Tag Archives: #Tempe

Umami Ramen at Shady Park Tempe AZ – Worth a Fork!

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When an Award Wining Ramen chef runs a ramen restaurant chances are …..that the ramen is a winning bet. Umami Ramen is a build your own ramen and sushi restaurant and bar located in downtown Tempe Arizona. They offer six varieties of ramen broth and various toppings. They also offer vegan options, house bowls, sushi rolls, rice bowls, sushi tacos, drafts, sake, Japanese drinks and more!

The sign is on the side of the building.

They have an indoor-outdoor bar and patio.

outdoor bar and patio

Inside are booths, traditional tables, and a bar.

Today they are playing non-stop Grateful Dead Music.

inside

Both ramens below are shio broth. Shio means salt in Japanese so shio broth are salt based. This is the most difficult type of ramen to make well because the broth doesn’t get covered up with other things like miso or soy sauce to help it out and has to be good on it’s own. It’s also the type of ramen with the most Unami.

Here’s the vegan shio with added grilled chicken, regular noodles, togarashi corn, and spicy garlic paste.

WOW! I can’t believe how flavorful this is….and it is very spicy too! This is very developed with flavors. I think I’m also getting some additional flavor and heat off of the togarashi corn. This is a really good flavor to me. The noodles are nice and chewy like they are suppose to be. They were very generous with the chicken. For me I could have made two meals out of this. But some people do eat more and can finish this.

Here’s the shio (chicken pork broth) with added pork belly and hard egg.

This one is also a very good developed broth. The pork belly also is very good and stayed crispy to the end. Noodles are also good and chewy. They offer soft and hard eggs. My husband went with a hard egg. He said it was slightly marinated.

Umami Ramen at Shady Park in Tempe AZ is-

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

Umami Ramen

I have not found a working website for Umami Ramen.

26 E University Dr Tempe AZ

480-222-2244

Parking might be challenging to some because of location in downtown Tempe. Fortunately a parking garage is next door.

Every thing is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little TASTE of the Golden Pineapple in Tempe AZ

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The Golden Pineapple is a bar and restaurant located in Tempe Arizona. They offer craft beers, cocktails and a limited chef crafted menu that includes a few children’s dishes. The foods offered are casual like tacos, burgers and hot dogs but are high quality that have ingredients like Chula Seafood and Noble Bread in them. Much of the foods offered have a southwest accent. You can sit inside at a table or the bar.

There is also another big area inside for seating but the lights were out so I didn’t photo it. It was a nice day today so almost everyone was seated outdoors. There is also a patio with a veery old very large tree. Something that you don’t see very often in metro Phoenix.

Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot with plenty of bike racks.

They offered an interesting brunch special today but I went with the AZ hot fried chicken sandwich with seasonal greens.

I go and take a bite. WOW the exterior of the chicken is shattering crisp with lots of paprika, a little sweetness and other spices and the white meat chicken is incredibly juicy. This is a very flavorful detailed sandwich that is also very delicious but it isn’t spicy (I wonder if they forgot the cayenne or other hot pepper that it should have?). The Noble Bread Bun is nicely toasted. It’s spread with avocado aioli and adorned with house made crisp pickles. The slaw is fresh made and crunchy. It’s really good but isn’t spicy….I am very picky….too picky……… for me this would be a perfect sandwich if the bun was a little smaller and the sandwich was made with some heat……….but…….Can’t be mad…It’s darn good and better than most chicken sandwiches so I am very happy with it. I think anyone would enjoy this sandwich. The greens are great too. Lightly dressed with pickled onions that just brighten it up.

My husband got the green chile burger with egg with hand cut fries as his side.

It’s a brisket patty with chilis, colby jack cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, pickled tomatillos, avocado aioli and hand cut fried that were nicely stacked. It was prepared to a perfect medium rare. He said it was one of the best burgers that he has had.

Both sandwiches were very good.

That was a little taste of the Golden Pineapple in Tempe AZ.

Worth a Fork.

Worth A Fork!

www.TheGoldenPineappleAZ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Bad Food I got from Mostly NEW Restaurants in Metro Phoenix AZ

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I was thinking even with the pandemic going on that the food I get out has been better than from previous years. Usually I hit a few really BAD ONES once or twice a year. The other thing that is different is that I am rarely going to restaurants that are new to me. I’ve been not entirely but mostly only going to restaurants that I know. Anyway I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the food I didn’t enjoy from mostly New Restaurants in Metro Phoenix.

Up top was the worst taco I ever had served to me in my life. The taco shell expired on it’s way to me. It was filled with the driest unseasoned chicken that you can ever imagine. It seemed like they just chopped off raw chicken and without seasoning or anything heated it up in the microwave until it got hard and dry. Don’t worry this restaurant that was located in Scottsdale is no longer in business. I wonder why?….

These falafels were very dry and lacked fresh herbs. This falafel place was written up as serving some of the best falafels in metro Phoenix. IDK what’s going on here…Did they get a new chef? Maybe they made better falafels for a professional critic? I’ll never know what happed here but honest… these were horrible falafels. This small restaurant is still in business so I am guessing some sort of recipe change has occurred. A great falafel has a crispy exterior and is moist and fluffy with lots of fresh herbs incase you were wondering.

