A bunch of these little ethnic eaters are opening up all over the metro Phoenix Area. I’m talking about the kind of places where you order yourself, pay, and seat yourself kinds of places. All these places are forking inexpensive. These are places were the entree is usually less than $9.95. I have no forking idea how they can prepare quality food at such low prices. These are all places that prepare very above average foods that impressed me.

Suh Noi – The Little Thaiger Scottsdale AZ

Suh Noi – The Little Thaiger  in Scottdale AZ serves up mostly serious Thai Cuisine in a fast casual atmosphere. This tiny cafe with a patio even has a drive thru. (i’m not forking sure how the fork that can work out)

Not many Thai places serve up Wild Boar. You can even oder your forking boar Thai Style. (Thai style means hand chopped meat with a crispy fried egg) Not every Thai Restaurant offers Thai Style.

Wild Boar Grapao $7.99

I had the Holy Basil Chicken.

Holy Basil Chicken $7.99

The Holy Basil Chicken is chicken, chili’s, garlic, fish sauce and fresh basil. My dish came out a little spicier than I wanted but was made with enough basil and it was Holy Basil to Boot! I noticed the majority of Thai Places in Metro Phoenix don’t use enough basil in their dishes (you actually need a certain number of leaves a person or a small bunch for this dish to be made correctly) and I haven’t been to another in the area so far that actually uses the Holy Basil that differs in taste from Thai Basil. The Holy Basil has some heat to it and supposedly has more nutrients in it. Anyways the food was forking good and very above average. Who knew from a little unassuming place with a drive thru you’d get some serious Thai Food. (that’s also forking cheap)

Another Great Quick Casual Eatery is Hummus Xpress in Tempe AZ

The Plate from Hummus Xpress Tempe AZ

Hummus Xpress in Tempe AZ is a small Middle Eastern Cafe that serves up their cuisine “Subway” or “Chipotle” Style. They build up your Pita, Bowl, or Plate (priced $6.45-9.95) for you from behind a window front buffet line from what you pick. The Food is Chef Inspired Middle Eastern with a Lebanese flavor and the owner has been culinary trained and it shows.

This place is off my beaten path so we got Plates to try as much as possible. I tried delicious spicy carrots, lemon broccoli, flavorful moist brisket with au jus, Lebanese Falafels, beetroot hummus, regular hummus, (from my husband’s plate lemon ginger hummus ((P.S. there is a lot of hummus here,many flavors hence the name Hummus Xpress))  tabbouleh, pickled beets, some sort of onion salad, schug sauce (spicy complex herb relish unique to the Yemen Cuisine) and if that wasn’t enough it also came with seasoned rice and a fresh made pita bread. Everything was made fresh in house and everything was delicious. I just asked for a lid when I was done and had more than enough for another meal.

I never had a Banh Mi Sandwich before. So when the Banh Mi Bistro – Vietnamese Eatery opened not too far from me I had to give that a forking try. Bahn Mi Bistro is a small family owned business that specializes in the Vietnamese Sandwich called the Banh Mi.

1/2 of Pulled Pork Banh Mi from Banh Mi Bistro Phoenix AZ

I looked at the menu and noticed the very low prices. Not everything but most of the menu was priced at $5.00. I thought the food would be forking tiny and not very filling since it was so low priced. I ordered a grilled Chicken Bahn Mi and a lotus root salad. (also $5.00)

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich from Banh Mi Bistro Phoenix AZ

I soon receive my $5.00 Grilled Chicken Bahn Mi and it’s generously packed with juicy seasoned moist chicken, daikon radish carrot salad, fresh cilantro, spicy jalapeños, a flavorful magical sauce of some kind and house made aioli. I think the bread was made fresh in house too. This sandwich was forking delicious and tasty and I got the other half for latter.

I also ordered the lotus root salad.

Lotus root salad (with out the shrimp) from Banh Mi Bistro Phoenix AZ

Out came a BIG bowl of salad with Lotus Root.

I’ve never seen lotus root like this before.

It’s like baby lotus roots. It so much more tender than what I have purchased from the Asian Market. They tossed the lotus roots in a mild Asian vinaigrette with crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro. This was a very nice salad that I think most people would like if they tried it. This place isn’t too far so I will be going back to try other things like a minty noodle bowl and the Vietnamese frozen build your own fruit desserts.

These are just a very few of the Great Casual Inexpensive Ethnic Eats in the Metro Phoenix Area.

Forking Truth

Willie Bird’s Restaurant in Sonoma County Santa Rosa CA is a Great Restaurant for Forking Turkey to gobble up. Willie Bird’s are Locally Grown Willie Bird Turkeys that are also sold at the Willie Bird Store.

