Tag Archives: #Glendale

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ Week 27 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, La Piazza Al Forno, Little Saigon, Zinc Bistro, Squid Ink Sushi Peoria

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We do take out food during the coronavirus pandemic because experts say that take out is safer than dining in. All restaurants are struggling these days and there is little to do safely so we do take out as much as possible.

One take out we did was from Banh Mi Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a small Vietnamese Eatery that offers most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I got the curry chicken with rice and my husband got the noodle bowl with grilled pork and shrimp. The food is always delicious, prices are very low and portions are very large. Not all but many of the meals can be two meals for some people. The owners are also very nice all the time. This is one of our regular spots. My dogs always love sharing the food from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.

Next take out was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They specialize in serving certified Neapolitan Pizzas. They also offer Roman Style Pizzas, American pizzas, Italian food and MORE!

Today we got the Tavola Mista (meats and cheeses, vegetables and more plate) an Italian Stallion Pizza (house made mozzarella, San Marzano Tomatoes, sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto di parma sopressata) and a Bianco pizza (house made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, fresh basil, Sicilian oregano and extra virgin olive oil) with added Calabrian peppers. Everything was delicious and we shared some with the dogs.

I haven’t been to Little Saigon in Old Town Glendale in a long time. It’s a charming little Vietnamese restaurant that offers a long menu of many different Vietnamese foods. Decided to do take out there. The owners are family with the Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in Phoenix.

We tried some things that we haven’t tried here before. We started with the beef wrapped in grape leaves. It’s something like Vietnamese fajitas. You take a grape leaf that is stuffed with beef. You add a variety of vegetables, fresh herbs shallots, peanuts and rice noodles. You stuff them in a rice paper and wrap with lettuce and dip it in fish sauce.

They are very tasty……lots of good flavors here! It’s a treat!

For my main I had the Ga Xao Xa Ot (spicy chicken onions vegetables in lemon grass soy fish sauce. The dark meat boneless chicken was tender and tasty. The sauce was funky and kind of sweet. It was different but good to me. I never had anything that tasted like this before. But it wasn’t too spicy…just mild with slight heat. My husband enjoyed the tom xao thap cam cay (spicy shrimp stir fry with vegetables). It was good but also mild heat. My dogs enjoyed the food from Little Saigon too!

It’s restaurant week so we thought we’d try Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale because they were offering fresh truffles.

A few things were forgotten (including the truffles) but the mains were very good. I had an excellent Faroe Island Salmon. It was cooked to perfection. It came with carrots, roasted celery root, a salad of purslane and crispy sun chokes with truffle vinaigrette and this amazing barigoule (artichoke) sauce. My husband enjoyed the Prime Flat Iron Steak. It had this special black pepper crust, It was delicious and came with lots of seasoned fries and a complex sauce. My dogs sure enjoyed some meat scraps from Zinc Bistro.

P.S. my husband called to let them know they forgot the truffles so they would remove the truffles from our bill. They were extra generous and removed my whole meal from the check.

We decided that we could squeeze one more restaurant in. Our last take out of the week was from Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria/#UpperWestSide.

I haven’t tried their sushi yet but I did notice that they offer many dishes besides sushi that sound interesting. I wanted to try their Scottish Salmon because Scottish Salmon isn’t found anywhere in the Upper West Side. The salmon was prepared reasonably well and came with a variety of vegetables, LOTS of sliced avocado and tasty sushi rice. I think it’s a great find to find Scottish Salmon like this for only around $15.00. My husband tried the Beef Yakisobsa. It was also reasonably well prepared. It was made with very tender filet mignon and also came with a nice assortment of vegetables and Asian flavored soba noodles. As per usual my dogs couldn’t wait to try some.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 27 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

The restaurants we did take out from this week –

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro – North Phoenix

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Little Saigon – Old Town Glendale

Zinc Bistro – Scottsdale

Squid Ink Sushi – Peoria/#UpperWestSide

Every THING is subject to change and we HOPE it DOES CHANGE for the better.

The Forking Truth

The Most Delicious $5. or LESS Food I’ve Tasted in North Phoenix AZ that you can Take Out or Dine In

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Here are the most delicious $5. or less foods from restaurants around north Phoenix that I have tasted in no particular order.

Pictured above is the $3.00 delicious Beetroot Salad from a little casual restaurant called Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide . Next is their fresh herby delicious $3.00 tabouli.

My next favorite is the $3.00 Eggplant salad pictured below on the right. But everything is tasty. They also offer hummus and eggplant dip at similar prices.

All these reasonably priced goodies come from the small casual Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide.

