Hello Vietnam is a Vietnamese Restaurant that just opened this week in North Peoria Arizona. They serve most of the usual Vietnamese favorites – fried and fresh rolls, cold noodle bowls, rice plates, banh mi and pho. The atmosphere is different and interesting. They have two dining rooms and a semi open kitchen. The restaurant is decorated with Vietnamese kitchenware around the kitchen counter. There’s an illustration on some walls of a Vietnamese village. There are seashell– like fixtures and a wall of wood that looks Vietnamese.
Uptop reads “Cook like a local in Vietnam”
We started off with the Lemongrass Beef Steak Fresh Rolls ($5.99 subject to change).
The rice paper rolls are stuffed with flavorful steak, minty herbs and lots of vermicelli noodles. They are delicious on their own but also came with a peanut sauce today. Possibly due to the soft opening we didn’t receive the toppings for the rolls listed on the menu. (scallions, pickled medley, cucumber and mint…….crispy twist)…..unless it’s a misprint?
For my main I tried the Grilled Chicken Rice Plate ($10.99 subject to change)
I received a generous amount of marinated chicken thigh, pickled vegetables, fish sauce and rice. This plate differs slightly from every other Vietnamese restaurant. Everything is good!…….Chicken is tender, salad is pickled, rice is fresh. Here the fish sauce really brings the chicken to life. The fish sauce is particularly good here.
My husband goes for the Special Pho ($12.99 subject to change)
Here the Pho is an eighteen hour beef oxtail bone broth unless you order your pho with vegetable broth. I don’t often eat pho so I didn’t try it but my husband thought it really was a good bowl of pho.
This restaurant is brand new and was very busy at an off time. Service was a bit slow and we weren’t checked on till we were done but the food was good so to me that means –
Hello Vietnam is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
I haven’t found a website for Hello Vietnam but they are on Facebook.
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
Szechuan Cuisine Restaurant has recently opened in Glendale Arizona. It’s not a fancy restaurant but they do offer wait service. They offer some American Chinese Favorites but they also offer Authentic Style Szechuan Cuisine.
Lots of interesting choices on the menu. It was hard to decide on what to try today.
We thought it was a good idea to start with what they call “Grandma Salad”
The salad is made of cabbage, roasted peanuts, garlic, onion and spicy fish sauce. The salad seems light, a little spicy but also is tasty.
We share the Casserole Style Chicken and the Chongqing Spicy Fish. Both are spicy.
Casserole Style Chicken
You have to see it this way too.
Casserole Style Chicken
The Casserole Style Chicken is NOT the American casserole that has cheese and a can of Campbell’s added to it this is completely something better and arrives in a metal bowl with a burning bottom that cooks the vegetables and makes a sauce. We were instructed to eat some of the meat first so the vegetables could cook. Some of the vegetables were lotus root, mushrooms, bean sprouts and celery. The chicken is extremely tender. It is spicy but not stingingly spicy.You can taste delicious flavors without the heat over powering the flavors. It’s very good.
Chongqing Spicy Fish
This Chongqing Spicy Fish is very mild delicate white fish (sole) that has been dusted in corn starch, cooked and picked up heat and flavor from the chili pods. It’s very delicate and just melts in the mouth. It’s salty but for some freakish reason that I don’t understand the salt taste good here…….It’s an interesting sensation.
WOW! My first visit was Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Our 2nd Visit was even better than the first visit. Had this incredible delicious complex and spicy dish called Spicy Chicken Noodle….It was Awesome. Had a super spicy Fish Hot Pot and Juicy Pork Dumplings…Soup filled where you suck the soup out and then eat….@nd visit was really great……
For our third Visit the owner wanted to pick food out for us so we let him since everything was so positive before.
We weren’t thrilled with what he picked for us…….
On the left is slightly dry duck and on the right is Americanized Jalapeño Chicken.
For our 4th visit we decided to just order off the white authentic Chinese Menu. We tried Sour Spicy Cabbage Salad and we ordered Authentic Kung Pao Chicken.
We both liked the Cabbage salad….but the Kung Pao Chicken wasn’t so spicy and was in a thick sweet sauce and wasn’t made with Szechwan Peppercorns. I was disappointed that they served me an Americanized Kung Pao when I ordered the Authentic Style….Nobody asked me how it was and the owner was absent or I would have told him…..
