You might not be aware that there was an Arizona Breakfast Weekend this past Thursday 27th-Sunday the 30th 2017. It didn’t seem to get as much hype as Arizona Restaurant Week. This was the third annual breakfast weekend.  Over 20 participating restaurants came up with $7.00, $10.00, $15.00 menu items and some included alcoholic beverages or beverage specials.

I decided to try the Soul Cafe in North Scottsdale. They offered several breakfast choices for $10.00 a plate. The restaurant is cute and stylish with an energetic atmosphere. Colorful artwork graces the walls and the restaurant has an unusual look of lots of clean drapery….(very unusual as drapery in a restaurant tends to get very dirty) ((drapery also isn’t popular in Arizona …….it’s more an East Coast Thing))

I soon received my Salmon over Corn Cakes with Spicy Jalapeño Cheese Sauce and Asparagus.

The eggs were poached nice and I liked that the corn cakes are light and fluffy and seemed grease free. They used a lot of black pepper on the asparagus and I kept coughing from all the pepper. However they did poach the eggs nice. The sauce is smooth and creamy. Salmon is a little chalky. Not as flavorful as I expected but OK.

My husband tried the Tres Locos.

Three corn tortilla cups. One stuffed with seasoned beef, another with pork and yet another with spicy beans over scrambled eggs. The plate also contained a very generous amount of red, white, blue and sweet potatoes. I was told the favorite tortilla cup was the beans because they had the most flavor and were a little spicy.

Our server was speedy and efficient.

www.SoulCafeAZ.com

That is what I tried 2017 Arizona Breakfast Weekend.

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

The Forking Truth

Bobby Q’s is unlike any restaurant I’ve been to in Metro Phoenix. It has old fashioned charm and character. The building is accented with mature plantings and real old trees that you seldom see in Phoenix. This place looks like it’s always been here. It’s like stepping back in time…..or maybe being transported to another place. Your asking well what do they serve? They serve barbecue.

Here’s my latest trip to Bobby Q’s.

We hopped on the highway and at around 70MPH (or more or less…I got these photos. I see the sign…getting excited!

Now I see the other side of the building.

Now we are pulling in.

You see this on the side of the building.

They are full early in the evening and we get sat at a table in the bar. (***There is a man at the bar with a sweater????? WTFork is a FORKING 118 degrees F (FORK) today! WTFORK needs a FORKING Sweater?)

I turn around and snap a photo of the dining room.

The room is much larger than my photo shows and there are many antiques all around. Vintage signs, fans, fixtures and all kinds of stuff.

They start us off with tasty slightly sweet Johnny Cakes with soft creamy butter.

I’ve been here a bunch of times so I know what most of the food usually taste like. They are pretty famous for the tender falling apart brisket but I am not carnivore enough to appreciate the succulence….and I do know that is the texture that BBQ Brisket is suppose to have but It’s too fatty for me but a JOY to most people. I actually enjoy the super succulent buttery salmon here the most.

The salmon is brushed with something a little sweet and has these delicious caramelized grill marks. The fish is cooked all the way but is so moist and succulent. You can only achieve these results from a slow cook or water bath. It’s simple but it doesn’t really need anything when the fish is prepared this well. I had many choices of sides but went simple all the way with grilled fresh seasonal vegetables and a plain baked potato. The vegetables are nothing fancy and are just fresh grilled. The baked potato has a salted skin and is big and fluffy and soaks up the melted butter like a sponge. You might not be able to tell by my photo but this is a very large portion of food….I eat half the salmon and half the potato and I take home a meal for latter. This plate might not be a win over with professional food critics but I admit I am humble and can enjoy a good plain piece of salmon and a plain fluffy baked potato. I don’t always mention pricing but a similar tasting salmon at the seafood restaurant sort of  across the highway cost nearly twice as much.

My husband went for the Two Meat Plate.

Here’s Pulled Pork, Hot Links, Macaroni and Cheese and Meaty Baked Beans. All the meat was tender and it was abundant! I didn’t try the macaroni and cheese today but in the past it tasted like Velveta to me….My husband was a happy camper with this plate and that’s all that matters.

I never ordered dessert here before so I thought we might try the apple cobbler as it seemed like a safe choice.

It’s just like a relative or neighbor made the dessert…………and it’s topped with economy tasting ice cream.

