At the time of this review The Herb Box Restaurant is in two locations in Scottsdale (North Scottsdale and Old Town Scottsdale). The Herb Box Restaurants are independently female owned restaurants. The menu offers a heavy focus on healthy vegetable based dishes. They serve as much as possible locally sourced foods, cage free eggs, hormone free natural meats and nitrate free bacon. The atmosphere is small and cozy but energetic. They also have an indoor/outdoor bar and a patio with live music.

The Herb Box offers many different appetizers that are “out of the box” and very different. We decided to start with the Vegan Nosh Board.

We received 4 small bowls of fried vegetables that were really different.

The bowl on the far left are the Crip Brussels Sprouts Chips. The Brussels Sprouts leaves are fried till crisp, taste sort of nutty and somehow are very light and seem oil free. I didn’t notice the yellow pepper aioli in the bottom of the dish till I got there. They are very tasty and easy to shovel in. Second bowl from the left are the Kale Pakora Chips with Corn, Sweet Onion, Sweet Hot Serrano Glaze and Vegan Yellow Pepper Aioli. (This one was one of my favorites) These chips were layered with flavors and texture. They had that hot sweet savory crunchy thing going on. They almost had a toffy crunch feel in the mouth.They were surprisingly delicious! Edamame Hummus were just simply fried and had a light dusting of some kind of better tasting sea salt. I don’t get the hummus among us connection here. Nor did I get hummus………Another of the favorite dishes was the Korean Fried Cauliflower. I only got a small taste of it but the Cauliflower was wildly flavorful with Korean Hot Pepper Sauce, Asian flavors and were tossed with quinoa, some pea sprouts and pea pods. I have to say that was one interesting Vegan Plate!

Another starter we tried was the Smoked Trout Beignets (I think it was spelled Beinegts on the menu…..?. Well anyway it basically was a Smoked Trout fish fritter or croquette that was served with a Roasted Red Pepper Aioli. It was also suppose to come with Cornichons that we didn’t receive.

I tried one Smoked trout ball by cutting it in half. It was too smokey for me….all I tasted was smoke…….but then I tried the other half with the Red Pepper Aioli and then like magic it was better and delicious!  Well any who the Smoked Trout Balls were delicious with lots of the Red Pepper Aioli.

We decide to share another plate and try the Urban Market Steak Salad.

Its very buttery tender Grilled Beef Tenderloin in a ancho Bourbon Demi with a detailed salad of Smokey Blue Cheese, Avocado, Watercress, Sugared Pecans, Dried Corn, Bacon, a few other things with a Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. The salad was much lighter than it looks and the blue cheese was used very sparingly not to over power anything.

We could stop now but desserts are a big feature here so we had to try one.

They all look great!

What to pick?

Went with Pumpkin Pie because it’s that time of year for Pumpkin Pie.

This pie is unique. (My phone didn’t capture the edible glitter on the top.)

The cream taste sort of like like cannoli filling. It’s also not too sweet.The custard is creamy, not too sweet and swings towards nutmeg.The crust is thin and is better than most pie crusts you get out because it’s edible and doesn’t taste like a block of flour like the average pie crust.

My first visit to The Herb Box was interesting! I enjoyed the food but it seemed like management was off on my visit because of the missing items on plates. If management was on   their game I think the plates would have have been complete.  I’m surprised that the server didn’t  recognize or care that two of the plates weren’t complete. There should have been some kind of  COMMUNICATION by the server or management…..I would be very understanding if someone said something to me….like I’m sorry we are out of that instead of just giving me the plates and hoping or not caring I won’t notice………… I also happened to come across on review sites that my Vegan Nosh Board was significantly smaller than what other people were served. I sent the pictures of the two appetizer plates to The Herb Box hoping for a reply….so I just don’t stew or speculate on what the issues were….. As of this date nobody from The Herb Box replied to me.

