurant. The Vecina website suggest two – three plates a person.
We shared two small plates. Recommended by our waiter was the karaage (breaded fried chicken) with aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chili) citrus gastrque, togarashi (spicy Japanese spice blend), lime. Our table was very small and these plates almost didn’t fit. We had to lose the candle.
karaage
It was full of flavors and was spicy…but not too spicy..and tasty.
We also shared the elote.
It was made of corn kernels with butter that is spiced like chorizo and on the right is a smooth cream made with toasted green chili, cream fraiche, lime and topped with a little cheese and fresh cilantro.
The above plates were very good and were quite a treat but the dinners wowed us even more!
I had the hiramasa collar. Incase you didn’t know the collar meat from a fish is very flavorful and extra tender. It’s the fattiest, richest, best tasting part of the fish.
hiramasa collar
WOW! They gave me two great big fish collars that look like big steaks. The meat is so tender and flavorful. I love the smoked tomatillo salsa with this fish and the hand made tortillas are delicious and very tasty. This is also a very large portion. I think they gave me extra by accident. For me this is one dinner and two lunches.
My husband enjoyed the Sonaran pasta gemelli.
Sonatan pasta gemelli
It was made with chili de arbol arrabbiata, Spanish chorizo, grilled fennel, pickled tomatillo, and parmesan.
They offered two desserts tonight. We thought the one sounded extra interesting so we tried the savory and sweet banana bread with peanut butter ice cream.
You can’t tell by my picture but this dessert is very large…..I think it can serve four people. It’s very rich but unusually delicious and very unique.
I have to say Vencina in Phoenix AZ is Worth a Fork!
Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi is located in North Peoria Arizona in P83. This is an American Restaurant with a full bar, thirty two taps, over fifty HDTVs, and a food menu that is all over the place. It almost like you name it and they probably have it.
They try to please any appetite.
Maybe you want to start with something healthy like edamame?
Or something unhealthy but more fun like made in house macaroni and cheese bars with spicy ranch sauce.
You can have tacos (two chicken tacos one Korean Style beef).
You can also have sushi tacos ( fried seaweed shells, spicy tuna, shredded krab, avocado, choice of sushi). (I prefer the sushi tacos to their regular tacos)
tuna, smoked in house salmon, and salmon
They also offer a variety of burgers with a few different protein choices.
atomic beef burger
Or maybe a pulled pork sandwich.
A few of the other things on the menu are all sushi, sushi rolls, sushi burrito, sushi burger, tuna pizza, wings, pizzas, salads, rice bowls, fish and chips, spaghetti and meatballs, pan seared sirloin and desserts.
There is a lot to taste at Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi in Peoria at P83.
