I find that service from newly opened restaurants usually isn’t smooth and something will always happen.

We dined at a newly opened restaurant in Glendale AZ.  We were about to forking leave after we were seated because someone turned up the music to an uncomfortable level. My head was forking pounding. Eventually the music did get turned down so we stayed.

We dined at a pizza place and ordered individual pizzas. The pizzas arrive and they were good. They both had nice light crispy crust and were topped with quality toppings and were tasty.

What forking bothered us most about our dining exsperience was not the food or our server but the hostess.

The dining room was basically forking empty. Only us and a single man were seated in the dining room.

Then the hostess comes up to us and starts removing half our table that she sat us at and forking says something like she needs to table to seat a party of five next to us. We didn’t pick this table she sat us there. This was two two-tops that were pushed together.

The whole place is forking EMPTY and I counted at least forking TWELVE people standing around that looked like wait staff so it’s not like they only had one server on.

She could have forking sat the party of five to our other side or anywhere else in the FORKING dining room but NO she has to disturb us….the only forking people in the room since the single man left by this time. It’s not that I minded having a table next to us. It only was a problem because the tables are very small.

I didn’t finish my forking pizza so I had a box and made the mistake about ordering dessert. I found out latter this was a mistake because the table wasn’t big enough to hold a small pizza box and  a dessert plate.

Someone runs out our dessert to us and says something like,”I don’t know what this is but here it is”. I feel bad for that guy because the restaurant didn’t train him in what he was serving.

The dessert was a mistake to order because we didn’t have room on the small table with the box for forking dessert. My husband insisted we couldn’t put it on top of the box because the box was hot.

We stuck our box on the empty table on our other side so we could eat the forking dessert.

And THEN the forking hostess sits a forking people at that forking table on our other forking side so we have to pick up the forking box.

Tiny tables and an inexperienced hostess doesn’t usually add up to the greatest dining exsperience.

Forking Truth

Ever have Sambar, Rasam, Upma Pulav, or Dum Aloo before?

You really get the feeling you visited India when you dine at Chennai Chettinaad Palace in Phoenix Arizona. Indian Television is playing on the large screen TVs above the bar. Unfamiliar but fragrant spices fill the air. The restaurant was packed with people and everyone except us were of Indian decent.

We were seated and I sort of expected someone to greet us at the table but after a while the person that sat us just said “it’s a buffet you help yourself.” As I approached the buffet I noticed a grade “A” Maricopa health inspection and that one side of the buffet was strictly vegetarian and five meats dishes were on the other side. Three dishes were chicken, one dish was fish and the last meat dish was goat.

The Buffet started with appetizer savory mini donuts and a few vegetable soups one of the soups was called rasam and is a tamarind based vegetable soup that was more flavorful than the sambar vegetable soup.

Some of the vegetable dishes had more heat to them than the meat dishes but it was a gentle heat that didn’t build.

Some of the vegetarian dishes were-

Upma- A porridge with vegetables

Pulav- Spicy long grain fluffy rice with vegetables

Dum Aloo- Baby potatoes curry

Channa Palgk- Spinach with Chickpeas

Baby Corn with Chilies

Dhal Tadka-Lentils

Mutteer Panger-Peas and Cheese

Most of what I tried was delicious. Very flavorful food. Only two things I didn’t care for that I tried was the Dahi Vada and the Upma due to that I wasn’t brought up eating them. People that are new to Indian Food might have a hard time with lentil dumplings in yogurt and vegetable porridge.

I tried small amounts of the chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, chicken bryani and the fish curry. I found them all to be fresh and well prepared for a buffet meaning not dried out.  The meat dishes were all delicious I think anybody would like them. They had interesting flavorful spices to them. They all differed but all were interesting. Nothing was too salty or oily.

Desserts looked very foreign to me.

Small fragrant soaked fritters were in one pan called Gulab Jamun. I skipped over the second pan and did try some of the carrot halwa that’s basically carrot pudding seasoned with cardamon and cashews.

It felt like a trip to India but with much better traffic and my trip only cost $13.99.

Forking Truth

Once you pass threw the entrance of the Boulders you take a fairy long but scenic tour.

You should plan your forking visit during daylight hours to view the beauty of this resort.

They even have a gorgeous duck pond.

Many quail live here too.

We were coming up on the big boulder, the really GIANT Big Forking Boulder.

I couldn’t photo the water feature but water was flowing down the crack. (looks a little like a forking butt doesn’t it? but it’s a pretty butt)

The most beautiful resort I’ve seen in the Metro Phoenix area.

Several Restaurants can be found at the Boulders. We decided to pop into The Grill at the Boulders. They do have a lovely dining room that overlooks the golf course but only one waitress was on and we didn’t want to make her forking run from the bar to the other end of the building so we sat in the bar area that has a view of the forking golf shop.

