Tag Archives: #PhxEats

Take Out In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic – Week 17 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Taco Fusion, Nanaya Japanese Kitchen, Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante

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Going out to eat can be deadly these days during the coronavirus pandemic. Take out is a less risky option. These days all restaurants are struggling. We resist going out as much as possible to avoid infected people so we are doing take out a little more often just for something to do.

Our first take out of the week was from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They offer most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho. Their specialty is the banh mi baguette sandwich and offer around a dozen different varieties of it. Today we ordered pot stickers, a lotus root salad and a shaken beef banh mi.

Pot stickers are always tasty, Lotus root salad is herbal lightl and refreshing. The shaken beef banh mi is very good!

I know that the beef in it is rib eye but it is as tender as filet mignon. It’s all very good and all this food is less than $20. before tax and tip.

We always share some with the dogs.

Next take out was from Taco Fusion in Glendale.

We got a variety of tacos, a variety of fresh salsas and a side of vegetarian black beans. EVERYTHING was delicious! Taco Fusion is GREAT! They even use hand made tortillas. My favorite taco there is the mild chicken habanero taco with pineapple salsa. My husband says the shrimp tacos there are excellent. Of course our dogs were waiting to try some.

We tried a brand new Japanese Restaurant that just opened called Nanaya Japanese Kitchen in Phoenix.

I was expecting tiny portions but received full size large portions. We shared a spicy tuna roll, the salmon yuanyaki, beef shigureni, tori chintan ramen and a very unusual Nanaya Elote. WOW it was. all interesting and different. My favorite was the salmon yuanyaki with the surprise Japanese potato salad. Had plenty to share with the dogs.

Last take out of the week was from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale/#UpperWestSide. I like how my salad came in a tamper proof bag.

I got a strawberry and chicken salad with toasted almonds and my husband got the Bottega Pizza that is topped with pepperoni and sausage. All was great and I shared my chicken with the dogs.

“We will get threw this thing and ALL THE FOOD together!”

Week 17 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic was from –

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Nanaya Japanese Kitchen – Phoenix

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante – Glendale/#UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Salads of The #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ – Phoenix Glendale Peoria

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Maybe half the meals that I ate out or take out are salads. Lately I’m mostly but not entirely supporting restaurants that are near to home. I thought others might like a taste of the salads of the #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ. The Upper West Side are parts of the Way North Phoenix, North Glendale and North Peoria and are zip codes 85383, 85382, 85310, 85308 and 85083.

Up above is. really great salad from Sala Thai in Peoria. It’s the spicy lemon salad with chicken and is among my favorites.

Here is the select your own salad from Phila-Deli in Glendale. It starts at only around $7.50. It’s fast food priced but it’s a whole bunch better than fast food.

Basically across the street (or highway) is Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale and they also offer really nice $7.50 salads.

On the left is a gyro salad and on the right is chicken kabob salad.

I got a few salads from Fabio On Fire in Peoria.

Up above is the pear salad.

Here’s the strawberry spinach salad from Fabio On Fire.

My favorite meal from Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale is the Chicken Fajita Salad.

It is usually inconsistent. The amount of chicken is either a lot or small and either moist or dry. Seasonings differ. It might include the peppers, onions and avocado or not. The ingredients differ some on each visit. Instead of dressing I use their tasty salsa that is currently the best salsa in town.

Pita Kitchen in Glendale makes one of the most delicious Chicken kabobs in metro Phoenix so I get it on a Greek Salad.

They marinate it with delicious seasonings. It has a delicious char taste and 19 out of 20 times it is insanely juicy and is always delicious.

The meal I get most often at Cucina Tagliani is their Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Chicken.

Sometimes I get one of their Caesar salads.

Caesar with chicken….(and one of my dogs)

Caesar with salmon, artichokes and pine nuts……..(and one of my dogs)

The Black and White Cafe in Glendale offers a few salads.

This is the California Chicken Salad from The Black and White Cafe.

I got several nice salads from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.

Farro Salad with avocado, pesto, mozzarella and chicken. (this one was way more than one meal….I think they gave me extra by accident)

Salad with added Sicilian Tuna

Strawberry Chicken Salad

I did get a few nice salads from The Social on 83rd in Peoria but the ones I got are no longer on the menu but both salads were very good.

