The Pacific Seafood Buffet is two locations again. They have one location in Chandler Arizona and One again in Glendale just two miles away from their old location that was torn down and will become a Cheddar’s Restaurant. The buffet is open everyday even holidays for lunch and dinner. They offer over a hundred different things to choose from.
Maybe you want to start with common sushi.
Or maybe you want some sashimi? Oh take both!
They have lots of fried tasty things. My favorite here are the little sesame balls stuffed with sweet bean paste.
They have dumplings, steamed buns and stuffed leaves and more! DIDN’T I TELL YOU THAT ALMOST NOTHING IS MARKED? Everything (almost) is a surprise. I took one of each steamed bun…Both I never had before. One was filled with sweet egg custard. The purple one was filled with sweet white bean paste. I saw a few different kinds of chicken feet here today and they added pizza as we were leaving.
They do offer several shellfish dishes. I took some mild whitefish with ginger scallions and a dish that I never had at a buffet before…The sweet and spicy mild fried white fish….It might have been the best dish I tried today. The other best dish I tried were the mushrooms….They were baby brown mushrooms that were really good. I also like the baby bok choy. They were smaller than what I usually find and were tasty and slightly still tender crisp.
That mackerel in the upper right was my least favorite today. I couldn’t stomach it.
The green beans were good. Next to it was a tofu stir fry. On the other side was some sort of stir fried tilapia that looked like chicken…..My husband tried it…….It was not great but edible.
Don’t remember what was in the pans below.
The desserts………..nothing too exciting. Fill up before you get here.
And the frozen desserts.
That was a little taste of the Pacific Buffet in Glendale AZ. It’s not high end but The FORKING Truth is that it is better than some places.
Cala is described as a Modern Mediterranean Restaurant. It is in the small boutique hotel called Senna House in Old Town Scottsdale Arizona. The restaurant is led by celebrity chef Beau MacMillan. Parking is difficult but not impossible. It’s just like city parking. You can valet there or search for a parking spot somewhere. The nearby lots are tow-away zones but we’ve found a parking spot down the main road.
We’ve found the hostess desk. Eventually someone walks by and says that a hostess will be with us. We waited about ten minutes. During that time I could look around.
inside with patio view
Inside is comfortable looking, modern, airy, and visually beautiful. There are lots of live plants. It’s like a big patio inside and also they have an actual outdoor patio with another bar outside.
inside bar area
It’s impossible not to notice that NOT ALL but most of the females working there are wearing very little up top and not enough down below to cover their panties. Two servers today are wearing long jeans with a tank tops. I can’t decide if they are going for a beach in the desert look or a Hooters at The Senna House look?
This photo was the most family friendly of what was seen…..Other women I saw had the daisy dukes with their buns exposed.
Cala is for sure a great destination for younger men or any males that enjoy looking at young women in skimpy outfits……maybe even your grandpa…… But maybe not so great for most other women, young children, or grandma.
Eventually a brestaurant hostess seats us…..She looked like a teenager……..She wore hot pants and a top that exposed 49% of breasts…whole middle and part of stomach)………..She seats us at a table where I have to brush away what looks like a big spill of granola from my bench….(sorry now that I didn’t photo all that I brushed off)
I thought I bushed it all and then I found this next to me.
We look at the menu. They have cocktails for the table. They also offer sharables like flaming cheese, and mezze plates ($58…that one seemed steep to me?), Cala power bowls, brunch plates like a green Chile pork burrito, burgers, banana French toast, insalada pizza, and a few desserts.
I thought that the spiced lentil & chickpea bowl with added salmon sounded good so I ordered that and I received a very large bowl of food.
It’s suppose to contain lentils, chickpeas, carrots, tomato, beets, cucumber, feta, and tahini-citrus vinaigrette. I wasn’t told but found out that the carrots and beets were missing and were replaced with crunchy corn nuts. (would have ordered the other bowl if I knew) Crunchy corn nuts seems like a bar snack………..and I believe that corn nuts are a South American food and don’t seem Mediterranean and also are not a replacement for carrots and beets. ….In a nice restaurant they usually let you know if they are out of something……..