Seems like communication is a problem……
I haven’t found a website or Facebook page for Szechuan Cuisine. You are just going to have to visit them at 5158 W. Olive Ave. Glendale AZ. They are there 7 days a week lunch and dinner.
Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
Nashville Hot Chicken is only authentic in and is a specialty of Nashville Tennessee. Here in Phoenix you can find Nashville Style Chicken….and other Hot Chicken…….we should just call it Hot Chicken. The Chicken should be marinated, floured and fried. It needs to be sauced either before or after flouring (or breading) with what they call a dry sauce or paste. If a wet sauce is applied then IT IS NOT NASHVILLE STYLE CHICKEN according to the Nashville Hot Chicken Coalition. Nashville Hot Chicken IS HOT because the paste is suppose to be 1/3 fat (often lard) OR it can be OIL and 2/3rds cayenne pepper that gets cooked and reduced till thick. A few other seasonings are sometimes added. Nashville Hot Chicken is not just about heat as it’s is also suppose to be about flavor. Authentic places serve the chicken with dill pickles over the chicken and one-two slices of white bread under the chicken to soak up juices and flavors.
Here’s the Hot Chicken Sandwich from 6 Degrees Urban Kitchen in Scottsdale.
This sandwich was stuffed with a plump juicy marinated notable crispy chicken breast that was topped with honey hot sauce. House made pickles were tucked inside and the sandwich was served on a grilled eggy bun. (*****UPDATE***Sadly 6 Degrees Urban Kitchen has CLOSED for business since)
The Hot Chicken Slider from PNPK in North Scottsdale.
This Hot Chicken Slider is seasoned fried chicken, topped with dill pickles, slaw and spicy aioli sauce. It’s tasty….not scorching hot but hot that might be mellowed by the slaw.
Hot Chicken from Starlite BBQ in Scottsdale.
Here was a plump juicy breast and leg quarter. Both were SCRUMPTIOUS flavored chicken in a crisp HOT but delicious crust. It was just delightful with house made pickles and this really tasty whole grain mustard.
From Famous 48 in Old Town Scottsdale.
By far the most stingingly HOT! I almost couldn’t eat this one. This one had some sort of Mayonnaise applied to the chicken. This one was topped with an insanely HOT but delicious Buffalo kind of sauce with a good TANG. It topped the crunchy chicken and they gave me extra hot sauce on the side. You had to open your mouth a mile deep to eat this one as the eggy bun was extra thick and was difficult to eat… (I do note that Famous 48 was recently opened when I tried them and it’s possible this sandwich has been toned down or tweaked since to please the masses…….Another note is that Famous 48 has closed for the summer 2018. (*****UPDATE****Famous 48 closed and happened to re-open in a different location in Scottsdale) I recently tried the Famous 48 Nashville Style Chicken at a festival and it’s a completely different sandwich. It will be pictured at the bottom after the fork.
I also tried the Hot Chicken Sandwich at Mingo’s Louisiana Kitchen in Phoenix. It’s a LOUISIANA Style Hot Chicken Sandwich and Not a Nashville Style…..But it’s Hot Chicken so this sandwich is included here.
Mingo’s Chicken is flavorful and very moist. The chicken coated in a seasoned Corn meal and has a much better texture than than other corm meal coated foods I’ve tried. I know it’s the best cornmeal coating I’ve ever tried. The sandwich has a generous application of Tangy Hot Sauce with a great bite. There is some shredded lettuce, tomato, pickle chips and a slathering of remoulade that is a French style of Tarter Sauce that is more detailed and complex than any I remember trying before. Old Bay dusted Fries came with the sandwich as a side.
Tried the Hot Chicken Sandwich from The Larder + The Delta in Phoenix. This was one of the milder of the Hot Chickens but WOWEEE this chicken was just DIVINE….This was the BEST of the boneless chickens in flavor, texture and juiciness. It’s tough to say but this chicken really was among the best…It had a quality about it unlike the all the others…..It was a very large amazing thigh. The coating was different. It was thin but sort of shattering crisp and caramelized. I could taste cayenne, onion and other flavors in or on the coating. The chicken was topped with an apple slaw and B&B pickles that were thick and delicious and hot sauce aioli ……This one here was off the charts!
Maybe you are curious about GENUINE Nashville Hot Chicken.
There are only SIX Restaurants that are Certified in the Nashville Hot Chicken Coalition.
They are Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish, Pepper Fire Hot Chicken, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, 400 Degrees, and Deezie’s in Murfreesboro.