The food is good but I recommend to take a photo of the menu while dining to make sure you get everything that you are expecting.

www.TheHerbBox.com

The Forking Truth is that EVERYTHING is subject to change and YOUR experience or MY experience may or may NOT differ.

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FnB Scottsdale AZ

FnB Restaurant is located in Arts District of Old Town Scottsdale AZ. This is a contemporary restaurant that serves an ever changing innovated menu of vegetable and farm focused globally inspired foods. You might find things such as Bagna Cauda (warm hot Italian Dip), Shiraz Salad (Persian Tomato & cucumber salad), Sauce Gribich (French cold hard yolk sauce), maybe you also might find Langos on the menu (Hungarian Fried Bread). FnB also offers a well thought out wine list that happens to showcase many of Arizona’s Finest Wines. For the last several years the Chef has been nominated for the James Beard Award of South West Best Chef so let me tell you the food is so let me tell you that the food is really Forking Special Here!

FnB offers formal but casual indoor seating and a small but cozy patio.

They start us off with Locally Made Good quality bread and Olive Oil.

It’s always difficult to decide on what to order because they offer SO MANY small plates that all sound Amazing! Our host the Co-owner is always remembers us and is very welcoming and helpful. He explains the more unusual menu selections.

We decide to start with the Langos (Hungarian fried bread made with potatoes)

My Half

Oh My! This is the Most Elevated Potato Chip Sandwich I could have ever dreamed of. The bread is tasty, crisp and seems light as a feather. It’s topped with a garlic-ee aioli. On top of that is shaved fennel, fresh made potato chips, heirloom radishes and grated cured egg. Wow…it’s really great!

We also try the Butterkin Squash Plate.

The Butterkin (a Butternut crossed with Pumpkin Squash) taste amazing with pippin rojo, (a sort of Dried Chili, sesame and pumpkin seed mole) A little quinoa and pepitas garnish the plate.

The dinners are usually very large in portion size. Usually I get my own and bring half home. This time we split the Pink Grouper for dinner.

This is 1/2

Grouper is a harder unforgiving fish to prepare and this one here is perfect. The wood grill adds a wonderful flavor to the moist fish. Bok Choy, Chanterrelles and very sweet firm corn go together like magic in a onion(i’itoi)  ginger sauce.

I’m really full and need to stop eating but we go for dessert because it’s always great here.

Got the Apple Sharlotka.

It’s basically like an apple cake.That is suppose to be made with tart apples and sugar, flour and eggs. It’s a cake that lacks milk and butter. It’s very natural tasting and almost taste sugar free. The apples are sort of tart but the powdered sugar add just enough sweetness.

FnB is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! You will travel across town to dine here!

www.FnBrestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may differ.

The Forking Truth

Ocotillo serves quality casual detailed American Food with International and Local accents. The menu is wonderfully enormous with an astonishing variety and changes with the seasons. There is more than a Modern Stylish Dining Room to dine in. They also offer a Beer Garden, a Coffee Shop and Multiple patios. This might be an acre foodie paradise Compound in Phoenix.

Ocotillo is among my favorite restaurants in Metro Phoenix and I do drive across town to dine here.

It was extremely difficult to decide on what to order. They had about THIRTY items on the menu to try that all sound delicious and special. The menu was broken down into Salads, Vegetable Plates, Small Plates, Sandwiches, and Large Plates.

We started out by sharing one of the Small Plates…..but as you can see by my photo the plate isn’t actually small.

Here was the House Smoked Salmon Plate with Crispy Potato Cake, Celery Root Puree and Apple Herb Salad. The salmon was nicely seasoned and was rich and buttery with a careful amount of smoke. It was resting over a very delicious crispy potato cake that was zippy with a little hot pepper. The apple herb salad was light and refreshing and balanced out the rich parts on the plate. The creamy celery root puree was different and creative and ties all the flavors together. I would have been happy just to have this plate as my meal.

For my meal I ordered the Fried Korean Chicken Sandwich.