Also in Glendale is Taco Fusion. They offer very good tacos on hand made tortillas. The tacos are smaller sized but are bigger than street tacos and are stuffed generously. They make a variety of house made sauces. If you can do spicy ask for the interesting flavorful but very (FORKING) hot black salsa. Get the regular salsa, the pico and the pineapple salsa if they have them. Our favorite tacos here are the mild chicken habanero (with pineapple salsa), carne asada, jaas, Lorenzo, fish (ask for corn tortilla here) and my husband likes the shrimp and barbacoa. We also like both beans they offer. Depending on what tacos you pick you might be able to get two tacos for around $5.00.

Below are 7 mostly different tacos and a container of black beans.

Wraps ‘N’ Curry is located in North Phoenix. They offer a $2.99 Naan Menu.

I’ve had their naan on a wrap sandwich but more recently I did try the stuffed chicken naan ($2.99 on the appetizer part of the menu). It was stuffed with boneless chicken breast, cilantro and Indian spices. It was different and also very tasty.

On my last visit we tried the Onion Kulcha $2.99.

This was very tasty!

I’ll try another one next time.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix really kills it with the $5.00 or less food and offers 9 tasty options. My favorite $5 meal is the chicken and cabbage salad.

It’s a good size for me and has a good amount of deliciously seasoned chicken in it. I also like the tasty $4 chicken potstickers.

Here is a better picture of the potstickers.

My other favorite salad is the $5. lotus root salad. (lower right)

I love the refreshing flavors in it. It comes with shrimp but I gave up shrimp a long time back and I don’t eat shrimp. I already gave the shrimp to either my husband or dogs. Their papaya salad is also good. I added that picture because I didn’t remove the shrimp yet.

This is a collection of the most delicious $5. or less food that I have tasted in North Phoenix AZ.

Restaurants mentioned –

Skewers Mediterranean Grill – Glendale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Wraps ‘N’ Curry – North Phoenix

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Prices are subject to change.

Every FORKING THING is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 26 – Tarbell’s The Tavern, CHZBURGR, Taco Fusion, Fabio On Fire

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Experts say that take out is a safer health option during the pandemic than dining in so we do take out. This week we did take out from Tarbell’s The Tavern in Phoenix. This restaurant is by chef Mark Tarbell. He is a highly decorated multi award winning chef and wine expert. The tavern offers elevated bar foods in a rock n roll man cave atmosphere. They offer the safest option curbside pick up. We took out the seared salmon, Scotch beef, a salad and coconut cream pie.

WOW! This salmon is really great! It’s so silky. Very few restaurants prepare salmon this well. This one is very different with sides of tomato broth and AZ honey mustard. It’s delicious! The curry potato cake is a really nice treat. It taste like it came from an Indian restaurant. I did taste the Scotch beef. WOW great flavors there and it was made with good wine too! The coconut cream pie was also very good. I think they accidentally gave me extra. It’s a large portion and we are getting 4 servings out of it but it very rich and delicious with this chocolate surprise coated crust. Treated the dogs so some salmon from Tarbell’s.

We also did take out from CHZBURGR in Glendale. They also are still offering the safest option that is curbside pick up. They serve the greatest cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches in town. We ordered the crispy chicken thigh sandwich with pickled jalapeños. We also ordered a triple cheeseburger with tater tots.

I thought my sandwich was a little different today but everything still was delicious. My dogs were happy to help me with the chicken sandwich.

We love Taco Fusion in Glendale. They serve the best tacos closest to me. They serve Sonoran Mesquite Style Tacos that are slightly bigger than street size tacos on hand made tortillas that really taste good.

My favorite taco is the chicken mild habanero taco. I think I like it best on a flour tortilla with pineapple salsa (if they have it). I also like the fish taco and the carne asada. (I don’t like carne asada at most places but it’s always tender and flavorful here) My husband likes all the beef tacos and especially likes the shrimp taco here. They opened just before the pandemic and used to offer a salsa bar packed with many delicious salsas…Now they cut it down to a few salsas a day and you have to ask for them. My dogs are always excited to try some.

Last take out of the week was from Fabio On Fire in Peoria/#UpperWestSide. This is a place for Italian Food, Neapolitan Pizzas, fresh baked goods and the best gelato maybe on earth. They offer curbside pick up here.

We got the ravioli ai funghi porcini, strawberry gorgonzola salad, and gnocchi sorrentina. Everything was delicious. Have different dog friendly leftovers for my dogs.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food!”

Week 26 restaurants we did take out from –

Tarbell’s The Tavern – Phoenix

CHZBURGR – Glendale

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Fabio On Fire – Peoria/#UpperWestSide

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

The Forking Truth

19 Delicious DESSERTS I took Out from Metro Phoenix AZ Restaurants During The CoronaVirus Pandemic…..so far

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This is a collection of most of the sweet memories (desserts) I took out from Metro Phoenix Restaurants during the pandemic. The desserts are not in any particular order. Some were better than others but all of them were yummy!

Above is the macerated strawberries from Confluence Carefree. it was so light and not too sweet. it even had these macadamia nuts that taste so good. When I buy macadamia nuts from the store they don’t taste as good..