It’s best to filler-up on the BBQ and Sides here!

We get the bill and they give us complimentary Thank “Q” Doughnuts.

The doughnuts are hot and tasty….

Bobby Q’s is Worth a Fork for the tender tasty BBQ!

Great Old Fashioned Atmosphere. Tender Meats with a slightly sweet BBQ. Old fashioned good service. Reasonable pricing and great big portions!

www.BobbyQ.net

EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ!

The Forking Truth

Pars Persian Cuisine offers a wide variety of Persian Foods. This is a full service restaurant with easy close parking. The atmosphere is sort of formal but you can come as you are. Nothing we tried was spicy. Nothing was flavored weird. The food was just flavorful and good. I think Persian Food would appeal to most people.

They start you out with hot pita bread, creamy butter and sweet sliced onions.

It was very hard to decide on what to try because they offer so many interesting sounding dishes I never seen at other Persian Restaurants I’ve been to.

One of the plates we shared was Zereshk Polo with Chicken.

We received two nice meaty chicken legs that were falling off the bone tender. The meat was flavorful and delicious. It was balanced and no particular flavor stood out. The legs have been slow cooked with apple, carrots, garlic, onions and seasonings. The plate also came with a very generous portion of fluffy basmati rice that was mixed with tart barberries, almonds and saffron. The tart barberries make the rice sort of sparkle and made the flavors more interesting.

The other dish we shared was a Stew called Fessenjan and a special upgraded rice called Shirin Polo.

The Shirin Polo is a specialty Basmati Rice dish. It does run sweet because it’s made with candied orange peels, carrots, almonds, pistachios, a sweet syrup and saffron. It’s a tasty rice…I think it would be fit in on most American dinner tables for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Behind the rice is the Fessenjan. Here Fessenjen is made from fried walnuts, pomegranate sauce with chicken that’s slow cooked in the sweet and sour fruity sauce. The plate doesn’t look pretty but the chicken is tender and tasty.

We got some of the food boxed up so we could try the Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream.

The ice cream is wonderfully creamy and was served in a chilled glass. It’s not too strong in flavor and is delicious!

Our server was really welcoming, helpful and efficient.

I’d say Pars Persian Cuisine is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! Great variety of Persian foods that you won’t find at most places. Grade “A” from Maricopa posted in window. Tender tasty fresh food, nice atmosphere, great service.

www.ParsPersianCuisine.com

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

The Forking Truth

Tacos Jalisco is located in South Scottsdale and serves mostly Jalisco Style Mexican Food. This is not a fancy place. I can tell you the food is legit and you don’t have to “peso much” here. (excuse the bad pun) But honestly speaking your dollar truly stretches very far here and the food is good..The two rarely happen together.

This is what it looks like when you walk in.

It’s busy and it’s hard to take pictures.

Here’s the dining room.

Tacos are only $1.51 EACH and are made with in-house made tortillas and slow roasted meat. I thought for $1.51 how big can they be? I thought they would be bite size with very little meat but boy was I wrong.

4 chicken tacos were $6.04 and 4 carne asada tacos were also $6.04 (at this time 7-17)

Just like in Mexico they double shell the tacos and they are generously packed with seasoned meat, cilantro, sauce and onions. They also gave us chips and we picked up some house made condiments from the salsa bar.

The tacos were both moist and flavorful. I still can’t get over the $1.51 price for each taco. It seems a BOATLOAD of blue-eyed taco restaurants have mushroomed all over metro Phoenix and not all but many of them sell much smaller lesser filled not as tasty tacos for around $5.00 each!

Since we didn’t imagine getting so much food we also decided to share a Chile Relleno Plate ($7.78)

Not one but TWO stuffed mild but tasty battered poblano peppers stuffed with mild milky gooey Mexican Cheese. The hefty platter also came with house made creamy refried beans, flavorful rice, salad, creamy avocado sauce, chips and house made tortillas. These Chile Rellenos were a lot tastier than some others I’ve tried at other places that cost much more! Tastier real roasted poblano instead of a canned chili like some places do and the real cheese not a pre-shredded blend that doesn’t taste as good.

Much Cheaper and much better than not all but a lot of places!

No website you just have to visit them at 3060 N 68th St Scottsdale AZ open 7 days a week starting early at 8am and open not all but some holidays.