My photo really doesn’t do this sandwich justice….or shows how ENORMOUS this sandwich really is. The sandwich is delicious and wonderfully spicy. It was made with Juicy flavorful chicken. The sandwich was made with gochujang (a spicy fermented sort of ketchup made with Korean peppers), grilled scallions and kimchee slaw. It’s powerfully flavorful. I don’t believe a sandwich has to be gigantic to be good but it doesn’t hurt a bit to enjoy the rest of a delicious sandwich a second time either. I didn’t weigh the amount of chicken in this sandwich so I don’t really know how big it was but I am guessing that they gave me 8 ounces of chicken (at least…..maybe more!). Off on the side was a detailed grain salad with vegetables.

My husband had the Crispy Pork Flautas. (off the Large Plates Section)

Three Pork Flautas, Green Chili Hominy, Crema, Pico De Gallo, Queso Fresco and a Fried Egg that has also been Grilled. You can see this plate is very detailed.

Beautiful food so far I always enjoyed myself here!

I have to say Ocotillo is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.OcotilloPHX.com

As we ALL KNOW everything is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Fabio on Fire is a small Italian Restaurant in Peoria AZ. They specialize in Neapolitan Pizzas, House Made Pastas, Baked Goods and Gelato. Fabio on Fire became an instant hit in Peoria. He was also already established and well known at Farmer’s Markets, Events and Festivals due to his mobile Pizza Oven and Bakery Stand. Word has traveled quickly about how good the food is and the small restaurant is usually packed before 5pm.

On my last visit they offered a list of specials in addition to the menu.

Just like on my previous visits they started us off with Fabio’s House Baked Bread, olive oil embellished with balsamic vinegar.

This time I ordered the Spinach Ravioli in Walnut Sauce.

WOW! I was wowed at first bite. I never had anything like these ravioli’s and sauce before.

The spinach pasta was really well made and inside tasted like fresh made ricotta cheese filling. The spinach inside was very flavorful with a little onion and garlic and other surprises but didn’t overpower the cheese. The ravioli were lightly dressed with a buttery tasting walnut sauce and Italian cheese.  These were extremely detailed ravioli and were just bursting with great flavors. I couldn’t believe how flavorful and delicious they were. These were among the best ravioli I have ever tried in my life.

My husband tried another one of the specials and it was the Veal Tortelloni.

He kept saying these are really well made. This is really good!

Then I let him try some Spinach Ravioli with Walnut Sauce. He said that REALLY IS AMAZING!

All the food I tried from Fabio on Fire was really good but some things do stand out like the Spinach Ravioli with Walnut Sauce.

I haven’t been able to eat my way threw all the offerings yet…But another STAND OUT is Fabio’s Strawberry Gelato.

Don’t get me wrong….The Chocolate gelato, the Blood Orange and the Pistachio are all very good but the STRAWBERRY is MAGICAL. It’s like eating the very best strawberries you ever had in your life! My husband isn’t a big sweets lover but even he thinks the strawberry gelato is AMAZING! I can only dream that Fabio opens a Gelato Shop or mass produces that Strawberry Gelato. He should it’s that GREAT!

Of course I didn’t have room for more food but I took home a Sfogliatelle from the awesome looking dessert case for the next day.

Even the next day the painstakingly made pastry was very crisp and inside wasn’t the usual cream but a moist rich delicious cake inside.

Fabio on Fire is Certainly WORTH A FORK!

Worth a Fork! You might travel across town to try the Spinach Raviolis and Strawberry Gelato!

www.FabioOnFire.com

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

The Forking Truth

Remember every THING is subject to change. Twisted Italian offers new menus now and lunch has gone up slightly.*******This was November 2017 pricing.

If you happen to be in the North/West part of the Valley you might want to know about the $7.99 Lunch specials The Twisted Italian is offering (Mon-Sat 11-4). We decided on what we were trying and they served our lunch in two courses. First comes out generously sized full size salads with house made dressings.

