Maya Ice Cream Rolls serves a variety of Thai Style dressed ice cream rolls. The ice cream is made right in front of your eyes on a special metal sheet that freezes the cream. Then the ice cream gets scraped off the sheet into a roll shape.
In addition to the ice cream rolls Maya offers sweet and also savory crepes. Some of the crepes are tiki masala, fajita, Nutela, and Biscoff.
You can seat yourself inside or on the patio.
Doors to the patio.
I tried the tropical fusion ice cream rolls.
The ice cream is vanilla based with added mango, pineapple, coconut and condensed milk. This one is delicious!
Here’s the choco loco.
This one is chocolate based with brownies, chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle. This one is only mildly chocolate flavored.
There is another location of Maya ice Cream rolls in Arrowhead Town Center (The Mall).
Their website is incomplete at the moment but you can find Maya Ice Cream Rolls on Facebook.
Halo Halo Kitchen is a casual Filipino Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. This restaurant is mostly cafeteria style and also offers some grocery and desserts. Parking is easy because they are in a strip mall. You might be wondering what does Halo Halo mean? The restaurant might be named after Halo Halo the popular Filipino dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and may contain boiled beans, coconut, palm tree starch, jelly, potatoes, and fruit.
Halo Halo Delux
Here is the cafeteria line.
You either order what is on the line or order off a menu board. They offer all day Filipino breakfast plates called silog plates that were only $8.95 today. (subject to change)
Today (Saturday) They also have Lechon (roasted baby pig). I noticed that the Sunday special is Filipino spaghetti with fried chicken.
Halo Halo offers many other Filipino foods that are a fusion of Spanish, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian & American. I made a cheat sheet of some of the dishes so I’d know what they are.
fish case mostly sold out alreadymenu
Halo Halo is also part grocery store with dry goods, frozen foods and refrigerated food and also sells pastries and desserts.
Once you decided on your order you pay and seat yourself with a number card. They will run out whatever you didn’t get to pick up.
After your meal you might want to visit the dessert bar for a Halo Halo, a boba slushy or a flan.
Some of the dishes we tried here were.
all day breakfast Sisig plate with pork.
corned beef Sisig plate (our mutual least favorite)
grilled pompano fish with bittermelon vegetable medley and steamed rice
tofu, eggplant, vegetable dish with rice
coconut chicken
adobo pork
beef dish
adobo pork more recently (this plate was only $6.75….subject to change)
It doesn’t cost much to dine here. Two meals today were only with tax $18.00.
That was a taste of Halo Halo Kitchen in Phoenix AZ.
I’ve tried pastrami at many restaurants around metro Phoenix. Some of the places that I have been to are Chompie’s, Scott’s Generations NY Style Delicatessen, Miracle Mile, Goldman’s Deli, JJ’s Delicatessen and a few more that I forget the names of. Most of these places that I mentioned are at least ok and some are good. Some are inconsistent…….like on one trip the pastrami was very good and the next time is was very bland…. As far as I know none of these places brines their own pastrami…..There is a world of difference when a place brines their own pastrami….It’s like places that don’t brine their own pastrami are like watching television on a black and white TV. And places that so brine their own pastrami are like watching technicolor………That is the difference in taste.
My Top 3 all brine the pastrami in-house.
#3 Smasher’s Eats in North Phoenix
Smasher’s Eats is a newly opened restaurant around North Phoenix. The specialty of the restaurant are their smash style burgers. (that according to my husband are very good) but the special amazing dish that really surprised me was that they have a house cured pastrami melt on the menu….It’s full of delicious flavors. It taste like typical east coast pastrami…..I was shocked when I tasted it. It’s DAM GOOD!
#2 The Thursday pastrami special from Little Miss BBQ Sunny Slope Phoenix.
This is really REALLY to die for………! They use a higher quality meat than what the deli places use and it’s FORKING Delicious. This is a pastrami that eats like a dinner. It’s one of the BEST!
#1 I have to give it to Confluence in Carefree AZ because their pastrami sandwich is FANTABULOUS and is TOP OF THE LINE.
