Author Archives: The Forking Truth

Chula Seafood Phoenix AZ – Fintastic Seafood – Worth a Fork

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Chula Seafood offers sustainably sourced high quality seafood and prepared seafoods. They come to us from San Diego where they hand harpoon swordfish (their specialty) and bring the best fish of the pacific coast to us. Currently in Arizona they have two locations (Scottsdale, Phoenix). A North Scottsdale location is expected to open early this year. (2022)

It’s casual here. During the day you wait in line and order and pay at the counter.

You will see all kinds of fish and more in the counter.

various smoked and or cured fish
fresh fish

Up above is a menu board. They offer daily specials, starters like oysters, and sashimi platters. They also offer bowls and salads. They have various plates like swordfish burritos, fish sandwiches, fish and chips, fish tacos, fish plate entrees, and more!

Then (during the day) you seat yourself and when you meal is ready they will call your name.

Today my husband started out with the fried oysters.

Fried Oysters

My husband said that these fried oysters with chili oil were really very good and they were served on delicious toasted and seasoned Nobel Bread.

Today I tried the Friday Daily Lunch Special.

Today it was a Hawaiian Lunch Plate.

The fish is crispy seared albacore katsu.

It came with blistered shishitos, jalapeño onion jam, soy marinated egg, kewpie slaw, bulldog sauce and sushi rice. Everything taste amazing. Today the jalapeño onion jam is really delicious but almost too spicy for me to eat….(Almost). I like that the slaw is almost dry…..I tell The Forking Truth so as amazing as everything really does taste…I have to admit ……It is strange to me that every single thing on my plate was served cold….I think if I could tweak this slightly it’s the rice and peppers that I would like better warm.

My husband got the crispy fish sandwich with potato mac salad.

He started with the parts that were spilling out of the sandwich and he said that it was very good. Then he went to pick it up…………(I tell The Forking Truth)…………

The whole bottom of his bun was coated with a creamy dill flavored sauce….so he didn’t eat the bottom bun.

Below are previous things that we tried from Chula Uptown (Phoenix)

Tuna confit sandwich with Moroccan carrot salad
Smoked Fish Plate with Biscuit (looked like a bite was taken from the biscuit??????)
Take Out Halibut Collar for Two Special
Take Out – Chula Chopped Salad with added Salmon, Tuna Melt, Spam Macaroni

That was Fintastiic Seafood from Chula Seafood in Phoenix.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ChulaSeafood.com

100 E Camelback Rd PHX

602-354-3599

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Hash Kitchen North Scottsdale AZ – Bloody Mary Buffet, DJ Brunch, Fluffy Waffles & MORE!

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The Hash Kitchen is an Arizona based group of brunch restaurants currently with five locations in the valley but are soon to spread nation-wide. The Hash Kitchen offers a long menu with lots of variety and over the top drinks………..They offer all kinds of HASH breakfast plates such as green chili pork, braised beef, chicken, birria, huevos ranchero, carnitas, and corned beef hash. A very unique offering is called the Ferris WheeI it’s 3 tie dyed cupcakes served with a trio of cereal milk pudding shooters. They also offer French toast, pancakes, salad, burgers, sandwiches, beef burritos, a loco moco, kids meals, and many interesting sounding cocktails such as mega glitter bomb mimosas and something called giggle milk. Hash Kitchen is well known for the make it yourself Bloody Mary bar………You pick the rim salt, heat level, vodka flavor, and mixer flavor and then you have a whole buffet of toppings for your drink…..(you almost or don’t need food after the Bloody Mary Buffet.

Bloody Mary with all kinds of treats pickled egg, spicy melon, Calabrian Chilies, Italian Pickles, cheese, blue cheese stuffed olives, a fancy onion, pickled Brussels sprout

I tried to dine at the Peoria location but wasn’t expecting an hour and a half wait (that is too long to wait for lunch for me). The next week I hit the Gainey Ranch location and it was on a similar wait. Since then I have learned that the Hash kitchen doesn’t take reservations but at the North Scottsdale location and the Arcadia location you can join a wait list threw Yelp and the wait was very short that way.

I got in and it was packed with an extra LOUD atmosphere and a disk jockey playing loud music.

People like to make an entrance here.

I tried the Louisiana hot fried chicken and waffle.

