los 3

Lotus of Siam is one of my very favorite restaurants in the world. Though most of my other tops are sushi/Japanese places, I find myself craving LOS more than anything.

I still cannot get the last meal we had there out of my mind. It was Heather & Marina's first trip & it was amazing. We had a killer server named Tony & he so took care of us with great recommendations & looking out for Marina's allergies.

We had:

• the Nam Kao Tod (as is often recommended), minced sour sausage mixed with green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanut, crispy rice, tons of fresh herbs, and lime juice - the sausage is chopped tiny, tiny so don't expect to see chunks of it.
• softshell crab salad (not on the menu but I asked for it as I had it as a daily special before) with chopped chilis, cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, green apple, peanutes, jullienne carrots, julienne red peppers, cashews. I have been craving this daily for well over a month now.
• excellent shrimp curry with cognac sauce
• wonderful drunken noodles with chicken - Heather got this spicy. It was awesome. Spicy for me but I ponied up. I had to get 2 (wonderful) thai iced teas to cut the heat.
• out of this world sticky rice with mango and coconut ice cream. Do NOT pass on the coconut ice cream. I would never ever miss this.
• they also made a rice noodle dish for marina that was like chow fun that was killer.
• marina also got a killer limeade.

los 2

Lotus of Siam is one of my very favorite restaurants in the world.

Went with Timmus:

We had:

• the Nam Kao Tod (as is often recommended), minced sour sausage mixed with green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanut, crispy rice, tons of fresh herbs, and lime juice - the sausage is chopped tiny, tiny so don't expect to see chunks of it.
• prawns ocha
• deep fried catfish
• out of this world sticky rice with mango (didn't know about the insane coconut ice cream). Do NOT pass on the coconut ice cream. I would never ever miss this.
  

20 cheesy dishes

Mary Beth Faller; The Arizona Republic; Jun. 27, 2007 12:00 AM

Whether delicately served atop fresh greens or in a big vat of molten goo for dipping, cheese is the ultimate comfort food. There are plenty of places in the Valley to find good, cheesy dishes. Here are several:

Haus Murphys
This restaurant serves authentic German cuisine. Try the cheese schnitzel - Ementhaler cheese, breaded, fried and topped with ligonberries and red cabbage and served with fried potatoes. The schweitzer schnitzel is pork wrapped in Ementhaler and Black Forest ham, breaded and sautéed. Details: 5739 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale, (623) 939-2480, hausmurphys.com.

McDuffy's
McDuffy's All Pro Potato Chips are flash fried and irresistible, the perfect vehicle for scooping up gooey cheese sauce. Work off the calories on the dance floor. Details: 15814 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria, (623) 334-5000, mcduffys.com.

Grazie Pizzeria Winebar
Italians love their cheese, and at Grazie it's presented the Italian way. Scamorza Funghi is a skillet of melted smoked mozzarella cheese topped with sautéed mushrooms. You can also have it topped with prosciutto. There's also a five-cheese pizza. The Cinque Formaggi has mozzarella, gorzonzola, provolone, ricotta and parmigiana. Details: 21051 W. Main St., Buckeye, (623) 853-1717, grazie.us.

Joe's Farm Grill
The grilled cheese at this retro burger stand is melted fontina on Texas toast. For the perfect cheese/chocolate combination, pair it with a dark chocolate milkshake made with real ice cream. Other cheesy dishes include the grilled pizza with mozzarella, fontina and romano, and the fontina burger. Details: 3000 E. Ray Road, Gilbert, (480) 563-4745, joesfarmgrill.com.

The Roosevelt Tavern
Fare includes homemade fontina and Gruyere grilled cheese served with a creamy tomato soup, and a cheese plate offering three cheeses with toasted almonds, crackers, dried apricot and apple half. The bar menu lists more than 40 beers and an extensive wine list. Details: 816 N. Third St. Phoenix, (602) 254-2561.

Café Zuzu
Cheesy comfort food rules here. Start with warm Maytag blue cheese fondue with homemade potato chips or sun-dried tomato and goat cheese casserole. Move on to macaroni and cheese with ham and cheddar. You can have cheesy grits on the side. Details: 6850 E. Main St., Hotel Valley Ho, Scottsdale, (480) 248-2000, hotelvalleyho.com.

