Ten years back it seemed there was a budget Asian Buffet on every corner. Today many of these places are a thing of the past. It’s very difficult to keep over a hundred items of food at the right temperature and stored correctly and often buffets suffer violations at health inspections. The New China Super Buffet in Phoenix AZ might be the cleanest buffet in all of Maricopa Country at this time. The New China Super Buffet over the past twelve months has earned a grade “A” health inspections. This is very unusual and very impressive for a restaurant that offers maybe over a hundred different pans of prepared foods so it seemed worthy of a try. The atmosphere is a little dated but seems clean. The dining room chairs are extra wide and are on wheels sort of like chairs from convalescent  homes.

This is an inexpensive and very large buffet. I came for dinner on the weekend and the price was about $12.00 for all one wants to eat including beverages.

We weren’t greeted or felt welcome by the people at the hostess desk but were seated quickly in the dining room.

I take a walk around the buffet and this is what I see.

They offer a variety of sushi. I tried a few pieces and it’s it’s good for buffet style sushi.

This salmon is typical example of buffet salmon. Albumin formation is going on here from over cooking. I will pass on the salmon.

From this row I take chicken on a stick. The chicken is fresh and juicy but is very sweet with slight Asian flavors. They have Mexican Hot Sauce on the table as a condiment. I use some on the chicken to cut the sweet and make it a little spicy.

I did try a taste of the macaroni and cheese…It was very unusual looking. The pasta was florescent orange in color and then topped with a cheese sauce. I never saw florescent colored pasta before. It was slightly better than it looked.

Most of the food I tried came from this row. I tried mushroom chicken, spicy chicken and vegetables. They all seemed fresh and were prepared nicely but they all….. even the vegetables tasted exactly like the chicken on a stick. All sweet with slight Asian seasoning. It seemed like they have one universal sauce for the Asian Inspired Dishes. You can eat like a warrior here if you are a fan of the sweet slightly Asian Taste.

A few pans like the salmon contained over cooked meats. My husband tried the pork dish and he told me that the pork was very dry and tasted exactly like all the chicken dishes.

We shared an egg tart. It was the one thing I tried that I thought was delicious. It had a nice thin perfect crust and the filling was rich and smooth. It tasted cheesy and slightly sweet.

The New China Super Buffet offers many desserts, cookies, macaroons, cream filled puffs, iced cakes, peanut clusters, and four kinds of ice cream.

Our server was efficient at serving beverages and clearing plates but also made us feel slightly unwelcome by rolling her eyes and laughing slightly when she served my husband a refill.

Besides dining in…..New China Super Buffet offers a menu of Take Out Chinese Food and Take Out Buffet Food.

1/2 a Fork….better than some of the other Budget Asian Buffets I’ve been too ……Nothing was too oily or too salty…………. grade “A” by Maricopa county for the past twelve months…..downside was that most of the Asian Inspired entrees tasted the same.

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

For more information on New China Super Buffet in Phoenix AZ you will have to visit them or give them a call at 602-424-1660

The Forking Truth

My favorite place to eat a fast casual meal in the Scottsdale Fashion Plaza isn’t in the food court. It’s a cafeteria cafe in Nordstrom’s Department Store called The Market Place at Nordstrom’s. They serve eggs that are cage free, the food is organic and much of the food they offer is locally sourced. The casual menu consist of soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, entrees and amazing looking and tasting in house baked desserts.

A few of the house made desserts at Nordstrom’s

I went threw the cafeteria line and we ordered and paid. They gave us a number and we seated ourselves. Other times they have handed us our plates over the cafeteria line then we proceed threw with a tray.

Soon our food arrives.

I got the Nicoise Salad with Herb and Dijon Roasted Salmon. My salad was full of fresh mixed greens, French Green Beans, hard eggs, olives, onion, and delicious creamy and crisp gold potatoes. The dressing that tied it all together was delicious.

Last time I had a delicious Berry Salad that I almost got again…All the salads are great here..I’ve eaten my way threw about half the salads on the menu. I’ve never felt deprived when I tried a salad here!

Berry Blue Cheese and Chicken Salad from Nordstrom’s

My husband got The Grilled Skirt Steak Chimichurri.

The steak was tender like butter and delicious. It came with a generous serving of roasted carrots, asparagus potatoes and cilantro lime vinaigrette. (steak is over the vegetables)

The Market Place Cafe at Nordstrom’s is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

For more information please visit www.restaurants.Nordstrom.com

Your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

I never have been to Chicago and I’m not real familiar with Chicago Style Pizza. Lou Malnatis is a Famous Pizza Chain from Chicago that’s well known for their Signature Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza.  Lou Malnatis has opened their first Restaurant in Phoenix AZ and that’s a big deal so I thought I’d give it a try.

Lou Malnatis

The inside of the restaurant has a fun retro kind of interior with interesting fixtures and bright lights that spell cheese on a wall in the dining room.

We order our individual sized pizzas and are told it will take at least 30 minutes.

After about 40 minutes we receive our pizzas.

I ordered a vegetable pizza named “The Lou.”

The first thing I notice is that this is an extremely small size pizza. It looks child’s size to me.

My pizza with filled with fresh mushrooms, spinach mix that looked sort of grey, vine ripened Lou’s tomatoes (that were good), cheese blend (mozzarella, Romano, Cheddar) and topped with roma tomatoes (sort of unripe) in what they call Butter Garlic Crust.

You don’t pick up a slice and eat this pizza. You have to eat it with a knife and fork. I try a little end of the crust and it’s thin and fried pie like almost like a crostata. ( a crostata is made with olive oil based dough) The bottom of the crust is slightly thicker but still thin and is more pizza dough like. I don’t get the butter taste it almost seems more like dough that’s fried in oil….

I like the taste of the cheese blend and I also like the fresh mushrooms and vine ripened tomato sauce.

My husband tries the Malnati Chicago Classic. It’s a similar pizza but filled with lean Lou’s Sausage, vine ripened tomato sauce and cheese blend. The sausage is very lean and slightly dry. This pizza is very mildly seasoned.

Lou Malnatis is the first of Three BIG Chicago Chains of Pizza restaurants to open in Metro Phoenix AZ. (the other two chains are opening soon within the year) You might want to give them a try if you want to take part in all the hype about Chicago Style Pizza.

For more information please visit www.LouMalnatis.com

The Forking Truth

Salad and Go is a Gourmet Salad Restaurant. Salad and Go is small local chain that seems to be growing in Metro Phoenix. You either drive threw and order or use the Walk Up Window pictured above. No dining room here but they do offer a Dog Friendly Patio and gave my dogs Dog Biscuits! At Salad and Go all the food is natural and organic and made in house. They offer over TEN varieties of fresh and seasonal salads that can also be turned into wraps. They serve healthy breakfast options, smoothies and more. Prices are very low and portions are surprisingly large. All nutrition values are posted on their website. www.SaladandGo.com

I ordered the Apple and Mixed Greens Salad ($5.74) added Chicken ($1.44).

My salad contained Fresh Mixed Greens, Romaine, Golden Raisins, Candied Pecans, Apples, Blue Cheese,  Balsamic Vinaigrette and added Chicken.The chicken was well seasoned and seemed like it was baked, chilled and cut into bit size cubes. This salad certainly was DELICIOUS and was so satisfying. This $7.18 salad is bigger and better than many $12.00 salads I had out in other places.

My husband had what they called a Santa Fee Salad with added Steak.

The Santa Fe Salad contained Corn, Mexican Cheese, Sweet Grape Tomatoes and Spicy Beans and a Cilantro Lime Dressing tied it all together.

The dogs were well behaved and got to sample the Chicken and Steak too.

Salad and Go is Budget Priced but Quality Food that’s Healthy and a Great Value.

Salad and Go is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

For more information on Salad and Go please visit www.SaladandGo.com

Anything is subject to change and your experience may differ.

The Forking Truth

Fat Ox is one of the most anticipated new restaurant openings of the year in the Metro Phoenix Area. The Chef has trained in France and is well known for other very good restaurants in the area (The Brasserie, Zinc Bistro and The Mission).  Fat Ox serves Modern Italian Foods such as antipastos, salumi, pastas and main meals. The energetic atmosphere is a mix of all sorts and so are the lighting fixtures as I counted nearly a dozen different kinds of fixtures. It’s loud in here and it’s also very dark despite all the interesting fixtures…..in this very spacious restaurant with a very large Patio.

The Forking Truth is that it’s THIS DARK in the dining room! Often I couldn’t see what was on the plates and ate mostly blind. I took most of the other photos with a flash. I didn’t actually know what the food looked like until I viewed my photos…..FT (ForkingTruth).