Those are most of the salads that you can find on The Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change….We hope things change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out During The CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Alzohour Market, Doda’s Pizza, Cafe Chenar

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We are trying to support as many local restaurants as we can during the pandemic. I don’t know if the news is factual? They said that you won’t catch coronavirus from food. They said even if someone with coronavirus makes your food you won’t catch it that way. The virus passes from someone breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing 6 feet or less from you. During the pandemic you should shield your eyes, nose and mouth. You need to wash your hands every time you touch anything outside of your house. As far as we know Take Out Food should be safe.

First stop this week was our Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery. This restaurant is located in North Phoenix and serves all your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I had the noodle salad with grilled chicken and a tasty vegetarian egg roll.

My husband had the grilled pork rice plate.

The food is always fresh and tasty. Portions are always LARGE and prices are always LOW!

We always enjoy Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.

A few days latter we packed up the dogs and did pick up from Skewers Mediterranean Grill.

We tried a very delicious eggplant salad and their creamy hummus.

For my main I had the chicken kabob salad bowl again.

My husband tried the chicken shawarma salad bowl.

Everything was fresh and tasty. Portions on take out were much larger than dine in.

Next stop was Alzohour Market in Glendale for Moroccan/Middle Eastern Cuisine.

I’ve tried much of the menu but never had the chicken kabob until today.

WOW! It’s delicious and very moist!

My husband got the lamb couscous.

I think the couscous dishes are one of her masterpiece dishes. There’s a lot going on here.

Both entrees came with side salads that had this insanely delicious lemony dressing.

Portions were extra large but we had some help with that.

Next we packed up the dogs and did take out from Doda’s Pizza in Glendale.

They do what I call east coast flavored neighborhood pizza…..not artisan….not Neapolitan but superior to chain take out pizza. They make a flavorful dough, a good tasting rich sauce and better cheese than from other similar restaurants in the area.

We took out two slices of their regular cheese pizza.

We also tried a Margherita.

Last stop this week was take out from Cafe Chenar in North Phoenix for Bukharian Cuisine.

You might be wondering WTFork is Bukharian Cuisine? It’s a kosher offshoot of Pan Asian with influences from Russian, Muslim, Uzbek and Korean. We had tasty chicken and beef lulyas (ground seasoned meat cooked on a skewer), chuchuara (stuffed pasta), achichuk (salad) and a salmon skewer. Everything was delicious and there was precautionary distancing there and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together”

We were able to support 5 local small businesses this week.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery

Skewers Mediterranean Grill

Alzohour Market

Doda’s Pizza

Cafe Chenar

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Las 15 Salsas Mexican Restaurant Phoenix AZ – Outstanding Mole – Oaxaca Food – Worth a Fork!

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Las 15 Salsas is a small Mexican Restaurant that specializes in serving Oaxaca Foods. They are located in the Sunny Slope area of Phoenix Arizona. English is the second language here so if you don’t know your memelnitas from your enmoladas then ordering might be challenging but not impossible. There is some English on the menu and the people working there speak some English. A few years back they’ve moved across the street to a slightly larger location and have expanded the menu. Some of the things they serve are Oaxcoa appetizers such as los peques (II haven’t found a translation for this) mini memelnitas (stuffed fried masa cakes) and chapulines (grasshoppers). They also offer sharing platters, tamales in banana leaves, tlayudas (large Oaxaca tortillas with lard and pork, plate sized hand made empanadas, combination plates, seafood, stews, several mole sauces and more. I didn’t notice a bar here but my husband said he noticed that they sell tequila shots. This isn’t a fancy place but looks very authentic.

Inside is very bright and colorful. There are Mexican relics on the walls with Mexican TV and music filling the air.

They also offer patio dining.

We asked a few questions about items on the menu. Our server today didn’t seem to understand and asked us if we wanted to order more food.

Anywho-

They started us off with three kinds of salsas and a basket of chips.

Today we have a creamy green sauce, a smoky salsa and a creamy very delicious but extremely hot scorching sauce.

We started out by sharing an appetizer off the Empanada Section made with quesillo (an Oaxaca cheese) and huitlacoche (Mexican Corn Truffle). ($10.)

I didn’t know that an empanada could look like this……

It’s made with a handmade corn tortilia that is absolutely delicious. The cheese is melty and flavorful. I like the mushroomy huitlacoche. If you like mushrooms then you probably would like this.

We shared a chicken enchilada trio ($14.) and a filete empanizado ($13.) (a fish dish).

WOW! What a great sampling. You can get this plate with just cheese filling and you also have the option to add on Mexican Tasajo (dried beef) and or Cesina (cured meat like ham) for $3.50.

