Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

Buddy V’s Ristorante Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

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Buddy V’s Ristorante in Las Vegas Nevada is located in the Venetian Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Incase you don’t know Buddy Valastro is the owner of Carlo’s Bakery that has been in his family for many decades in Hoboken New Jersey. He had much success being known as The Cake Boss on a reality TV show called Cake Boss. Buddy now has several locations of his bakery and restaurants and sells packaged products and more too.

We have a reservation and get seated quickly in the restaurant.

They start us off with complimentary focaccia and olive oil dotted with balsamic.

This focaccia is very above average and is very good. It’s fresh made with herbs and cheese but most importantly I can taste the olive oil in it. I’ve read that in the best focaccia you are suppose to taste the olive oil in it.

For my main I went with the Grilled Salmon ($25.).

It’s presented nice and encircled with balsamic and flavored oils. The fish is resting on a bed of vegetable salad and the fish has nice tasty grill marks on it. (It taste like sustainable salmon to me.) It’s prepared next to perfect. Everything is seasoned nice. Only note is that the salad is named Mediterranean chickpea artichoke salad when there actually is far more green beans than artichokes…but who cares…It’s good so we are happy!

My husband had the orecchiette and Italian Sausage ($24.)

It was made with broccoli rabe, blistered tomatoes, basil and pecorino. My husband said the sausage was particularly good. He said his whole plate was VERY GOOD! He kept saying on our whole trip here that Buddy’s was his favorite. He loved the reasonable pricing and the delicious food.

Tried a cannoli for dessert….($9.)…after all he is The Cake Boss!

Oh they gave use two not one cannoli. With thick rich really great chocolate sauce. WOW! This is the best cannoli I ever had out. I KNOW because I make my own cannoli. It’s a little different flavor-wise than mine but the filling is the same texture and richness as mine. It’s excellent like home made cheese. The shell is not bubbled (like from wine or vinegar…like mine) but has a really great light but very crisp texture……The end with chocolate chips is really good but the end with the pistachios KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!!! WOW it’s a very special moment when you taste pistachios that are this great!!!!

WOW VERY GOOD!

Buddy V’s in Las Vegas is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

WWW.BuddyVsRestaurants.com

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

The Forking Truth

L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon Las Vegas NV – 2019 …Some of the magic is still there but I think it’s fading…….

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L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon is a high end exhibition French Tapas Restaurant with several locations in the world. The location that I go to is located in Las Vegas at the MGM Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas strip. This restaurant is multi award winning.

The late chef was Joel Robuchon who was the most awarded chef in history and was known as chef of the century.

This is an exhibition restaurant. You get seated at a bar that views the kitchen.

Usually we drink wine…but the wine prices went up and the least expensive bottle is over a hundred……….Tonight we are having cocktails.

This restaurant offers many menu options but we usually go for the three course menu that includes an amuse bouche (for $85. at this time) (also this is now as of this year only an early evening option only offered 5-6pm)

Everyone that dines here gets a basket of amazing breads and French Butter.

Our alternate amuse bouche was the airy beets over a green apple gelee and topped with apple. We went with the alternative because I don’t eat the foie gras shooter and my husband is tired of this one that they’ve been serving for around ten years now.

It’s unusually light and earthy. The apple cuts the earthiness.

For our appetizer we both went with the Le Piquillo (pepper stuffed with smoked eggplant with tuna belly and romesco sauce.

The plate is interesting visually, and in textures. All the flavors go together very well.

We shared a special offering of the evening.

Spaghetti parmigiana foam, soft egg and fresh shaved Italian alba white truffles. WOW this was the plate of the evening. It is very rare that you taste a plate like this. I’ve tasted many different truffles over the years but this is the first time I ever tasted fresh White Alba Truffles. They certainly are something very VERY FORKING special. You don’t need to eat as many Alba white truffles to get truffle flavor like many of the other truffles. The truffles go expertly well with the foamy creamy parmesan foam, egg and spaghetti. I haven’t had any truffle dishes before anywhere near this level since my last meal at Binkley’s that used to be in Cave Creek Arizona. Now this dish was very masterful and exceptional.

My dinner was the salmon…..called Le Saumon…I get that on most visits and every time it’s a different presentation but it does come with those glorious Robuchon potatoes.

This evenings’ presentation is delicious but less detailed than previous salmon dinners I’ve had here.

Tonight the salmon is embedded with bitter olive tapenade and there are thin drizzles of bitter yuzu on the plate. Fresh tomatoes and basil brighten the fish some. the salmon is almost like custard and is cooked to perfection. It’s very good …..but not exceptional like it usually is…..