What is this?

It’s a polenta tower that is unusually stiff and bread-like texture. It’s not very good and it looks like it’s happy to see me…..Or maybe that is the chef’s way of saying that he is pissed off and is trying to say f*** you? Don’t worry…this particular popular restaurant has changed chefs a few times since I had this plate.

I went to a new BBQ place and the brisket was tough with hard fat. I will say that the brisket might have been delicious if it was cooked maybe two hours more……..But the cheesy grits were even worst. They served them to me raw.

I can’t believe they served me this. We even told someone about this and instead of saying something like “I’m sorry” or “I’ll take it off your bill she just walked away.

We visited a restaurant that is no longer in business that was somewhere ion Scottsdale.

I don’t understand why they opened a restaurant before they learned how to cook. The sauce was bitter and acidic with harsh flavors. The meatballs contained hard crunchy carrots. Maybe they were hoping to just sell lots of drinks?

Went to a new sandwich shop somewhere in metro Phoenix.

Looks like my sandwich threw up on itself. My husband sort of liked his sandwich that didn’t look as bad. We did go back and this place did improve.

This time I went to a new Asian Chicken restaurant somewhere in Metro Phoenix.

They gave me the half good half bad plate. Chicken on the left was moist and edible. Chicken on the right was all dried out and very stringy.

Even pizza can be screwed up!

Imagine getting an individual pizza with part of it that doesn’t come with any topping……No topping on a pizza is like getting empty presents on your birthday…BAH!

This next restaurant was already in business but was sold to new owners and opened with a new menu. It used to be ok so I thought we’d give it another try. I was thinking that maybe it got better………Well I was wrong it got worst.

WOW this chicken salad was awful. It came with these processed tasting COLD chicken fingers that seemed like they previously exploded in the microwave and were served chilled to me on a mediocre salad. The chicken finger were sort of hallow in the middle and were crunchy in a microwave kind of way. WOW this was bad beyond all expectations.

Many people will not order fish in Phoenix for these reasons.

I’m thinking one of the worst plates I was served was the trout plate from somewhere in Metro Phoenix.

Wow this was bad on all kinds of levels. Mediocre questionably edible fish. I got lovely boiled from frozen vegetables. I got green mashed potatoes. I asked the waitress why the mashed potatoes were green. She runs back to talk with the chef. He said mashed potatoes turn green when you add black pepper. WOW I guess his pepper was green and moldy. This restaurant is still in business…..maybe some people like this kind of food?

The next one might not look as bad but something very strange was wrong with it.

I got this whole fish from a restaurant that I enjoyed before. This time the fish seemed like it was made out of rubber, We couldn’t eat it. I think they served us an embalmed fish.

Well The Forking Truth is that there is GOOD and BAD everywhere out there!

Be CAREFUL!

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

The Forking Truth

Perfect Pear Bistro in Tempe AZ – Worth a Fork – Casual Eatery that’s a little different

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The Perfect Pear Bistro has two locations in Tempe Arizona. This is a very casual eatery that serves casual foods and many may contain a pear surprise. Some of the pear surprises are spicy pear pico, a pear quesadilla and a grilled pear bread grilled cheese sandwich. Some of the food is very unique like the cauliflower nachos. They are made of crispy cauliflower that is tossed in green chili sauce and made with cheddar cheese, avocado and PEAR pico. Perfect Pear Bistro serves a changing menu of regular and tapas sized appetizers, tacos, salads, wraps, quinoa bowls, sandwiches and pasta. They source as much local as possible.

They offer patio seating.

Seating at the bar.

Dining room seating

We thought the tapas appetizers so so interesting and different. Most of them were only priced at $3.33 each so we tried TWO of them.

On the left are Buffalo Falafels and on the right are Ginger Sriracha Brussel Sprouts topped with pumpkin seeds. Both are very tasty and really different. I’ve never seen these on any other menu this way. Besides tasting great I LOVE the portion size (like tea cup saucer sized) and the LOW $3.33 price. WOW this is GREAT!

For my main I had a salad called Perfect Pear Classic ($10.29) with added chicken ($3.00).

This is a very large salad……(I don’t know if it’s always this big…or maybe they accidentally gave me extra?) Here is house blend mixed greens (spinach, baby kale, arugula), PEARS, dried cranberries, mint, red onions, gorgonzola, hazelnuts and cider vinaigrette with added chicken. It’s different…a little bolder tasting than not all but most salads you get out. The chicken is chilled but it taste like it was prepared recent and it is moist.

My husband got a sandwich called French pantry served with a side (French Fries) ($10.59).

It’s a toasted French Roll stuffed with PEARS, brie cheese, four cheese blend, chicken, red onion arugula, grain mustard and balsamic glaze and fries were picked as the side. I was told that the flavors were great. My husband said that this is a really good tasting sandwich but it came out steaming hot like possibly from a microwave. The bread was so hot that some of the bread turned hard….and the brie almost turned to liquid. It would have been a perfect sandwich if it didn’t seem like it was finished in the microwave…but was still mostly good. I did taste two fries. I usually don’t like the skinny style fries but these came out piping hot and very fresh tasting with a really good potato flavor.