The waffle is amazing. I never had a waffle so light and fluffy before. The waffle is topped with lots of crispy fried leeks and warm maple syrup and creamy soft butter are on the side. The chicken is a little tough and hard to cut. It’s tangy like hot sauce but is only mildly spicy. It’s also a bit greasy and the coating is soggy…but did I tell you how fabulous the waffle was? I saved a Calabrian Pepper from my Bloody Mary and chopped it up and sprinkled it on the waffle and it was so tasty and delicious with the creamy butter and maple syrup.

My husband tried the Braised Green Chili Pork and Grits Hash.

He said that the green chili pork was very good. This technically isn’t truly hash . To be hash the meat needs to be cooked with the potatoes…The potatoes look like just deep fried cubes……but it’s tasty and we are not food police anyway.

This was a little taste of Hash Kitchen in North Scottsdale

www.HashKitchen.com

14838 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd Scottsdale AZ

480-361-5228

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Chorizo Hash Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Recipe

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This is a pretty easy recipe. I made my own turkey chorizo (recipe not published yet). Combined the chorizo with a bell pepper and an onion. Mixed it up with the spaghetti squash and added an egg. The amount of chorizo that you want to use will differ. If you are using real whole fat chorizo you will only need around 5 ounces for two people. If you us a lighter and healthier kind of chorizo you might want to up the amount to around 8 ounces.

Ingredients for around two servings

1 small spaghetti squash – cut in half longways – seeds and membranes removed

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (approximate)

5-8 ounces chorizo – cut in chunks

1 onion – sliced thin

1 pepper (bell or whatever you have) core and seeds removed and sliced thin

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and fine stems ) – chopped or torn

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 eggs

optional – non-stick spray

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to. taste

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray cut sides of spaghetti squash with oil and place cut side down on. a baking sheet. Leave in the oven till cooked threw (around 45 minutes)

While the squash is roasting add around a Tablespoon of olive oil to a fry pan on medium high heat. If you are using slicing chorizo add it now in slices with the pepper and onion….If you are using Mexican style sauté the vegetables first and then add the Mexican style chorizo with the garlic.

Either fry up the eggs in a fry pan, bake them in the oven, or poach them.

By now the squash is done so scape out the spaghetti squash into a large bowl and mix it up with the pepper onion chorizo mixture and toss in the cilantro and scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with An egg per serving.

Enjoy!

Chorizo Hash Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek AZ

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Phat Turtle BBQ is a casual Kanas City Style Barbecue restaurant located in Cave Creek Arizona. Kanas City type BBQ is suppose to be dry rubbed and slow smoked over wood and is served with a tomato based sauce. It is typical of Kanas City BBQ places to offer something called burnt ends. The burnt ends are the crusty fatty pieces from the point of the brIsket.

You know that you have walked into a barbecue when you have walked in. You smell the smokey delicious smell of barbecue when you walk in.

The atmosphere has an Old West and antique shop sort of decor to it with lots of mismatched older furniture, a collection of saddles, all kinds of nick nacks, compasses on every table, and lots of other things.

We ordered.

They run their sauces to our table.

They have sweet, hickory, and spicy.

Our server returns and said that they are out of the bbq chicken from my 2 meat plate that I ordered. So I change my order.

She leaves and didn’t say anything to my husband who ordered the Phat Sampler that also includes chicken. We figure that maybe they had a little bit of leftover chicken for him??

Soon my side salad comes out.

It’s a nice big (almost meal sized) salad. I share it with my husband while we are waiting for the rest.

Around 30 minutes latter my 2 meat plate comes out.

I got brisket, burnt ends, and potato salad. The brisket is a bit on the dry side but ok. The burnt ends are extremely fatty and succulent. … but they all succulent with a succulent bark. (I’ll save them for my husband) The potato salad is eggy and seasoned with dill.

My husband got his plate and a few surprises.

Well lets start with the good.

The onion rings are very good and the pork is ok.

The surprises are that the plate is missing two of the meats (the chicken and the sausage) and the other surprise is that the chopped brisket is all little hard crumbs (at about 2:00 on the plate (like the type of meat crumbs that get cleaned off of the cutting board and get tossed into the beans……….). He also got burnt ends but on his plate they are very chewy and kind of dry. The Phat sampler was suppose to be 1/8lb. bunt ends, 1/8lb. pulled pork, 1/8lb. brisket, 2 baby back ribs, chopped chicken, 1/4 lb sausage filled onion rings with one side.

(I do note that all BBQ restaurants are never consistent due to the nature of hours of food preparation ((smoking) and then keeping the meat fresh for you…)

For the side was macaroni and cheese.