Below are a couple of the salmon plates I had from previous visits…can’t find them all..believe me I’ve had many. These plates below were exceptional!

Anywho-

My husband said his dinner was also very good but he also felt that his dinner was less detailed than from previous dinners….???? Maybe it’s just tonight?

Tonight he had the quail filled with foie gras with pureed potatoes.

For dessert we both had the Les Tarts…….(once known as little slices of heaven to me.)

There are two new ones tonight….the pumpkin and the apple.

My favorites are the cinnamon on the left and the passionfruit on the right…..These are magical…especially the passionfruit.

My husband has different taste than me and his favorites are the cinnamon and the chocolate caramel peanut.

Both of our least favorites are the pumpkin and both of us don’t like the apple. (first time I didn’t enjoy a les tart)

After dessert they presented us with some chocolates.

That was my trip to L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon. Most of the magic is still there but I think it’s fading.

www.MGMResortsInternational.com

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

The Forking Truth

Bouchon Las Vegas Nevada – Worth a Fork!

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Bouchon in Las Vegas is located on the tenth floor in the Venezia Tower next to the theater in the Venetian Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The Parisian Style food served is of Muti award winning Chef Thomas Keller. Time Magazine named Thomas Keller to be “America’s Best Chef.”

The restaurant has a nice classic old fashioned look to it. Waitstaff is formally dressed.

Fresh shellfish is available.

The tables are close but not too close together and are covered with white linen and heavy silverware.

We started with escargots ala bourguignon (burgundy snails, parsley, garlic, Bouchon pastry).

Salad Di Endives Et Poire – (endive, red wine pears, candied walnuts, goat cheese, red wine vinaigrette.)

Dinner for the both oof us was two very generous plates of Diestel Farms Turkey (sliced breast and shredded dark meat), Bouchon bakery stuffing, pumpkin croquettes, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, soft rolls and creamy butter.

OMG YUM! The rolls and butter are Forking incredible…had to stop eating them after a taste. The turkey is moist, very tender, very flavorful,,,,,but also salty…in a good way…It’s salty but it taste good. I don’t usually like salty ever but this is good. Croquettes seem free of oil and have a nice super thin crisp crust. like a really good mozzarella stick. The stuffing has good solid flavors. The cranberry sauce taste more like bitter orange marmalade to me……Turkey gravy is thin but has a rich bold turkey flavor. Sadly I had to leave a lot of my plate behind because dessert was next and I was seeing a show and didn’t have a refrigerator in my hotel room. This was the best food I left behind at a restaurant.

For dessert we shared the trio of tarts (apple, pumpkin and pecan and the Bouchon au chocolat.

Dessert is such a delight when it comes in multiple flavors in doll house portions. The winning dessert for us was the Chocolate Bouchon…..We are very familiar with them and the recipe is published on line and on The Forking Truth. They are the best chocolate cake that you can try anywhere. Bouchon are always moist and contain the perfect amount of chocolate and are not too sweet. Out of the pies we liked the pumpkin the best because it tasted like a traditional pumpkin pie. For our taste the apple had too much lemon flavor and the pecan was sweeter than we like…..(still good…)

Past plates from Bouchon (Napa CA location)

Bread and butter

salmon rillettes

Chick Pea soup

boudin blac

Salmon Special

Lemon tart

I’d say Bouchon Las Vegas or Napa CA is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.ThomasKeller.com

Every Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Mowry and Cotton at The Phoenician in Scottsdale AZ – Brunch this time November 2019

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Mowry and Cotton is a modern American Restaurant location in the Phoenician Luxury Resort and Spa in Scottsdale Arizona.

Inside is nicely decorated lots of warm wood and walls full of growlers.

The outside offers views of grounds, mountains and the vast pool area.

The outdoor seating is more popular with people and also birds today. (if you look close at fence in below photo you will notice birds)

A woman is walking around with her pet bird too….. I don’t know why? ……..I thought it would be rude to ask her why she is walking around with her bird of prey. But I did ask how the bird is on car rides.

Anywho – We order and our brunch plates arrive in over thirty minutes.

Below is a picture of the seared ahi tuna melt that I sampled from an AZCentral Wine and Food Festival from Mowry and Cotton.

It was so unusually delicious that I wanted to try the sandwich again. You’d never expect that ahi tuna could be delicious in a grilled cheese but it was at the festival.

So I got the seared ahi tuna melt ($18.00)

It’s very unusual and unique. The sandwich is filled with melted white cheddar cheese, a thin swipe of spicy CORN HUMMUS and a very small amount (a few thin shavings) of ahi tuna on a quality bread. (It’s rye but lacks caraway and has a very wheat kind of taste to it.) This sandwich had less tuna in it than my sample I tried at the festival. It’s not as tasty as what I tried at the festival. I think it was made with less hummus too……. Maybe that is why it had less flavor. The plate is garnished with a little unknown dirt, a large hot shishito pepper and for my side I picked the salad. It was dressed with maple balsamic dressing and the salad was adorned with mixed dried fruit. I was slightly disappointed that my sandwich wasn’t as delicious as the sample I tried before…….

Below is a picture I found on a review site of the same sandwich. The sandwich below has a thick slice of tuna mine didn’t have and I can see the thick smear of hummus mine didn’t have.

www.yelp.com

The Forking Truth is that I didn’t get a sandwich like this… (now I’m upset) ……(I also didn’t get as nice of a salad and I only got one pepper not two…WTFork.

Anywho-

My husband got a whopper of a plate. He tried the green chile pork shank ($18)

He received a mighty large Bam Bam Flintstone looking tender falling apart pork meat on a BIG bone with green Chile sauce two eggs, cotija cheese, piccolo’s de Gallo, cilantro, radish slices and what appear to be like house made tortillas staked in a neat little pan. It was good with a large amount of very tender meat but maybe a bit toned down on flavors today.

Service was good on my last two visits. Today I might have gotten a new server or maybe someone that might have had more tables than they could handle. Our meals took over 30 minutes to be served without an explanation. Refills weren’t offered. Check was dropped instead of asking if we wanted dessert. Server took a very unusually long time to pick up check. Dining here took around an hour and a half or more. (that is a very long time for day time service with a reservation. We only had two plates and no alcohol)

Previous dishes from Mowry and Cotton.

mushroom flat bread
salad
salmon
1/2 pheasant
Jidori Chicken Sandwich
lemon meringue
Smoked Brisket Sandwich
Apple Crumble
Apple Crumble

Mowry and Cotton at The Phoenician Resort and Spa Scottsdale AZ

www.MowryandCotton.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

My Trip to Gorditas El Tio Mexican Food in Phoenix AZ

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Gorditas El Tio is a casual Mexican restaurant located in a shopping center anchored by a Food City in Phoenix. They offer a wide variety of Mexican dishes at reasonable prices. English is the second language here so the food seems authentic style. The menu is quite large and they offer almost any Mexican dish that you can think of.

When you walk in you order at the counter and pick from the menu board. Then you pay and pick a table. you wait till your food is on the counter and pick it up yourself.

We pick a table.

We wait about 30 minutes for our order to be ready.

I got the Mojarra Frita ($11.99) (fried tilapia)

It came with rice, refried beans, avocado slices, some vegetables and a stack of tortillas (I picked corn).

The FORKING Truth is that the fish was over cooked today.

The fish is dry and crunchy and hard to eat.

Moving on.

My husband did much better with the Camarones a la Diabla $10.99 (shrimp in hot sauce)

He thought the sauce was tasty. He said the shrimp were slightly over cooked but not bad. He said some shrimp were cleaned and others weren’t. He wasn’t big on the refried beans…I didn’t eat mine.

He also added on a carnitas and a asada mini tacos ($1.99@)

They came double shelled (two tortillas like they do in Mexico and with lime wedges).

He thought the beef was better than the pork here.

Seems like you will do OK here as long as you skip the fried fish.

House sauces of green and hot red are available and do make the food more tasty.

That was my trip to Gorditas El Tio in Phoenix.

I haven’t found a website for Gorditas El Tio but they are on Facebook and participate on Door Dash.

The Forking Truth

Desert Island Eatery Phoenix AZ – Caribbean & Vegan Food – Worth a Fork! Strip Mall Gold!

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Desert Island Eatery is located in North Phoenix in an older strip mall on Bell Road. It’s a Mother and Son team that serve Caribbean Food and do offer Vegan Options. This restaurant is impossible to see from the road because it’s behind a Taco Bell. This is really a take out restaurant. They only have three small tables in the dining area and all the food is served in disposable cardboard or aluminum pans. They are open 5pm-9pm Tuesdays – Saturdays.

This is basically the whole dining area. It’s small but is cozy and is filled with homey things. Soft Caribbean Music fills the air.

The young teen the son waits on us. Then we select from the menu.

We decide to start with the Lentil Balls ($5).

We received 5 lentil balls that are FORKING DELICIOUS! OMG YUM! They are like Caribbean Falafels. (but actually better than most falafels) They are dressed in a little guava drizzle and a little dab of jerk mayo. They are have a little kICK to them and are full of yumminess.

We shared the Tri Plate ($18). It was a BIG PAN of curry chicken, jerk chicken and Caribbean bbq chicken all on the bone and as my sides I picked yellow rice and cabbage.

Everything is prepared to perfection and everything is Forking Delicious! All the chicken is so tender it’s falling off the bones. All the chicken is also developed with delicious flavors. My favorites here are the curry chicken with exotic spices and the jerk balanced with spices and a little heat…….they are bold and interesting. Not a thing is wrong with the bbq but it does run sweet. Even the rice and cabbage are delicious and flavorful. This is two meals for me with my husband helping.

My husband ordered the Jerk Seafood Combo (shrimp and swai fish) Jamaican Jerk Style with rice and peas ($20).

Everything is prepared to perfection and everything is delicious!

The owner and her son were very attentive. I was impressed that her youthful son took such good care of us.

Desert Island Eatery is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

The Phoenix location is on Facebook.

The Tuscan location has a website.

www.DesertIslandEateryTucson.com

The Forking Truth

Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana in Scottsdale AZ – Newly Opened

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Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana is a small restaurant in North Scottsdale (DC Ranch) that serves Italian Style Food.

Pictured above are most of the indoor tables.

Reservations are necessary for a table indoors or on the patio.

If seating is available at the small bar you can sit there without a reservation.

We arrived very early and they were already very busy. We didn’t have a reservation so we sat at the bar on the indoor side because they were the only available seats to us. It’s a loud atmosphere. Not from music but everyone’s chatter.

Fleming’s Steakhouse is next door.

We started out by sharing the Happy Hour Roman Style Artichoke (Carciofi Ripieni ($8.50).

The all edible artichoke was dressed with bread crumbs, pecorino cheese, garlic, raisins and pine nuts. It was the tastiest artichoke that I had in recent memory.

We also shared the cacio e pepe (spaghetti, black pepper and pecorino) ($16.00) (it was accidentally served with the dinners)

The pasta was prepared to perfection. The dominate flavor was butter….I thought the pepper and cheese should be kicked up a notch for balance….

For my main I had the branzino ($28.00).

It was listed under large plates and yes it truly is a large plate and brought half home. The pan seared branzino was moist and flaky. On the side was tasty farro, butternut squash, red pepper, pumpkin seeds, figs and fine shreds of bitter radicchio. This plate was for the most part very good. It did arrive almost cold but the pasta and my husbands meal arrived piping hot so I didn’t complain. ( I don’t send things back….especially if it’s not an open kitchen….that sort of thing gets some cooks very upset and I’ve seen too many of them lose it. I also I didn’t want my husband’s meal to sit and get cold.)

My husbands main was the veal osso bucco ($36.00).

It wasn’t tough….but it wasn’t the most tender or most flavorful osso bocco. Overall it was OK. The spinach on the side was very good. The risotto was slightly under done and not very creamy or developed with flavors. But I do note that you almost will never get a great risotto out anywhere. I think the only great risotto I’ve ever had out was from Binkley’s.

The Roman Artichoke was Great! The Branzino was very good but the kitchen timing was off.

At the time of this posting (November 2019) Vic and Ola’s is a newly opened restaurant and may or may not be still working things out.

www.VicandOlas.com

The Forking Truth

Fe La Cubana Glendale AZ – Limited Selection but FORKING DELICIOUS! – Worth a Fork!

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Fe La Cubana is a small hole-in-the-wall casual Cuban Cafeteria style restaurant located in a rougher area of Glendale. The GPS gets a little screwy here and brings you to the newer side of the shopping center….Fe La Cubana is located behind where the GPS sends you.

I note that this is NOT A FANCY PLACE…and the Latin Music is a little loud. Remember that you are only here to try the food.

This is basically the whole dining room.

You step in and you will see a menu on the wall but I’m not certain if the menu is used.

There is also a pizza menu on the wall but I don’t think they make pizzas here?

The owner wearing a Fe La Cubana Shirt smiles but doesn’t speak English. A youthful looking girl that might be his daughter speaks some English.

We see her here behind the buffet pans and ask what they are serving today.

There are about seven different offerings today three were beef and four were pork. She said that you could have what you pick with either white rice or black beans.

I went with Ropa Vieja with rice.

It’s not much to look at but it taste FORKING GREAT! OMG! It’s delicious! It’s so tender and so flavorful. It’s juicy tender tasty perfection! WOW what a great surprise.

My husband also gets Ropa Vieja but adds on an oxtail and a pota je de garbanzo (pork chick pea soup).

Oxtails are too succulent for me but I did try the sauce from the oxtail. WOW! a BOMBSHELL of flavors with some acidity, brininess and a small amount of gentle heat. It’s incredibly developed with flavors. IT FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS! Crazy CRAZY crazy good!

I heard that the soup is just as great!

Limited selection but – WOW really great food.

When you are ready to pay you wait by the register. We didn’t get a receipt so I don’t know what the individual pricing was but the total for 2 ropa viejas, 1 oxtail, 1 soup and a bottled water came to a total of $32.00.

Parking is easy because there is a lot but you might not be coming from far because there isn’t a restroom.

I haven’t found a website for Fe La Cubana but they are on Facebook.

Fe La Cubana is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

REALLY FORKING DELICIOUS FOOD!

The Forking Truth

The Farm Kitchen in Phoenix Arizona – Nice Back Yard Patio Atmosphere

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The Farm Kitchen is located in Phoenix Arizona at The Farm at South Mountain. It is actually home to three restaurants a breakfast cafe called Morning Glory Cafe, The Farm Kitchen (lunch) and for Fine Dinner Dining Quiessence. For the Morning Glory Cafe and The Farm Kitchen you are suppose to park across the street but The Farm Kitchen is just steps away.

The Farm Kitchen serves mostly cold sandwiches and salads. They also have some local goods and fresh baked cookies for sale.

The menu is posted outside so you can order right away at the counter and pick up a beverage or help yourself to complimentary water outside.

Then you pick a table.

You pick up your order at the pick up window when your number is called.

Pick up window

If you ordered a salad it will arrive packaged and with a chilled metal bowl for mixing.

I tried the pecan turkey Waldorf ($12.95). It was made with moist flavorful turkey breast, organic greens, grapes, really crisp celery, apples, carrots, pecans and creamy jalapeño dressing.

My husband tried the Italian sandwich ($12.95).

This sandwich was made of thickly sliced soppresata, mortadella and salami. It also was dressed with olive relish, greens, pepperoncini, Italian dressing and was on a rustic baguette.

Everything was good……in a nice lush atmosphere. It was like sitting out in someone’s back yard. Could be a nice lunch destination before or after the zoo or botanical garden or just because.

www.TheFarmatSouthMountain.com

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

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Flint By Baltaire in Phoenix AZ – Lunch – nice but for smaller appetites

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Flint by Baltaire is an upscale wood fired contemporary mediterranean accented restaurant with great atmosphere, a big exhibition kitchen and an all weather indoor patio.

The indoor patio

The lunch menu is broken down into humus, dips and spreads, salads and vegetables, laffa flatbreads, pizzas, large plates and sides.

We started with a wood grilled artichoke ($14.00).

The artichoke was grilled nicely and salted perfect. It came with a delicious grilled lemon half and a little ramekin of tarragon aioli for dipping.

Our server suggested that we shared plates so we split a Flint laffa flatbread ($13) and a big plate of ora king salmon ($28).

You know the song dude looks like a lady? …well…..This flatbread looks more like a wrap.

It’s served with delicious harissa (a middle eastern condiment made of a roasted pepper base, warm spices, a little hot pepper and something like caraway and also a ramekin of tahini sauce. The laffa bread is nicely charred. My half (the bottom has some cabbage, a slice of egg, a red onion slice, some tahini and a shred of pulled chicken. Fresh greens adorn the plate.

The harissa is delicious on this but this really only appetizer sized. This was only two bites with a small shred of chicken. I think my husband’s half might have had more food in it but not much more. Honestly even if I was here by myself and ate the whole thing this still wouldn’t be much food.

Then we share the BIG PLATE of ora king salmon ($28)

We shared nicely cooked salmon with seasoned crisp skin, a grilled half lemon, a dab of almond-olive relish and maybe the best tasting broccolini I ever had. It was cooked to perfection and had a delicious wood cooked taste to it.

The big plate is not so big.

The food was good, service was good, the atmosphere is stunning but lunch seems to be for people with very small appetites.

Lunch was around $55.00 before tax and tip and we left hungry.

www.FlintByBalltaire.com

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

The Forking Truth