The Perfect Pear Bistro is a little different and Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.PerfectPearBistro.com

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

The Forking Truth

Old Town Taste – Tempe AZ – Szechuan and Non-Spicy Chinese Food – Worth a Fork!

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Old Town Taste is located in Tempe Arizona. This is a Chinese Restaurant that offers Szechuan and non-spicy authentic style Chinese Food. The atmosphere is neat and clean and during the day lots of bright light comes in threw the glass front exterior.

There is wallpaper around the restaurant that illustrates an “Old Town.” It looks like it could be an old town anywhere but it’s probably suppose to be an old town in China. A place where you can get Chinese Food the way it’s been made since long ago.

They offer all kinds of different dishes here. A few of the dishes offered are peanuts in vinegar, spicy sour shredded potatoes, sauté garlic lettuce, fried egg with tomatoes, braised beef with mint, bacon with wide green beans. They offer dishes you might be familiar with or just sound familiar with like kung pao chicken, braised meatballs in brown sauce, braised duck in cooking beer iron wok stewed organic chicken and fried cumin lamb. They also offer dishes like red oil intestine noodles, garlic flavored chicken gristle, steamed duck heads with spicy sauce, Chen’s sour spicy lamb spine and Szechuan Style blood curd.

We shared two dishes…the fried eggplant, bell pepper and potato dish ($12.99 and the Szechuan Style spicy fish ($15.99).

We started with the eggplant dish.

This is a lighter dish. It’s mostly eggplant with a small amount of green bell pepper and a little bit of potatoes. It’s a mild dish in a light garlic soy kind of sauce. That turned out to be a great choice to cool us down from the Szechuan Style Spicy Fish.

It’s spicy and delicious! The mild white fish was fried with a crispy coating that seems free of oil. It’s very spicy, nose running spicy but doesn’t hurt. The Szechuan peppers numb your mouth so you can enjoy the heat. There also is garlic and other seasonings and crispy fried green beans. This dish is really GREAT!

That was my first trip to Old Town Taste in Tempe. Can’t wait to try other dishes!

Old Town Taste is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

I have not found a website page for Old Town Taste but they are on Facebook.

1845 E Broadway Rd Tempe

480-702-7101

closed Mondays

Open for lunch hours Tue-Sun 11:30-2:45

Dinner hours are Tue-Sun 5pm-9:30

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

The Forking Truth

Singh Meadows in Tempe AZ – Detailed Breakfast/Lunch Plates with STUNNING VEGETABLES – Worth a Fork!

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Singh Meadows is a farm with a farmers market and breakfast/lunch cafe. The cafe is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 8am-1:30pm. The farmers market is taking a break after today. You have to check the Singh Meadows Facebook page for a re-opening date.

It looks like this when you walk into the market. (this picture was from March…less produce this time)

Then we wait in line to order at the cafe.

Here was todays menu.

The food is so detailed, delicious and special….It’s really hard to decide.

We order, pay and get a pager. Now we pick a table either inside.

On the patio

Or grab a blanket and get comfortable in the meadow.

Maybe by a pond….

Or by some vegetables.

It was pretty hot today so I grabbed a table inside.

Soon our pager goes off so my husband picks up the platters at the pick up table outside the door.

We start by splitting the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich ($13.00)

I sort of forgot how extra large the portions are…..even half is very large. But this is a lovely detailed and extra special plate. We received lots of crunchy battered chicken that was paired with these FORKING AMAZING heirloom tomatoes that were beyond belief. There also was pickled zucchini, arugula, tarter sauce and spicy honey. It was a super delicious sandwich but also was a delicious mess……If that wasn’t enough…..I found fancy greens on the plate with a whole BUNCH of these delightful lightly pickled beets….and we aren’t done yet…TWO good sized pieces of watermelon seasoned with a mild hot fruity pepper that I am guessing might have been Urfa pepper. WOW!

The Grilled Sweet Potato Fattoush ($12.00) turned out to be a more substantial plate than I anticipated.

This plate is packed with grilled sweet potatoes, red lentil hummus, charred cabbage, crisp pita breads, grains, harissa vinaigrette, seeds and sheep milk feta. We tasted it and it’s similar flavors that take you so maybe the best falafel you ever had but with sweet potato. It’s all delicious with all the pops of different flavors and textures but we got another plate so this one is getting packed up to enjoy another day.

We moved on to share the Apricot and Ricotta Napoleon.

Here we got apricots, sweet creamy fresh made ricotta cheese, crisp thin sweetened phyllo dough with pickled cherry vinaigrette and arugula….This all seems so light (but I know it isn’t) It’s easy to inhale. All these flavors go well together like magic Bitter arugula, sweet phyllo and apricots……unusually very good creamy sweet ricotta and then that cherry vinaigrette just taste so Forking GOOD!

Plates from our last visit were…….

Korean Beef Stew
Swiss chard falafel sandwich
Beet Toast

Singh Meadows Farmers Market and Cafe are Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.SinghMeadowsTempe.com

Every thing 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

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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