El Encanto
The signature dish at this popular Cave Creek cantina is Pollo Fundido - roasted chicken breast topped with a jalapeno cheese sauce and more cheese. There's enough to eat for dinner and take home the leftovers for lunch the next day. Details: 6248 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, (480) 488-1752, elencantorestaurant.com.

18 places to savor lobster

Mary Beth Faller; The Arizona Republic; Jun. 25, 2007 12:00 AM

In other parts of the country, a lobster dinner means sitting at a picnic table, cracking open a tough shell with your hands and then yanking out the sweet meat while melted butter drips off your elbows. You can find the traditional steamed dinner here, but you can also try lobster in more sophisticated dishes, including some of those listed below. Lobster is a market delicacy that's not always available, so be sure to call ahead to make sure it's on the menu.

West Valley

Verrado Grill
Lobster shows up in an innovative dish at this golf club restaurant. The lobster street taco features a saffron masa tortilla with sautéed leeks, shiitake, yellow tomatoes and chipotle dressing. You can also get a tail poached in Serrano lime butter with cilantro angel hair pasta. Details: 4242 N. Golf Drive, Raven Golf Club at Verrado, Buckeye, (623) 388-3000, ravenatverrado.com

Skye
An appetizer choice at this upscale eatery is rock lobster corn dog, served with chive cream, asparagus, bacon and red pepper slaw. You can also find lobster in the macaroni and cheese. Details: 16844 N. Arrowhead Fountain Center Drive, Peoria, (623) 334-0010, skye-restaurant.com

East Valley

Kai
This top-rated restaurant offers one of the best lobster dishes of all time: butter-braised lobster tail, lobster roe, avocado mousse and tomato salsa on Indian fry bread. It's offered as an appetizer but you may never want to eat anything else again. Details: 5594 Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Chandler, (602) 225-0100, wildhorsepassresort.com.

C-Fu Gourmet
This popular Chinese restaurant serves lobster several ways: with spicy pepper salt, with supreme sauce, with black bean sauce, with ginger and green onions or steamed. Details: 2051 W. Warner Road, Chandler, (480) 899-3888, cfugourmet.com.

Phoenix

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen
Fit for Phoenix: The lobster here is chilled in a salad, with scallops and shrimp over greens with a creamy citrus vinaigrette and toasted cashews. You can also get a basic steamed lobster or an Australian lobster tail. Details: 11501 N. Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, (602) 331-3434, pappadeaux.com.

Barrio Café
Lobster has a Mexican flavor at this authentic restaurant. Quesadilla de Langosta Borracha is garlic and tequila lobster in a corn tortilla with melted Oaxacan cheese. Enjoy with a glass of Mexican wine. Details: 2814 N. 16th St., Phoenix, (602) 636-0240, barriocafe.com.

T. Cook's
For the most high-class comfort food, try the risotto with lobster, tomatoes and asparagus. Lobster bisque with fennel confit is on the lunch menu. Details: 5200 E. Camelback Road, Royal Palms Hotel, Phoenix, (602) 840-3610, royalpalmshotel.com.

Vincent's on Camelback
Southwestern touches accent the lobster dishes here: grilled Maine lobster with habanero pasta, lobster chimichanga with basil pesto and chipotle lobster ravioli. Details: 3930 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, (602) 224-0225, vincentsoncamelback.com.

Northeast Valley

The Salt Cellar
If you want a lot of lobster, you can get 3- or 5-pounders here. This seafood mecca also offers lobster stuffed with scallops and crab or served with steak. Details: 550 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale (480) 947-1963.

Methode Bistro
This restaurant serves upscale Mediterranean fare aimed at a sophisticated crowd. Grilled lobster is served "with a touch of paella." Shrimp and wild rice gnocchi has a lobster sauce with it. Details: 6204 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, (480) 998-8220, methodebistro.net.

Wildfish Seafood Grille
Get two half-pound Australian lobster tails served the classic way - with lemon and drawn butter. Interesting side dishes include wok-seared sugar snap peas with Portobello mushrooms, crab-fried rice with scallions and mushrooms or truffled macaroni and cheese. Details: Scottsdale and Camelback roads, at the Waterfront, (480) 994-4040, wildfishseafoodgrille.com.

Mosaic Restaurant
Lobster gets an Asian twist at this chef-owned restaurant. Lobster tails are marinated in lemongrass and served with forbidden rice, green curry beurre blanc and Chinese long beans. The dish is also served as part of a tasting menu, with a salad, foie gras, almond and walnut-crusted lamb and bananas foster crème brulee. Details: 10600 E. Jomax Road, Scottsdale, (480) 563-9600, mosaic-restaurant.com.

Asia de Cuba
This is a place to see and be seen, but you can eat lobster while you're doing it. Try the lobster with rum coconut curry sauce or the lobster mash, made with Caribbean white sweet potatoes. Details: 7353 E. Indian School Road, at the Mondrian Scottsdale, (480) 308-1131.

best hong kong

house chow mein
veg chow mein
salt & pepper pork
empty heart
deep fried tofu
duck
chow fun

cafe carumba

strawberry lemonade
bloody mary
corned beef hash
chorizo
florentine
20.93x2

durant's

bombay martinimojito
oysters rockafeller
cesar salad
cream of wild mushroom
garlic bread
australian lobster tail
ribeye
trio of creme brulee
key lime pie
2xupcharge baked potato 4.50
decaf espresso

c-fu dim sum

ha gow siu mai
char siu bao
steam egg roll
calamari

cyclo

tamarind ribs

green papaya salad

chow fun

beef carpaccio

green beans

mixed plate

sticky rice with mango

steve's espresso

we did steve's espresso tonight for the first time. really enjoyed the coffee. 2 americanos, 1 french roast coffee, 1 honey vanilla latte, an iced carmel macchiato & a raspberry chocolate soy milk. quite happy with everything.

we're trying to break out of our lux rut (though that's not a bad rut to be in) so we're trying to sample some different spots. as comparison, tried coffee rush recently & while it was a very cool place & setup, the wife (the house coffee afficiado) wasn't keen on the coffee. she definitely liked steve's.

the place was very laid back & comfortable. being old & small kid laden, we didn't have laptops with us but we could see it's a very laptop friendly place as well (free wi-fi, outlets/power strips all over & single/double tables lining the walls near the outlets) if that matters to you. just a well conceived place in many ways.

to us, it's just about the coffee and we were happy with every drink we had. we will definitely go back.

also had a cranberry scone (forgot i read they were recommended on this thread) and the aussie two scone eaters with us were very impressed (dug it myself but i wouldn't know a good scone from a bad one).

sabuddy after my gym

saturday's after my gym are our big food exploration day. it's usually jen, stu, sid, cameron, heather, marina, sienna & me.

had our first outing at sabuddy today with the extended family. food was stellar. taboule & baba ghanoush for apps, 3 chicken shawarma plates (extra falafel balls), a falafel dinner & jerusalem meatballs. 3 mint iced teas, 3 turkish coffees & the chocolate mousse.

taboule, baba ghanoush, hummus, excellent crunchy falafel, mint iced teas & the chocolate mouse were universally loved. enjoyed everything else too though.

heather & jen absolutely couldn't get over the taboule. stuey, sid & i really dug it as well. the baba ghanoush was awesome. cameron was a big fan of that & the hummus. and though i thought it was a strange recommendation (from ch) & didn't really intend on ordering the chocolate mousse, it was awesome.

we will definitely be going back.

couple points. as indicated, they don't make their own baklava. was told by them that they buy it from haji baba. also saw on the board that extra pitas were free. not sure if it coincided with the price drop but we did get charged for a couple extra today (though of course we didn't mind).

one other question, the ladies were looking for the israeli salad (as mentioned by sb) but we didn't see it on the menu. hoping to find out on ch whether it lives under a different name or is an off-menu special?

marina's birthday

shrek 3

pita jungle

cupcakes

kampai

ono, c4, binkley's

my gym

shopping

cost plus

ono hawaiian bbq

cave creek coffee company

binkley's

galileo

galileo

ot

stopped by ot today as cam was leaving.

had 2 coffee sodas as cam doesn't like soda water. not that great. definitely not as good as when craig is making them. didn't taste that strongly of coffee. the soda was flat. a bummer. didn't eat but heather had a sandwich that she absolutely loved. will have to get specifics on it.

lgo

3 pizzas (mushroom, roasted corn, avocado). mj baguette & multigrain. d'affinois & french goat cheese. cranberries & figs. cheeseburger & great fries. sangiovese. lemonade. spanish latte, lattes, americano, espresso/condensed milk.