Forking Nothing about the restaurant or menu is fancy. When you walk in it’s forking like grandma’s old dining room with a forking lot of old turkey ceramics. The menu is not all but mostly Turkey. It’s sort of forking like Thanksgiving every day Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner seven days a forking week! Turkey, turkey, TURKEY, and more TURKEY!

This time I came for dinner. They started us of with a Bread Basket and an appetizer plate of Vegetables and Pepperoni (Turkey?)

Complementary with dinner

Then next came a cup of soup. I had TURKEY Barley.

Included with dinner

My companion had Lentil with TURKEY Sausage.

Next came a House Salad.

Included with Dinner

For dinner (and 4 other meals) I (and We) forking had the Roasted Drumstick Dinner.

Roasted Drumstick Dinner

I received a very large tender, flavorful Turkey Leg, mashed potatoes, and stuffing covered in giblet gravy. This was a forking hell of a deal for just under twenty dollars.

My companion had the Chicken Fried Turkey Dinner.

Chicken Fried Turkey

Willie Bird’s Restaurant in Santa Rosa is the forking destination to Gobble up Turkey!

Forking Truth

Fresh Rolls

As an update Sadly this Business has closed.

As we entered Two Sisters Thai Food restaurant we noticed a few Grade “A” Maricopa Health inspections posted by the door. The restaurant looked a little forking quirky to me with an open kitchen in the middle of the dining room but had nice looking stone top tables.

We decided to start with what they called fresh rolls.  They were very light and filled with fresh crispy vegetables. They came with a better than average peanut dipping sauce.

I ordered the Esan Gang Gai.

Esan Gang Gai

The dish was a clear curry made with not regular Thai Basil but made with Lao Basil and Fresh Dill. I think the green vegetable in this dish might be called Pat Krana. The vegetable was like spinach but with a thin almost like celery stem. This dish smelled very aromatic and tasted like nothing Thai I ever forking had before. I asked my waitress about the ingredients but she said she didn’t know how to translate in English. She did say that this is a dish they eat in Thailand. The Esan Gang Gai is an North Eastern Thai Dish. North Eastern Thai dishes differ from Central Thailand foods and usually don’t have Coconut Milk in them. Central Thailand Dishes are the ones with lots of peanuts and coconut milk.

My husband tried the Pad Kee Mow.

Pad Kee Mow

It’s basically a Drunken Rice Noodle Dish a Chinese inspired dish but made by popular by North Eastern Thai People in the Lao Area. It was spicy and flavorful. Not sweet or saucy like you get at other places.

The food from Two Sisters Thai Food in Phoenix Arizona tasted like taking a Trip to Thailand.

Forking Truth

Not rated since it’s destination Dining.

Why wait for Forking Restaurant Week when you can dine at Vincent Market Bistro and get Better than Restaurant Week Forking Pricing anytime on anything there! You can count on warm fresh flaky Croissants served on the most adorable plates.

Croissants

We felt like a little wine.

So we purchased the most Forking expensive bottle on the wine list. ($30.00)

We shared a Three Cheese Tartine with tomatoes and basil. That also came with a very fresh greens salad. ($9.50)

Three Cheese Tartine with tomatoes and Basil Pesto

It was very hard to decide on what dinner to pick since they had so many Forking choices. Some of the dinners we had before were Beef Bourguignon, Coq Au Vin, Crispy Duck Confit, Lamb Shank,  Petite Filet, Lobster and other Seafood Dishes.

I went with one of the lighter dinners and had The Flounder with Basil Beurre Blanc sauce with Fresh Greens as my side. ($13.00)

Flounder with Basil Beurre Blanc Sauce

A pretty Forking amazing dinner for $13.00.  The Fish was so fresh and cooked to perfection. The sauce was light but rich at the same time and the food here always has the perfect amount of fresh herbs in it.

Meat Paella Special

My husband tried the Meat Paella Special. It had the most perfect Forking Scrumptious Moist Chicken.  The Rice wasn’t crunchy but was oh so delicious and was another very amazing meal. ($13.00)

The desserts are always worth the Forking calories here so I was just trying to decide what we’d try and all of a sudden a waiter presents us with Complimentary Strawberry Cobbler ala mode and a Chocolate Mocha Tart.

Strawberry Cobbler ala Mode

Chocolate Mocha Tart

I was so full but had to eat the Forking desserts because they were so good!

Then another Waiter brings us more Forking Complimentary Dessrt and is was a trio of Pots de Creme.