I saw New York Pastrami on the menu so I had to ask if it really was New York Pastrami or just New York Style. I was told New York Style and ordered it because it was house made.  After a little while I received it.

I liked that the meat wasn’t too fatty and also not too lean. It was very unique in flavor with an unusual spice in it that I think might have been cloves. The meat was delicious, flavorful, and moist. The sandwich was layered with a very small amount of fresh crispy but average coleslaw and was held together with some sort of grained pumpernickel bread. The fries were hot, fresh and lightly salted but slightly disappointing because they seemed like fast food kind of fries. I also thought house made pickle might come with this sandwich because it cost around $15.00.

My husband tried the BBQ Brisket grilled Cheese.

Both sandwiches came with an enormous amount of fries. The brisket inside was very moist and flavorful. The bread was grilled nicely and quality cheddar cheese was used but for some reason this sandwich seemed more like a brisket sandwich with cheese other than the grilled cheese with brisket that we thought it would be. Also priced at around $15.00.

We found the service to be friendly and efficient.

The Grill at the Boulders and the Palo Verde Restaurant at the Boulders in beautiful Cave Creek AZ both participate in the Scottsdale preferred savings card and if you have one you can get one meal for free.

Eat at the Boulders for some of the most Beautiful Views in the Metro Phoenix Area.

Forking Truth

Grilly Cheese Glassboro NJ

We were forking tired after a day of traveling with connected flights with delays.

Grilly Cheese Glassboro NJ

This casual Grilled Cheese Restaurant called Grilly Cheese seemed comforting  and just right for a casual dinner.

They also offer hot dogs and a few other things but we decided to go with grilled cheese sandwiches.

I ordered a Rueben Steiner. It was described as a sauerkraut and Swiss Cheese grilled sandwich topped with dressing and corned beef. To me it sounded like a knife and fork sandwich but it was just a regular rueben with a not so forking cheesey inside.

Grilly Cheese Glassboro NJ

I opened the sandwich and ate the corned beef. It was tasty and seemed better than most forking corned beef I can find in Arizona. The bread from my sandwich was grilled nicely but it wasn’t cheesey like a melty grilled cheese sandwich. My sandwich came with a cup of tomato soup. The  soup was very thin but was made with a touch of cream and had a lot of fresh basil in it.

Had some less than Good Food from the Courtyard Marriott Rowan-Glassboro in New Jersey.

Courtyard Marriott Rowan-Glassboro New Jersey

Plain pizza that was almost raw on the bottom and forking burnt on the top and

forking burnt toast with one breakfast and missing fruit with the muffin sandwich. The next day we ate at Angelo’s Diner in Glassboro NJ.

Angelo’s Diner Glassboro NJ

It was very vintage and actually was a very Bare Bones kind of place with a very limited basic menu.

Angelo’s Diner Glassboro NJ

This is a very small diner and you almost forking rub elbows with other people while you dine here. I ordered a spinach and cheese omelette.

The omelette had a batter taste to it like they might have added a little forking pancake batter to it. Inside was spinach that seemed like prepared from frozen and a better quality American Cheese than what I can buy in Arizona. The home fries had a crunchy exterior and were fluffy inside. The seedless rye bread had a deep rye flavor. Service and the food were forking speedy and quick!

I had the pleasure of Dining with my Sister

and her beautiful Family.

The Girls

The Boys

At one of their favorite restaurants, Cotardo’s Ristorante n Clemintine NJ.

I think my sister’s family loves this place because of the forking garlic bread they raved about. It’s crispy but fluffy and kissed with forking pizza kind of seasoning and taste good dipped in the soup.

Garlic Bread with House Made Vegetable Orzo Soup

Our table mostly had luncheon parmesan platters of chicken, veal, and eggplant. They were of generous size and came with nicely prepared pasta and a choice of use house made vegetable orzo soup or fresh green salad. Most of us shared a few desserts since Mrs. Cotardo made them herself. Most of us mentioned that the desserts were very good. I thought the Tartufo was delicious.

Cotardo’s Tartufo

Most of the city and surrounding areas were preparing to shut down because of a forking massive snow storm they were expecting. (that didn’t FORKING happen) So we got the fork of there and stayed close to the airport.

So our next few meals were at the Grill at the Reserve located in the Embassy Suites Hotel at the Philadelphia Airport.

With a forking two star average on Yelp I was expecting the worst but honestly it was forking OK and not great but OK food. I wasn’t forking stupid enough to order a forking $40.00 meal here so

The Grille at the Reserve Embassy Suites Philadelphia Airport Steak Salad

for dinner I figured I’d try the steak salad. The steak was seasoned and cooked to medium. The salad seemed fresh made. The eggs, cheese, tomatoes and croutons weren’t the best but the salad was an overall ok to me since it seemed fresh and the meat was tasty.

I was able to have one great meal out and it came from the James Beard winning Chef Solomonov his multi awarding winning restaurant called Zahav.

Zahav Restaurant Philadelphia PA This was just the starter before 8 more plates to come

There is too much to say about the Israeli Restaurant called Zahav that translates to mean gold in Hebrew. The menu is made of up mostly small vegetable plates that are amazing and very detailed. Meats are on the menu and are cooked on live coals and the ones we tried were really forking outstanding. My Branzino I had was prepared as well or better than from the finest forking fish house out there can make it. The Cuisine at Zahav is Middle Eastern with a Modern Farm Fresh Approach. Even my husband who isn’t found of this kind of cuisine thought everything he tried was better than forking very good and was indeed exceptional forking cuisine.

That was the majority of what I forking ate from New Jersey threw Pennsylvania.

Forking Truth

A few of the house made desserts at Cafe Nordstrom

At the Scottsdale Fashion Plaza in Scottsdale Arizona there is a very above average cafe located in the Nordstrom’s Department Store called Cafe Nordstrom. (On Nordstrom’s Webpage it’s called the Marketplace Cafe) All the food is made in house and they use mostly organic, cage free eggs and local food as much as possible. (It’s Arizona the forking desert not everything can come from forking here.) The cafe is really a cafeteria and that’s the only bad part if you are carrying packages. You pick up your tray and order from the station you feel like forking ordering from where they fresh make the food for you and then you slide your tray to the cashier and pay.

The bulk of the menu are these really interesting gourmet salads they offer. I’ve had many different ones over the years and am always impressed by how nice they really are. The Cafe offers about half a dozen different kinds of salads, a few sandwiches, soup, pizzas, pastas, couple entries, a special of the day and many made in house desserts. They also serve beer and wine and speciality coffees.

This time I tried the Berry, Blue Cheese and Chicken Salad.

Berry Blue Cheese and Chicken Salad from Cafe Nordstrom

WOW what a great salad! This sure forking beats anything from the food court. Lots of plump berries, tangy blue cheese, fresh mixed greens, some sort of candied walnut granola croutons and perfectly poached chicken. This salad was satisfying but still seemed light because of the berries. I liked the sweet against tangy thing going on in this salad.

My husband had some sort of Steak Sandwich that came with potato chips.

Steak Sandwich from Cafe Nordstrom Scottsdale AZ

The steak was topped with balsamic onions and havarti Cheese. looks like my husband pulled out the forking raw tomatoes. He said it was a really good for a cold sandwich. He would have preferred it warmed up.

When your all done your table attendant presents you with a wrapped mint chocolate.

Cafe Nordstrom is Forking Better than the Food Court!

Worth a Fork

Forking Truth

My forking search for Lox means a Deli that serves a proper tasting Pastrami on Real Rye Bread, A traditional Potato Knish and of course Lox. Since the closing of Abe’s Deli in Scottsdale AZ I haven’t found anyone that actually serves real hand carved Lox. The word lox is a lose term and all that I found available anywhere so far has been Nova or Nova style salmon to be technical.

We stopped in at New York Bagels and Bialy’s in Scottsdale AZ. I ordered a Whitefish Plate with an Onion Bialy.

I received forking this.

Look close and notice all the bloodline and how DRY the fish is.

I never forking seen a bialy that looked like this.

I was expecting something like forking this.

Picture from www.thefreshloaf.com

When the waitress checks on us I do mention how dry the fish is.

The manager soon runs over and is very upset because her help accidentally gave me the forking fish ends you don’t serve people and runs me out some fresh fish.

The fresh fish is forking better and not dried out and fishy and condensed with salt.

My husband got a 1/2 corned beef, half pastrami on their house made rye bread.

The corned beef was a little weak tasting but OK and not bad. The Pastrami was almost the same in taste as the corned beef.  I didn’t taste the rye bread but my husband said it was the fluffy kind that doesn’t really taste like rye. I’m certain some people prefer the sandwiches this forking way and they are perfection to them.

We took home some lox, cream cheese and 6 bagels.

So the next morning I ate this.

The fish was better quality than what I found at my previous stops and also cut much nicer too.

I liked the size of the bagel it wasn’t too big but it tasted like it was missing salt and lacked the chewy doughy texture that you look for in bagels. Maybe on some days it’s better than other days.

I didn’t try a knish on this stop but I do consider this partial success because the lox was good.

At this point I doubt I will be able to find Good Lox and a Good Pastrami on Rye in one location but I still will forking try.

Forking Truth