4 gelatos: lemon, canteloupe, cortina (almonds & lingonberries) & apple cider

mandala tea room

veg...

crumpets

nachos

tempeh wraps

ziti

vermicelli

masalla

chocolate truffles

mint iced tea

pale ale beer

eidelweiss

salad w/peanut dressing; miso dressing

very nice & accomodating

fiesta burrito

again. 2 beef taco combo.

lgo

another solid lgo effort. man why can't i order something different. i was going to order a burger for marina & steal half of it but they don't start burging until 4 pm. it was before that. ok so heather did the sonoma salad which she absolutely loved. i had a bite and it was great. i know that it had lots of goat cheese in it which was ruling. something like orange poppy dresisng??? marina got saddled with a turkey, avocado & tomato sandwich on 9 grain bread. also quite solid. i, of course, went with the croque madame (with egg) which once again ruled. added a few dashes of their excellent sea salt which enhanced it.

i did a spanish latte & heather did a nonfat, decaf, honey latte and marina did a chocolate milk. all great as usual.

since heather's been cupcaking, we were thinking of passing but then broke down & tammie coed. we each got a peanut butter & jelly cupcake. as we absolutely loved this one the other time we tried it, we were expecting greatness. unfortunately it wasn't to be. the cupcakes were pretty dry - maybe they'd been in the cooler for a couple days? she also switched the jelly from grape jelly to a strawberry (i think) one. she also moved the jelly from a thin layer across the top (between the cake & the frosting) to a glob in the bottom of the cake. it was too easy to not get a well mixed bite - and i think that was what made it so exceptional the first time....the sweet of the jelly & the saltiness of the peanut butter. also tried the cupcake in components. the peanut butter is definitely only in the frosting. the cake is vanilla cake. quite a bummer actually.

we were also looking to arlechinno but marina couldn't behave & we had to stand tough. was a major bummer as they had banana which is one of her favorites. was also a bummer for me since i didn't get one either!

as always though, we were happy with lgo & i'm sure we'll be back soon - especially as heather is addicted and i can't get her to try anywhere else at the moment.

inza

after my gym we were racing to head home as we had to do marina's birthday party preparations & get back there. we were hungry though and heather had her coffee jones rolling.

we decided to stop at inza & get some empanadas. heather got her soy decaf latte & said it was excellent. i got a blended carmel, mocha which was also excellent. rather than just being an ice cream sweet desert, it had a strong flavor of very good coffee. marina's chocolate soy milk was also great. got to remember to ask for that with a dash of raspberry syrup which as we learned at coffee rush goes very, very well.

for lunch marina had a ham sandwich which was very nice. i had a rice & beef empanada, a beef & potato empanada & a chicken empanada. all were excellent & i could have doubled up. heather got a rice & beef empanada & 2 sweet corn & mozzarella cakes. she didn't know they were sweet corn & wasn't thrilled with them. i thought they were great though & polished them off.

we were happy with everything overall & will be happy to return. the folks there were also super nice. i'm a fan.

fiesta burrito

i was at a client right next door so i had to fiesta for lunch. i'd never been inside so i gave it a whirl.

up until this point, fiesta had only been a better version of the drunk drive through a la los betos. we have pretty much written los betos off as we've too often got chunk fat meat in our orders of green chile, red chile, etc. since we're always sober now when we eat, just can't do it. i also think that even if hammered, we'd know & would come to the same conclusion.

well we'd gone through the drive through several times and been happy with our food each time. i've gone from chimi to regularly getting the deep fried beef tacos. they pretty much rule. well i went inside and to my major surprise, this wasn't a nasty scary dive. it was actually very nice & clean inside with a killer salsa bar.

my tacos, as usual, were ruling and my horchata was great. i would be happy to go in there anytime. and i will!

ok the boss is giving me the high sign. bed time now. i will try to finish this post soon.

los

first visit to los. didn't know what to expect. heard it was the top thai restaurant in the us. man was i not let down.

the first thing was finding it. it's in a nasty dingy strip mall. nothing to look at. i found it, went in & there was a line of 8 to 10 people. told me that for 1, i was looking at a 2 hour wait. i decided to make a reservation for the following night & jetted off to try rosemary's (which was good but i would to to los over it any day).

so back the next day by myself. this in and of itself is a bummer - only for the reason that you cannot order more dishes and try more food.