On the left is coloradito mole, in the middle is green sauce and on the right is black mole with rice and beans on the plate. Everything is delicious. My favorite is the black mole. It’s more flavorful to me.

I was all excited when I saw fish (filete and pescado) on the menu. I accidentally thought I knew what I was reading but was slightly off………I accidentally ordered plain breaded fish….But it was still good!

The fish is nice and moist. It seems free of oil. It’s a very large portion even for dinner. It’s like it comes with a lunch for the next day. I add some sauces to it for a little interest. It also comes with hot steamy tortillas.

Here are some of the previous dishes we enjoyed from Las 15 Y Salsas.

Chicken quarter with black mole and rice

white meat chicken stuffed tortilias with black mole

memelnitas with with anise leaf black sauce and house made beef jerky

chicken stuffed chile relleno

Mimi Quesadillas Fritas

La 15 Y Salsas – Phoenix AZ – Combo De Chile Relleno $9.00 (price might have changed)

Chicken Emmolladas

I’d have to say Las 15 Salsas is Outstanding Oaxaca Food and is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

They used to have a website but it appears to have been taken down. but you can find them on Facebook in Spanish.

They are located at 722 W Hatcher Road in Phoenix 85021

602-870-2056 I believe their hours to be 9am-8pm every day but you should call incase the hours have changed.

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

The Forking Truth

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale AZ is Worth a Fork! Italian Food, Pizza and Different Seasonal Specials

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Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante is located in Citadel Plaza in North Glendale Arizona. Over the past ten years this spot has always been occupied by an Italian restaurant. When I moved here this spot was known as Tutti Santi. It closed for renovations and then in Spring 2015 it reopened as Pomo Pizzeria and Toscana Osteria. Spring 2017 this spot became the Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante that it is today. They serve Neapolitan Pizzas, hand made pastas, Italian food, brunch, seasonal specials and more. They have seating indoors-

and at a inside outside bar

and also on the dog friendly patio with a nice view.

It’s certainly one of the nicest restaurants on the metro Phoenix upper west side.

“OH MY GOSH! WE LOVE THE FOOD WE EAT AT Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante”
fresh baked bread and focaccia served with butter and oils
$8.00 Happy Hour Vegetable Plate from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante

They offer very good bread, pizzas and pastas. The menu offers a lot of variety and the seasonal specials are usually interesting.

Butternut squash pizza with fresh sage
farro salad with pesto mozzarella avocado and chicken
Spaghetti al Salmone
Chicken Pizzaiala
pizza Milano Special – extra thin with Calabrian Chile Oil
Salad with Sicilian Tuna

Here was pizza al taggio at only $5.00…..

Strawberry chicken salad
minestrone soup
1/2 Italian dried beef panino with pasta fagoli
Zucchini manicotti special

Here is speck and pistachio pizza special.

Piccante panino imported prosciutto crudo, soppressata, Florida di latte, house sauce, house made ciabatta

orecchiette special

The mushrooms stuffed mushroom special in polenta.

Brie and Speck pizza special
Tagliatelle Bolognese

Trofie pasta in pesto

Lemoncello Tiramisu
cannoli
semifreddo (old presentation)
Semifreddo
Flourless Chocolate Nutella Torte

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale is Worth a Fork!

www.BottegaRistorante.com

Worth a Fork!

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

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Tacos Y Mariscos 7 Oceanos Glendale AZ

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Tacos Y Mariscos 7 Oceanos is a Mexican Restaurant and Bar located in Glendale on the Phoenix Boarder. English is the second language here but the menu is pretty easy with the pictures to figure out. This isn’t a fancy place but is colorful and seems clean.

Apon arriving we were greeted with menus and a complimentary basket of chips and tangy salsa with just the right amount of fresh cilantro.

Our server apologized to us for not specking much English but she did alright. We ordered and in reasonable time our platters arriving with steaming hot tortillas.

I got the pescado a la diablo ($12.99). They gave me a good portion of mild white fish that was covered in a tangy spicy sauce. There was also refried beans, rice and a little vegetable and pico garnish.

My husband had the same plate with shrimp (camarones a la diablo $13.99)

Here is most of the menu. (I forgot the shellfish menu)

You pay at the register when you are ready.

Worth a try if you are in the area.