This pastrami sandwich is like no other because it’s made from wagyu beef that is so buttery and really just melts in the mouth. It’s an EXTRA special treat. The pastrami is spiced and smoked to perfection. It’s adorned with brussel’s sprout coleslaw, a thousand island with a little kick, gruyere cheese, grilled Jewish rye bread and a house made dill pickle. You also have a choice of house chips, salad or for a little extra their amazing fries with three dips. (The only bad news is that the menu is ever changing at Confluence so you might miss this on the lunch menu.)
Oh and my home made cured and smoked would fit into this bunch too!
Forking Amazing Smoked Pastrami with my Easy Rye Rolls and my Spicy Beer Mustard
Those were THE FORKING BEST Pastrami that I tasted in metro Phoenix AZ so far.
Pane Bianco is a small casual urban gourmet sandwich and more restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. Pane Bianco is a sister restaurant of the famous Pizzeria Bianco by James Beard award winning chef Chris Bianco. Pane Bianco focuses on serving a limited but high quality menu of foods that lean towards Italian. The bread made here is from wood fired fermented heirloom grain dough. The most popular sandwich here might be the split focaccia bread stuffed with tomato basil mozzarella sandwich made with house made mozzarella cheese. Pane Bianco offers sandwiches, salads, focaccia slices, calzone, specials, desserts, wine, beer and some dry goods for sale.
Before the pandemic Pane Bianco looked like this.
Today it is pretty much the same but the community tables outside were removed and only one table was on the patio that is now partially enclosed.
It looks like this when you walk in. You can order from the counter or seat yourself in the dining room.
The inside is mix matched in a charming way with lots of character.
We started out by sharing the salad of the day. It was a refreshing but simple watermelon salad with fennel, parsley, salt, and pepper.
For my main I tried the spinach calzone.
It is made up of house made mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta cheese, a little bit of spinach and Bianco tomato sauce.
The dough is paper thin. This calzone is large with a lot of cream rich delicious melty cheese. For some people it might be two meals.
My husband got the Italian combo sandwich today.
It’s made of crusty bread, mortadella, spicy soppresatta, romaine, provolone cheese, and a little vegetable salad garnishes the plate.
Currently but SUBJECT TO CHANGE…Pane Bianco is only open for lunch..But that does change every now and then…….11-3 Monday-Saturday.
I’ve been here for dinner before and used to enjoy the pizza here.
Here are not all but some of the things we tried from Pane Bianco.
soppressata and aged provolone with wood roasted red bell pepper
Tuna Salad
Albacore tuna salad sandwich
Chicken Salad
soppressata with aged provolone and wood roasted onion
focaccia
nutmeg Italian ice
Available for purchase.
I have to say….
Pane Bianco in Phoenix is Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
www.PizzeriaBianco.com
Everything is subject to change and everything usually does eventually change.
Bobby Q Restaurant is la BBQ restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona and also does have a location in Mesa and a smaller location in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. The original Phoenix location is very unique with mature plantings and very large old trees seldom seen in Phoenix. The old building has character and rustic charm of yesteryear. According to Opentable Bobby Q is one of the best 30 BBQ restaurants in the country.
Patiobar areainside looking in by hostess desk
The above dining room isn’t always used and a wall rolls down to close it off.
This place is enormous.
Oh and they sell some souvenirs.
They start you off with complimentary Johnny cakes and soft creamy butter and the rest is up to you.
We shared some of the Q Rolls appetizer.
They are pastry wrapped around the signature 16 hour BBQ beef brisket served with a BBQ sauce and a chipotle ranch dressing.
Each Q roll is very large and is PACKED with lots of tender smoky brisket.
Today my husband got a two meat plate of BBQ sausage and BBQ pork with BBQ beans and macaroni and cheese.
I got the Bob’s salad.
It’s a humble rotisserie chicken salad adorned with some apples, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese tied together by dijon vinaigrette.
On a past visit I did try the salmon.
I remember that I thought that the salmon was better here from Bobby Q than the more expensive seafood chain restaurant nearby across the highway and it cost around $10. less at Bobby Q.
Once at lunch my husband had the three meat lunch plate.
I tried the BBQ chicken sandwich with peacan slaw as my side.