The salads were freshly made. The Caesar had yummy garlicky croutons and the Garden salad was tossed with a tasty strawberry vinaigrette. I almost didn’t need my lunch course after the almost lunch sized salads they gave us. I don’t know if the salads are always that big ?…..Maybe they accidentally gave us extra?

For my lunch I went with the Twisted Chicken Salad Wrap.

The wrap was made with a spinach herb tortilla and was dressed with house prepared sun-dried tomato fresh herb dressing. Inside was tender white meat chicken, pears, candied pecans, tomato, onion and romaine. I think that’s a pretty good deal for $7.99.

My husband tried the Italian Stack.

The Italian Stack was made of Capicola, Prosciutto, Mortadella, Pepperoni, Salami, Provolone, House prepared Tomato Herb Dressing, onion, tomato, romaine on Grilled Rustic Bread. Not bad for $7.99 that includes choice of side.

Other $7.99 Lunch Specials are –

Salad and Pasta

Chicken Pesto Panini + Side

Prosciutto and Spinach Grilled Cheese + Side

House Made Soup and Salad

Pizza and Salad

Meatball Sandwich + Side

Italian Sausage Sandwich + Side

Loaded Chicago Italian Beef Jr + Side

Sides are small garden salad, small caesar salad, garlic or regular fries, cup of house made soup or pasta salad.

It sure beats fast food! In a comfortable atmosphere. No you are not going to travel across town for these specials but if you happen to be in the area this is a good deal.

www.EatTwisted.com

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

The Forking Truth

Famous 48 Restaurant recently opened in Old Town Scottsdale. This is a small but full service restaurant with a Patio. They offer a casual menu of mostly American Comfort Food.

The main dining room is filled with a large bar and mainly high top tables but they do have a few booths and also do offer some regular seating indoors and out.

The atmosphere is loud, a little dark and quite a variety of music was blaring out. The music varied from a Johnnie Cash to the Beastie Boys.

We started out by sharing the Signature Appetizer The Waffle Mac-N-Cheese. It is described as a three cheese blend with noodles “Smashed” in a waffle maker.

I think this one might be great to some people but for me it’s just not for my taste. While I didn’t expect anything light or healthy here I found the waffle much heavier than I thought it would be and surprisingly not as cheesy tasting as I expected. However it did have some good seasonings and a little fun heat to it. I wasn’t sure if I tasted bacon…I did ask the server if it contained bacon and she said it didn’t contain bacon but had a smokey cheese was in the blend. I think it would have tasted better without the smoke. It’s possible that the smoke over powered the cheese taste for me. I note that I’m sensitive about smoky flavors and don’t always like smoke in my foods.  I’m not sure if this waffle was made correctly.

For my main I tried the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. I was suppose to get my choice of side between cole slaw, house fries and Asian green beans but my server ran off and said your getting the fries right……so I said ok………because I interpreted that as meaning I should order the fries……Was it was a recommendation?….. Or maybe she taught I looked like a fries person?……Or she just tells everyone to get the fries?….

Well any who…I soon receive my order.

This is a Nashville Inspired crispy Chicken Sandwich as real Nashville Chicken is only made in Nashville Tennessee and doesn’t have a wet sauce on it or on the side. Real Nashville Chicken is coated with a paste of cayenne pepper and oil or fat that soaks into the bread. The Famous 48 variation does have an intense heat from the buffalo sauce and a tasty flavor. The buffalo sauce is nose running HOT  and is also delicious with a good tang. For my taste the eggy rich bun is too thick for this sandwich and I prefer it open faced. I WARN YOU that this sandwich is only for heat loving folk and is not suitable for the wimpy masses. I have to be blunt and have to say I wouldn’t recommend the house fries. The skinny fries did arrive hot but seem to get cold in moments. The fries had very little potato flavor and remind me of fast food fries. BUT the sandwich was DELICIOUS! We both liked the sandwich!

****UPDATE***New recipe for the Nashville Style Chicken…Much milder but more moist and chicken now is developed with flavors…also a different exterior texture. (see picture below.at bottom.