It was pasta shells in a thin white sauce that was very light with cheese (almost not cheesy).

We had a service issue here. – My husband informed our server that if he knew that he wasn’t getting two of the meats from the sampler platter that he would have ordered the 2 meat plate instead that came with two sides.

When she brought the check she gave us a slice of peach cobbler to go to make up for our troubles.

The cobbler is dry and dense and comes with one peach slice.

I heard back already from the owner.

He apologized and said that he wish I brought all this to his attention and he would have taken care of us. He also said that this is unusual and isn’t the way they normally serve.

I should note that you shouldn’t judge any barbecue restaurant from one visit because none of them are always consistent. They spend hours smoking the meats and then the tricky part is timing the meat for you.

That was my trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek.

www.PhatTurtleBBQ.com

30845 N Cave Creek Rd Cave Creek AZ

602-527-3257

Everything is subject to change and everything usually does change anyway.

The Forking Truth

FORKING DELICIOUS Sliced Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pickled Peppers and Shallots Recipe

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I wanted to do something with sweet potatoes that wasn’t all mashed up or sweet. I got a recipe sent to me from Milk Street Magazine that sounded good but when I clicked the recipe they wanted a $1.00 from me. I buy all their magazines so I don’t want to spend the dollar. Anyways- I could see the first three ingredients so I got started that way and winged the rest. Somehow I came up with something FORKING DELICIOUS! If you want to find the Milk Street Recipe it is called Spiced Sweet Potato Tian (fancy French word for casserole). I am guesstamating the size of the sweet potato I used. I was one extra large potato that looked like a small baby. I’m guessing that it was over two pounds. This recipe makes around 4 smaller servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 1/2 lbs sweet potato – peeled – sliced thin on mandolin ( If you got a really fat potato you might need to half or quarter it. You want small lemon or big lime sized slices)

4 Tablespoons sweet butter

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1 orange – just the fresh squeezed juice (before you squeeze you can save the zest and use it at the end for finishing))

1 + 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper ( or 1/2 or less the amount any red pepper flakes)

3 small shallots sliced thin

1/4 cup fresh rosemary

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme

1/4 cup pickled baby bells – thin slices (I marinate them in my home made jalapeño brine but for this recipe it would be easier to just marinate them in around 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

crushed sea salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

Non stick spray

Directions

In a small bowl or dish marinate the pepper rings. Leave them on the counter at least one hour or make them the day before and refrigerate.

An hour later or the next day.

Set the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a pan or in a dish in the microwave. Add the oil, cider vinegar (1 Tablespoon), coriander, cumin, Aleppo pepper, shallots, rosemary, thyme, sherry vinegar, orange juice, and pickled peppers. Mix well. Add potato slices and mix carefully. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray a shallow dish with non stick spray and cover dish with foil.

Leave in oven 60 minutes.

Turn oven up to 425 degrees F.

Remove foil and let brown (around 25-30 minutes)

Forking Delicious Sliced Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pickled Peppers and Shallots

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

First Taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar in Peoria AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar is a Mexican Southwest street food style restaurant and bar. They have two locations in metro Phoenix. One is in Phoenix and the one I visited is in Peoria Arizona by the Peoria Sports complex by P83. The majority of the menu offerings are shareable plates and over a dozen types of street tacos. They also offer cheese crisps, bowls, fajitas, and more.

We came around a holiday weekend when most places were closed today.

They have bar seating.

They also have traditional seating and a large patio with high top tables.

We started out by ordering the chips and trio of salsas. (this I forgot to photo)

The seemed freshly made and were served warm. The three salsas that we received were a roasted salsa, a tomatillo salsa, and pineapple habanero salsa. Everything was tasty. The pineapple habanero had very strong pineapple flavor with a nice not too hot heat from the habanero.

I tried three street tacos. They come with rice and beans or you can upgrade the sides to elote.

I tried the potato head, Del Mar (beer battered mild white fish), and the Nashville hot chicken street tacos. All the tacos are over stuffed and some are extra saucy. I wouldn’t recommend them on a first date with someone unless you are very comfortable with any situation……(You will look very messy). The first one I tried was the one called potato head “queso style” with a crispy hard cheese shell around the taco (I thought the cheese shell would taste best on the potato taco and I think that I was right) This potato head taco is really scrumptious queso style. It’s full of all kinds of flavors. The Del Mar (beer battered fish taco) is tasty with the chipotle aioli. The Nashville Hot Chicken taco doesn’t remind me of Hattie “B”s but it sure is tasty so it’s a win. I was pretty full by now. but I did manage to taste the rice and beans. Both. were very good and better than from most places. I’d say the beans might have been the best vegetarian beans that I have tasted anywhere.

My husband tried the chorizo, carne asada, shrimp diablo, and carnitas. All of them were good. The carne asada was tender. The shrimp diablo was extra spicy.

I have to say that our first taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar was Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.RevoluTaqueria.com

15703 N 83rd AVE Peoria AZ

623-878-0215

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Apple Remoulade with Fennel Seed Pickled Cucumber for Chicken, Fish, or Lunchmeat Recipe based on Louise Robinson’s Recipe for Bresaola with Apple Remoulade Recipe

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I was gifted with lots of cucumbers so I was looking up the best cucumber recipes that I could find. I thought that this recipe by Louise Robinson sounded really great but I also thought that it would be delicious with my Sous Vide chicken breast and it is……..I didn’t play with this recipe too much. I think that you can play around with whatever mustard that you use a little. The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of dijon but I used around 1 teaspoon of old fashioned grain mustard and maybe a teaspoon of French dijon (not Grey Poupon). You need to pickle the cucumber the day before. This makes around 4 smaller servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 teaspoons fennel seeds – lightly toasted

300 ml cider vinegar

45g sugar

600g cucumbers (the suggested cut are thin strips long ways but you can do whatever you want)

20g fresh dill chopped (I didn’t have any dill so I used 1/2 teaspoon of dill seed)

1 lemon (see below)

1 Granny Smith apple – cut into matchsticks and tossed into the juice of one lemon

2 celery sticks – fine chopped

1 Tablespoon capers – rinsed and drained

1 small clove garlic – ground to paste

2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon mayonaise

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons parsley – fine chop

4 servings of whatever protein that you are using.

optional – handful of micro greens or salad

Directions

The fennel seeds, vinegar, sugar, get simmered in a small pan until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat add the cucumber and dill. place all this in a sterilized container and refrigerate over night.

Make the apple remoulade. The apple celery and capers goes in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine the garlic, yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, and parsley.This gets mixed in the large bowl with the apple mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste. (I added more mustard.

Serve…I put the cucumbers on the bottom. Topped them with chicken and topped the chicken with the apple remoulade. I added a few micro greens and some sliced radishes.

Garnish with micro herbs or salad. Add more dill if you have any.

Apple Remoulade with Sous Vide Chicken Breast and Fennel Seed Pickled Cucumbers

A Special THANKS! to Louise Robinson for a FORKING AMAZING RECIPE so I could come up with what I have here.

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With DOGS In Metro Phoenix AZ – December 2021 – Greek Palace, Twisted Italian, Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, The Rec Pizza & Dogs

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Dining out with DOGS in Metro Phoenix is just a “FLUFF” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started with my dog Louie who was elderly and diagnosed with aggressive cancer. Louie couldn’t do a lot but he always enjoyed eating and dining out. I took him out to eat as much as possible and instead of his 3-6 month diagnosis he made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat as long as the weather agrees.

There are many things to know about dining out with dogs.

Not all restaurant patios are dog friendly.

Most food and drink that you consume can be unhealthy or even toxic to your furry friend. It is best to get a list of foods from your veterinarian on what to avoid. (or to find what is safe. Usually a small lean piece of un-sauced meat is a good bet)

Your dog is not as heat tolerant as you are. (90 degrees and up is too hot to dine out with dogs).

If you do decide to dine out with dogs….

Your dog(s) need to be by your side at all times.

Dogs are not allowed to sit on restaurant furniture or eat off of restaurant plates.

Bring a water bowl for your dog.

It’s also best to dine at off times to avoid as many other people and dogs. (many people don’t like dogs and some people are allergic) (dogs often bark at each other and this might be a disturbance)

I called Greek Palace in North Peoria and they confirmed to me that they are dog friendly so we took the dogs there! They serve most of your traditional Greek dishes and a very good Greek Flaming Cheese called saganaki. Greek patio has not one but TWO dog friendly patios.

We placed our order and they started us out with salads.

The salads were tasty and fresh but not much here to give the dogs.

I tried the veggie chicken shawarma.

I got more than I can eat! That makes a couple of pups very happy.

You can see my dog on the right is drooling.

My husband got what they call the fire fighter platter. It’s sliced beef and lamb cooked on a vertical skewer. It came with grilled onions , rice, and vegetables.