They are on Facebook and the do have a website that matches name and address but the menu is different….maybe not set up correctly as of yet.

www.elmejortacosymariscos.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Greek Palace Peoria AZ – Greek Food and Flaming Cheese! OPA!

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Greek Palace is a full service Greek Restaurant located in Peoria Arizona. They opened around June 2019. Since my first visit they added two patios. The inside dining consist of a large bar, traditional tables and tables with benches. It’s bright and airy with some greek accents on the walls.

We ordered our dinners and two fresh Greek Salads come out shortly.

Then our appetizer comes out.

OPA! FLAMING CHEESE! Now THAT is an OPA!

It’s saganak flamed with brandy and lemon and it came with pita bread ($9.99). It’s really delicious!

For dinner I tried the chicken kefta because I never saw chicken kefta on a menu before ($15.99).

.It’s caramelized long logs of seasoned ground chicken that is tasty and a very large portion. It rest over yellow basmati rice and comes with charred zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots and tzatziki sauce.

My husband got the three meat platter called the supreme platter ($22.99).

He got a chicken kabob, a kefta (beef), gyro (beef & lamb), yellow basmati rice, mixed vegetable tzatziki and garlic sauce. All the meats are moist and seasoned. His favorite is the gyro. I like the garlic sauce but it is too much garlic for my husband’s taste.

Last time we had-

combo Appetizer plate $14.99

Lunch chicken kabob plate $10.99

The lunch firefighter plate $10.99

Greek Palace Peoria AZ – It’s Greek Food and they offer really delicious saganak (flaming cheese)

www.GreekPalace.net

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

The Forking Truth

Vaigai Indian Restaurant in Glendale AZ – Wildly Flavorful Spicy and Delicious – Worth a Fork!****UPDATE NOW CLOSED***FOR BUSINESS*****

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*****UPDATE***NOW CLOSED***Vaigai Indian Restaurant is located in north Glendale Arizona in a shopping center that is anchored by a Walmart. According to their Facebook page they serve a lunch buffet on Thursdays and Fridays and on Saturday and Sundays they offer a special banana leaf lunch that is served to you and also is unlimited. For dinner they serve a full menu. All the tables are set with pitchers of ice water, silverware and extra napkins.

We got here early because this restaurant tends to fill up fast.

There are many pans to try. I didn’t try everything but I did try many of the dishes.

I don’t recall if I ever had semiya kichade before but this was incredibly delicious. It’s full of many flavors and heat…it’s like pure mushy melty goodness in your mouth.

Cabbage Poriyal was another one of my favorites. It’s screaming with flavors and heat. Cabbage never was this exciting before.

Plantain Poriyal – It’s very similar to some sort of seasoned potato dish.

They had many chicken dishes today. Each one that I tried was very flavorful and moist. Most were spicy hot! The chicken dishes that I noticed today were Chili Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Curry, Some sort of Chunk Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Biryani and Thalapakatti Chicken Biryani. For me they all were great but Chicken Tikka Masala really stood out. It had more layers of flavors and also heat that I never tasted before from other chicken tikka masalas I’ve tried.

The other non-vegetarian dishes were goat curry and fish curry.

The fresh made bread….(not sure if this is a naan bread) was different too. It was very light and very tender. Some other pans were filled with Mirchi Ka Salan (curried peppers YUMMY!), Channg Masala (chickpeas in tomato sauce), Sabar and Rasam (vegetable lentil soup and curried tomato starter), Paneer Butter Masala (cheese dish), Egg Masala (hard boiled eggs in spicy tomato sauce), Uttapam (pancake) and six desserts.

to the left was a pan with something that looked like yogurt with fruit

When you’re done you go to the cashier and pay. My husband said all this food that we enjoyed was only $12.00 a person.

Last time we had the weekend Banana Leaf Special Lunch. ($12.99 vegetarian and $14.99 subject to change)

It was delicious! It’s like they bring a buffet to you.

****UPDATE***NOW CLOSED****FOR BUSINESS****

Certainly Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.VaiGaiAZ.com

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

The Forking Truth

My Trip to True Food Kitchen Phoenix AZ – Healthy Delicious Food

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True Food Kitchen is a full service casual restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona at the Biltmore Fashion Plaza. There is another True Food Kitchen in Scottsdale and somewhere around forty other locations and many new locations to open in the United States. True Food Kitchen offers foods that are based on the science that to maintain your best health by choosing foods that don’t contribute to chronic inflammation by alternative medicine celebrity doctor Dr. Weil. True Food Kitchen offers vegetarian, non vegetarian, vegan and gluten free foods. They are happy to customize a meal for you. A few locations offer yoga brunches.