Anyways-
I taste the dressing. To me it taste like tahini and lemon…….pretty much nothing else. I would expect to taste cumin, coriander, salt, and at least pepper. I can only guess that ingredients are missing from the dressing? ……I DON’T KNOW if ingredients are missing but I think so because the the bowl had missing ingredients and also the food I enjoyed from the chef’s previous restaurant was flavorful and delicious……so I was expecting flavorful and delicious here………
Then I taste the salmon. It’s prepared nice like it seems like it was slow cooked. It has a very good texture but it is also unseasoned and unseasoned is at the very least UNDER-SEASONED. For some odd reason it’s slightly fishy.
not seasoned
It taste exactly like the bloodline all the way threw. This bowl is mostly unseasoned. The crunchy corn kernels add a little salt. The best thing in my bowl are the tomatoes. They are extra sweet today. I could have sent this back but I usually don’t send things back at restaurants….especially when I can’t see into the kitchen. I used to work in restaurants and most were professional but I did work at a certain restaurant that was one of the busiest restaurants in the country. That restaurant was unique and very different from all the rest. They didn’t hire culinary students there to work in the kitchen instead they hired their cooks fresh plucked from the local jail to cook the food. When you sent food back…The cooks got unhinged….. you’d be sorry if you saw what they did to the food…….I’m not kidding….. It was exactly like from that 2005 movie called Waiting. When I saw that movie I thought they stole a memory from my head for the movie. Don’t send food back unless you can see into the kitchen….”You’re welcome.”
My husband ordered the shakshuka burger with fried cheese instead of the whipped feta cheese. He said that the fries seemed good and he received a very generous portion of fries. Also the bun was grilled nicely. He asked for the burger to be prepared medium (because he thought it was going to be made out of lamb..((his error…it’s beef)). (red pepper tomato jam, whipped feta, cilantro, fried egg, and fries)
The bun was grilled nicely.
The egg was a little under with some runny white and wasn’t seasoned. No seasoning is UNDER-SEASONED.
He said that the jam had very little flavor and the burger was extra dry. It was very dry. We brought home a small piece for our dogs and it was so dry that it was hard for me to break up.
*******Summing things up.***********
I had to wait ten minutes for someone to seat us.
I was sat at a bench full of crumbs that I had to brush off myself.
My meal was a very large portion but was missing some ingredients (beets & carrots). However it did contain an unexpected substitute (crispy corn nuts). It also was under seasoned (no seasoning on fish and possibly missing seasoning in dressing?) and the protein was a little off.
The burger didn’t seem seasoned and the egg was under seasoned (not seasoned). The burger was also cooked till dried out.
Maybe dinners are better or I hit them on an off day? I don’t FORKING know.
The next day I got an email from Cala asking me to rate the food and to write about my experience there. I filled it out and briefly explained everything I mentioned here. Haven’t heard back from Cala as of yet (and that was over a week ago as of 5-4-22).
That was my trip to Cala…Under-Seasoned, Under-Dressed, and left Underwhelmed.
Tia Carmen is a high quality contemporary southwestern style restaurant. They use Arizona purveyors and cook with a wood fired grill. The restaurant is led by Michelin star chef, restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and cookbook author Angelo Sosa (pictured below in the white chef shirt).
The restaurant is airy and modern.
inside
They also offer a very large patio and for V.I.P.S. semi private cabanas.
Tonight’s menu started with appetizers in a section called Light Bright + Fresh . They offered things like a seafood platter, avocado aguachile, lamb ragu with mesquite noodles,(a really FANTABULOUS) tuna crudo, –
Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen – corn coconut broth, smoked Chile oil, dill
and (really great) wagu kebabs (that might be twist on a Thai snack food called Miang Kham (stuffed perilla leaves).
They had three tostadas on the menu tonight. They were tuna, beef and beef bone marrow, and corn.
The entree section is called Charcoal + Wood + Fire. Some of the entrees that they offered tonight were mushroom menudo, whole mesquite smoked chicken, whole trout, third day dry aged tribal land Arizona grass fed New York Steak, Wagyu Tomahawk rib eye, (interesting and really good) Baja striped bass,-
Baja striped bass – Thai Basil, mole verde – The fish is encrusted with seeds, nuts, herbs and high quality sea salt. It becomes magical when you eat it with the foam and mole verde.
and Tia Carmen’s (the chef’s aunt’s famous chicken dish) Chicken Guisado with high quality olives, hard to find chimayo Chile, garlic, and turmeric rice.
Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado (very good stewed chicken)
The appetizers were delicious but very light. The striped bass also was very light so I did have room to try a dessert and tried the coriander torte.
coriander torte
Here is a better look.
coriander torte
It’s described as dulce de leche and orange cream. The tart is very well made with a perfect thin crust. It creamy but not very sweet or overly rich. I sort of want more orange but it still is very good and was a nice sweet ending.
That was a taste of Tia Carmen – Newly Opened and Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Phoenix AZ
The FANTABULOUS Dish means – Top of the line, Marvelously good, Peachy keen, and DYNAMITE! It also means that it is worth driving across town for. The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is all that and more! It’s from Michelin star chef, restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and cookbook author Angelo Sosa.
Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen
It’s described as corn coconut broth, smoked chile oil, and dill. The tuna is melt in your mouth silky fish with just the right amount of fresh dill,There is a little embellishment of roe that adds a little texture a little taste of the sea but THAT BROTH IS BOMB…….It amazing….It just turns all that very good into MAGICAL.
The only downside…..is that it is hard to spoon it all out. Maybe it should be served with a straw?
The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is officially a FANTABULOUS Dish and is WORTH A FORK!
WORTH A FORK!
Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Phoenix AZ
Pad Thai Cafe recently (4-1-2022) opened in North Glendale Arizona. This is a casual full service Thai Restaurant and Bar.
insideinside and bar area
They offer protein choices of vegetable, tofu, chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, squid, and seafood combo for certain dishes. The food is offered in a variety of heat levels and when you dine in you can customize the heat to your liking with a four compartment chile caddy. On the menu they also offer many of the usual appetizers like chicken potstickers, egg rolls, and chicken satay.
chicken potstickers with sweet and sour sauce
They also offer several noodle dishes. A few that you don’t see on many menus are the rad na (flat rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg), and the pad woon sen (glass noodles, egg, vegetables).
pad woon sen with chickento go – Drunken noodle (Pa Kee Mao) (ordered Thai Hot seemed more like hot)
Pad Thai Cafe offers a good amount of salads. A few of the salads are –
to go – Thai Beef Salad (hot)
Thai beef salad, larb, and two different papaya salads (Thai Style and Lao Style).
They offer several curry dishes-
to go – Thai green curry with chicken (hot)
green, yellow, red, pa nang, and massaman.
They have around five soups on the menu including vegetable, Tom Yum and Tom kha.
Most of the rest of the menu is broken down into entrees, chef’s specials, and fried rice dishes. Not all but a few of these offerings are…..spicy basil (made with holy basil),
spicy basil with chickento go – Mixed Vegetables with chicken (hot)
mixed vegetables, pad king, pad prik king, spicy eggplant with pork, pa nang short ribs, grilled salmon in green curry noodles, and fish three flavors.
take out – grilled salmon in green curry noodlesto go – Fish Three Flavors (hot)
They also offer desserts like mango or custard with sticky rice and fried bananas with coconut ice cream.