The dogs also tried some of that too.

www.GreekPalace.net

We dined at Twisted Italian in North Peoria. They are an American Style Italian Restaurant that offers some Twisted options like house made pierogi and Italian chili rellenos. The official dog friendly patio is extra great for dining out with dogs because they only have two tables so we avoid lots of potential problems here.

They started us off with crusty hot bread, and olive oil with balsamic.

Today I got the citrus salad with added salmon. The salmon is cooked medium and is nicely spiced. I also have blue cheese candied. walnuts, mandarin oranges, and cranberries.

My husband got the antipasto salad.

We did alright at the Twisted Italian in Peoria.

www.EatTwisted.com

We regularly dine at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They specialize in serving around a dozen different Banh Mi Baguette sandwiches. They also offer most Vietnamese dishes except for PHO. Prices are low, portions are large and the food is consistently good!

Today I had the curry chicken with rice.

The Curry chicken is lots off chunks of tasty marinated white chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions, crispy shallots in a tasty curry sauce (rice is on the side)

My husband got the pork rice plate today.

It comes with a pork egg roll, rice, pickled vegetables and a generous serving of marinated flavorful pork.

“We are always happy to dine at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery!”

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

We went to The Rec Pizza & Dogs. They offer Detroit Style Pizza, some fried things, bread sticks, Hot Dogs, and a few other things.

I tried the seasonal pumpkin and ricotta pizza (individual size).

The dogs got to eat some pumpkin and cheese.

They also enjoyed some pepperoni and sausage from my husband’s pizza.

We also shared a n individual plain pizza and brought the leftovers home.

We did alright at The Rec Pizza & Dogs in Peoria.

www.TheRecPizzeria.com

We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading Dining Out with DOGS in Metro Phoenix December 2021. We wish you happy holidays and we hope to see you next year!

The Forking Truth
In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

The Most Memorable Dishes from Metro Phoenix Restaurants 2021

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These are the most memorable dishes from metro Phoenix Restaurants from 2021 (in no particular order) I do note that I haven’t been everywhere and certainly can’t taste everything…But I have tried a lot! It’s also possible that I have missed some good ones because it is hard for me to see the postage sized photos that I have to pick from on my computer. I picked what I remember that stood out.

The Wagyu Beef Cheek from Confluence in Carefree They also made another dish with beef cheeks and miso that was just as FANTABULOUS pictured below. OMG both these beef cheeks dishes were maybe the #1 best beef dishes that I have ever tasted anywhere.
Get any beef cheek plate that Confluence offers
Strawberry gelato from Fabio on Fire in Peoria Probably the BEST Strawberry gelato in the whole country!

This next one is memorable…..

I ordered a take out fish dish from a certain Thai Restaurant in Peoria (I already wrote about it so I won’t mention their name…or go there again) They packaged me fish with most of the flesh removed……There is NOTHING for me to eat. I will NEVER FORGET this one. It sure was memorable.
Goat cheese creme brûlée from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale was sublimely smooth and cheesy.
The chicken from Valentine in Phoenix was sensational! So many flavors……
The macaroni and cheese from The Americano in Scottsdale might have been the best macaroni and cheese I’ve tried from a restaurant. The Italian truffles were just ok.
The doughnuts for Daily Donuts and Wings in Phoenix are the best that I have ever tried anywhere. (lemon filled, blueberry filled, sprinkles, Boston cream (hubs loved the cinnamon and chocolate iced)
Corn soup from SWB SouthWest Bistro in Scottsdale was unusually very good!
The Wagyu Brisket from Renata’a Hearth in Phoenix was to die for. (went back and wasn’t the same)
Memorable but in a bad way. This fish (smoked trout) tasted like ammonia, deep funk, smoke & extreme fishiness ..served with bitter fizzy lettuce and bitter oranges……..YUK! I already wrote about it..If you read my blog then you know where it came from….
Burrata pizza from Fabio On Fire in Peoria was either the best or one of the best pizzas I ate this year.
Combo with Jerk Chicken and Curry Chicken from Desert Island Eatery in North Phoenix was really delicious!
The ground in house Prime Beef ground filet burger from The Bourbon Cellar in Scottsdale was the best burger I ate this year. I didn’t try the next burger yet but……..
Arrowhead Grill in Glendale The A.G. Burger ( ground in house Prime tenderloin topped with a slice of prime rib) According to my husband This was also a phenomenal burger. He said that I have to try it.
Tis Chula Salmon Salad was as great as a salmon salad can possibly be from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale
From Little Cay in Phoenix I got the Kokomo Chop Bowl the flavors are great but you must add the special Puerto Rican hot sauce on the table to it to get the whole experience and all the flavors.
sea bass with Fresno chili and fregola from PA’LA wood fired Downtown Phoenix was really great and had unique flavor combinations.
Had a few fish dishes from Twist Bistro and Gallery (North Scottsdale) that were particularly good. This one is the salmon croustade. Also had their filet one night…..It was far more flavorful and did cost much less than one I tasted from Ruth’s Chris.
This seems like a very pedestrian dish called cheesy corn from Urban Margarita in Glendale but it taste amazing.
All the fish dishes from Confluence in Carefree are amazing and are prepared more masterful than from most places. This is the only restaurant that serves fish with crisp skin that tastes good and stays crisp and never turns soggy.
This came from a very good restaurant around downtown Phoenix. It was an African seasoned fish. This dish was flavored so great that it would have made my Fantabulous Dish list but it was only cooked on the edges and the whole middle was raw………(we did let the owner know and he did try to make things right with me)
Seasonal Harvest Salad from Lure Seafood House in Scottsdale. The Seasonal salads, bowls, and sand dabs are always really great from Lure.
Also memorable but in a bad way. This one I also already wrote about (a place in Mesa). It’s like they took bulgogi and blended it with cream cheese. It was like vomit on a skillet.
These Seaweed shell sushi tacos from Headquarters in Peoria were pretty darn tasty
Salmon salad from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale was particularly good. Really great flavors and nicely prepared salmon. Their dinner salmon is just as great…
This one looks good but tasted so terrible that I couldn’t eat it. The fish had a house made balsamic rub that might have been made with spoiled wine and only God knows what else, Candied cabbage under the green beans was on the side that was awful. The jalapeno creamed corn was more sugary than taffy…ICK. The complimentary red sangria they served me was made with old spoiled wine….I felt sick to my stomach from this place. I already wrote about them. Some place in Phoenix.
The Fish Collar from Vecina in Phoenix was Amazing!
Gelato from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale was really great! I had a different one on a different visit with mostly hazelnut that was also amazing!
I didn’t eat this one but my husband really loved the osso buco from the Italian Daughter in Scottsdale.
This salad made with tuna from The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen in Scottsdale was delicious and incredible.. Great flavors, fresh fish, and fancy pristine farm fresh produce.
Lunch – Buttermilk Fried Chicken from Confluence in Carefree is not like any other and is SCRUMPTIOUS!
Miang Kham from Chada Thai AZ in Scottsdale. Really great flavors that POP!
Pickled Fish – Water boiled fish with pickles and chilies from Shaanxi Gardens in Mesa

These were most of the most memorable dishes from Metro Phoenix Restaurants from 2021. It’s always a joy to eat eat something so well made and delicious.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of The Mexicano in Phoenix AZ

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The Mexicano is a Mexican Style full service Unique Restaurant in the Paradise Valley area of Phoenix Arizona. This restaurant is unique.

There is something about it that is festive. People of a certain age might remember a Mexican restaurant called Chi-Chi’s. The Mexicano is kind of like that Chi-Chi’s festive atmosphere and style but on steroids with better food.

This place is already a hit. I knew it would be packed so we came extra EXTRA EARLY at 4pm and they were ALREADY on a 45 minute wait. By 5pm they were on a hour and a half wait.

The wait estimate was accurate and we made it to our table in 48 minutes.

Lots of people waiting for seating.

On my way to a table I notice the build your own Michelada area.

I also notice that they have someone with a cart selling shots.

We start of with margaritas and complimentary tasty chips and salsas.

Then we share the Mexican flaming cheese called saganaki.

The manchego cheese was ignited with tequila and topped with roasted poblano peppers and onion bulbs.

For dinners we tried the lava rock fajita salmon and the birria enchiladas.

(sour cream and smashed avocado also arrived)

The winner here was the fajita salmon. It was fresh tasting and very moist. It never got overcooked despite sitting on a hot lava rock. It was also delicious. They gave small hand made purple tortilla with it.

The beef enchiladas didn’t come out perfect but had a nice flavor. My husband enjoyed both of the cannellini refried beans. (They made things right)

Our service was attentive and very good.

That was a little taste of The Mexicano in Phoenix.

www.TheMexicano.com

4801 E. Cactus RD PHX AZ Ph#602-812-2100

The Forking Truth