Category Archives: Special Events

Belle’s Nashville Kitchen (Scottsdale), La Piazza Al Forno (Glendale) Sala Thai (Peoria) – Take Out Food during the CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ Week 37

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A brand new restaurant called Belle’s Nashville Kitchen just opened up in Old Town Scottsdale and I wanted to try their Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. I saw that they didn’t have a patio so we did take out.

We both got Nashville Style Hot Chicken Sandwiches. My side was a very large side salad and my husband got fries as his side.

Look at the fries they are very unusual.

They are sort of in-between a chip and a fry.

He’s a better look at the sandwich.

The chicken is crisp and has a medium hot spicy coating. Cayenne and paprika are the dominate flavors and the chicken breast is moist. I can tell you that the bun is eggy and soft. There is some creamy sauce on the upper bun with pickle chips. Under the chicken is a creamy slaw. When I tasted it at first I could taste blue cheese in it but after a bite of the chicken I didn’t taste the blue cheese anymore????????? (kitchen accident? had blue cheese dressing with my salad……maybe some dressing splashed on my sandwich….look at my take out package…..looks like someone wiped something out of it?)………Overall it was unique and tasty.

www.BellesNashvilleKitchen.com

We also did take out from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale.

They are well known for their Neapolitan Certified Pizzas and have been featured on Diners Drives and Dives a number of times on Food Network TV.

La Piazza Al Forno serves a variety of pizzas these days. Besides Neapolitan Certified Pizzas with hand pulled mozzerella they also offer Roman Style Pizzas and the New York Style weekend special pizzas. I heard that they also plan to offer Detroit Style pizzas in the near future. Besides pizza they offer some Italian foods and house made desserts.

Today we got the Italian Stallion Pizza and the Bianco Pizza with added Calabrian Chilies.

I’ve had many wonderful and delicious Neapolitan and Neapolitan style pizzas in metro phoenix but the crust here has a special tenderness and taste that is different. The hand pulled mozzarella (made in house) is also more flavorful. They also use a special higher quality milky ricotta that is special….It taste like fresh made almost like rich mascarpone. My favorite pizza here its usually the Bianco pizza on the right. It’s made with fresh hand pulled mozzarella, a high quality ricotta, Sicilian oregano, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. I always add on the nicely flavored not too spicy Calabrian chilies…that just makes it POP!…….. I’ll be honest like I always am….that is why this is The Forking Truth……….. The pizzas here are not consistent but still are always delicious. I strongly prefer when they make the Bianco like the one below. See they look different!

It taste better when they spread the ricotta cheese with the hand pulled mozzarella and it all melts together and taste great. The solution is to spread the ricotta yourself.

My husband usually prefers a meaty pizza. But in a few days gets to share my Bianco leftovers and always says that he really likes that pizza too!

www.LaPiazzaFamiglia.com

Our last take out of the week was from Sala Thai in Peoria /#UpperWestSide

Obviously Sala Thai serves Thai Food.

We enjoy the spicy basil dishes here because they hand chop the proteins and these dishes are infused with more basil flavor, have more heat and run less sweet than from other near by Thai restaurants near us.

Below was our take out. Spicy basil fried pork rice and spicy pumpkin basil with chicken.

Below is a saucier version of what I had.

That was week 37 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in metro Phoenix AZ.

www.SalaThaiAZ.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Take out Food in Metro Phoenix AZ – Week 36 of the Coronavirus Pandemic – Twisted Italian, Rocket burger

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Take out food is a safer option than dining in during the coronavirus pandemic. We will not be dining in during the pandemic but we do consider dining out on uncrowded out door patios at off times.

The Twisted Italian is located in North Peoria in the #UpperWestSide. This restaurant is located in a large newer shopping center. They do have two outside tables but most seating is indoors. They serve most of your usual American Italian foods but also offer a few things that are “Twisted” like three kinds of pierogi on the menu and also an Italian Relleno that comes with fried raviolis.

Tonight we took out the the Friday Dinner Walleye Special and the Pepperonata with extra sausage.

OMG they gave me a whole buffet pan of food. Look how ENORMOUS that pan is with the walleye. The vegetables (a mix of green beans, asparagus, and zucchini) are tender crisp, very fresh and very good. The fish is mild and meaty. It’s lightly breaded and covered with a tangy lightly creamy citrus sauce. It’s slightly more tangy or sour than the sauce usually is. This same sauce is on the angel hair pasta. It’s too tangy or sour for me. I can’t eat it because it is painful to me…..(but I am more sensitive than most people.) I do note that I had this special before and it was delicious last time. This special is very popular. According to the website all this food is only $17.50. They must have made an error on my receipt because they only charged me $14.75 so I don’t know if I should bother them and let them know they made an off batch of sauce?

My husband did alright with the Pepperonata with extra sausage. He said that the sausage in his meal was very good and had extra to save to snack on. I shared some of the fish with my dogs and they got a taste of the sausage.

www.EatTwisted.com

Our other take out of the week was from Rocket Burger in North Phoenix. They serve burgers and other sandwiches, sides, soft serve and a few 100 kinds of bottled sodas. Recently The New Times wrote an article that Rocket Burger serves one of the top ten chicken sandwiches in metro Phoenix. I’ve been here a bunch of times but never tried a chicken sandwich here so today was the day.

The chicken sandwich is the one in the middle of the picture. The one I got is made with a large soft eggy bun, thin sliced pickles, a tomato slice, horseradish mayo, sliced jalapeños, really REALLY HOT Rocket Relish, two ultra thin battered chicken fingers and this sandwich is only $8.49. The person from The New Times said her chicken sandwich had an incredible crunch to it. Mine just taste battered and isn’t crunchy……(maybe it got soft due to take out and not dining in????) But WOW that horseradish mayo is really great and that rocket relish has a great flavor to it. This sandwich is boarder-line too spicy for me but I like the flavors of the sauce and relish. The chicken is ok. It’s a very good sandwich for only $8.49. I sure have paid more for sandwiches that weren’t this good.

We shared some fries and my husband had a double cheeseburger today. It usually is great but today was a little dry.

My dogs sure didn’t mind trying some cheeseburger and some chicken from Rocket Burger.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

www.TheRocketBurger.com

That was week 36 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change and we hope it DOES CHANGE for the better.

The Forking Truth

A little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ – Week 34 Take Out Food

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Take out and delivery are less risky dining options during the pandemic. We do consider patio dining during off times.

For our first visit we decided to do take out from the newly opened Lure Fish House in Scottsdale. They are a family owned restaurant with four California locations and this brand new one in Gainey Village. They offer a seasonal menu of all kinds of fresh flown in seafood at reasonable prices.

It looks like they have at least a dozen outside umbrella topped tables.

Inside looks cozy with an oyster bar.

Looks like they have a lot of booth seating and many are closed for social distancing.

I tried the Sally’s Sand Dabs.

Oh WOW! This is really GREAT! I got a very good portion of DELICIOUS fresh sand dabs. They are so tender and fresh tasting in a perfect lightly buttered herb crust. The caper sauce is just right and accents everything in a delicious way. The sides I went with were a light and not too sweet pineapple slaw and a cilantro laced corn salad. The kernels were sweet with a nice fresh texture.

My husband really ENJOYED the Tequila Lime Shrimp Pasta.

This is also really great but is a very VERY spicy creamy tomato tequila lime sauce with spinach and Gulf shrimp, garlic toast and pasta. I tried a taste of the sauce. It has great flavors to it but is MIGHTY HOT that builds. We hope that the restaurant doesn’t neutralize this dish to please the masses because this dish will be too hot for about half the people out there. BUT WE LOVE IT THIS WAY!

We also tried a little bit of the rolls. They are very good with a developed taste. They will not go to waste here.

They offer a nice variety of desserts and today we went with the key lime pie.

It seems light and is flavored nicely. The graham crust is tasty. You can’t go wrong with this one.

My dogs got to enjoy some sand dabs.

“Lure Fish House was really great!”

www.LureFishHouse.com

That was a little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ

Everything is subject to change and your experience may differ.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 33 – Alzohour Market, Fabio On Fire

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Experts say that take out food and delivery are less risky options during the pandemic. So take out is a logical choice but we also do consider out door patio dining.

Our first take out of the week was from Alzohour Market in Glendale. They are offer Moroccan, Middle Eastern Foods, baked goods, a small amount of grocery and Islamic Clothing. The food is always delicious and if you can you must try the hot tea. Today we took out the cod tangine and a chicken dish. We asked for chicken couscous but we got rice instead. She gave us LOTS of rice…way more than a person can eat. It was still delicious.

The entrees came with fresh salads. The Cod tangine is always delicious. It’s made with red peppers, tomatoes, onions and lemons in a warm seasoned tomato based sauce. The cod is nice and light but is a generous portion. The chicken is also delicious, lots of olives, very tender and falling off the bones. Today it came with potatoes that soaked up all the delicious Mediterranean and chicken flavors. These meals came with an ultra generous portions of colorful fluffy rice. the dogs sure enjoyed sharing some of the fish and chicken.

We also did take out from Fabio On Fire in North Peoria #UpperWestSide. This is an Italian Restaurant that offers Italian Foods such as Neapolitan Pizzas, Pastas, Great baked goods, Specials that may include fresh seafood and the BEST GELATO maybe in the world.

We went with two of the specials halibut Mediterranean, polenta with Italian sausage and peppers and that amazing strawberry gelato. I didn’t try the sausage and polenta but I can tell you that the halibut was delicious and prepared to perfection. The vegetables were also nice and fresh and included rainbow carrots. Fabios bread is also excellent. It was nice to enjoy a piece with dinner. The next day we enjoyed more of the amazing bread with breakfast. We also had a small taste of that amazing strawberry gelato. I’m lucky to have the rest in my freezer. My dogs got to also enjoy some sausage and halibut.

That was Week 33 of Take Out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

Alzohour Market – Glendale

Fabio On Fire – Peoria #UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope things do change for the better.

The Forking Truth

A Collection of HORRIBLE Frightful Foods Served To Me In Metro Phoenix AZ – The Halloween Special Edition Of The Forking Truth

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The Forking Truth is that not everything is amazing. Restaurants don’t always serve great food. Here is a collection of some of the obvious bad dishes I had served to me in metro Phoenix Arizona. I already reported these offenders once so I did my job. Once is enough. If you regularly read my blog then you will know where these monstrosities came from.

The above photo is a little fishy.

Here’s a close up.

This is suppose to be polenta. But it is oddly stiff……

I don’t know if it’s happy to see me or if the chef was just pissed off…???

This next one looks like a cinnamon or chocolate pastry…..But it is not.

It’s a burnt roll.

Also got a burnt pizza crust somewhere. Maybe the cook was sauced?

Don’t you hate when foreign objects are in your food?

Dessert isn’t always a sweet ending.

They gave us a dessert that is hard as a rock. We said something to (I think the owner) and he said that nothing was wrong with his dessert. He said they soften up when you heat them up…..WTFork was I suppose to do? Heat it up with my butt!

This next one was even more horrible than it looks.

The fish was fishy tasting (I couldn’t eat it) and was topped with raw sour tomato paste (like fresh from a can mixed with lemon juice and was just plopped on the fishy fish. It was surrounded by starchy tasting corn splats of different disgusting textures. I didn’t know at the time but latter found out that the chef left. I guess they let their dishwasher take a swing at cooking. I told my waiter about it but nothing was done…Then they went out of business.

Bad food can come from a food truck.

This was suppose to be some sort of corned beef stuffed roll. You can see it is greasy but THANK GOD you can’t taste it ….It tasted like it was cooked in rancid oil…..

This next one was a restaurant week dinner.

This dinner looks like it threw up on it’s self.

This sandwich was very unappetizing in appearance.

It looks like it was dragged threw a lake. (or maybe a mop bucket?)

Even pizza can bum you out. it’s so disappointing when you get a slice of pizza with zero topping.

BAH!

Had the worst taco in the whole world.

Even the tortilla was decomposing on it’s way to me. It was stuffed with DRY as can be flavorless chicken.

I also had the misfortune to try out the WORST Mediterranean food that I ever had anywhere.

Well the rice and tomato was good. But everything else was horrible but photographed well. Falafels had uncooked hard as rock chickpeas in them. The chicken shawarma tasted like chicken baloney. The pickle they gave me was old and decaying. I think it also came with a Sr. Citizen card.

I went to a new (at the time) BBQ place. The meats they served us were undercooked with hard fat. THE GRITS YOU CAN SEE WERE UNCOOKED that they served us.

We told someone about the grits. Nobody said that they were sorry. Nobody said that they’d take them off our bill. Nobody said that they’d get us something else.

It’s always horrible when they serve you…….”The I already ate plate” (no that wasn’t an appetizer…It was suppose to be my $16.00 Lunch.

Here’s another “I already ate plate”

This isn’t enough food for a gerbil. BAH!

Sometimes some restaurants are just bad.

I got this salad somewhere. They used processed chicken fingers that weren’t cooked correctly. It seemed they they cooked them in the microwave until they BLEW OUT the centers of the chicken and the outside of the chicken got incredibly hard. Then they chilled them and added them to my salad.

My husband got something similar but different here.

He said that his chicken fingers were a little better but the cheese with a combination of hard and melted at the same time.

This next one is also just bad.

I got questionable trout, from frozen boiled vegetables and GREEN mashed potatoes. I did ask my waitress why the mashed potatoes were green. She ran and asked the chef. She said the chef told her that mashed potatoes turn green when you add black pepper.

I think the worst meal I had came from a Chinese Restaurant that I enjoyed before. I ordered the fresh fish because it was very good last time.

I have no idea what the FORK they served us. This fish was like it was made of rubber. I think it was dead and embalmed. It was next to impossible to pull the meat off of it. WOW! was my husband mad at me for recommending this place. He was so mad that when the owner asked us how things were he said ok just so the guy would leave. Then when we got the bill he was really SORRY that he didn’t say anything because they charged us over $80.00 for this fish we couldn’t eat.

All this crap was NOT Worth a Fork!

That was a collection of not all but some of horrible frightful foods served to me in metro Phoenix AZ.

This was the Halloween Edition of The Forking Truth.

The Forking Truth

Take out FOOD in Metro Phoenix AZ During the CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 32 – La Piazza Al Forno, Peoria Artisan Brewery, Taylor’s Chowder House

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We hear on the news that delivery and take out have a lower risk of covid spread than dining in. So we have have been doing take out. We do plan to do some patio dining at off times.

Our first take out of the week was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They are a little different from most of the other pizza places. They offer certified Neapolitan pizzas and the mozzarella taste different because it’s made in house.

On the left is their Funghi Pizza. In the middle is the house salad and on the left is the Margherita. I’ve had the Margherita here a million times so I knew what to expect but I never had the Funghi (don’t call it mushroom here or else….you’ll be sorry…I did and I was….) It’s different than any other mushroom pizza I’ve tried anywhere. The cheeses are different because it’s their house made mozzarella, parmesan with fontina for a different taste but it’s the rosemary that is a really great touch. I think the rosemary is such a nice accent to mushroom or Funghi pizzas.

Our next take out was from Peoria Artisan Brewery in Peoria.

I got the strawberry salad with added salmon. My salad was mostly arugula and it was adorned with a little high quality blue cheese and some candied pecans. We shared some pickled fried vegetables that were interesting and my husband had the Italian beef sandwich with beef au jus. My dogs enjoyed some of the salmon and beef.

Last take out of the week was from Taylor’s Chowder House in Phoenix. They are a budget seafood restaurant where the portions are usually large and the prices are low.

We decided to try the house battered mozzarella sticks because they are only $6.95. WOW! Each piece is as big as a banana. They must have given us extra by accident. I tried the Idaho Brook Trout with almonds today. They gave me TWO fish filets topped with toasted almonds and bread crumbs. I picked the house vegetable that was zucchini marinara and a plain baked potato. My meal was only $14.95 and is two meals for me. My husband got the Two Plus Two (2 fried shrimp and 2 battered filets (cod)). It’s a lot of food….Even my husband couldn’t finish everything. There is also a roll we couldn’t get to yet. Taylor’s Chowder House is GREAT VALUE Seafood…When you consider the price and portion it is only fast food priced and is much better than fast food. My dogs enjoyed a little mozzarella stick and some fish.

That was week 32 of take out in metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Peoria Artisan Brewery – Peoria

Taylor’s Chowder House – Phoenix

Every THING is subject to change and we hope everything does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week – 30 CHZBURGR, Just Biryani, Pomo Pizzeria, Chula Seafood

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We have been doing take out during the coronavirus pandemic because experts say that there is less risk to catch the virus if you do take out instead of dining in. We are also trying to give support to as many small business restaurants as possible because they are all suffering during this crisis. Besides we are spending much less these days on shopping, groceries, entertainment and vacations that we missed. We have a little extra to treat ourselves to extra take out food. The weather will be nicer soon and we hope to do patio dining soon at off times on uncrowded patios.

Our first take out of the week was from CHZBURGR in Glendale. They serve especially great cheeseburgers and fried chicken thigh sandwiches. They also offer hot dogs, milk shakes, specials children’s meals and MORE! It’s hard to believe but the food is only priced about the same as from Jack In The Box and is a BILLION TIMES better than from Jack In The Box.

Crispy Chicken Thigh, Triple CHZBURGR and Tots

I had the crispy chicken thigh sandwich. The chicken is very good, moist juicy, flavorful, nicely seasoned and crispy. To elevate the sandwich they use hand made pickles, Asian mayonnaise and I was told that the buns are special and come from a Philadelphia Bakery. I liked it best when Calabrian Peppers was an option to add on. They haven’t had them lately so I just add my own on and it taste amazing that way. My husband always gets the Triple CHZBURGR. He says that it is just perfect. He says the fat, juice and cheese ratio is perfect. The tots are really good here too. My dogs can’t wait to eat some chicken.

Next take out from from a brand new restaurant that just opened in North Phoenix called Just Biryani.

We started out by trying the samosa chaat. It’s seasoned chickpeas with exotic flavors, a little heat, sauces and wet bread mixed in. Then we shared the gongura and ulavacharu chicken biryani dishes. They both are mostly fluffy rice with a little raw onion and half a boiled egg and a small amount of chicken. The gongura is made with tender boneless chicken. It has more flavors and some heat compared to the bone in ulavachara chicken biryani. My dogs got to try some.

Then we did take out from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. They an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. They are currently running a limited special fresh Burgundy Truffle Menu that we ordered from.

We started by sharing the tortelloni tartu. OOOOOOh this is really great! It’s like a twisted spinach ravioli stuffed with ricotta and gorgonzola cheese in a buttery sauce with truffles. This is really great! I also really liked the Bianco pizza. This pizza is ultra thin like paper. It’s topped with DELICIOUS stracchino, mozzarella, parmigiana cheeses, and truffles. My lucky dogs got some cheese and truffles.

Last take out of the week was from Chula Seafood in Phoenix. We took out the Saturday Surprise grilled Alaskan Halibut Collar for TWO special ($35.)

We got a very large halibut collar, a root vegetable tangine, herbed couscous, za’atar labneh and roti bread. WOW! it’s really great and everything goes together well. It’s a big portion of fish too. Had enough for two dinners and some left over for a lunch. Glad I was able to do this special.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 30 of take out in Metro Phoenix AZ during the coronavirus pandemic.

CHZBURGR – Glendale

Just Biryani – North Phoenix

Pomo Pizzeria – Scottsdale

Chula Seafood – Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 29 – The Rec Detroit Style Pizza, Confluence, Jalapeño Inferno, Rocket Burger

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Instead of dining in at restaurants we have been doing take out because experts say that take out food involves less risk to catch the coronavirus during the pandemic. We will consider dining out on uncrowded patios when the weather gets nicer. Some experts do say that out side patio dining can be a safer alternative to dining in.

We haven’t been to The Rec Pizzeria in Peoria/#UpperWestSide in a while. They serve Detroit style pizza. Detroit style pizza is thick dough pizza that is cut in squares. It is cheesed up dough with a thick rich sauce dripped on top. But what is most different about it is the cheesy crisp crust ends.

Today this pizza is a slightly different batch than what I had the last few times. It’s still good but different. Not buttery tasting……Not as crisp and hard cheesy either. It used to taste like a grilled cheese on the bottom. (below is an old picture of what it used to be like)

It used to be just like a grilled cheese on the bottom

It’s still good but the cheese taste different too. Today it is more like a thick crust with a little Detroit style. Still good but different. Like the nice rich sauce on it. Gave my dogs a little cheese and leftovers from yesterday.

Next take out was Confluence Restaurant in Carefree. They are an upscale Modern American Restaurant. It’s a really amazing restaurant. The dinners from here are fabulous. They are always very detailed with wonderful ingredients that go together well in a magical kind of way.

We started out by sharing blistered shishito peppers with romesco, hazelnuts and basil. For my main I enjoyed fresh opah tacos with lime pickled cabbage, poblano chili, creama, and chili de arbol salsa with a side salad. My husband enjoyed the hardier pulled lamb and veal on house made sourdough bread that was packed with brussels sprout, oyster mushroom, red onion, and whole grain mustard. He picked the house made bbq chips for his side. My dogs didn’t mind a bit to sample the meats.

We tried a brand new restaurant that just opened this week in north Peoria called Jalapeño Inferno. It’s a Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant.

They gave us a BIG bag of corn chips and very mild salsa. We got the inferno sauce. I got the naked poblano (chicken, corn and beans in corn sauce) and my husband tried a combo plate with rice and beans. The inferno sauce is too hot to use straight but if you only use a very small dab it really adds a lot of flavor. My dogs helped with some chicken and shredded beef.

Last Take out of the week was from Rocket Burger in North Phoenix. They serve a variety of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, ice cream sodas and offer a big wall of around 300 different kinds of soda.

On the right is a double cheeseburger with fried onions. My husband said it is one of the best cheeseburgers around. It also travels well. On the left is the Mexican Fish sandwich with this CRAZY DELICIOUS SLAW with this awesome amount of YUM! It just has that perfect lime tang too it. They should bottle this and sell it somewhere. It is so delicious that it would make a hamster taste great. The fish is really big with a very light coating. It is so light and oil free hit almost doesn’t even seem fried. It just turns into a really delicious sandwich. I call it the Mexican Fish Sandwich but the actual name of the sandwich is called Pescado De Cohete and it’s only priced at $8.99. (double cheeseburger was only $7.) It’s only around the same price as Jack In The Box and it’s a MILLION times better than Jack In The Box…….My dogs were very happy to help eat the fish and cheeseburger.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 29 of take out in metro Phoenix during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rec – North Peoria

Confluence – Carefree

Jalapeño Inferno – North Peoria

Rocket Burger – North Phoenix

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth is that Fall Restaurant Week Phoenix AZ 2020 Wasn’t My Favorite

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Around 140 Phoenix area restaurants were participating in fall restaurant week (September 18 – 27 2020). Most of these restaurants were offering three course dinners for $33.00 & $44.00 a person.

The first restaurant that I was excited to try was Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale because they were offering a fresh truffle option. I was going to do Sel in Scottsdale first because their menu sounded really special too but because of the fresh truffles at Zinc I figured that I better do Zinc Bistro first because the truffles will taste better now and might not be as good next week.

Here’s my take out from Zinc Bistro.

The food was mostly very good. My soup was missing the parmesan crisp but it still was a delicious treat. The dinners were really great with complex interesting sauces….. But I traveled across town to do this take out and my fresh truffles were left off. My husband called to let them know that I didn’t get my fresh truffles to take them off the bill since I didn’t get them. The manager apologized and took my whole meal off the bill since I was disappointed. That was as generous as any restaurant can be. I DO appreciate that but I still missed out on fresh truffles.

My next restaurant week take out was from The Mission (a modern Latin) restaurant in Scottsdale.

A few things were missing from the descriptions on the restaurant week menu. My stone fruit salad was missing the goat horn dined cucumbers that sounded so interesting. My husband’s chorizo porchetta (lower left) was missing cotija cheese, possibly white bean puree (my husband insisted the little white tub wasn’t beans….we couldn’t identify what it was….) and arugula. Besides that there were some other issues. My salad was good but my fish was a little dry and fishy tasting. I did enjoy the chiltepin achiote sauce. It made my fish taste better. It’s hard to tell the size of the fish from my photo but if you compare it to the pork belly appetizer in the upper left hand corner you might be able to tell that it is a very small sized dinner. It didn’t come with the sliced vegetable on top of the fish and doesn’t look like the example this restaurant made to impress the press. (press picture is below…..My fish dinner is also pictured below the press photo)

www.facebook.com

I saw this on Facebook so I thought I’d get a nice piece of fish instead od two very small dry ends.

There were some other issues.

I didn’t try it but I was told that the crispy pork & cola glaze pork belly was dry.

The chorizo porchetta was very large but also was very dry with even dryer sausage and not much flavor.

I was told on the phone when I was ordering that the dessert that I wanted wasn’t available for take out so we tried the other two options that were carrot cake and pumpkin bread pudding. I do note that I normally don’t care for carrot cake but can usually eat some. This one I tried a taste and I couldn’t eat. My husband couldn’t eat it either. I’m not even sure why I found the cake inedible……I didn’t really like the bread pudding but the sauces and toppings were very good. My dinner was very small portioned so I still was hungry and had to eat something so I ate half of the bread pudding.

I was saving Sel in Scottsdale for my last take out for restaurant week but sometime after their restaurant week menu was posted they changed their menu a little bit.

We were both good with corn soup, grilled asparagus salad with black truffle fondue and other stuff. A grilled New York and the Halibut. The seconded course sounds so amazing…..Grilled asparagus salad with black TRUFFLE potato fondu, GRAFRETTE (waffle cut sweet potato), organic farm EGG 63, caramelized onions…WOW!!!!!!

Then the day I was going to order take out I saw this on the Sel Website.

It’s still a very nice menu but it isn’t as great for us now. We are both good with corn soup as course one. The amazing sounding asparagus salad was replaced with a tomato stack………..My husband can’t eat a plate of raw tomatoes so this doesn’t work for him. …..(so we can’t go….(BAH!). He also would have ordered the Grilled New York over the Filet Mignon.

Bummer…….. maybe the change of menu was better for some people?

The Forking Truth is that Fall Restaurant Week in Metro Phoenix AZ 2020 wasn’t my favorite. 2020 isn’t my favorite year either.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food During The CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ Week 27 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, La Piazza Al Forno, Little Saigon, Zinc Bistro, Squid Ink Sushi Peoria

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We do take out food during the coronavirus pandemic because experts say that take out is safer than dining in. All restaurants are struggling these days and there is little to do safely so we do take out as much as possible.

One take out we did was from Banh Mi Bistro in North Phoenix. They are a small Vietnamese Eatery that offers most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I got the curry chicken with rice and my husband got the noodle bowl with grilled pork and shrimp. The food is always delicious, prices are very low and portions are very large. Not all but many of the meals can be two meals for some people. The owners are also very nice all the time. This is one of our regular spots. My dogs always love sharing the food from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.

Next take out was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. They specialize in serving certified Neapolitan Pizzas. They also offer Roman Style Pizzas, American pizzas, Italian food and MORE!

Today we got the Tavola Mista (meats and cheeses, vegetables and more plate) an Italian Stallion Pizza (house made mozzarella, San Marzano Tomatoes, sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto di parma sopressata) and a Bianco pizza (house made mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, fresh basil, Sicilian oregano and extra virgin olive oil) with added Calabrian peppers. Everything was delicious and we shared some with the dogs.

I haven’t been to Little Saigon in Old Town Glendale in a long time. It’s a charming little Vietnamese restaurant that offers a long menu of many different Vietnamese foods. Decided to do take out there. The owners are family with the Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in Phoenix.

We tried some things that we haven’t tried here before. We started with the beef wrapped in grape leaves. It’s something like Vietnamese fajitas. You take a grape leaf that is stuffed with beef. You add a variety of vegetables, fresh herbs shallots, peanuts and rice noodles. You stuff them in a rice paper and wrap with lettuce and dip it in fish sauce.

They are very tasty……lots of good flavors here! It’s a treat!

For my main I had the Ga Xao Xa Ot (spicy chicken onions vegetables in lemon grass soy fish sauce. The dark meat boneless chicken was tender and tasty. The sauce was funky and kind of sweet. It was different but good to me. I never had anything that tasted like this before. But it wasn’t too spicy…just mild with slight heat. My husband enjoyed the tom xao thap cam cay (spicy shrimp stir fry with vegetables). It was good but also mild heat. My dogs enjoyed the food from Little Saigon too!

It’s restaurant week so we thought we’d try Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale because they were offering fresh truffles.

A few things were forgotten (including the truffles) but the mains were very good. I had an excellent Faroe Island Salmon. It was cooked to perfection. It came with carrots, roasted celery root, a salad of purslane and crispy sun chokes with truffle vinaigrette and this amazing barigoule (artichoke) sauce. My husband enjoyed the Prime Flat Iron Steak. It had this special black pepper crust, It was delicious and came with lots of seasoned fries and a complex sauce. My dogs sure enjoyed some meat scraps from Zinc Bistro.

P.S. my husband called to let them know they forgot the truffles so they would remove the truffles from our bill. They were extra generous and removed my whole meal from the check.

We decided that we could squeeze one more restaurant in. Our last take out of the week was from Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria/#UpperWestSide.

I haven’t tried their sushi yet but I did notice that they offer many dishes besides sushi that sound interesting. I wanted to try their Scottish Salmon because Scottish Salmon isn’t found anywhere in the Upper West Side. The salmon was prepared reasonably well and came with a variety of vegetables, LOTS of sliced avocado and tasty sushi rice. I think it’s a great find to find Scottish Salmon like this for only around $15.00. My husband tried the Beef Yakisobsa. It was also reasonably well prepared. It was made with very tender filet mignon and also came with a nice assortment of vegetables and Asian flavored soba noodles. As per usual my dogs couldn’t wait to try some.

“Don’t worry we are in this thing together and are here to help you eat all this delicious food”

That was week 27 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

The restaurants we did take out from this week –

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Bistro – North Phoenix

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Little Saigon – Old Town Glendale

Zinc Bistro – Scottsdale

Squid Ink Sushi – Peoria/#UpperWestSide

Every THING is subject to change and we HOPE it DOES CHANGE for the better.

The Forking Truth