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ
Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ – 18425 N 51ST AVE Glendale AZ – 623-213-7297
Veneto Trattoria is a Venetian Style Italian Restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. For many years now they have offered Passover Dinners in Venetian Style to honor the Jews of ancient Italy. Incase you didn’t know Passover is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites liberation from slavery from the Egyptians. Foods for Passover are a little different and are unleavened.
They offer seating on the patio.
It’s pretty hot today so we picked indoor seating.
Got sat in the next dining room.
They started us out with matzoth with this delicious honey nut marmalade. (They should bottle and sell that marmalade…It was really great!)
Next came polpette with brodo di matza e pollo alla Veneziana (homemade Venetian style matzah ball soup) (This was better than from a famous place that sells this soup daily that begins with a “C”)
Three different main courses were offered (sole, stuffed chicken, braised brisket)
I went with the sogliola alla mosaica (petrale sole, tomato raisin sauce braised fennel, Brussels sprouts)
My husband went for the brisket called brisket in salsa Pasquale (dried plum sauce, braised fennel, Brussels sprouts)
They were extra generous with dessert. They gave us each a delicious torta tradizionale di mandorce per pesach (almond cake with chocolate sauce)
Delicious but we really only needed one so we took one home for latter.
That was Passover at Veneto Trattoria.
www.VenetoTrattoria.com 6137 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ
480-948-9928
Easter is a Christian celebration commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Italian Daughter offered a very nice reasonably priced menu for Easter. They offered pretty much their whole menu plus some extras.
The Italian Daughter is a full service Italian Restaurant located in North Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is brought to you by the daughter Melissa of the award wining late chef and restauranteur Tomaso Maggiore. This restaurant is a tribute to Melissa’s late father.
Father and Daughter photo
They offer bar seating. Traditional table seating, high tops, and patio seating.
They started us off with complimentary crusty bread and soft herb butter.
For our appetizer we shared the butternut squash purses.
They were in a creamy Frangelico cream sauce with amaretti dust. We had the pancetta on the side.
I had the Roman Salmon. It was a very generous portion. I got a nicely prepared moist piece of salmon in a lemon-ee white wine sauce. The plate was adorned with tender crunch asparagus, cauliflower, creamy risotto and was topped with a long stem artichoke. I do note that the risotto was especially good. It’s very rare that you get decent risotto out.
My husband enjoyed the slow braised short rib.
It came in a Demi/tomato sauce with asparagus and gnocchi.
I saved half my food for another meal so I’d have room for dessert.
The limoncello cake is always a perfect sweet ending.
www.TheItalianDaugther.com 23655 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ
480-404-6085
That was Passover at Veneto Trattoria and Easter at The Italian Daughter both in Scottsdale AZ.
Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen is a casual Jamaican Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. They offer a lot of Jamaican dishes, cocktails and more that you don’t find all the time. It’s not a fancy place but looked sparkling clean on my visits.
inside
Besides soft beverages they offer beer, wine, and signature cocktails.
cucumber margarita and a rum punch (the rum punch is mighty strong)
They offer appetizers like jerk wings, codfish fritters with a tasty creamy Jamaican pepper spiked sauce, –
codfish frittersJamaican beef patty (this is unusually good)1/2 order calaloo & cod stuffed pocket
Jamaican beef patties, Jamaican jerk chicken patties, calaloo (large green leaf from the amaranth family) & cod stuffed pockets, and jerk chicken kabobs.
They also serve some things that you would never expect like jerk chicken tacos, FLAMING (spicy not actually flaming) beef tacos, shrimp tacos, and a spicy chicken jerkadillo!
Not all but some of the entrees offered are- Jamaican jerk chicken (prepared expertly tender but we thought that this ran on the mild side for jerk the day we tried it), –
Jamaican jerk chicken
molasses rubbed jerk pork, braised oxtails, –
curry goat
curry goat, curry chicken (melt in your mouth tendered no bones), –
curry chicken
Island flavor shrimp fried rice, chicken fricassee,-
Island spices fried fish escovitch
Island spiced fried fish escovitch (the pickled onions make this dish pop!), brown stew snapper, ackee & salt fish (national dish of Jamaica), vegan chicken stir fry, and rasta pasta.