My husband ordered the Slow roasted Pork Dip.

We aren’t sure but we think he was served the Sort Rib Melt. I didn’t taste his meal. I asked him about the Pork Jus and he said it taste like watery beef….? He was a bit displeased with the sandwich because he was expecting slices of pork but received minced meat without the caramelized onions he thought that he would be receiving. He said the meat had little flavor and he couldn’t tell if it was beef or pork. (I guess he got the bottom of the batch of whatever meat it was….all the little ends)….He said after he finished the sandwich he said that he would have been happy if he ordered the Hot Chicken Sandwich because that one had lots of flavor and tasted great!

At the time of this review Famous 48 has been open just a few days………

Newly opened!

www.Famous48.com

The Forking Truth is THAT EVERYTHING is subject to change and YOUR experience may or may NOT differ.

****UPDATE they moved the restaurant to another location in Scottsdale and the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich is different now******

The Forking Truth

Seoul BBQ & Sushi recently opened in Phoenix. This is a large Korean Restaurant that also offers some Japanese offerings. On the menu are appetizers, Asian Salads, sushi, Korean Soups & Stews, I saw house made tofu somewhere, fried rice dishes, 5 varieties of grilled fish, house made sweet potato cold noodle dishes, wok fried dishes and of course all the Korean BBQ choices and combos.

The atmosphere is upscale with attractive granite tables and walls in modern designed rooms. This is a BIG place that also offers a large private dining for entertaining and more dining rooms. I almost got lost here.

Each table has a burner and shiny hood for doing BBQ.

It is unusual to find such a restaurant outside of Mesa (the Asian capital of metro Phoenix). So we ordered and they start us off with many small side dishes called Banchan.

Some of the side dishes are pickled egg, garlic spinach, seaweed salad, kimchi, I think he said bell flower, pickled radish, Korean potato salad, crispy shrimp, carrot radish salad, Japanese Sweet Potato, Sweet Lotus Root, Korean Cucumbers and fish cakes.

I think this one was called bellflower? It was very tasty and among my favorites.

Fishcakes came out after the other side plates

It seemed like this Korean Restaurant put more effort into the side dishes than other Korean Restaurants I’ve dined at. I don’t eat Korean Food often but these were the most enjoyable Banchan I ever had. We were offered refills several times on the banchan.

Then we were asked if we’d like to try some miso soup. (I said I only wanted a small amount)

Then my husband’s Bibimbap with Bulgogi comes out on a very heavy hot skillet.

They cut up the egg and mix it up. The rice got a nice crisp bottom like Paella Rice. I got a small taste and the beef was so tender and delicious. It had all kinds of good flavors going on. Gochujang (a sort of Korean pepper ketchup) was available on the table as a condiment.

Next my  Jogi-Gui (A fish called broiled yellow croaker that is similar to corvina) comes out.

I got two small but perfectly prepared juicy tender fish with mild sweet flesh and crispy skin.

Service was very friendly and efficient. The owners or management also were very welcoming to us.

Our first visit was very enjoyable.

My second visit did differ.

Only received 8 side dishes instead of 17. Salad served was brown and the rib meat wasn’t the best.

Well any who…..?

www.SeoulBBQSushi.com

The FORKING TRUTH is that EVERY FORKING thing is subject to change and YOUR experience may or MAY NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

I would be wrong to say Zinburger is a small local chain….Zinburger is a Fox Concept Restaurant who is Arizona based but I see that Zinburger is a growing chain that is in many locations across the country. I recently went to the Biltmore Fashion Plaza Location in Phoenix. This is a very casual restaurant with a full bar. This restaurant specializes in Burgers. The standard burger on the menu is a 6.5 ounce certified angus beef patty that is ground in house daily. You can upgrade to grass-fed or choose vegetarian, chicken, tuna or turkey burgers. They also offer salads, sides and milkshakes.