Tacos Jalisco is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! If you find yourself in South Scottsdale maybe at the Zoo or near Tempe you might want to give this place a try if your in the mood for Jalisco Style Tacos.

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

The Forking Truth

Ummmm Dougnuts……Hot Toasted Doughnut Sandwiches stuffed with small batch handcrafted artisan Ice-Cream. Ummmmmmmmmm! Novel Ice Cream is a very small Ice-Cream Shack located in Down Town Phoenix AZ.

It really is a shack…surrounded by other small shacks!

The inside is very small…small like a really big closet or master bath.

Here are some of the Ice-Creams.

Here is the whimsical fun wall behind us. The owner Brandon told us a local Mexican Artist painted the wall with the anthropomorphic cones.

You should treat yourself to delicious creamy ice-cream that you can enjoy in a variety of ways. In a fresh made waffle, maybe topped with cereal topping? Maybe your favorite flavor of ice-cream stuffed into a fresh hot glazed doughnut!

The shack is very small and there is no room for indoor seating.

The Doughnut Sandwiches are mighty delicious. Creamy flavorful ice-cream. I had the Panna Cream with imported Italian Cherries and my husband had Quality Chocolate stuffed into Hot Toasted Doughnuts. Totally worth the calories…delicious! Good thing this place is pretty far for me so I can’t indulge as often as I want.

The only seating is outside on the deck patio.

I see something strange from the patio.

WTFork!

I’ll get a better look on my way out.

No website but you can find Novel Ice-Cream on Facebook.

Novel Ice-Cream is Worth a Fork!

Great ice-cream if you happen to be in the area but no restroom and no escape from the 120 degree dry heat.

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

The Forking Truth

Without a navigation system you might pass El Alboroto Mexican Seafood Restaurant by.  One year after opening they still don’t have an outside sign on the building. When you get closer you can see that you are at the right place.

What does El Alboroto mean?  According to the dictionary Alboroto translates to an uproar, a  disturbance or a riot. Maybe it translates to riotous seafood?

This isn’t a fancy place and Mexican TV is on. Our waitress speaks Spanish to most of the guest but switched up to English for us.

The menu is in Spanish with English but lacks descriptions.

I asked what the Pescado Relleno was like.

The waitress said the fish is stuffed with octopus.

I ordered the Shaken Grilled Fish. I asked what it was and was told it was fish that comes with peppers.

I received this.

My fish is fried crispy. I don’t know if it was grilled too? And yes there are some peppers there. Looks like Ranchero Fish? ….anyway….It’s tasty and is a large portion. It’s like someone’s  Mexican Mom made it for you. It’s very home style.

My husband had the Diablo Shrimp. He said the shrimp were a little bbq like in the taste.

Last time I had the wrapped fish (sea bass). It was very good and maybe better than a similar plate I had in Mexico. At the time it was the best Mexican fish dish I had in Metro Phoenix.

This dish had a great presentation.  It appears and taste like they had a different chef then.

My husband had the same shrimp dish and it also differs in appearance and taste.

Still good but a little more home style now.

El Alboroto doesn’t have a website but you can find them on Facebook.

Not big on atmosphere.  if your in the neighborhood and you don’t want the usual Sonoran Stuff and  if you don’t feel like trekking to downtown Phoenix for Mexican Style Seafood…….here it is!

The Forking Truth is that EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ!

The Forking Truth

The owner is James Beard Award Wining Chef Chris Bianco. He might be the only chef that has won a James Beard Award for Pizza. His pizza is legionary. It’s Arizona fused with Italy and the East Coast. Bianco’s Pizzas are considered to be the very best pizzas in the country by many publications and food TV shows. Oprah Winfrey herself and many other celebrities have dined at Pizzeria Bianco announcing to the world that this pizza to be the best.

What are Pizzeria Bianco Pizzas?

The pizzas are Neapolitan in style with a thin crust that’s blistered and charred with a wet middle. They dough is made with special Arizona Heirloom grains that are ground fresh for Chef Bianco. The milky cheese is Bianco house made and the sauce is made from tomatoes that are authentic in style specially grown in California for Chef Bianco.

Between me and my husband we had all the pizzas a number of times.

I do apologies for not indulging in pizza today after I might have wet your appetite for a slice.