A chocolate brownie with fresh raspberries and fruit sauce also from Confluence in Carefree.

Next is the complimentary snickerdoodle cookie from –

Chino Bandido in North Phoenix. What’s not to like?

Beignets with delicious sauces from Twist Bistro and Galley in North Scottsdale.

Also from Twist Bistro and Gallery was this amazing Mascarpone Cheese Cake with Pistachio Praline, Salted caramel whipped cream and strawberries.

This was really great. It’s like when you go to a fancy resort restaurant and they have a pastry chef that makes the desserts. This one was just as great. (better than some from resorts)

Next one is….

Chocolate Mousse Tort from Aliello’s East Coast Italian in Phoenix. Also from another visit to Aliello’s East Coast Italian was the Cannoli. Both very good.

From La Piazza Al Forno is the cheesecake.

Ii’m very picky about cheese cake and most I don’t like because they are very rich and too sour for me. This one is lighter with the right amount oof sweetness.

From Vincent Market Bistro in Phoenix was the Lemon Pomelo Tart. To the left was complimentary sponge cake they generously gave us. VMB always makes great desserts. They are among the best.

The next one I took out but can’t find the photo so I added my photo from previously dining in.

Here’s the Mascarpone Chocolate Cake from Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate cake but this really is very good.

From Twist Bistro & Gallery in North Scottsdale is a strawberry rhubarb cobbler.

Next-

Strawberry cobbler from Confluence in Carefree.

Great pies are served at all the Collins Restaurants.

From Wally’s American Gastropub in Scottsdale-

The coconut custard pie. My husband hates coconut and even he said it was a delicious pie.

From The Collins in Phoenix –

This Chocolate Mousse Tort

From The Collins –

The Key Lime Pie made with 40 hand squeezed key limes in every pie. It’s an amazing key lime pie. It might be the best key lime pie in metro Phoenix.

From Stratta Kitchen in Scottsdale –

Came this amazing rich Triple Chocolate Cake….yes it’s worth the calories. It really was REALLY GREAT!

I couldn’t find the picture of the strawberry tub of Gelato I took out from Fabio On Fire in Peoria/#UpperWestSide. I did find my photo of the tub of peach Gelato I took out but that picture didn’t come out so good so I’m showing a picture of some of his FABULOUS Gelato from visiting his restaurant.

This gelato is to die for. I haven’t tried all the flavors yet but everything I tried so far was FORKING AMAZING! Fabio should sell his gelato across the country. His gelato really is FABULOUS!

From Alzohour Market in Glendale we got this AMAZING Kunafa noodle pastry stuffed with cheese and topped with sweet syrup and pistachios.

OMG! This was prepared fresh for us and came out piping hot. This was so freaking epic!

Here is another astonishing dessert from Confluence in Carefree.

it was Sake Poached Pears with Angel Cake, Candied Almonds and Yuzu Curd.

This was 19 delicious desserts we took out from restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic.

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

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 25 – Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Twist Bistro & Gallery, Gabriella’s Contemporary American Cuisine

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According to the experts take out is a less risky option than dining in and we aren’t risk takers so we do take out during the pandemic. Our first take out of the week was from a little casual place in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide called Skewers Mediterranean Grill.

They make really great $7.50 salads. I got the one with pickled turnips and chicken kabob. My husband got the chicken shawarma with chickpeas and pickles. I just love the fresh herby tabouli it’s only $3. so why not? My dogs enjoyed some of the tasty chicken kabob.

Next take out was from Twist Bistro & Galley in North Scottsdale. They are a small modern restaurant that swings towards Mediterranean.

We started out by sharing the falafels. They were crisp and herby inside. They came with tahini aioli and garlic yogurt sauce. For my main I had the Mediterranean Salad. WOW! it was packed with all kinds of goodies. The salad came with marinated olives, almond golden raisin couscous, crispy chickpeas, minted cucumbers, good ripe tomatoes, really good creamy feta, hummus and really delicious sauces..and I added the salmon as my protein (the salmon here is very good). WOW! It’s like a special occasion Birthday salad. My husband got the steak sandwich pallard. It’s a really good beef (tenderloin) on a really great baguette (garlic toasted Noble Bread) with mozzarella cheese, horseradish and demi sauces. The cheesecake here is very good so we shared that too. It’s not heavy and sour like most cheesecakes I’ve tasted. It’s light creamy and delicious and detailed with pistachio praline, salted caramel, strawberries, whipped cream and a tasty crumb crust. Dogs helped with the generous portion of salmon.

Our last take out of the week was from a brand new restaurant that just opened this week called Gabriella’s Contemporary American Cuisine in Scottsdale. They were just on TV and the food looked so good from TV we wanted to try some.