Here it is! Hattie B’s Famous Hot Chicken from Nashville Tennessee.
Somebody brought me back a piece of Hattie’s Hot Chicken to try. Here it is………..
I put in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 to heat up.
This one has a strong cayenne aroma. (the most aroma of all the hot chickens I tried)
I pick it up and it’s a bit greasy. It’s not crisp but I was told even fresh made it’s not particularly crisp but better than what I had.
I tried the one that sold as hot. First bite seems very HOT (stingingly)…..I taste mostly cayenne…..followed by onion. The Chicken is very moist and flavorful…..for some odd reason it doesn’t seem that HOT to me as the first bite did. It’s just flavorful moist chicken.
These were a few of the places for Hot Chicken in Metro Phoenix pre Mrs. Chicken (soon to come…Phoenix’s first Nashville Style Hot Chicken Restaurant) (****UPDATE***Mrs Chicken did indeed open since I wrote this)
******Slight update…since I wrote this back August 2018 Monroe’s Hot Chicken has opened in February 2019 in downtown Phoenix and became the First Hot Chicken Restaurant in Phoenix. I did happened to try a few items and wrote about them but I was there opening week and read somewhere that recipes were tweaked since so I can’t describe what you might taste there today. This week (last week of April Mrs Chicken did open. I expect to try it out sometime but didn’t yet)
EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Some more updates are below the FORK.
The Forking Truth
www.Hot-Chicken.com
www.Wikipedia.com
Monroe’s Hot Chicken Sandwich
Another notable Hot Chicken Sandwich I tried since was the Carolina Style Hot Chicken Sandwiches from The Root and Soul in Phoenix.
The Root and Soul
I remember that this one was among the better Hot Sandwiches of what I tried. It was a mighty tasty delicious sandwich with very juicy flavorful chicken.
A new chicken restaurant opened up in Scottsdale called The Hot Chick. I enjoyed the HOT Chick sandwich very Forking Much!
This one had tons of spice flavor, a little sweet, very scrumptious and super crunchy and juicy. This new one is close to the best! I also liked that they offer Hot Chicken on the Bone….
Famous 48 Nashville Style Chicken that I tasted this time was plump, juicy and developed with flavors. It wasn’t as spicy as last time and was a different exterior texture.
Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale AZ offers Northern Italy Style Extremely THIN DOUGH Focaccia Di Recco pictured below.
and also Pizza Rimini, also a Northern Italy specialty in four or more varieties (one extra special flavor on my visit).
The Parmigiana Pizza Rimini is pictured below.
Today I decided to ask a few questions about the pizza and focaccia…..Are they the same?
NO……
One is a focaccia and the other is a pizza.
They start out the same with the same dough……….
Both get stretched out paper thin but the focaccia gets stretched out EVEN THINNER because it’s sandwiches cheese. It’s stuffed. There is a top layer and a bottom layer.
The Pizza goes in the certified Italian Wood Oven at over 900 degrees F for a very short time.
The Focaccia goes in a regular oven in the kitchen at a much lower temperature for a much longer time.
The TASTE……YES the crust come out tasting VERY DIFFERENT!
The Focaccia almost taste like it was fried……I’m thinking that some of the oil from the Stracchino Cheese flavors both sides of the crust and the cheese is still all melty inside. It’s just really delicious! It’s so flavorful with almost cheese sauce inside the two tissue thin crusts.
You might feel different than me………..
I do think the Pizza Rimini is good…..i’d eat it anytime.
What I like about it is that is is so light…..It’s like pizza made for angels. It’s like the best diet pizza ever. You have the taste of pizza without the heaviness. You can eat half a pizza and feel like you can eat more no problem….It must be low in calories………….. The only thing I didn’t like about the Pizza Rimini was the outer ring of crust. To me it taste like burnt matzoh….. but I note the parts with cheese and sauce are yummy and don’t taste burnt.
While I enjoyed the Pizza Rimini…….it just isn’t as tasty as the Focaccia Di Recco….( TO ME!!!!!!! maybe not you?) That thing is just off the charts! It was just CRAZY YUMMY! Way more flavors that were more enjoyable to me. OH and I forgot to mention that you can add on local honey to embellish the Focaccia even a little more. A small amount of warm honey applied just adds another level to the Focaccia.
Both were good but for me (and my husband) we both preferred the Focaccia Di Recco.
www.PomoPizzeria.com
You know The Forking Truth is that EVERYTHING is subject to change and your experience may indeed DIFFER! Just remember that!
Cocina Madrigal is newly opened casual family friendly Restaurant in South Phoenix AZ that offers Unique Oaxacan/American Cuisine. It’s not a fancy place but it’s comfortable and cozy.
If you look at the menu there are many offerings you won’t find elsewhere such as – a variety of made to order guacamole, mesquite grilled romaine salad, crispy salmon, beef tenderloin platter, la diablo chicken pasta, jerk seasoned chicken five cheese macaroni and cheese, marinated chicken artichoke mushroom stack in soy mustard cream and a whole lot more! The Chef is obviously very talented. It was difficult to decide on what to order because they offered so many interesting choices.
We started with house made chips and salsa while we decided.
The salsa is outstanding. It’s full of all kinds of wonderful things. It’s very flavorful and hot but not too hot. We also received a super generously sized basket of hot fresh chips.
I decide on the Artichoke and Mushroom Stacked Chicken.
The Cilantro Pesto Marinated Chicken is really very tender and very flavorful, toasted Pepitas are a nice embellishment here. The soy sauce and mustard don’t stand out in the creamy sauce because it’s very balanced. It just taste good. Mushrooms and Artichoke adorn the chicken. The plate includes a generous portion of yummy mashed potatoes and fresh buttered vegetables are on the side.
My Husband had a Taco Plate.
Cocina Madrigal offers a variety of Taco Plates that are three of each. My husband asked if he could have three different ones and it wasn’t a problem at all.
All the tortillas for the taco are made fresh to order.
All three tacos are very detailed.
The Beef Taco contains, tender flavorful Chipotle Pomegranate Marinated Tenderloin, Fried Peppers, Gorgonzola Cheese and Onion Straws.
The Achiote Braised Chicken Taco contains Red Bean Pico, Avocado and Menonita Cheese.
The Tropical Fish Taco had grilled Maui Maui, Salsa Picante, Mango, Coconut Cabbage Slaw, Oaxaca Cheese and Salsa Fresca.
I tasted a small piece of each and every one of the tacos was delicious and very flavorful.
But I am kicking myself now for not trying the rojo beans epazote (vegetarian) and the rice. My husband kept going on how these beans were exceptional. He said that they aren’t those refried beans that you get everywhere. He said these beans were much better, full of flavors and were really delicious!
Somehow we were talked into the Churros for dessert.
These Churros are made FRESH TO ORDER! and stuffed with pastry cream!
They are SO HOT……but are so aromatic from the cinnamon. You have to sit there and smell them and then your mouth waters….you pick one up but they are still too hot …..you have to take in the aroma a little longer….and then you start drooling from the appetizing aroma.
Todays Fresh – Made – To – Order Churros flavor came with a little drizzled caramel and more pastry cream for dipping. We were told that they plan to change up the flavors now and then.
I have to say that these Churros were the best Churros I’ve ever tasted in my life. The Churro seemed light and free of oil with a pleasant sugary cinnamon-ee coating and it was filled with delicious pastry cream!
The Food was all flavorful and well executed. The service was exceptional. Our server knew everything about the food and was able to make helpful suggestions. The owner/Chef and manager all were very welcoming to us and also wanted to hear our options about the food.
I have to say my first visit to Cocina Madrigal was Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
www.CocinaMadrigal.com
Every Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Ramen Hood is a casual Ramen Restaurant located in Scottsdale AZ just off the 101 exit 38. When you enter you stop at the front of the counter and fill out your order on a check off list for what you want in your Ramen or Rice Bowl.
The menu offers opportunity for lots of variety. Noodles or Rice, Five Broths (including vegetarian), Five Proteins, up to 24 complimentary toppings, extras and you can also order Specialty Add Ons like Gyoza, Karaage Chicken, and Steamed Bao.
For The Ramen Challenged picking things is easy but not dummy proof. It is possible to pick not so great choices…………such as- Karaage Chicken is breaded chicken and would be better suited to go with a rice plate than with a Ramen Bowl. It might be best to add on toppings that give great flavors. Toppings you might consider would be Green Onions, Shiitake Mushrooms, Togatashi Powder, Nori and Spicy Miso Paste. Your Taste may differ from mine but I think it’s essential to add on the Seasoned Soft Boiled Egg because these eggs are really special. It can take a day to prepare these seasoned soft boiled eggs and they add other flavors and interest to Ramen.
Then you pay at the end of the counter and open kitchen. You take a number and seat yourself. They offer a variety of seating choices, traditional tables, some 1/2 bench seating and a few walled cubical seating so you can dine with your lap top.
We soon get our Ramen Bowls delivered to us by the Ramen Chef.
We ordered different Ramen Bowls but they came out looking very similar. I really like the Ramen Noodles. They have more texture and chewiness than Italian Noodles. I thought the vegetarian broth was good until I added the spicy miso paste and then it was VERY GOOD. Lots of flavors going on. For my protein I picked the Teriyaki Chicken. It wasn’t the typical sweet tasting Teriyaki you might get at most American/Chinese Restaurants this chicken was delicious with a tasty char flavor and they gave me a good amount of it…..However my husband got pork as his protein and although it was very GOOD PORK he only received one paper thin slice of it in his bowl unlike the good amount of tasty chicken I received. I don’t know if they gave me extra noodles. I know my bowl was JAM PACKED so much I had trouble getting the noodles out at first. I know half way threw I was out of stomach room and I came in very hungry.
We also shared a Specialty, The Karaage Chicken. It’s Japanese Style Breaded Chicken that very tasty and a yummy Sriracha Mayonnaise is served with it.
This is very casual dining here at Ramen Hood. You clear your own plates and trash after you finish. Just like fast food style nobody ask you how things were or thanks you for coming. Although Ramen Hood is fast food style in service the food is full service in taste for sure.
I would say Ramen Hood is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
www.Ramen-Hood.com
Every FORKING THING is subject to change and YOUR experience May or May NOT differ.
Betha’s El Sabor De Los Mochis is a Mexican Restaurant that serves up many Mexican favorites such as Mariscos ( ceviche, whole fish, marlin tacos), Tacos, Pozole (Hominy Meat Stew), Albondigas de Cameron (shrimp meatball soup), Breakfast, Burros, Menudo (tripe soup) and more!
This isn’t a fancy place but everything looks new and clean.
They started us off with fresh made chips and a very flavorful spicy hot salsa.
While we wait for our order a Mexican Game show is playing on the TV where people suddenly disappear and fall threw the floor depending on what their package reveals. Wow..how surprising…….odd but funny…….
Today I decided to try the Marlin Tacos because one of my favorite tacos I eat when I’ve visited Mexico was a smoked marlin taco. I haven’t found many Mexican Restaurants that offer the Smoked Marlin Taco. This is only the second restaurant in Metro Phoenix where I’ve found smoked Marlin Tacos.
The Marlin Taco here is good but very different than the smoked Marlin Tacos I had in Mexico.
This Smoked Marlin Taco starts off with a really great grilled house made (what taste like white corn) tortilla. I think the fresh made tortilla actually taste better than the tortillas I ate in Mexico. The Marlin here is all chopped with a texture similar to packaged tuna fish. The Marlin is very mild and sweet tasting it also has so little smoke to it that neither me or my husband can taste the smoke. I do taste a fresh lively salsa in it and a mild melty cheese and it has a nice crunch from cabbage. This taco is almost like eating something that’s tastier and better than a quesadilla. This Taco is very unique.. The Cheese with fish seems sort of odd but this marlin is so sweet and neutral that it works…….I’ve never had one like this anywhere. It’s also larger than I was expecting….after all they were only $4.00 each…I thought they’d be smaller.
My husband started with a Cabeza Taco ($2.00).
The beef was tender and developed with flavors. A squirt of lime and a small amount of salsa makes this a tasty treat.
Then our meals arrive and I’m full but I try things anyway.
WOWWEE! This restaurant serves the BIGGEST Chiles Relleno in the whole world! Oh my gosh….The Mexican tomato sauce is nicely seasoned and is very good. The batter is the lightest I’ve ever had on a Chile Relleno inside is a big river of lots of melty mild cheese. My husband liked both the rice and beans. I thought the rice had nice seasonings but for me the rice was too mushy…..But that is the charm of home style cooking….Just like Mom used to make. My husband said with the soft texture of the rice goes better with the beans that way………….to each his own…….
My husband tried the Chicken Enchiladas with Rojas and Verdes.
The Chicken inside the enchiladas was fresh, tender and developed with flavors. Sauces were both flavorful too. For me the Green Sauce had more bite to it….I liked it more than the red but both were good.
The service was friendly and welcoming. Sauces were very good. Beef and Chicken were fresh, prepared tender and both were developed with flavors. the House made Tortillas were excellent. The menu is intriguing and there’s a lot more to try!
What we tried today was Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
No website but you can find Bertha’s El Sabor De Los Mochis on Facebook.
EVERY THING EVER WRITTEN about any restaurant is SUBJECT to CHANGE and your experience may or may not differ.
Confluence is a small casual restaurant that serves upscale, elevated modern cuisine. This photo might look familiar and that is because Confluence is the former location of Cafe Bink. There’s a fresh new paint job and new modern fixtures. They offer lunch and dinner indoors or outdoors with mountain views.
A sort of new but familiar opening. The Chef and Owners are Chef Brandon and his wife who have worked for Chef Binkley for many years. There’s a lot of locally sourced offerings and some that are exotic too on the menus such as finger limes and white flesh salmon this week.
Dinner is meant for dining and plates are smaller and are meant to be enjoyed in multiple courses. Confluence offers a quality wine menu and glasses are generous pours.
They started us off with hot from the oven herbed focaccia bread with quality oil embellished with some vinegar..
We started with the Farm Egg with Farro, Cured Red Pepper Yolk, Brown Butter Crumbs and Grilled Leeks.
This is a very unique plate and is an interesting beginning. For me this dish runs too high with salt ( because the red pepper yolk is cured in salt) but for my husband it is just right.
For dinner I had the Red Snapper with Cucumber, Grapes, Flowers, Lentils, Fennel and Calabrain Chili.
WOW! This plate was extraordinary!
There are multitudes of perfect flavors going on here!
The fish is stunning, perfect light and flaky.
The skin has several different seasons but nothing is overpowering and this is the FORKING CRISPIEST Fish Skin I EVER HAD ANYWHERE! It is hard and crunchy like really crisp kettle chips.
This all rests in a masterfully prepared delicious broth with the most careful application of Calabrian Chili.
Next to the fish is a ring of fennel……I don’t know how they prepared this fennel but they zapped it with some kind of magic that makes it taste much better than normal fennel.
This ring of this amazing fennel contains well seasoned chewy beluga lentils with some embellishments of flowers, grapes, fresh herbs and crunchy cucumber.
This plate was Forking Awesome and it exceeded my expectations.
My Husband got the Duck.
My husband said that this was really good Duck.
I won’t eat a duck so we have to take my husband’s comment that this was really good duck. I note he really meant what he said….”Really Good Duck!” This plate was made of a seared breast, pastrami, a braised leg, cherries and melon.
Next we both shared the Caramelized White Chocolate Mousse.
It was a journey and adventure of textures and flavors that wasn’t too sweet. Mousses had this very delicate moist light as air texture. The plate was embellished with a caramelized topped fresh banana, macadamia nuts and banana bread.
That was my first taste at Confluence.
I’d say Confluence is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
www.RestaurantConfluence.com
Everything is SUBJECT TO CHANGE and your experience may or may NOT differ.
The Forking Truth is that a Sandwich can’t be good unless it’s prepared with decent bread. I went to this new sandwich shop located somewhere in Metro Phoenix. This is a very tiny sandwich shop with a very limited menu. They sell a few cheesteak sandwiches and a few hoagies ……….It’s a very casual little tiny place. You order at the counter and they hand you your order in a take out bag. You either take out or you can dine at one of the small tables inside.
Since this restaurant newly just opened and may or may not be working the hiccups out I don’t feel the need to mention the name of this restaurant.
Both of us were excited to try this new place because they say on their website they offer authentic Philly Cheesteaks………. Well I know an authentic Philly Cheesteak can only be purchased around Philadelphia PA but I can hope for a Philadelphia Style Steak Sandwich. I also have to wonder why they call the cold sandwiches on long rolls subs?…..In Philadelphia we call those sandwiches hoagies….
Any who-
We asked about what kind of peppers we could get with the sandwiches…The owner says all they could get were pepadews and jalapeños…. my heart sort of sank when I heard that because an authentic Philadelphia Cheesesteak always has a cherry pepper option…hot, sweet or both.
Any Ways- about the peppers…..we… FOGETTABOUDIT.
We each try a Steak Sandwich. My husband tries the large Cheesesteak.
OMG This is an extremely large sandwich and it’s stuffed with a cow! Lots of tender, flavorful sliced ribeye. It’s not chopped up like a Pat’s Steak….it’s more like grilled rib eye slices more like a Geno’s Cheesesteak. It gets cooked on the grill and put face down in the sandwich and the cheese and meat melt into the roll…… I taste some of the beef and it is remarkably tender and flavorful…….But there was one problem with this almost amazing sandwich.
It’s hard to see on my husband’s sandwich but maybe a little easier to see on my sandwich.
Small Chicken Steak Sub
I just unwrapped my Chicken Steak Sub. The roll is already deteriorating. Actually the roll is dissolving. My sandwich is also overstuffed and falling apart. The squishy Arizona type bread is not able to cradle a Chicken Steak Sandwich. It’s like a BIG FAT Elephant was squeezed into a tiny dress made of wet paper towels. This is a Forking Mess. Everything is falling apart all over.
IT’S A SHAME…….because……..
Believe it or not that this would be a really great sandwich if it was just made with decent bread. The chicken was really so tender and so juicy…It was actually better than the thin sliced chicken you’d get in most chicken steak sandwiches. This chicken was juicy and flavorful.
Both sandwiches could have been very good sandwiches if only they were made with decent bread.
I know it’s difficult in the Phoenix Area to get decent bread….but it’s not impossible.
I can’t help but wonder if the owners tried a few of these sandwiches before opening up a restaurant and selling them?
I wish this new place the best of luck as they have tons of potential for being a great steak sandwich shop if they just find better bread.
As a slight update…..The owner is aware about the bread problem and is looking around for another source for the bread.
The Forking Truth is that a Sandwich can’t be good unless it’s made with Decent Bread.
Everything is subject to change (and here I hope it does) so your experience may or may not differ.
Zinc Bistro is a French Style Restaurant located in the Kierland Commons Shopping Center in Scottsdale Arizona. They offer a quaint little restaurant that looks like it’s been here for decades. Everything looks very old fashioned and formal. There’s a tin ceiling, some antiques, old fashioned fixtures.
Zinc Bistro also offers outdoor dining as well. The patio sort of wraps around the building and there is a sort of inside partial patio that’s relaxing to dine in.
I’ve been here several times mostly for dinner and almost everything was OUTSTANDING!
These are just some of the previous foods we enjoyed at Zinc Bistro.
Vichyssoise
Confit Lamb Shank
Scottish Salmon
Cannelles de Bordeaux
Jidori Chicken
Hazelnut Toffee Chocolate Torte
Kale Salad
Foie Gras Raviolis in Consomme
Souffle
These were all exquisite!
Today we decided to try Lunch at Zinc Bistro.
I went with the Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich.
My Sandwich is on pumpernickel bread. This pumpernickel is a style that I am not familiar with but it reminds me of those molasses dark breads that certain steak houses serve. I do note they gave me a generous portion of Curry Flavored Chicken Salad…It seemed very fresh and was full of tender chunks of chicken. This salad was embellished with a couple of sherried raisins and the sandwich ran on the sweet side. I can’t help to wonder why there’s a sticky brown spill down my plate? The brown spill doesn’t look appetizing to me. It looks like something horrific you might see in a gas station rest room.
I was looking at my old photos and I noticed I had this very same sandwich a few years ago at the Zinc Bistro airport location.
They might prepare the sandwich different now but the sandwich a had a few years back from the Zinc Bistro Airport location seemed more detailed. I do remember at the time that I really liked this sandwich from the airport location. Or maybe it just tasted better without a brown drip down the plate.
On this visit my husband tried the Brisket Pastrami Sandwich.
It was a smaller sandwich made with high quality ingredients. My husband said the bread was good and the stock was very good full favored of beef. When he opened the sandwich I saw that it had very little filling so I didn’t try any. My husband said the brisket had very little traditional pastrami flavor and when he dunked the sandwich he didn’t taste pastrami at all because it only tasted like beef. The sandwich also contained a small amount of high quality cheese and a thick slice of heirloom tomato. Although each and every ingredient in the sandwich was indeed quality…we both thought……..$16.00 was a lot for such a small sandwich that contained much less than a weight watcher’s allotment.
Most of the dinners we had here at Zinc Bistro were outstanding or even better than outstanding……but lunch…..I’m not feeling the same at this moment. Maybe it’s just me….? Perhaps the lunch menu offers better choices that I didn’t try?
I’d say Dinners at Zinc Bistro are worth a Fork!
www.ZincBistroAZ.com
EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and YOUR experience may or may not differ.