I’ve been to this restaurant several times and had many different experiences here.

Here’s a little bit of the history and hopefully I am recalling it correctly.

If I recall correctly this restaurant opened as Italian Restaurant and offered a more involved menu. Somehow the name of the restaurant didn’t quite fit and latter the restaurant was split in half as two restaurants and the front dining room was called Pizzeria Bianco and the back dining room stayed more formal and was know for a short time as Trattoria Bianco serving pastas and dinners.

Now this restaurant is just known as Pizzeria Bianco. It’s not a fancy place. It sort of has the look that it’s been here forever.

Here is the current menu.

They started us off with complimentary house baked crusty bread and high quality extra virgin olive oil.

I soon received my Two Wash Farms Chicken Salad served with AZ Creamer Potatoes and Local Greens.

The greens are simple and very plain. The chicken is a mix white and dark meat. It is extremely tender, moist and very lightly dressed but flavorful. The salad contains some sweet chunks of apple, fresh herbs and crispy celery. The potatoes are cooked till they are very creamy and are tossed in a fresh tasting sweet whole grain mustard and mixed with bread and butter pickles, onions and seasoning. Pretty darn tasty!

My husband had the Francesca’s Meatball Sandwich.

Well my husband didn’t have any trouble finishing this off so I guess it was good!

The Italian Ice is like no other….it truly is Amazing so we had to have it!

On the left is nutmeg and on the right is chocolate. The Italian Ice is slightly creamy….I grew up on the East Coast were Italian Ice is very popular and I have never come across Italian Ice like this before but it is also delicious. Today they served the Italian Ice with very rich but also delicious shortbread cookies.

Pizzaria Bianco is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! The Food is simple but good and is made of local and quality ingredients. The Pizza is legendary…..It’s up to you to decide on the Pizza!

www.PizzariaBianco.com

The Forking Truth is that EVERY FORKING Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Dishes from the past we had here.

Swiss Chard Lasagna

Beef Bolognese Pappardelle

Market Salad

Arancini

Chicken Salad

Grilled Mortadella and Cabbage Sandwich

Pasta E Fagioli

Ocotillo is among one of my favorite restaurants in Downtown Phoenix.  It might be a one mile square compound filled with multiple patios, an outdoor coffee bar and an outdoor cocktail bar in addition to the restaurant.

115 degrees F today

empty at 115 degrees F

Ocotillo offers a large ever changing menu that’s broken down into salads, vegetables, small plates, sandwiches and large plates. Everything is quality and much of the menu is locally sourced.

They were very busy today at lunch time and the dining room was full since it was too hot to dine on the patios in the 115 degree F heat today. They asked us to wait an hour or to sit at a lone table they added to the bar so we sat there.

This seat wasn’t bad. We are away from the dining room but we gained full view of the kitchen and bar.

We started by sharing a Tomato Tartine off the Vegetable Menu….I sort of forgot what a Tartine is…….I was thinking tart……but I was wrong a Tartine is really a French Bruschetta. Anyway is was delicious.

It started with quality toasted bread that was topped with what tasted like fresh made ricotta cheese and fresh herbs. There was shaved squash, nuts and the sweetest grilled tomatoes ever. This was very good!

I tried the Korean Style BBQ Brisket Sandwich.

Wow! What an enormous portion. This is enough to feed a lumberjack. It smells delicious. Here’s a better look at the sandwich.

It’s a generous amount of tender and not too fatty brisket topped with kimchi slaw, lettuce and Sriracha mayonnaise. It’s very tasty and I get to bring home the other half for another day. The fries are very above average and are very good. Really super fluffy moist interiors and crispy and seasoned well on the outside. I think they were fried at least twice to make fries this good.

My husband had the Roasted Pork Torta.

The sandwich came with a spicy sauce.

I’ve always been to full to think of dessert at Ocotillo so sadly I’ve never tried dessert here.

Here are some but not all of the plates we tried in the past at Ocotillo.

Salmon and spinach salad

Thai Style Chicken

Tandoori Style Chicken Sandwich

Japanese Style Fish and Chips

Chicken Mole Salad

Ocotillo is Worth a Fork!

www.OcotilloPhx.com

Worth a Fork! You might travel across town to dine here because it’s a very nice restaurant that offers a very nice menu.

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

The Forking Truth