On the left is the short rib grilled cheese and on the right is the fish and chips. I live 35 minutes away so the food didn’t travel as well as from some of the closer places that I go to but all was tasty. As per usual I always share some with my dogs.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all that delicious food”

That was week 25 oof take out during the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurants that we did take out from –

Skewers Mediterranean Grill – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Twist Bistro & Gallery – North Scottsdale

Gabriella’s Contemporary American Cuisine – Scottsdale

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

The Forking Truth

Take Out In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 24 Pita Kitchen, Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, Confluence, Wraps ‘N’ Curry, Stratta Kitchen

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We do take out during the pandemic because dining in involves risk to exposure to the coronavirus. All restaurants are struggling these days and since we are spending so much less than we normally do we are doing take out as much as possible.

Our first take out of the week was from Pita Kitchen ( a casual Greek Restaurant) in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

We both got Greek Salads mine was topped with a chicken kabob and my husband’s salad was topped with gyro meat. The gyro was great like it usually is. My chicken had good flavor but was on the dry side today but not bad. We always enjoy the fresh baked pita bread here. I had plenty to share with my dogs.

Our next take out was from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante (Italian Restaurant) also in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

Today we went with a few specials.a delicate pasta with eggplant, pesto and pine nuts, Chicken piccata, a side salad and chicken pizziola. Everything had really good flavors and the bread is always great too! The dogs couldn’t wait to try some.

We treated ourselves to the AMAZING fried chicken from Confluence in Carefree.

Confluence is a small but upscale restaurant that serves modern American Cuisine. The moist chicken came with blue corn grits, broccoli and this incredible honey mustard chili-tepin sauce. As delicious as it was…and IT WAS! I saved half for latter so we could splurge on dessert. We got sake poached pears with angel cake and yuzu curd with almond brittle……This was all amazing! I shared some chicken and a small amount of cake with my dogs.

Our next take out came from a small Indian Restaurant called Wraps ‘N’ Curry. When they first opened most of the menu was naan wrap sandwiches. I recently noticed that they fully expended their menu and offer over 20 different Indian dishes. They make a DELICIOUS onion stuffed naan bread called onion kulcha.

Today we tried the Karachi Chicken and the Vindaloo Chicken.

Both dishes were nicely spiced but not very hot with heat. The Chicken in both was incredibly moist and tender. My bigger dog was incredibly excited to try some.

Last take out oof the week was from Stratta Kitchen in Scottsdale.

They have a family pak special so we gave it a try for lunch and dinner. A few of the things we had before are different now. The salmon is not med/med-rare any more and is now a kabob. The chop salad is made with much less egg and avocado now but everything did taste good. Below is my take out from Stratta Kitchen from just a few weeks ago.

I shared some salmon with the dogs.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all that delicious food”

That was week 24 of Take Out in Metro Phoenix AZ During the CoronaVirus Pandemic.

Restaurants we did take out from-

Pita Kitchen – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Confluence – Carefree

Wraps ‘N’ Curry – North Phoenix

Stratta Kitchen – Scottsdale

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

The Forking Truth

Eight Restaurants that offer $10.00 or less Food for Take Out in North Phoenix AZ

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We got many places around North Phoenix where you can take out DELICIOUS food for $10.00 or less around North Phoenix. One restaurant that is on my local rotation is Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a pho free Vietnamese Eatery that offers around a dozen different Banh Mi Sandwiches and many other Vietnamese Favorites except for pho. Pictured up above is the noodle bowl. It’s a lot of different flavors in one (or two) meals. Minty salad, fried shallots, tasty protein that taste even better with fish sauce, lots of rice noodles and a tasty egg roll for me.

Here’s the shaken beef Banh Mi my husband recently got.

shaken beef from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery

Below is a $5. Chicken and cabbage salad and on right are the potstickers $4. They are delicious and tasty. The $5.00 is the right size for many people. The papaya salad and the lotus root salad both come with shrimp and are the same size as the chicken and cabbage salad.

Below is a rice plate. It a large amount of tasty meat with a double scoop of rice, a fragrant pickled salad and a pork egg roll.

Rice Plate

Another restaurant that we enjoy is Taco Fusion in Glendale.

They sell the BEST tacos in the area!

It sure doesn’t cost much to eat from Taco Fusion. Most tacos are less than $3.00 each and are made on hand made tortillas that just TASTE BETTER than from most taco places. It isn’t just the tortillas….The FILLINGS ARE DELICIOUS TOO!

I usually don’t even like carne asada from not all but most places. It has to have a really good flavor and be tender for me to eat it. I do really like the carne asada tacos here. My personal favorite taco at Taco Fusion is their mild chicken habanero taco on flour with pineapple salsa and a little pico. That taco is stuffed with flavorful moist dark chicken meat. It’s even better than chicken tacos I ate in Mexico. I also like their fish taco but I prefer that one is better on a corn tortilla. My husband eats the different styles of asada tacos here and he always tells me that they do shrimp tacos very well here. The salsas differ everyday. Sometimes they have.a real interesting black salsa that’s next to too hot but really delicious. I really enjoy their pineapple salsa because it usually has so many flavors in it. All the salsas I tried are good but you have to ask for the salsas. They also offer cilantro rice and two kinds of beans here and MORE.

Also in Glendale is Skewers Mediterranean Grill.

I get big beautiful salads here for only around $7.50.

On the left is my chicken kabob salad and on the right is the salad with shawarma. Look at the GREAT LOW pricing below. You get your meal as a pita, rice bowl, fry bowl, wrap or salad like I always get.

Almost across the street from Skewers MG is Phila-Deli in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

My husband enjoys the cheese steaks from Phila-Deli but they cost over ten so we will talk about the really great $7.50 salads that Phila-Deli offers. (My salad was 75cents extra because I added avocado.)

You can get a very good salad for only around $7.50 at Phila-Deli to FILL YOUR BELLY!

We also like Rocket Burger in North Phoenix for burgers, Mexican Fish sandwiches maybe the largest collection of bottled sodas anywhere and MORE!

It doesn’t cost much to eat from Rocket Burger. Not all but more than half of the menu is priced under $10.

On the left is a cheese burger with a big fried chili pepper on it. At the right is the Mexican Fish Sandwich. The slaw and rocket sauce are so tasty that you can slap it on a hamster and the hamster will be delicious.

In Glendale we love going to CHZBURGR. They offer great cheese burgers, FORKING delicious crispy chicken thigh sandwiches, hot dogs, milk shakes, SPECIALS and more!

Most of the time I get the Crispy Chicken Thigh Sandwich with added Calabrian Peppers because IT’S FORKING AMAZING!

It’s crisp! It’s delicious, It’s Juicy! It sort of POPS from the house made pickles! The bun is delicious and not too big. It’s just perfection. My bigger dog is usually well behaved when I eat but when I have this sandwich she slaps me for some.

My husband gets the Triple cheese burger.

He said it’s just so perfect he can’t get anything else.

CHZBURGR is a GREAT Place for $10. or less. During the pandemic CHZBURGR offers the safer Curbside Pickup.

In North Phoenix on Bell Rd inn an older strip mall is Wraps ‘N’ Curry. They offer aromatic delicious Indian Food in fresh made naan wraps and many Indian Dishes and MORE! Below is one of their delicious wraps that you can order for take out that is only around $9.00.

Wraps ‘N’ Curry expanded their menu since opening and now offers at least 20 different Indian dishes priced at $9.99.

In North Phoenix is the home of Chino Bandido A sort of Chinese and sort of Mexican and Other foods type of restaurant. According to Food Network Chino Bandido offers (starting at $9.35) NINTY THOUSAND different combination plates. You get a BIG Pan of food that is BETTER than fast food and cost LESS than fast food if you figure that amount of food you get for your money. During the pandemic they even offer curbside pick up. Once I got the veggie salad combo with the Chili Relleno.

Our most recent take out is more typical of what to take out. I got a chili Relleno again because it is good! They use a real pepper that doesn’t taste canned (like from certain more costly restaurants) The cracker coating is unique and all that cheese is darn tasty. I like the emerald chicken with scallion ginger sauce. I get lots of rice and lots of black beans. It’s more food than I can eat and could be two meals for some people. They also give you a BIG complimentary snickerdoodle for dessert.

That was EIGHT $10. or less food from Restaurants for Take Out in North Phoenix AZ

Restaurants Mentioned-

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery – North Phoenix

Taco Fusion – Glendale

Skewers Mediterran Grill – Glenndale/Arrowhead/#upperWestSide

Phila-Deli – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Rocket Burger – North Phoenix

CHZBURGR – Glendale

Wraps ‘N’ Curry – North Phoenix

Chino Bandido – North Phoenix

Prices are subject to change at any moment.

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

The Forking Truth

Take Out In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 23 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Alzohour Market, Desert Island Eatery, Phila-Deli, Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol

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You can never be too careful. Take out is a less risky option than dining in these days during the coronavirus pandemic. All restaurants are struggling these days so we are doing take out as much as possible. Besides there isn’t much else to do safely these days besides staying home.

Our first take out of the week was from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a Vietnamese Eatery that offers most of your Vietnamese Favorites except pho, Meals are very large portions and can be two meals for some people. Prices are very low and I believe everything on the menu is $10. or less. They even offer $4. & $5. menu items. My husband had the shaken beef Banh Mi Sandwich. I know the beef is ribeye but it is as tender as filet mignon. It’s delicious and you can’t go wrong with a shaken beef Banh Mi. I got the chicken & egg roll noodle bowl.