The Phoenix location offers a foliage lined patio.

Inside is bright, woody with green accents and modern light fixtures.

Today I went with the winter immunity bowl $14.00 (470 calories V) and added chicken $4.00 (160-180 calories)

This bowl was filled with mushrooms (That is why I wanted to try this…..OR THEY WERE SUPPOSE TO BE lion’s mane mushrooms????????), farro, quinoa, carrots, broccolini, garbanzo beans, bean sprouts, edamame, organic kale, garlic broth and added chicken. I’ve recently had lion’s main mushrooms a few times and these did differ in texture and taste and seemed very similar to shiitake mushrooms(???????????????). The bowl was tasty. The chicken was abundant and moist and tender. It was filling but didn’t weigh you down. I am sorry now that I didn’t pull out the mushrooms to photo…I can see one mushroom floating near the top. This does not look like a lion’s mane mushroom. It’s the wrong color, wrong taste and wrong texture. It’s the piece above the chicken and below the kale. But someone from the restaurant claimed it was lion’s mane mushrooms…………????????????? so I can’t say it wasn’t but I have my doubts. Most of the mushrooms in this dish seemed similar to shiitakes.

Here are raw lion’s mane mushrooms. They have a lacy texture and look like tribbles from Star Trek. Mine that I cooked were very very tender.

Here are the same lion’s mane mushrooms cooked

I did question my server about the mushrooms and she thought that my dish was made with lion’s mane mushrooms. I know that I did get one small piece of lion’s mane mushroom in my dish but most of the other mushrooms did seem different. A week after I contacted the restaurant management from True Food Kitchen contacted me back and said that I got lion’s mane mushrooms in my dish. They said that the texture might have changed because they soak the mushrooms. (???????????)

ANYWHO- the dish was still very good tasting and seemed very healthy. I really did like the dish. I apologies for doubting the mushrooms. I could be wrong but I don’t think I am. (That’s The FORKING TRUTH)

My husband had the grilled fish tacos $19.50 (570 calories GF).

We got two grilled red fish tacos with pickled jicama, avocado salsa, coconut crema, dried corn, radish slices and cold grilled lime with anasazi beans on the side. I tried a bite and I have to say this was very flavorful. Even the beans had very good flavors going on. This is enough food for a woman but most men might still be hungry after this.

Last time I tried the limited summer red fish ($26.00 480 calories). (this one was really delicious!)

My husband had the limited summer spinach and mushroom pizza $15.00 970 calories. (this one was made with vegan cheese)

The food we tried seemed to be flavored well and all of it seemed healthy.

www.TrueFoodKitchen.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Vino & Panino Cave Creek AZ – Groovy Sandwiches

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Vino & Panino is a little sandwich and wine restaurant in beautiful Cave Creek Arizona. They are in the spot where the original Binkley’s was. Vino & Panino is soon to expand to a full service Italian restaurant and pizzeria and take up all of this small strip mall eventually.

It’s small but friendly, cozy and fun. Psychedelic colors, Young Frankenstein on TV, disco balls, Sputnik light fixtures, flowers, a rainbow whisk, twister and so much more crammed in this little place.

Today’s menu

You order at the counter, pay and seat yourself.

I went with the angry turkey sandwich ($14.00) Fries ($2.00).

The bread is good quality bread and is nicely toasted. The menu reads roasted turkey but it taste like lunch meat turkey…to me…anywho ….I LOVE the giardiniera! It’s a BOMB of flavor and heat….It wakes everything up! The provolone cheese is delicious and it sticks to one side of the bread. You can fold it and make two sandwich treats. A tasty grilled cheese and a tasty turkey sandwich. The fries came out hot and are fluffy, a little crisp and seem free of oil. There is also a condiment bar behind me with very good pickles and Chicago peppers.

My husband went with the Castellano sandwich ($14.00).

It was made of hot gabagool, soppressata, 24 month aged prosciutto, pistachio mortadella and aged provolone.

I only ate half the bread so I’d have room for dessert and we tried pistachio and hazelnut gelato.

The gelato was $4.00 a cup. The texture was a little off with the pistachio…….it seemed a little dried out but the flavor of both gelatos was very good.

Vino & Panino – Groovy!

www.VinoandPanino.com

Every Thing is subject to CHANGE and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth