Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

My Trip to ComicX Restaurant and Bar at Desert Ridge Marketplace Phoenix AZ – Spiderman Batman and Thor OH MY!

ComicX is a superhero/comic book theme restaurant and bar located in Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix. They serve a casual menu of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, hamburgers, pizza and some south west favorites and a few entrees.

When you walk in it looks like this.

Then you look uo and see Spiderman.

Next you want to see more but it will wait until after your meal because you are seated now.

If you are a fan of rock hits of the late seventies – eighties you might be a fan of the music that fills the air while you are watching a big screen TV of either sports or maybe a Spiderman Movie.

Spiderman is playing

I was seated in the darkest part of the restaurant looking at the Halo that is also near Harry Potter Stuff so I had a very hard time reading the menu.

We ordered and our meals arrived in 45 minutes.

I ordered the Asian Pow Salad ($10.00). The greens were fresh and I had peanuts, fried crunchy strips and orange supremes. I mistakenly thought my salad would contain chicken but it doesn’t. I misread in the dark. My salad was ok…but the paper napkin is far too tiny and too thin to deal with.

My husband went with the steak fajita ($16.00).

The fajita didn’t come out sizzling like they normally do but the pan was hot. The steak was seasoned nicely and it was tender but it seemed like a very small portion. The beans might have been fresh made but tasted more like from the can because they lacked seasoning. Unfortunately the beans also came out warm on the top and cold on the bottom. The rice had something acidic going on with it. I didn’t taste it but my husband thought the rice had either lime juice in it or just was sour? He thought it had a little parsley in it.

Our waiter comes to check on us and my husband tells the waiter about the cold beans. The waiter takes back the beans AND THE RICE. Around 5-10 minutes latter the beans arrive and they are even colder than they were in the first place…BUT HE DIDN”T bring back the rice. Maybe 10-15 minutes after that and my husband is done the rice arrives.

Then we decide to take a tour ourselves.

Marge is missing left breast and Maggies body is there minus her head

This is a novelty restaurant. You are there for the cool super hero atmosphere.

That was my trip to ComicX Restaurant and Bar at Desert Ridge Marketplace.

www.ComicX.US.

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

The Forking Truth

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork

The Las Vegas Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House is located in the MGM on the Las Vegas Strip. This restaurant is owned by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. This is a full service seafood restaurant that offers a few New Orleans specialties.

bar area
part of dining room

They started us off with four pieces of warm sweetened corn bread and butter. (we each ate a piece before I snapped picture)

My husband started with the gumbo because that is a must have if you can do it ($13.)

I had the fresh catch. It was grilled salmon today with mixed vegetables ($27.).

My husband went with the shrimp po boy that came with pickled cauliflower salad ($16.).

Everything was prepared reasonably well and everything was good!

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.EmerilsRestaurants.com

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

The Forking Truth

Twist By Pierre Gagnaire at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas NV – WORTH A FORK! The most FORKING Amazing Food EVER! – *****UPDATE NOW CLOSED

*******UPDATE NOW CLOSED*******Twist By Pierre Gagnaire is a fine dining French Restaurant located on the 23rd floor of The Waldorf Astoria in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip. They offer a variety of menus. We went with the four course vegetarian tasting menu and it was like OUT OF THIS WORLD FORKING AMAZING….Like from another planet. It was one of the very best meals I ever had.

The dining room is sort of like dining under the stars with all those hanging lights..The tables are covered in linen and silverware actually looks like silver and not stainless steal.

My table has a view of the Las Vegas Strip.

They started us off with a whole bunch of amuse bouche.

They were all so thrilling and delicious and then it gets even better.

We get a baguette and this incredibly delicious bread that’s made from charcoal and apricots…..The butters that go with them are extra delicious too. The butters are hand churned French Butter and one butter is slightly spicy from Piment d’ Espelette.

First course for me is called Quinoa.

It taste as amazing as it looks. It’s made of red quinoa salad, avocado, pineapple mousse, coconut and marigolds. All the flavors are MIND-BLOWING!

My husband isn’t a big fan of quinoa and asked to exchange his starter for different one and got the Zezette Bouillon.

It’s also pretty as a picture…..I can see this on my wall somewhere. It’s made of pumpkin gnocchi, oyster mushroom, and a ricotta croquette.

Next for me was the Bell Pepper.

It’s crispy sun chokes, leeks bell peppers, mascarpone and sauce pitchi. So many flavors that it is impossible to describe…..

We added on the risotto special with white alba truffles and it was served with our main entree the Autumn Vol-au-vant.

We started with the risotto.

OMG it’s Forking amazing! These truffles are super flavorful. It’s bursting with so much flavor and then when you hit the parmesan tuile…it just pops a little more. This is the FORKING BEST Truffle dish I ever tasted!

The Autumn Vol-Au-Vant is also amazing. It’s made with onion cream, celeriac, turmeric cauliflower, Swiss chard, soy beans and quince puree. I don’t know how they made this but it taste so FORKING wonderful.

Then we get a palate cleanser.

OMG even the palate cleanser is FORKING delicious……..It has so many flavors…..raspberry sorbet, fennel, another MIND BLOWING PLATE!…..I could be done now.

Then we get three desserts each.

These are all CRAZY crazy CRAZZZZZZZZZY good….The little one on the bottom is some sort of lemon curd marshmallow and topped with a really delicious cream and topped thin milk crisps. To the right is a layered chocolate cake with a fig and really great chocolate on top of it with little gel fruit cubes…..But the thing in the glass was SUPER AWESOME FORKING MIND BLOWING….You crack the edible cube open and all kinds of flavors make your brain go bonkers…..There was pomegranate, grapefruit, I think Thai basil, Lemongrass and others I can’t remember….

Then we got surprised with another plate of very detailed amuse bouche…..all desserts.

The layer cakes are thimble sized painstakingly made opera cakes, the ones that look like pears on crackers are passionfruit cakes, little cubes are fruit gels and the chocolate is very intense with a nut….

Twist by Pierre Gagnaire in Las Vegas was astonishing as astonishing gets.

UPDATE*******NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS**************

Worth a Fork! Worth flying in to Vegas for!!!

www.WaldorfAstoriaLasVegas.com

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

The Forking Truth

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

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…….

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!

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

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

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!

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

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