Pots de Creme trio

Service is always Outstanding with a professional dressed staff that works as a team! I do note there is no late night here I think they stop serving at 8pm so you need to arrange for that.

This restaurant is Forking Amazing!

Worth a Fork. I’d drive up to 45 minutes to eat here.

Forking Truth

Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol isn’t the best or most Forking authentic Mexican Restaurant but it is budget priced and family friendly.  You can always count on tasty chips, delicious fresh salsa and low priced very FORKING strong Margaritas from this family owned restaurant.

Did I say VERY FORKING Strong Margaritas?

My favorite meal to order at Popo’s is their Chicken Fajita salad.

Chicken Fajita Salad with Cheese on Side and a s/o of guacamole

The Chicken is always tasty with the fried onions and peppers. The salad is fresh and for my taste it doesn’t need dressing just some salsa. The proportions of the ingredients vary a bit. This time they gave me lots of avocado.

Sometimes the plates are a little messy. Forking Truth!

The Guacamole is very unique here. You can clearly taste the fresh avocados and it’s different because it’s very smooth and heavily laced with fresh cilantro and not chunky. I think something heavy and creamy like cream cheese might be added to it but I don’t know for sure.

The sour cream is also real Mexican Style meaning it’s the extra heavy kind.

Carnitas

On our last visit my husband had the Carnitas. He thought they were good.

We like coming here because we don’t Peso Much! We had a total of four Forking  Strong margaritas and our two meals and spent somewhere around only $40.00 Forking dollars before tip.

3.5 Meaning Good Value not award winning. if you are in the neighborhood kind of place.

Forking Truth

Cucina Tagliani is neighborhood Gold among the mostly medicore  taco shops that infest this immediate area. Cucina Tagliani has been serving their Budget priced Family Friendly Italian inspired meals for over 20 years. This is an independently owned restaurant.

Papa’s Combo

They are higher quality than your average strip mall pizza/shop Italian kind of place  and the Italian you know WHO Chain as they make their salad dressings from scratch. They also start you off with buttery, slightly cheesy Garlic Toast that taste better and not like cardboard from than from that You know WHO Chain Place.

Many of the dishes they offer are very generous in size and can feed you for more than one meal as in the Papa’s Combo. (Pictured Above) Real Veal Parmesan, Sausage Lasagna, Two Spinach Manicotti’s that are actually delicious!

Lately I usually order the Broiled Salmon in Lemon Caper Sauce. They always prepare it reasonably well. The Salmon is always fresh and I get two sides of whatever I want for only $13.99. I like all the fresh vegetables they offer. I can pick, Spinach, Broccoli, Mixed, Spaghetti Squash or Asparagus or one vegetable and pasta.

Broiled Salmon

This is a neighborhood kind of place.  Your not going to travel miles to come here for award winning cuisine. Most of the food is good and budget priced. Once in a while you might get an off batch of something, however it’s good most of the time. You stop here if you are in the neighborhood and possibly dine on the nice Dog Friendly Patio they have that has live Music on the Weekends.

I do note the House Made Marscarpone Chocolate Cake is excellent and could be award winning  but chances are you won’t have room in your belly to try it.

3.5 Meaning Good Value not award winning. if you are in the neighborhood kind of place.

La Dorade – Snapper Carpaccio served in lemon Vinaigrette with poppy seeds and espelette pepper

This is your splurge night in Las Vegas. Expect the unexpected everything is a surprise. Masterfully crafted small plates that you can’t duplicate at home. They welcome you with the greatest house made breads and butter that taste so rich. An Amuse of some sort comes your way. You do sit at a counter but it is like watching a show of master crafters at their work.

La Truffe Noire D’Hiver – Black Winter Truffle on Soft Boiled Egg with Spinach Veloute

I go here every time I’m in Las Vegas and really no words can describe how amazing the food is. This is the place I’d pick for my Birthday if I could.

Le Salmon M-Fume – Semi Smoked Salmon on a Bed of Leek and Potatoes

I have no idea how they add so much butter to potatoes.

Robuchon’s Famous Potatoes – I think I heard they are made from fingerling potatoes and are at least 1/2 butter

The desserts are equally as amazing.

Les Tartes – A plate of MINI Traditional tartes

La Caipirinha – Passion Fruit Banana Creme under a cachaco granite topped with lime foam

An evening that would make angels sing except for on FORKING THING!

Wet smelly Arm pit rag

This Arm Pit Rag got wiped all over the kitchen.

Co-Workers and Management let the arm pit rag go unnoticed

Forking Truth