The apple pie here might be like something a neighbor or a relative might serve you.
They always send you off with bag of complimentary PIPING HOT thank Q doughnuts.
Taco Boys is located in south Phoenix Arizona. They serve tacos al carbon. That translates to meat over fire. It’s actually mesquite charcoal fire.
Here is part of the actual grill inside Taco Boys
They keep bags of the mesquite charcoal under the counter that you order at.
They offer carne asada, pollo (chicken), tripe, cabeza (beef cheek), pastor (pork), barbacoa (beef). You pick well packed street sized tacos in either four or corn tortillas. They also offer vampiros (grilled crispy with cheese), burros, and quesadillas.
This isn’t a fancy place but you come for the food. You can see that they don’t have a cocktail bar here. Beverages offered are sodas, horchata (Mexican rice/milk cinnamon), beers, micheladas (Mexican beer cocktails), and bottled water.
Most of the seating is indoors but a few outside tables are on the side of the building by the parking lot.
A few tables are also to the left side of the front door.
It can get busy in a second here.
You order and try to find a table. They ask you to pay when you are done.
While you are waiting you can make a plate of toppings and sauces for your tacos.
Our order is ready.
Between us we tried all the tacos except for tripe. Everything is good and nothing lacks flavor or is dry so that is a win!
Here are the beef tacos that they offer.
Upper left is barbacoa. It’s flavored nicely and is tender and very succulent. It’s something like a stewed beef cube…
Upper right is the cabeza (beef cheek) This one is very tender with nice developed flavor.
Lower beef taco is the carne asada. It’s tender enough and does have a nice mesquite flavor to it. It is a very good taco.
The flour tortilla tacos are grilled to sort of crispy.
The corn tortilla tacos are best suited for the saucy meats and double shelled like in Mexico.
We were surprised that the Mexican Style beans are spicy and very soupy today. They lack whole beans today. They might have chorizo in them.
Superstition Meadery is a award wining producer of ancient honey wine called mead. The original location is in Prescott Arizona and they have a location in downtown Phoenix Arizona. The Phoenix location also offers chef crafted food parings of sharing boards, small plates and large plates. Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot.
They have the fanciest bike racks that I have ever seen.
When the weather is nice you can bring your furry best friend or friends on the patio.
The patio is much larger than the view I got. It goes down the whole side of the building.
Inside it looks like this.
At the end of the bar are big bottles of mead and maybe some ciders.
I’m not sure if I ever had mead before…..
We decided to share the flight of 12 for $24. (subject to change)
My favorite was the one called lemonade in retrograde. It was bright, refreshing and had a nice lemon zing and wasn’t too sweet. My least favorite was the one called Tahitian Honeymoon made with Tahitian Vanilla bean mead aged in oak…..
There were many sharing boards, small plates and large plates to pick from.
We started out by sharing the piri piri chicken small plate and the warm cannellini bean salad.
The piri piri chicken is spicy chicken breast covered with crushed peanuts and served with some sliced grilled baguette bread.
The warm cannellini bean salad is made up of beans, farro, spinach, Thai basil, and wood roasted onion dressing.
Our main was the gorgonzola & herbed butter skirt steak. Today it came with wood roasted shitshito peppers, radicchio (Italian chicory), mushrooms and arugula.
I thought we were done but the desert of the day sounded too interesting to turn down.
It was blondies with chocolate nibs with Marion berry mead sauce, caramel and whipped cream.
I thought we were done.
But I was wrong again.
They gave us complimentary cookies with the bill.
Everything was delicious and detailed nicely. Service was very attentive and helpful.
The Miracle Mile Delicatessen is located in Phoenix Arizona. This is a cafeteria style deli that is family owned and ran since 1949. The well known dishes here are hot pastrami, corned beef, beef brisket, stuffed cabbage, and turkey dinners. Lesser known dishes are the baked cod with puffy cheese and the honey dijon veggie wrap of avocado. peppers, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, crispy onion strings with honey dijon dressing in a spinach tortilla. You order while walking threw the line, pay and seat yourself indoors or outdoors.
corned beef and pastrami
Here are the sides that you can pick for your sandwich. There’s fresh fruit, apple sauce, carrot and raisin salad, Cole slaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, Not sure but I think the one on the end looks like pasta salad.