They offer sides like steamed vegetables, fried plantains, festival (slightly sweet cornmeal bread), bammy (cassava flat bread), potato salad, and breadfruit.
breadfruit
Children’s meals such as grilled cheese, chicken tenders, and hot dogs served with fries are offered.
Desserts are also available. They offer Jamaican fruit and rum cake, sweet potato pudding, tropical fruit cobbler pineapple upside down cake, mango lime cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a few ice creams.
Parking is easy because they are in a strip mall.
Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen offers so many Jamaican dishes that you can’t find at most places so it can be considered a Jamaican Destination restaurant and is Worth a Try especially for foodies!
That was a little taste of Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen in Phoenix AZ.
The Stillery in Nashville is famous for live country music, drinks, and bar food. It’s only been open a few days and is already a packed house early in the evening.
Not all but most of the tables inside and out are high tops. I usually have trouble with high tops but these are easier than others that I have tried because they are light chairs that are easy to move with a step in just the right place.
They have brought in a very good singer from Nashville.
It is almost COLD on the patio in 97 degrees F. These are the strongest misters that I have ever felt.
I decided to try a drink off of the cocktail menu.
smoking mule and a mixed drink
I tried the mason jar smoking mule on the left. It’s a mixture of Fossil Creek Whiskey, ginger beer, amaretto, and lime. It’s not for me but might be great for others.
We tried the sriracha devil eggs (with crispy prosciutto, parmesan, chives).
The chives didn’t really make it to the eggs but they were tasty.
For my main I tried the hot chicken sandwich (crispy chicken, spicy sauce, fried pickle, lettuce, tomato, blue cheese spread) with a side salad.
I do have to say that the bun is grilled nicely. To be honest my first two bites were disappointing because I ate the part of the sandwich that didn’t have any sauce. Then I tried the other side and it tasted like what a hot chicken sandwich is suppose to taste like cayenne, paprika, garlic, pepper…….. in medium hot (when you order the hot-hot…….regular hot chicken here is no heat) This chicken today is slightly over cooked and is a little dry today…..The top bun soaked up some of the hot sauce is also tasty. I like that they gave me a large fresh salad but the dressing is a bit bland. I had the blue cheese spread on the side and it is also on the bland side.
My husband was going to order a burger but the burgers are smaller here and they only cook them medium-well so he tried the Mac and cheese with added hot chicken tenders in hot-hot.
The tenders seem like pre-cooked. They are very dried out and almost cold.
The macaroni and cheese is very unique. It’s thick creamy and rich. It taste like cheese mixed with something that taste similar to cream cheese. It might be the house made gournay cheese? If you like cream cheese then you might like it. My husband hates cream cheese so he was very unhappy.
This trip wasn’t the best. I would still consider trying it again and order different things that I might like more.
Liz Modern Asian Restaurant is located in Scottsdale Arizona in The Scottsdale Quarter. This is a small full service restaurant that offers appetizers like steamed buns, won ton soup, pear and grain salad, Hong Kong Style foods like fried rice, noodle dishes, cashew chicken and vegetables, They also offer Asian barbecue like char siu chicken and char siu pork, roast pork, pork belly, and Asian bbq brisket. They offer craft natural sodas, wine and beer.
I was going to try the citrus hibiscus orange soda but they were out of that one today.
Inside is small and very plain.
inside
They have three outside tables so we sat at one of them since it was still nice outside.
We started out with brisket egg rolls.
The brisket egg roll was fresh fried to order. It came out light and crispy with a side of sweet and sour sauce. They also offered us chili sauce and really tasty Chinese mustard. I didn’t get a true taste of the Asian BBQ Brisket here that I thought I would. I know that because it isn’t on the menu but they suggested for my husband to get a sampler plate and the brisket there was from a tastier batch.