We start out with complimentary toasted bread cubes and Calabrian Chili Butter. I like the unique spicy but not too spicy taste of the Calabrian Chili and I have a jar of them in my pantry right now.

Our First Course arrives. It’s the Charred Taleggio Cheese with similar bread, Beet Mostardo, Lemon and Walnut and Olive Oil.

I couldn’t see the Pomegranate Seeds but I felt them burst in my mouth. The Sage, Beets, Mustard and Walnut all dressed up the cheese nicely. This was a great plate!

Our second course was pasta and it was a show stopper.

There wasn’t much of it but what I tasted was amazing. Carefully made perfect to the tooth pasta shaped like little wrappers containing a prize….of…carefully seasoned butternut squash. It was a little sweet a little buttery highlighted with just the right amounts of mostarda, amaretti cookie, parmesan cheese, sage and pomegranate. Our server recommended that we order THREE Plates of pasta….Now I know why. Amazing, Delicious and tiny…any table can fit in three of these sized plates.

My main course was the A La Diavlo Rotisserie Jidori Chicken.

The picture looks amazing but remember it really was dark…dark or darker than the photo below because I moved the candle back to where it was suppose to go.

The Forking Truth is that I didn’t see the vegetables on top of the chicken and when I went to use my steak knife it was like playing MURDER IN THE DARK with the chicken. I sawed off a piece and got an unpleasant mouthful of rubbery moist chicken skin in a tangy but delicious sauce. For me it was a difficult task to remove the chicken skin in the dark. Then it was difficult to find the chicken in the dark…and next…I got a mouthful of fennel when I was expecting chicken. This plate was too difficult for me to eat in the dark. I didn’t know I’d need a coal miner’s hat to eat the chicken. How silly of me to be unprepared.

My husband had the Rosewood Skirt Steak Tagliata.

Because it was dark neither of us saw the oil and balsamic around the plate. Leaving the steak to taste mostly natural tasting. A few baby herbs and baby vegetables accented the plate.

The waitress tells us about desserts but she is by my husband and I’m on the bench too far to hear her with all the music noise in the background. We pass on dessert this time.

I note this restaurant is new and may still be finding their way..

For more information please visit www.ILoveFatOx.com

I do note that everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Sizzle Korean Barbecue Restaurant recently opened in the Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix Arizona. Most of the restaurants here are food court and fast food- like but, Sizzle Korean Barbecue is somewhat upscale.

There is a lot on the menu but this place isn’t for everyone.

One – you must be a meat eater or there is little for you but rice or a steamed egg.

Two – The only meats on the menu are either beef or pork.

You either pick one specific meat or the combination that is either an all beef menu or a pork menu. The price isn’t that much higher for 5 meats verses one meat so we tried the Beef Combination of five that included one stew. The meats get cooked by your server right infront of you on your table.

They set us up with lots of side dishes known as Banchan that translates to side dishes. Some of the side dishes we received were marinated broccoli, bean sprout salad, fish cakes, radish, tossed salad, onions and chives. Condiments for the beef were sea salt, a Korean sort of ketchup sauce and soy sauce.

Then they quickly bring out an appetizer of steamed eggs.

Next is bubbling hot Kimchi Stew and they start cooking the meats.

Our server suggest to use a radish as a tortilla shell, salt the meat, add soy sauce, top with onions and chives and eat like a taco.

The food all came flying at us a little too fast for me but all the beefs were delicious. This was a fun and different dining experience.

Sizzle Korean BBQ is new but seems to be Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

For more information please visit www.SizzleKoreanBBQ.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may differ……

The Forking Truth

Match Cuisine recently opened at the hip and unique Found:re Boutique Hotel in Phoenix Arizona. You walk threw an art gallery on the way to your seat. Not all but most of the artwork isn’t appropriate for children. We were welcomed by a larger than life size naked Burt Reynold’s wearing nothing but a flowing blond wig. It was kind of eye catching and I missed the super cool fun thing below on my way in.

At first I thought this was a rug but it’s an interactive projection with moving fish that swim when you step on it. It’s really cool…my photo doesn’t do it justice.

A woman wearing a prickly pear cactus skirt…..looks painful to me.

They had a very WEIRD series of elderly people that are in exam rooms or also at home. Many of these photos show naked parts or next to naked parts I am posting only the tamest of these photos.

The Dining Room has a unique industrial kind of look with a Chef’s Table. The chairs are very solid and heavy made with rebar and heavy metal legs.

The menu is interesting with globally inspired dishes of mostly small plates. Here you do need to order two plates a person even at lunch time so we shared a lot of things.

I ordered a Green Papaya Salad with added Yellowtail and Black Garlic Roasted Potatoes.

The salad was light and refreshing with good flavors. The Yellowtail seemed to be seared far in advance because it was ice cold. Potatoes were slightly overcooked and the Black Garlic seemed burnt off. I note that this restaurant is newly opened and all newly opened restaurants usually open with hiccups that work out in time.

My husband ordered The Grateful Shroom Mushroom Pizza and Ricotta Gnocchi.

I thought the pizza was very tasty with earthy mushroom and truffle flavors. The crust seemed very unusual to both of us and lacked a chewiness and yeast-tee-ous that pizza normally has. I thought it seemed gluten free but it wasn’t.

The manager presented us with a complimentary Eye Popping Dessert named Oaxacan Wreckage.

This dessert was very detailed with micro layer cakes and also was very rich. It was all Ying and no Yang but the Flavors and textures were very unique and wonderful with a tied together with a Chocolate Chili Mole. This place is new to me but I can tell you that this is a dessert place..and you are missing out if you don’t order dessert here.

Match Cuisine also offers a dog friendly patio with a several item DOG MENU……I so wanted to bring my dogs here….but my husband insisted that we check out the place first. It turned out to be the correct decision because I would have missed all the eye acting artwork.

For more information on Match Cuisine in Phoenix Arizona please visit www.MatchPhx.com or www.foundrehotels.com

Too new to rate…..

The Forking Truth

An intoxicating aroma of exotic spices  fills the air inside the restaurant and suddenly I get excited to try Indian Cuisine. The dining room is modern and clean. Indian Television and Lively Music are on at the same time…… At the time of this review (October 2016) Taj Mahal Restaurant and Lounge is a newly opened Indian Restaurant and Lounge located in Old Town Scottsdale. Here you park in the street in pull in spaces or in one of the free garages.

The owner is very friendly and welcoming and takes our order.

In reasonable time our plates arrive that we share. The decorative plates look small to us but really held just enough food.

We received Fish Vindaloo (maui maui), Chicken Biryani and Garlic Naan. I’ve had Chicken Biryani at a number of places and although there are endless variations of this dish….. this dish of Chicken Biryani seemed the most complex and interesting that I tried so far. To start out the chicken was above average. It was tasty juicy, flavorful,  boneless chicken thigh meat. This style of Biryani had the just right amounts of sweet golden raisins, toasted almonds and fresh herbs to balance all the spices and heat. It was the best Biryani I remember tasting so far.

The Fish Vindaloo came with potatoes in a spicy, tangy, tomato based sauce. The fish seemed fresh tasting and was flaky and moist. I thought the extra sauce was a yummy treat with the garlic naan.

Service was efficient.

Portions are right on.

Pricing is on the high side…..Biryani $15.99 & Vindaloo $17.99 …..The proteins are either higher quality or were prepared with more expertise than from other similar places I tried.

It’s premature to rate because they are so new but I couldn’t find a thing wrong with anything so it seems that Taj Mahal in Scottsdale AZ is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

I didn’t include this is my review……..

The owner told me that people travel hours to come here for his Specialty Dish the Chicken Masala. He is confidant that he serves the absolute best Chicken Masala that there is out there and he tried to get me to order it..( The truth is that I like Chicken Masala but it’s not my favorite Indian Dish so I didn’t try it this time)….He told me that I must try the Chicken Masala next time. Maybe next time I will try the Chicken Masala and see if I feel differently about that dish after I try it here….

For more information please visit www.TajMahalPrescott.com

The Forking Truth

Lon’s is the restaurant at The Hermosa a Bouquet Resort in the Paradise Valley area of Scottsdale AZ. The weather was perfect for patio dining so we took advantage of the mature trees and desert views on the lovely patio.

Our waiter introduces himself and when we are ready to order we do.

I receive my lunch of fish and chips.

It wasn’t fancy at all but everything on the plate was technically perfect. The Fish was Halibut that tasted fresh and was moist and flaky like it should be. The fish had a light coating of cornmeal that seemed free of oil. I also received house made sauce and fresh cut herbed fries that also were clean tasting and seemed oil free…that really were the BEST tasting fries I had in a long long time.

My husband had the Sort Rib Pizza.

My husband said the short rib was very good and tasty. The pizza was thinly buttered with a house made ricotta cheese that added great flavors to the pizza. I stole one small tomato from the pizza that had a great sweetness and a delicious fresh tomato taste. The only criticism that I can give is….as delicious as I was told that this pizza was……….we both felt this pizza is too small for a man’s appetite….even at lunch time.

I do note typical of resort dining lunch pricing is on the high side. I found service to be EXCELLENT. From host, hostess, waiter, and management. We were attended to often and were made to feel very welcome at Lon’s.

Technically perfect food is Worth a Fork! I dine out often and find you don’t get technically perfect food at many fine places. Lunch Pricing runs on the high side and some lunch portions might run on the small side.

This Boutique Resort is small. There is no self parking so you have to valet.

In my opinion…….Lon’s..was Technically Perfect Food in upscale surroundings with Great Service  and is…….. Worth a Fork!

For more information please visit www.Hermosainn.com

The Forking Truth

Tonto Bar and Grill is a south west themed golf resort in beautiful Cave Creek Arizona. They serve up American Food sometimes studded with local desert foraged ingredients. They were offering a great sounding three course menu so we decided to go for it.

They offer a beautiful out-door patio.

With beautiful views of the golf course.

The dragon flies are real and are not decorations.

We request a seat on the patio. I ask for a shaded table and they offer a seat in full sun. I try it out and one side blinds my eyes and the other seat burns my back.

“From one seat the sun blinds me and from the other seat the sun burns my skin”

I tell them for those reasons this table won’t work for me. Our server tells me the sun is only temporary and will set.

“The sun is only temporary and will set eventually” “What’s your problem human….

I say I can’t sit there and then she says they can set an umbrella up for me.

“Stay at this lovely table in the burning sun…..we will install an umbrella for you so you can stay here….”

They set the umbrella up and then the table is tolerable. I thought it was strange since 90% of the tables looked available and many were shaded.

Well any who……

They start us off with a bread basket with creamy soft butter.

The bread seemed like it might have been house baked and was topped with some interesting seeds.

Our first of three courses soon arrive.

I had a compressed Arugula Salad.

It was delicious with Pecans, Green Apple, Pistachios with Pistachio vinaigrette. The salad also contained Spanish Cheese and Dried Cherries. It was all good.

My husband had theTortilla Crusted Crab Cakes.

The Crab Cakes were unusually good and was a welcome surprise as you very rarely get good crab cakes outside of Baltimore.

Soon our plates are cleared and the watering system starts up.

We get splashed with water a few times but not too bad. I just didn’t want to get lawn water on my food because the outdoor water might contain lead and other impurities.

For dinner I have the Onion Crusted Walleye. It’s served over a potato roesti cake. They served me two generous servings of tarter sauce topped with fried capers some lightly steamed shreds of steamed carrots topped with some fresh spinach. The fish is pretty good until I hit the slightly undercooked rubbery bloodline and the soggy fish skin that was crusted over with onion crust. The potato is seasoned nicely and is a tasty treat.

My husband tried the Root Beer braised Short Rib Dinner.

Our favorite part of the plate was the Sweet Potato Casserole. It was layers of nicely cooked sweet potatoes held together with cheese. Anybody would like the sweet potatoes. For both our taste the rib was too stringy and might be over-cooked slightly for our taste. For me it ran too sweet. For me the green beans were painfully smokey. They were infused with a massive amount of smoke. It was too much smoke for me to swallow and I had to spit the piece I tried out. They were too smokey for my husband too but he was able to eat a few of them.

The desserts were

A decadent Warm Buttermilk Chocolate Cake with Warm Chocolate Sauce, Fresh Fruit, House Pecan Ice-cream with fancy cookies.  So many treats to try on one plate

And Lemon-Lime Sour Cream Pie.

Both desserts were very detailed and also very good! The Lemon-Lime Sour Cream Pie had this citrusy ribbon that hit you with the right amount of tang, sweetness and flavor. Under the ribbon was a creamy layer that was so tasty with nutty tasting crust. This dessert was all good even down to the cute hand made sugar bumble bee.

Tonto Bar and Grill offers a Taste of the South West indoors or on the patio. For sure you can enjoy some lovely appetizers and amazing desserts. I haven’t tried enough of the menu to be clear on a rating.

For more information please visit www.TontoBarandGrill.com

I note that your experience and taste may differ and I just tell the truth about my dinning experience.

The Forking Truth.

The Forking Truth