They also offer desserts. The bread pudding is made in house.
main dining areaWhat would Bernie get here?
We shared a pastrami sandwich and a corned beef sandwich on marble rye bread.
pastrami sandwichcorned beef sandwich
The sandwiches come with very good pickles.
They both are Arizona style sandwiches. Well we are in Arizona so that is what I should expect……….The bread and taste of the meats does differ from East Coast Style. (east coast bread is crusty and usually thin and toasted while AZ rye bread is soft, thick and cold) (east coast pastrami taste smoked and has a peppery rub…we don’t taste much of that here) (east coast corned beef is seasoned more than AZ corned beef) Everything was fresh tasting and the restaurant seemed clean. Plates were cleared quickly.
Parking is easy because they have their own parking lot. Service is speedy because you go threw the line quickly, you pay and seat yourself.
That was a Little Taste of The Miracle Mile Delicatessen in Phoenix AZ.
Campo Italian Bistro is located in Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is by Genuine Concepts Group that also has at least five other restaurants or bars in metro Phoenix. This is a casual restaurant that does differ from other Italian restaurants in atmosphere and on the menu.
They offer patio dining.
They also offer a variety of indoor dining.
There is seating at the bar and several high top tables.
There are two mini living room type areas.
Here is the main dining area.
The menu has lots of small plates and many of the small plates feature amazing cheeses. They also offer salads, pasta, pizza, panini, and a few entrees. It’s hard to pass on stracchino cheese when you see it on a menu so we started with that.
Ohhhh it’s so good! It’s finished with olive oil, peppercorns and fresh herbs. It goes amazingly well with the delicious lavosh crackers. It was bigger than I expected it to be since it was only $6 (subject to change…and it might!)
There were many other small plates that we wanted to try but found it impossible to turn down the artisan cheese plate.
This was also bigger than I expected it to be and we had to take a bunch of it home. BUT HOLY CHEEZUS….WOW was this FORKING Great! Some of the cheeses were robiola, taleggio, and pecorino. One cheese had truffles in it….The taleggio with the honey comb was BOMB! This also came with grilled Noble Bread.
I couldn’t try all the cheese that Campo Italian Bistro offers but they also offer a handmade mozzarella.
The special tonight was also cheesy and I might have ordered it if I wasn’t trying so many cheeses already. The special was wild mushroom mascarpone pasta…(wow that sounds good!) and the pizza of the day was zucchini, pancetta, pesto, pistachio, and caciccavalo cheese.
My husband went with the creste pasta.
They use pasta that is locally made. This dish came with locally made Schriener’s sausage, broccolini, roasted peppers and feta cheese. This came out a little too dry for our taste…but the crispy salmon was outstanding.
The salmon is crispy on both sides and stayed crispy. The flesh was moist, succulent and medium cooked. It rested over creamy beans with kale and tomato butter and was topped with herby greens. WOW! It was a really great salmon dish.. If you don’t think you like salmon then maybe it might be because you never had really good salmon…THIS was REALLY GREAT Salmon.
We enjoyed the cheeses and I enjoyed the salmon.
That was a little taste if Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale.
www.CampoItalian.com
Everything is subject to change and it usually eventually does change.
The FANTABULOUS Dish means – Top of the line, marvelously good, peachy keen and dynamite!
I kept thinking about my recent restaurant week dinner from SWB in Scottsdale. Every dish I tried exceeded my expectations and EACH dish was a FANTABULOUS dish. I zeroed in on this dish because it is offered on the lunch and dinner menu..
I usually don’t even ever like cream based soups but this one was different and was not too heavy and had layers of flavors that were delectable. First your mouth gets the velvety sweet corn accented with the right amount of poblano taste. Just enough poblano to make the corn more interesting….But leaves you with that perfect corn finish. You get more layers in your next spoonful because you go for a little chili oil and maybe some queso fresco and a bright grassy little pop of cilantro.
The cream of corn poblano soup from SWB Bistro in Scottsdale (Hyatt Regency) is one FANTABULOUS Dish and is Worth a Fork!