Not on the menu….Sampler plate
He got all kinds of Asian BBQ. char siu chicken, char siu pork, roast pork, pork belly, Asian bbq brisket, vegetable of the day (green beans, mushrooms, onions), and rice. His favorites were the pork dishes.
I got the char siu chicken.
char siu chicken
They served me white meat chicken that was very tender and developed with Asian flavors and it was drizzled with a brown sweet sauce that taste similar to hoisin sauce. The meat was studded with today’s vegetable (green beans, mushrooms, onions) and came with a big portion of white rice. This lunch plate is very large and for me this is two meals (and I’m not the smallest eater) but for some people it’s just one meal.
When I ordered I didn’t know that they also had this dish prepared more Asian bbq style with dark meat chicken. They told me so far most of their customers don’t eat dark meat chicken. They assumed that I didn’t eat dark meat chicken so I wasn’t asked when I ordered. Near the end of my meal they did offer to give me a plate of dark meat chicken…That was terribly nice but I declined only because I had way more food that I can eat still left.
We recommend the bbq pork dishes and to ask if they have the dark meat char siu chicken.
That was a little taste of Liz Modern Asian Restaurant located in Scottsdale AZ
15323 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ – 480-292-7689
La Piazza Al Forno is an Italian full service Restaurant and pizzeria located in historic Old Town Glendale Arizona. This restaurant specializes in serving certified Neapolitan pizzas. They also offer Roman Style pizza and on weekends have New York special pizzas. Their crust is uniquely tender and thin and blistered. Also the mozzarella here is hand made in house and is more flavorful with a silkier texture than from most other pizzerias. Although the pizzas are the main attraction La Piazza Al Forno is also famous for being on a few Food Network TV Shows with Host celebrity chef Guy Fieri.
This restaurant has won numerous awards.
Many awards and the Certificate are hung by the entrance
Here’s the inside. (at an off time….)
Sometimes we will sit on the patio.
Depending on your seat you might have a view of Old Town Glendale or what looks like a painting by a master featuring pizza that is fit for a queen.
Below are some of the foods that we have tried here. Often we start out with a house salad because we usually order pizza here. ( a few photos are doubles to show how pizza may differ)
Italian Stallion – San Marzano Tomatoes D.O.P., house made mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto di parma, sopreeesata
Margherita D.O.C. – San Marzanno Tomatoes D.O.P., house made mozzarella, basil, garlic, Sicilian oregano, e.v.o.o.
Margherita D.O.C. – San Marzano Tomatoes D.O.P., house made mozzarella, basil, garlic, Sicilian oregano, e.v.o.o.
Bianco – house made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, basil, garlic, Sicilian oregano, e.v.o.o. and added Calabrian chiles
Bianco – house made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, basil, garlic, Sicilian oregano, e.v.o.o. and added Calabrian peppers. (This looks and taste very different from the one above it)
Dolce davola – San Marzano tomatoes D.O.C. , house made mozzarella, soppressata, Calabrian chili, honey, e.v.o.o.Salvatore Pizza- San Marzano tomatoes D.o.p., house made mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, prosciutto di parma, arugula
take out – funghi – house made mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, mushrooms, rosemary, e.v.o.o.
take out – Salvatore – San Marzano Tomatomatoes D.O.P., house made mozzarella, e.v.o.o., prosciutto di parma, arugula
take out – Roman Style Margherita – tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
take out – spaghetti alla puttanesca & Mediterranean – house made pesto, house made mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and feta
Calzoneanother calzone
baked spaghetti pie special
Tomato E Mozzerella – vine ripened tomatoes, house made mozzarella, arugula, e.v.o.o., house baked bread
House Made Cheese Cake (topping was limited special)
Chocolate Cannoli
That was a TASTE of La Piazza Al Forno in Glendale AZ.
