Tag Archives: #Phoenixood

My Trip to Verdura Vegan Restaurant in Phoenix AZ – A restaurant to ROOT For

Verdura Plant Based Eatery recently opened in a shopping center on seventh street that is also known as the Phoenix restaurant row in Phoenix Arizona. Verdura is a popular name for vegan restaurants because Verdura translates to vegetable in Italian and Spanish. The menu is sort of melting pot American with global inspirations. The Atmosphere is mostly cool classic rock and roll with greenery accents. Memorabilia like records, album covers, concert posters and super star vocalist portraits grace the walls. Classic Rock and Roll Music fills the air not LOUD but on a comfortable level. Lots of bright light comes threw the large window front during the day.

Looks like this when you walk in.

You order at the counter, pay, grab a number with a classic rock star like Patty Smyth and seat yourself inside or on the patio.

They run your food to you when its ready and ask if you need anything and they check on you.

We started out by sharing the Kimchi Aranchini that comes over German Cucumber salad.

The fried rice balls (arancini) are filled with lots of carrots and some cabbage…They are lightly laced with kimchi essence. The rice balls are fried perfectly and seem free of oil and are tasty……They are GOOD and tasty……..but……. The taste to me was unexpected because kimchi is so strong, spicy and a pungent in your face flavor that I wasn’t expecting these rice balls to be so mild. Under the kimchi rice balls is an unusual pairing of creamy German Cucumber salad. The German Cucumber salad is very good. It’s just delicious! This cucumber is just right and flavorful. We both loved the German Cucumber Salad.

We also shared the General Pow Cauliflower.

We have roasted cauliflower, a mild sauce, nori peanuts, shishito peppers, chimichurri with rice, Korean pepper threads and Korean Brussels. The cauliflower and brussels are roasted nicely. The Shishito peppers add a different touch of mild heat too. My favorite flavor here is the chimichrri sauce in the front of the plate because it’s very bright and flavorful. Again a tasty vegetable plate….Not too much POW or General Tso to it but tasty and nicely prepared.

We also shared the Avocado Mofongo FT Jerk Jackfruit.

This is fried plantain that’s mashed with seasoning avocado It’s topped with pineapple corn relish, and Caribbean style jerk jackfruit. This was the most seasoned of the dishes we tried. It’s mildly spicy. To me its very mild to be jerk jackfruit but its an approachable tasty vegan dish.

Nicely prepared vegetables of different inspirations.

Worthy of a try!

That was my trip to Verdura Plant Based Eatery in Phoenix.

www.VerduraPhx.com

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

The Forking Truth

First Taste at Singh Meadows in Tempe AZ- Worth a Fork! Stunning Farm Fresh Vegetables

Singh Meadows is an actual farm with a little cafe that serves breakfast/lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They serve a weekly changing limited menu that is about eighty percent vegetarian.

You wait in line to order.

There are a few tables inside and a long high top table with a window that views a kitchen.

On the day of my visit they offered eleven menu items that are mostly vegetarian. One menu meat offering is masala spiced pork sausage and the other meat offering is Korean Style stew beef.

At the end of the line we pay and are told it will be around a twenty minute wait for our name to be called.

There are many seating options. It’s a very nice day today and nobody is sitting inside today. There’s a patio.

There’s lots of outside options. You also have the option of borrowing a blanket and finding your own spot in the meadow or by a duck pond.

I picked this charming table.

Around twenty minutes or so our name is called so we go to the pick up table.

We decided to share three plates and they all are very large. We start with the one that needs to be eaten hot….The Korean Beef Stew.

It’s a colorful bowl filled with all kinds of things. It’s mostly assorted vegetables and potatoes that are topped with sunny side up crisp edged eggs. The bowl is garnished with very crunchy rice crackers and underneath everything is a good amount of tender like butter stew beef. It’s slightly spicy and much more delicate with flavors than I imagined it would be. It’s a perfect beef stew.

Next we share the Swiss Chard Falafel Sandwich.

It’s a very large sandwich on a high quality crusty bun. It’s made with a very tasty sweet heirloom tomato, lacy greens, feta cheese, carrot raita and it’s served with a detailed grain salad. Everything is delicious! This vegetarian sandwich is also very hardy and can please a meat eater.

The Beet Toast was maybe the most stunning plate.

It’s pretty enough to be a picture!

All kinds of beets here. Raw, cooked, pickled and in cream cheese. It’s topped with what I believe to be fruity raisin-ee slightly spicy urfa pepper. The almonds and avocado go surprisingly well with beets. The plate is garnished with a couple fresh green beans. The green beans are unlike any green bean I’ve ever tasted before…they are so tender and so Forking sweet….Nothing like the woody ones I buy from the supermarket. This all rest on top of high quality grilled country bread.

Finish up by packing up a few things and walking around the market.

Lots of beautiful beets and farm eggs.

Beautiful assortment of breads.

Beans, dukkah seasoning, pastas.

All kinds of goodies here…pickled vegetables, hot sauces, desserts and more.

Hierloom vegetables.

There was so much to see and taste.

It all was just so beautiful and stunning. What a perfect place to entertain out of town guest…..or to celebrate a special occasion lunch….Or just have a nice day out….

That was my trip to Singh Meadows in Tempe AZ.

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.SinghMeadowsTempe.com

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

The Forking Truth