I am picky about the beef I ate…since the beef is ground in house I feel I can eat it. (I gave up supermarket ground beef for the unwanted additive it contains)

BUT…….that pretty picture with cows makes me feel sort of Forking guilty about ordering beef. I almost change my mind.

They have some sort of Burger Battle every year and last years winner was Zinburger’s Bruce Lee Burger so that is the one I want to try.

Zinburger – Bruce Lee Burger

I start with the pickle chips. The pickles are crunchy, garlic dill and obviously fresh made.

Then I attempt the burger.

For me it’s impossible to take a complete bite. The bun is too big for this burger.

The burger is very messy and drippy. My plate is filling up with juice and sauces.

I must remove the top bun and lose some Sriracha Mayonnaise and eat with a knife and fork.

I have a very juicy caramelized burger that’s topped with Asian BBQ sauce, napa cabbage slaw, cucumbers, rice wine vinegar, avocado and jalapeños. It really IS FORKING DELICIOUS! It taste like maybe the most delicious potsticker I ever tried. I got all kinds of textures and creamy to spicy and blasts of flavors in-between. It’s really good…but not something you want to eat around other people because it’s very messy. You can only eat this burger around someone that you can fart with.

My husband Tried the El Diablo Burger.

Zinburger’s El Diablo Burger

This Burger is topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, caramelized onions and lettuce. It is suppose to have Chipotle Mayonnaise but if you read my reviews you know my husband avoids mayonnaise as much as possible. Somehow he is able to cram the burger in his mouth. He is actually happy. It’s the best burger he had out in a while…………

The burgers seemed very above the average……..

Service was only average. We were going to share a salad that didn’t come out of the kitchen. So we just ate our burgers. It turned out to be more than enough food anyway. We informed our waiter about the salad we didn’t receive and the manager did generously offer to let us take out the salad for free but we declined.

www.ZinburgerAZ.com

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

The Forking Truth

The Horney Toad Restaurant in Cave Creek has been in business for over FOURTY years. Because of the rustic charm this restaurant has it’s been used in many movies and photo shoots. When you walk in you see autographs from celebrities and you hear cowboy music. It seems like the Old Wild West really does live here.

View of patio from the booth I sat at.

The offerings aren’t fancy but they are very well known for very good fried chicken and Strawberry Shortcake. They serve SIMPLE BASIC American Food. NOTHING here is fancy.

The menu is sort of humorous in spots. Here’s the home made salad dressings.

Eye-tallion, 999 Island! LOL 🙂

I had to go with the 1/2 Chicken.

Sounds great! Fresh not frozen.

It came to me like this. (I did ask for no gravy on the potatoes because I don’t care for the gravy most places serve) Here get a better look. I think the dish that sat on top of the chicken damaged the coating slightly.

The 1/2 chicken is a really big portion……BUT FORKING DELICIOUS! The breast is so flavorful and juicy with crispy tasty coating! YES! Winner winner chicken dinner! I’m a good eater but I only need to eat the breast as it’s plenty of food and I’m taking the rest of the chicken home. Cole slaw is fresh made and creamy. Potatoes seem like they were riced because they are so fluffy…then I hit one potato lump. The potatoes are seasoned pretty well too.

My husband had the Tijuana Torpedo. (A BIG BURGER stuffed with a green chile and cheese.

They prepared the burger to my husband’s request. My husband said the meat had a good flavor to it and picked up flavor from the mesquite it was cooked with. We could tell the green chile pepper came from a can but still it was a tasty BIG burger on a good bun. The fries are a blast from the past and seemed like batter dipped fries. I think they are the same exact fries Chi-Chi’s used to serve but at Chi-ChiChi’s they added cajun seasoning to the fries.

I’m full I’ll have to try the Strawberry Shortcake next time!

Service was friendly and efficient.

We enjoyed our visit to the Horney Toad. 🙂

If you happen to find yourself in Cave Creek you might want to stop into The Horney Toad for Delicious Fried Chicken or a decent Burger.

www.TheHorneyToad.com

The Forking Truth is that EVERYTHING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth