Pad Thai Cafe recently (4-1-2022) opened in North Glendale Arizona. This is a casual full service Thai Restaurant and Bar.
insideinside and bar area
They offer protein choices of vegetable, tofu, chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, squid, and seafood combo for certain dishes. The food is offered in a variety of heat levels and when you dine in you can customize the heat to your liking with a four compartment chile caddy. On the menu they also offer many of the usual appetizers like chicken potstickers, egg rolls, and chicken satay.
chicken potstickers with sweet and sour sauce
They also offer several noodle dishes. A few that you don’t see on many menus are the rad na (flat rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg), and the pad woon sen (glass noodles, egg, vegetables).
pad woon sen with chickento go – Drunken noodle (Pa Kee Mao) (ordered Thai Hot seemed more like hot)
Pad Thai Cafe offers a good amount of salads. A few of the salads are –
to go – Thai Beef Salad (hot)
Thai beef salad, larb, and two different papaya salads (Thai Style and Lao Style).
They offer several curry dishes-
to go – Thai green curry with chicken (hot)
green, yellow, red, pa nang, and massaman.
They have around five soups on the menu including vegetable, Tom Yum and Tom kha.
Most of the rest of the menu is broken down into entrees, chef’s specials, and fried rice dishes. Not all but a few of these offerings are…..spicy basil (made with holy basil),
spicy basil with chickento go – Mixed Vegetables with chicken (hot)
mixed vegetables, pad king, pad prik king, spicy eggplant with pork, pa nang short ribs, grilled salmon in green curry noodles, and fish three flavors.
take out – grilled salmon in green curry noodlesto go – Fish Three Flavors (hot)
They also offer desserts like mango or custard with sticky rice and fried bananas with coconut ice cream.
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ
Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
Pad Thai Cafe Glendale AZ – 18425 N 51ST AVE Glendale AZ – 623-213-7297
Sometimes you just feel like ordering salad. You want something interesting and something that doesn’t seem too heavy. These are some of the better salads that I’ve tried in no particular order.
Seasonal Harvest Salad from Lure Seafood House in Scottsdale.
The Seasonal Harvest Salads from Lure Fish House in Scottsdale have been great so far. Here’s one with fresh just flown in medium/rare salmon, greens, radish, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, oranges and little cheese balls. I’ve had other salads here to that were good. The menu is seasonal and changes every so often.
Lure Fish House 8877 N Scottsdale RD Scottsdale 480-676-3323
www.LureFishHouse.com
Chicken noodle salad bowl ( also called bun) from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix
The noodle salad bowls from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix are very good. They give you a big bowl of thin rice noodles, with cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, pickled carrots and radish, scallions, peanut, TWO TOPPINGS (proteins grilled pork, chicken, shrimp and egg rolls pork, veggie, tofu veggie) and a sweet fish sauce vinaigrette. It’s tasty and also refreshing. It is a very large salad too and some people might make two meals out of it.
Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery 2340 W Bell Rd PHX 602-843-3637
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
Chula Salmon Salad was as great as a salmon salad can possibly be from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale
Here’s the Chula Salmon Insalate from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. It’s a bowl of spring mix, golden beets, fennel, grape tomatoes, lemon dressing and on top of the salmon are these pink peppercorns that are BOMB with the lemon dressing. The first time I had this the salmon was perfect and this was amazing. On a return visit not as perfect but still very good.
Pomo Pizzeria Scottsdale 8977 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale – 480-998-1366
www.PomoPizzeria.com
Salmon salad from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale was particularly good
I’ve tried the Arugula Insalate from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale. In the bowl is arugula, marinated fennel, pistachios, local citrus, pecorino, and citrus vinaigrette. Choices of protein that you can add on are salmon, chicken, or shrimp. This is just a very nice salad with flavors that work well together. (So far the salmon here has been exceptional and prepared to perfection. Do the salmon here if you like salmon)
Campo Italian Bistro & Bar 8260 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-597-9195
www.CampoItalian.com
This salad made with ahi tuna from The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen
The first time I had this salad called the Shipwright Ahi Salad from The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen in North Scottsdale it was amazing. It was made of Togarashi Ahi Tuna, arugula, local greens, carrots, radish, marinated shiitakes, wasabi peas, yuzu aioli, and ginger-passionfruit-sesame dressing. SOOOOooooo Delicious…….Went back and second time didn’t taste all the flavors…I don’t know if it was because too much wasabi was used or if some flavors were missing? But the first salad was so great that I would give it another try.
The Craftsman Kitchen & Cocktails 20469 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-401-1102
www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com
Another better salad was the Kale Salad from Chula Seafood Uptown in Phoenix. This salad is made of kale, barley, sweet potato, apple, fennel, parsnip, and cashew vinaigrette. Your choices of portions are salmon, shrimp or maui.
Chula Seafood Uptown 100 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-354-3599
www.ChulaSeafood.com
I still think about a few better salads that I haven’t had in while but would love to eat right now.
The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Phoenix
The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Downtown Phoenix isn’t a beauty but has flavors like no other (I’ve had it a few times). It’s an unusual combination of smoked beets, grapefruit, goat cheese, avocado, and almonds. Proteins that you can add are grilled or fried chicken, smoked turkey, or smoked brisket.
Angel’s Trumpet Ale House 810 N 2ND St Phoenix 602-252-2630
www.AngelsTrumpetAleHouse.com
Another salad that I really enjoyed was the Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix.
The Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix
This Twisted noodle salad has a lot going on with it…..It’s made of kale, soba noodles, avocado, cucumber, arugula, scallions, herbs, peanuts, carrots, and a chile-lime vinaigrette. Choices of proteins are marinated filet, charred shrimp, or rotisserie pulled chicken.
The Collins Small Batch Kitchen 3160 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-730-3533
www.TheCollinsAZ.com
This was a collection of some of the better salads in Metro Phoenix AZ.
I got this recipe sent to my email that was called something like Cabbage Caesar with Crisp Chic Peas that I was going to do. But I couldn’t when I read the recipe because you don’t actually make the dressing. You just add a few things to mayonnaise. I used to work in fine dining and I used to make Caesar Dressing table side so I had to do something different. By LUCK I had a great original idea and the leftover egg white from the dressing became a crouton. I didn’t add cheese to the dressing that is traditional because when you prepare fresh Caesar dressing table side the cheese is just part of the finishing. You can toss cheese into your dressing if you desire. This recipe makes around 4 servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 egg white (You will need the yolk to make the Caesar Dressing) – egg white crouton
pinch granulated garlic – egg white crouton
big pinch Red Boat salt – egg white crouton
4 garlic cloves – ground to paste – dressing
8 anchovies – dressing
1 teaspoon anchovy oil (from the can of anchovies – dressing
1 egg yolk – (You will need the egg white to make the crisp Red Boat egg white croutons) – dressing
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – dressing
1 Tablespoon (heaping) dijon mustard – dressing
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire – dressing
1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice – dressing
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar – dressing
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper – dressing
1 small cabbage cut in small wedges with core removed
1 bell pepper cut into strips
1 red onion cut in half and strips
1 carrot – peeled and cut into thin slices
1/4 cup olive oil (to sprinkle on vegetables)
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 – 15oz can chick peas drained and rinsed three times
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
A generous amount of Parmesan cheese for serving
Directions
Set oven to 250 degrees F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Whip the egg white till firm peaks. Stir in the garlic and Red Boat salt. Drop half teaspoons of mixture on to the parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes on a middle rack and shut the oven off. Leave them in the oven to harden for about 30 minutes and then remove from the oven.
Set to the side for when you are ready to serve.
Make the Caesar Dressing.
In a medium bowl mix together the ground garlic, anchovies and anchovy oil till it is a smooth paste. Then add the egg yolk and mix well. Add two Tablespoons of oil and mix until it emulsifies.
Add two more tablespoons of oil and make it emulsify again.
Then add two more tablespoons of oil and make it emulsify again.
Add the dijon and mix well. Add the Worcestershire and lemon juice and mix well again. Lastly add the red wine vinegar and black pepper and mix well again. It should look like picture below. You put this away till ready to use in the refrigerator.
Roast the vegetables and the chick peas.
Set oven to 425 degrees F.
The cabbage should be in small wedges and the pepper onions and carrots go together on another pan.
The chic peas go in a bowl with the olive oil, garlic, and pepper. Mix well and place them on a sheet tray too.
Then put the vegetables on the middle rack. The chic peas go on the top rack and in around 25 minutes they should be done.
(sorry forgot to photo the chic peas)
Now put everything together.
Give out a nice little pile of cabbage. Top the cabbage with some vegetables and chick pea. Top with LOTS of parmesan cheese. (dressing can go now or serve on the side) Finish with crisp Red Boat Egg Whites and cracked black pepper. (Below picture is light with cheese and also light with chick peas so you can see things)
Roasted Vegetables with real Caesar, crips Chick Peas, and Crisp Red Boat Egg White Croutons
I came across pineberries at my local Sprouts Store.
I never tried them before so I bought the one and only box of them they had.
It turns out that the pineberries is a cross of red European strawberries and white Spanish strawberries. They were named pineberries because they are suppose to taste like pineapple. Some taste like mild pineapple. Some taste like pineapple mixed with a little strawberry.If you like pineapple and strawberry you might like them.
I used what I had that needed to be used up and came up with this delicious salsa. You can adjust the heat and acidity to your liking. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you need a small amount for a mini taco or a lot to cover a big burrito. This recipe made around four cups so that might be around 8 servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos – peeled, washed, rough cut
1/2 cup cilantro (leaves & fine stems, rough cut)
1/2 cup parsley – leaves only
2 teaspoons sea salt
5 garlic cloves – fine chop
2 serrano chili peppers – fine chop
2 pickled jalapeños (preferably home made or purchased from a farmer’s market) – fine chop
1 avocado – pit removed, flesh scooped out and rough chop
1 med onion – diced
brine from the jalapeños to taste (I think I used around 1/3 cup)
Veneto Trattoria is a Venetian Style Italian Restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. For many years now they have offered Passover Dinners in Venetian Style to honor the Jews of ancient Italy. Incase you didn’t know Passover is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites liberation from slavery from the Egyptians. Foods for Passover are a little different and are unleavened.
They offer seating on the patio.
It’s pretty hot today so we picked indoor seating.
Got sat in the next dining room.
They started us out with matzoth with this delicious honey nut marmalade. (They should bottle and sell that marmalade…It was really great!)
Next came polpette with brodo di matza e pollo alla Veneziana (homemade Venetian style matzah ball soup) (This was better than from a famous place that sells this soup daily that begins with a “C”)
Three different main courses were offered (sole, stuffed chicken, braised brisket)
I went with the sogliola alla mosaica (petrale sole, tomato raisin sauce braised fennel, Brussels sprouts)
My husband went for the brisket called brisket in salsa Pasquale (dried plum sauce, braised fennel, Brussels sprouts)
They were extra generous with dessert. They gave us each a delicious torta tradizionale di mandorce per pesach (almond cake with chocolate sauce)
Delicious but we really only needed one so we took one home for latter.
That was Passover at Veneto Trattoria.
www.VenetoTrattoria.com 6137 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ
480-948-9928
Easter is a Christian celebration commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Italian Daughter offered a very nice reasonably priced menu for Easter. They offered pretty much their whole menu plus some extras.
The Italian Daughter is a full service Italian Restaurant located in North Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is brought to you by the daughter Melissa of the award wining late chef and restauranteur Tomaso Maggiore. This restaurant is a tribute to Melissa’s late father.
Father and Daughter photo
They offer bar seating. Traditional table seating, high tops, and patio seating.
They started us off with complimentary crusty bread and soft herb butter.
For our appetizer we shared the butternut squash purses.
They were in a creamy Frangelico cream sauce with amaretti dust. We had the pancetta on the side.
I had the Roman Salmon. It was a very generous portion. I got a nicely prepared moist piece of salmon in a lemon-ee white wine sauce. The plate was adorned with tender crunch asparagus, cauliflower, creamy risotto and was topped with a long stem artichoke. I do note that the risotto was especially good. It’s very rare that you get decent risotto out.
My husband enjoyed the slow braised short rib.
It came in a Demi/tomato sauce with asparagus and gnocchi.
I saved half my food for another meal so I’d have room for dessert.
The limoncello cake is always a perfect sweet ending.
www.TheItalianDaugther.com 23655 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale AZ
480-404-6085
That was Passover at Veneto Trattoria and Easter at The Italian Daughter both in Scottsdale AZ.
This is tasty and easy to make but it takes a while to fry the parsnips crisp….I didn’t time it because you just have to keep an eye on it but it seemed to take forever to me. The crisp parsnips taste amazing. They are much more flavorful than any crisp potato. I also fried up the parsnip sticks so they came out like French fries. The carrots got done in 13 minutes in my microwave while the parsnips were still frying. This dish got seasoned with equal amounts of curry powder, cumin, and coriander. his makes around 4 side servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
canola oil – for frying
4 parsnips – peeled, woody center removed, one parsnip thin shaves from vegetable peeler, the rest fry shaped
6 carrots – peeled, small dice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry
sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
optional some clipped chives or scallions
Directions
Put a pot of canola oil (around 3 inches) to heat at slightly higher than medium heat.
The peeled parsnips go in till golden and crisp.
While you are making the crisp parsnips. Parboil the French fry shaped parsnips. You can do in either stove top or microwave. Boil around 5 minutes stove top or pop in microwave with water for around 9 minutes and drain.
When the crisp parsnips are done drain on a draining rack or sheet pan with paper towels. Fry up the parsnips till slightly golden. While the parsnips are frying boil the carrots either stove top or in the microwave and add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. I did mine in the microwave for 13 minutes and they were perfect. Then drain carrots and add 1/2 the seasoning to them (1/2 teaspoon cumin, coriander, curry) also add a few tablespoons of the parsnip oil to them and water to thin as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste while you are whipping them up.
Toss the parsnip fries in the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Top with the crisp parsnips. Sprinkle with chives or scallions if you like.
someone is fascinated Parsnips two ways with whipped Carrots
I came across this container of Leeuwen PIZZA ice cream at my local Walmart Grocery Store. I kept looking at it thinking maybe I just needed bifocals and was seeing something incorrectly. Nope saw it correct it is pizza ice cream. Well I have to give it a try.
I taste the white ice cream. It’s wonderfully rich and smooth. It’s not vanilla but it is a slightly tangy/sweet rich taste. It is suppose to be mozzarella but it just taste creamy, only a slight maybe cream cheese to it and and rich to me. Then I taste a cookie crumb. It’s really sweet like a brown sugar cookie….Little bummed……..Then I taste what is suppose to be tomato jam……It’s not an obvious tomato taste……It’s kind of tangy. I’m not sure how to identify this taste. My tomato jam that I made had cumin, coriander, mustard, vinegar, and cloves in it. I guess it also was no longer a tomato taste.
A few days latter I try it again. I think the middle of the container has more added stuff to it.
I go back and taste it again. This time I got a slightly bigger crumb of cookie. I can faintly taste basil in it but it iseems different and for some odd reason is much softer now like cookie dough and maybe a little less sweet.
This ice cream seems high quality and is rich and creamy. But I don’t get a pizza flavor. I want it to taste like pizza….Even a cheap sweet frozen pizza taste…….
On the other hand this ice cream isn’t horrible either because it’s so rich and smooth and not horrible…….and I keep trying to taste pizza here. It’s really more of a mystery flavor…..Everything is kind of odd. The base ice cream is slightly tangy and can pass as a cream cheese or yogurt taste. The cookie/cookie dough bits are sweet and are too scant with a basil taste. I think the taste working the hardest not to be pizza is the pizza jam. It’s very tangy and lacks a fresh or sweet tomato taste. I think the tomato is the least successful part of this ice cream trying to pass as a pizza flavor. It can be pizza without cheese…It can be pizza without a traditional crust (think Chicago) but pizza must have a fresh tomato taste and hopefully a little fresh basil.
I would not recommend this pizza flavored ice cream if you want it to taste like pizza. (unless your carton was made different….My husband also didn’t get pizza here)
Most likely I will be trying another flavor of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream the next time I’m at Walmart Grocery. Some of the other flavors they had were-
Blueberry Shortcake, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Bourbon Cherry Jubilee (maybe), Planet Earth (? don’t like earthworms), Hot Honey (maybe), Royal Wedding Cake with Elderberries and Lemon (?)
We’ll see.
I do note that your opinion may indeed differ from my opinion on Leeuwen Limited Edition Pizza Ice Cream.
A couple Thai restaurants in Phoenix offer this delicious Thai Treat called Miang Kham. It’s a minty type of leaf that not always but usually contains a combination of (sometimes shrimp), small whole pieces of lime, coconut, peanuts, shallots, hot chili (Thai or Birds eye), and ginger and also come with a tamarind based sauce. It might not sound as great as it really taste! It really is delicious and you should try it when you see it on a Thai Menu. Chada Thai AZ & Soi 4 Bangkok Eatery both are located in Scottsdale and both serve slightly different versions of this dish. I did an easy quick version of this dish. I think you can use almost any lighter protein if you want to add protein to this dish. Today I added some chicken breast. I think any fish would taste great here too! Portion size is difficult to judge because it depends on how much protein that you add and also on how many leaves that you want to eat. I’m guesstimating that this will make around the amount of stuffing and a light amount of sauce for around twenty leaves. I’ll guesstimate 4 servings. Also around here Perilla are easy to find at Asiana Market. They are not actual sesame leaves but are also called sesame leaves because of their appearance.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
4 Tablespoons cooking tamarind (nuuc me chua)
1/2 teaspoon galangal powder (sold at Asiana market)
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
2 Tablespoons date syrup (can substitute honey)
1 teaspoon Red Boat Fish sauce
1/2 lime – slice thin on mandolin and then cut into small pieces
1/2 cup toasted coconut chips
1/2 a small red onion – sliced thin and rough chopped
1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed
1 Thai Chili pepper – fine chop (the smaller the better)
1 teaspoon crystallized ginger – fine chopped
optional protein
Directions
In a small mixing bowl combine the tamarind, galangal, extract, ginger, date syrup, and fish sauce. Mix well and set to the side.
In a small bowl combine the lime, coconut chips, onion, peanuts, Thai chili, ginger, and if you are using protein add that too in small pieces. This is what gets added to the leaves. I used mini bite size paper cupcake liners to hold the leaves. Serve sauce on the side and enjoy!
Perilla Leaf Thai Style Treats with Tamarind Sauce
Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen is a casual Jamaican Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. They offer a lot of Jamaican dishes, cocktails and more that you don’t find all the time. It’s not a fancy place but looked sparkling clean on my visits.
inside
Besides soft beverages they offer beer, wine, and signature cocktails.
cucumber margarita and a rum punch (the rum punch is mighty strong)
They offer appetizers like jerk wings, codfish fritters with a tasty creamy Jamaican pepper spiked sauce, –
codfish frittersJamaican beef patty (this is unusually good)1/2 order calaloo & cod stuffed pocket
Jamaican beef patties, Jamaican jerk chicken patties, calaloo (large green leaf from the amaranth family) & cod stuffed pockets, and jerk chicken kabobs.
They also serve some things that you would never expect like jerk chicken tacos, FLAMING (spicy not actually flaming) beef tacos, shrimp tacos, and a spicy chicken jerkadillo!
Not all but some of the entrees offered are- Jamaican jerk chicken (prepared expertly tender but we thought that this ran on the mild side for jerk the day we tried it), –
Jamaican jerk chicken
molasses rubbed jerk pork, braised oxtails, –
curry goat
curry goat, curry chicken (melt in your mouth tendered no bones), –
curry chicken
Island flavor shrimp fried rice, chicken fricassee,-
Island spices fried fish escovitch
Island spiced fried fish escovitch (the pickled onions make this dish pop!), brown stew snapper, ackee & salt fish (national dish of Jamaica), vegan chicken stir fry, and rasta pasta.
They offer sides like steamed vegetables, fried plantains, festival (slightly sweet cornmeal bread), bammy (cassava flat bread), potato salad, and breadfruit.
breadfruit
Children’s meals such as grilled cheese, chicken tenders, and hot dogs served with fries are offered.
Desserts are also available. They offer Jamaican fruit and rum cake, sweet potato pudding, tropical fruit cobbler pineapple upside down cake, mango lime cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a few ice creams.
Parking is easy because they are in a strip mall.
Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen offers so many Jamaican dishes that you can’t find at most places so it can be considered a Jamaican Destination restaurant and is Worth a Try especially for foodies!
That was a little taste of Topnotch Island Flavor Kitchen in Phoenix AZ.