There’s lots of rice noodles and a pile of refreshing minty salad, tasty chicken covered with some fried shallots, crushed peanuts and an egg roll for me. (there are other choices). You can mix the whole thing up and eat it dressed with chili sauce if you want. Or just eat it the way it comes. Just make sure to dip the protein inn the fish sauce because it makes it taste even better. This is a very large platter and can be two meals for some people. My dogs sure didn’t mind helping me out with this.

Next take out was Moroccan/Middle Eastern Cuisine from Alzohour Market ion Glendale. We’ve enjoyed many amazing dishes from Alzohour Market.

Today we had quite a feast! This time we took out kashkebademjan (eggplant sautéed w/garlic and mint) a fish tagine, a chicken tagine and kunafa for dessert (noodle pastry stuffed with cheese and topped with sweet syrup and pistachios. The tagines were both different and both were delicious and very large portions! I’ve had the sautéed eggplant before here dining in and it was much better when I dined in I guess it just didn’t travel as well as everything else But WOW that dessert was delicious and worth the calories. It also was made fresh for us and came out piping hot! .Here’s a better picture of the dessert. LOOK at this amazing wonderful dessert!

Saved some goodies for my dogs.

We got two jerk chicken curry chicken combos from Desert Island Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a very small mainly take out restaurant that offers Caribbean Food and Vegan Options.

The food is always delicious. The chicken meat is always developed with great flavors and is always falling off the bone. They give you a very generous portion of food that might be two meals for some people. Both the jerk chicken and curry chicken are delicious. I think they make the best around. Sometimes it is saucier than other times. It’s CRAZY GREAT when you get it a little extra saucy. My dogs sure don’t mind samples.

Our next take out was from Phila-Deli in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide.

Their salads might be the best deal in town! They are only around $7.50. Many other places charge over $12. for salads that aren’t as good. My husband likes the cheese steaks at Phila-Deli. The people there are extra nice. They also have treated our dogs extra nice when we dine on the patio. My dogs are always happy to help eat Phila-Deli Food.

Our last take out of the week was from Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. They are a casual Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant.

I got my usual chicken fajita salad and my husband got the carnitas fajita. They gave us chips and salsas. The chicken was really good today and they loaded the salad up with lots of caramelized onions. I had plenty to share with the dogs.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat alll that delicious food”

That was week 23 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

The restaurants we did take out from-

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Ratery – North Phoenix

Allzohour Market – Glendale

Desert Island Eatery – North Phoenix

Phila-Deli – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol – Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide

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

The Forking Truth

Bad and Disappointing Food I had in Metro Phoenix AZ Part 2

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During the pandemic I’ve been doing takeout instead of dining in because it’s less risky. Since I’ve been just doing take out I noticed that the food has been better in general. I usually get a few HORRIBLE dishes a few times a year. Outside of dry chicken a couple of times I really haven’t had any bad food. I’ve been more careful with my restaurant selections and mostly but not entirely go to restaurants that I know. Here is a collection of NOT ALL but some more of the BAD and or DISAPPOINTING foods I had in Metro Phoenix. My bad experiences might be humorous for you to see.

The crust taste burnt from this deep dish pizza restaurant. I waited around an hour for this to be served to me. They told me that they pre-bake the crust and these pizzas come out that way. WOW if I did that like this nobody would tell me to open a pizza restaurant.

Bad food can come from a food truck. The next one came from a food truck in Metro Phoenix.

The fried dough had a rancid taste and was suppose to be stuffed with corned beef. I think they used the deep fryer for frying not fresh but very old road kill.

The next one seemed like a culinary wonder after this.

This restaurant serves the most uninspired fajita salad I ever had with the worst salsa and chips I’ve ever tasted. Bagged chips and jarred salsas are superior to what I tasted. Not to mention that somebody dripped something with strawberry into one of the salsas on its way to me. I have no idea why this is a popular restaurant.

The next restaurant was very good when they opened. Unknown to me at the time the chef left and they must have let the dishwasher take a shot at cooking for them.

Smelly tasting fish topped with lots of raw tomato paste and served with two styles of splats of blended corn.

That wasn’t the only bad dish.

Below are the gooiest pierogi in the world.

This restaurant went out of business shorty after this.

This steak was so chewy that I didn’t even bring it home for my dogs. I was able to eat the potato cakes but something was wrong with them and that side of pond slim on the plate was disgusting. This upset me so much I didn’t eat any beef for a year.

Last week I gave you the worst taco I ever was served so here is the 2nd worst taco I ever tasted.

The 2nd worst taco I ever tasted came from the 2019 Taco Festival. This taco wasn’t just salty but it tasted like it was made with 50% salt. Some poor boob must of accidentally dropped a container of salt into the taco mix and said oh well. This was so salty I thought I was going to turn into a pillar of salt. I spit this out so I wouldn’t get sick.

You know of lava cakes?….. well the French name for lava cake is fondant. Well these people served me a Fon-DON’T

The chef from this restaurant didn’t put a molten filling in this thing. He gave me a lump of solid frosting. Who wants a solid lump of frosting? It seemed like someone besides the chef wrote the menu for this restaurant without training the person in charge of cooking. Although this was a promising restaurant that did serve some delicious dishes this restaurant has closed for business)

This next one came from a well known Asian Restaurant.

Guess I hit them on an off day. The dumpling were soggy and falling apart.

This comes from another well known restaurant. It was made special to look like vomit for me.

EVERYTHING was HORRIBLE from this Meditertanean Restaurant that is out of business now.

They served me falafels that I almost broke my teeth on because the chick peas weren’t cooked and were hard as rocks in them. The shawarma tasted like it was grilled chicken baloney and all these goodies came with a decomposing pickle.

I enjoyed lunch a few times at a well known Italian Restaurant so I thought I’d enjoy dinner there…..Well I was wrong again.

My dinner was overcooked and my vegetables that came with my dinner seemed like they were over cooked many times for like maybe two weeks.

I heard about a fish fry restaurant and wanted to give it a try.

The owner seemed very nice and was very conversational. But WOW EVERYTHING WAS AWFUL. It seemed like it was a combination of poor cooking skills mixed with restaurant equipment failure. The macaroni was gooey and cheese seemed water downed. The sweet potatoes seemed old. The tarter sauce was thinned down…..but the fish……was FREEZER BURNT. It’s was like eating crunchy astronaut dehydrated fish. My husbands plate had similar and different problems. After we tried everything and everything was horrible we threw it all out in the trash. This place is still in business so there is a possibility that she improved the food she serves there.

This next one was very disappointing from a restaurant that was newly opened at the time.

On the left was suppose to be corn and jicama slaw. There wasn’t any corn or jicama in the slaw so that was disappointing. The sandwich was also disappointing. Besides being impossible to eat as a sandwich the white sauce was suppose to be green curry coconut that sounds very good but it was just a tangy loose white liquid. I did mention these things to the manager before I was about to write about them. They told me not to criticize them because they were busier than expected and newly opened. I just told them that if someone told me that they might be out of a few things then I would be alright and know what to expect. That’s fair shouldn’t a paying customer know what to expect? Later the owner said nasty things to me on line and told me never to go to his restaurants again. A few weeks later he sent me another email that just read – You Suck!

Anyways-

Over cooked and over salted fish can happen at one of the finest restaurants in Phoenix. (but the rest of the meals were excellent)

Sometimes desserts can be horrifying. It really upsets me when desserts have foreign objects in them that I have to spit out.

I complained about this and the waiter told me it was part of the dessert. (jerk)

I went to a certain Filipino restaurant where I enjoyed the meal so we splurged for dessert. My fork couldn’t penetrate the dessert because it was hard as a rock. It took my husband a long time but he finally busted it apart with his hands.

The owner said nothing was wrong with his dessert. He said if I heated it up it would turn soft. WOW! I didn’t know that I should bring my own oven to heat up his hard as rock desserts.

*****THE I ALREADY ATE PLATE******

Sometimes food can be disappointing because they serve you “The I already ate plate” I do note that this wasn’t a tasting menu for lunch…….This was a regular lunch entree.

This was my $16.00 lunch salad that came from a restaurant that is out of business. (and WTFork did they do with the other half of the egg?….I was still hungry and could have used it)

******THE I ALREADY ATE PLATE********

Here’s another “I already ate plate” The food was very good from this restaurant but this is not a tasting restaurant.

This restaurant is also closed for business.

This last one is a bonus extra and was something my husband had somewhere in metro Phoenix at one of the places I showed you bad food from last week.

It might be the WORST crispy chicken sandwich in Metro Phoenix. They sure don’t give a cluck about what they served there. My husband said the cheese was a mix of hard and melted. Chicken seemed like processed and prepared over done in a microwave because of the rock hard texture and the blown out chicken middles.

Well those were only some of the bad and disappointing foods Part 2 from Metro Phoenix Restaurants.

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

The Forking Truth

27 Fish Take Out Dishes We Took Out in Metro Phoenix AZ in 2020 so far

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Unless I make a trip to Nelsons or Chula Seafood it is hard for me to buy fresh fish. I have purchased inedible fish from Frys, Safeway and Costco. I have paid top dollar from AJ’s Fine Foods and got less than fresh. For those reasons I mostly gave up preparing fish at home and enjoy eating fish out or taking it home these days. The dishes below are not in any particular order. Here are some of the fish dishes I took out from restaurants since around March 2020.

On the right is the grilled salmon from Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. It’s a good size portion that is prepared reasonably well and I like that you can have healthy options like double vegetables instead of pasta. I had spaghetti squash and asparagus. My husband had a shrimp and pasta dish that night.

The best tacos near to my house are from Taco Fusion on Glendale. My favorite taco from them is the mild habanero chicken taco with pineapple salsa but all their tacos are good. They even use hand made tortillas. On the right is their fish taco. Doesn’t taste like a fish taco from Mexico but it is a good taco and is better than most fish tacos I try out . My husband says that the shrimp tacos here are really great so I’ll take his word for it.

Everything from Confluence in Carefree is extraordinary!

These are the halibut lunch tacos from Confluence. Nobody prepares fish as masterfully as from Confluence. The crispy skin on fish actually can taste good and stays crisp from beginning to end. Even the finest restaurants anywhere can’t do that as well. If you like to eat fish than you must take the splurge and try one of their fish dinners.

You can even get fish from Rocket Burger in North Phoenix.

On the left is a double cheese burger with a really big fried chili pepper but on the right is their super tasty Mexican Fish Sandwich. It’s delicious I have to have one once in a while. The slaw and rocket sauce are so darn tasty that you can slap it on a hamster and the hamster would taste good.

I would say among the top fish take outs was from Twist Bistro and Gallery in North Scottsdale.

I had the Salmon dish twice. It was really great both times. Very few restaurants in metro Phoenix prepares salmon this well. My husband is just as found of their Shrimp Diablo dish below.

Aiello’s Italian Restaurant in Phoenix offers three course dinners with a bottle of wine and a candle for ($50.&$65.)

I got a generous pan of salmon with artichokes and a tasty potato croquette. The other dishes were tasty too!

In Peoria (#UpperWestSide) is the Twisted Italian and they offer a Friday Night Walleye Special. (It’s that BIG PAN on the left in the picture below.)

It’s more food than a human can eat and I tried to order it a few weeks before and it was sold out. Now I know why.

I also got a salmon salad from Chula Seafood in Phoenix.

It was prepared well and everything was fresh. My husband got some sort of grilled tuna sandwich that day.

Below was our take out from Vincents Market Bistro in Phoenix.

To be honest (like I always am) I didn’t order the salmon dinner but wound up with it. When we called them to let them know of the mix up they quickly took care of things. VMB has been a long time favorite of mine and I have enjoyed dining in here for a decade or so now. Dining in they always give you delicious fresh baked croissants and some of the best desserts in town.

Below is the really great Halibut from Fabio On Fire in Peoria #UpperWestSide.

The halibut was cooked to perfection and also was a large portion that came with fancy vegetables in a delicious sauce. This was really great!

We did take out from Wally’s American Gastropub in Scottsdale.

My husband said the meatloaf from here is really great. I liked the healthier grilled salmon with tomatoes and really tasty cauliflower. It was filling but light enough to add on one of their really delicious slices of pie.

FnB in the arts district of Scottsdale usually offers delicious wood grilled seafood.

Upper left hand corner is the Blue Nose with Citrus and Couscous

One of the plates to get from Scott’s Generations Restaurant and Delicatessen is the fish plate supreme (middle). It’s suppose to serve one person but I always get three servings from it.

It think it’s kind of special because you get to pick three kinds of fish for it. One fish I always pick is the smoked sturgeon because it cost around $40 a pound and you seldom find it anywhere. They offer belly and nova lox. (Belly is better but sometimes it runs too salty) and then I pick something like white fish too. I think it’s fun to get once in a while.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix offers a few fish dishes. Bellow is the middle is the Lotus root salad.

I think it only cost $5.00 and comes with shrimp.

Nayana Japanese Kitchen recently opened in the Arcadia Area of Phoenix,

On the left side of the picture is a spicy tuna roll and the very tasty salmon yuanyaki.

Below is the amazing house smoked salmon from the Barrio Cafe in Phoenix (Lower Left)

WOW! it was all so delicious! YUM!

From Szechwan Cuisine in Glendale (on the left) I tried the fish with fungus in egg white sauce.

In the middle my husband tried the kung pao shrimp.

Also in Glendale we did take out from Taylor’s Chowder House.

On the left my husband got the dish that is called 2 plus 2 (2 cod 2 shrimp) and I got the Sole Florentine. They were very generous with the potatoes and fish in the 2+2. I like that they serve vegetables with the dishes.

We even did take out by Old Town Scottsdale and did take out from Starlite BBQ.

I tried the Hot Fried Catfish there and it was very good!

Went back to Twist Bistro and Gallery in North Scottsdale.

The Grilled Hawaiian Opah Special was really good! (and so was everything else!) That beef sandwich and Moroccan Vegetable soup were really great too!

We did take out from a really special Thai Restaurant in Phoenix called Glai Baan.

On the left corner is their famous Mackerel fried rice. Everything was really great!

Stratta Kitchen recently opened in Scottsdale. I had another one of the best salmons there.

On the left is the mistral salad with added salmon. WOW this was a really great salad and a spectacular salmon. This was really special.

Those were 27 fish dishes we took out in Metro Phoenix so far in 2020.

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

The Forking Truth