this is what i had:

daily special - softshell crab salad - it was sweet, salty, spicy. man it was good. this is one of my favorite things i've ever eaten. it had pieces of deep fried softshell crab, bean sprouts, green apple, peanuts, cilantro, jullienne carrots, jullienne red bell peppers, cashews, some thai chilis and a dressing - maybe just lemon juice? oh so good.

then i had the entree daily special - prawns with garlic pepper salt. this was awesome but not a dish for 1 person. it was a huge dish of deep fried prawns that had been butterflied but the shells left attached. on one side, you'd have this beautiful deep fried shrimp meat and then on the other, the deep fried shrimp shell that was like a killer crispy crunch who knows what. it was just too much deep fried for 1 person though. i did finish the huge platter and enjoyed it but it was too much. i later tried the prawns ocha and this is the ticket as it has some salad a bit like the softshell crab salad that cuts the deep fry.

had 2 killer thai iced teas.

and then i finished with the best sticky rice and mango of my life. it made my next cyclo sticky rice & mango just feel feeble. has toasted mung bean on top which is a great touch. the rice is just perfect. i could eat vats of this. i later found out that you can also get it with coconut ice cream or when mango is not in season, that is the default. that is not to be passed. the coconut ice cream is incredible - perfect partner for the incredible sticky rice. very good mango is just very good mango to me. the other 2 were unbeatable.

rosemary's

rosemary's

cupcakes at hilton village

stopped by cupcakes again. this time with heather, marina & sienna.

had a party animal myself. h had the blondie - vanilla cake with vanilla madagascar frosting. marina had the vegan lemon one.

country glazed ham

chicken roasted red pepper sandwich with basil cream sauce
original ham
lemonade
mango iced tea

aj's

dangerous. so many things i wanted to eat.

coffee rush

soy decaf latte
white mocha
raz ma taz - soy choc raspberry
mango passion fruit italian soda

china king

roast pork
pork belly
salt & pepper pork
xo clams
chow fun
house chow mein
duck
fried chicken
beans & beef

barnes & noble

iced white mocha

zinc bistro

onion soup

oysters

scallops

prime flatiron steak & chips

crepe

salmon

mussles

burger

famous suns for suns game 6 : (

steve vetoed us (probably because of the girls) so we didn't get to go to the shack for suns/spurs game 6. missed out on the excellent baked wings, good chicken fingers, good pizza and everything else. steve, the suns lack of a championship is on you.

instead we were banished to famous sam's in scottsdale. it was a bad night all the way around. of course the suns lost. the food was nasty as well. ordered 2 orders of potato skins and they were nasty. no sour cream to top them with. the cheese was already congealed. i had half of one and i think the rest of the 2 orders went uneaten. also ordered chipotle chicken rolls. better than the potato skins but still shy of decent. i did grab a chicken finger and an onion ring off a big appetizer platter which were decent but i find famous sam's sorely lacking. just feels dirty there too.

thought about ordering a pulled pork sandwich but threw in the towel and went hungry. won't be sad if i never go there again.

andreoli again

did andreoli's for lunch. was good but i think they're still experiencing growing pains. they were out of calamari and they served up the fries & leeks without the dipping sauce. giovanni said he hadn't had time to make it yet.

we did the proscuitto panini, side of zuchinni cooked in olive oil, garlic & pepper, fries & leeks, the special - filet mignon sliced think sauteed in oil with arugula, marina's roasted pork panini which turned out to be too peppered for her and a couple limonattas & a big bottle of water.

came out kind of pricey and i know it can be pretty affordable if you do it right. think we just have to stay away from the specials. they're always $15 or $16 bucks.

not as lovely as our first visit but it was a busy friday noon lunch - still good though.

vanilla with butterscotch buttercream

heather is on her vegan cupcakes kick now (for me and marina's enjoyment). tonight she tried a vanilla cake recipe and did a butterscotch buttercream. they were killer. she's using the vegan cupcakes take over the world book. jen & stu tried then and said the cake was better than tammie coe's! i thought it was killer but if she's striving for perfection, might take a lash at getting it a bit moister. she does have a special secret tip she picked up from watching a bobby flay cupcake throwdown so we'll see how it goes.

so far, vegan cupcake trial 1 - 5 stars

aj's is dangerous

heather sent me to aj's to get some butterscotch extract - we are having a cupcake revolution at our house (vegan too for marina). so i went there to spend maybe $5????

ended up leaving almost $60 short. finally got to try simply bread (baguette and wheat though we haven't broken into the wheat bread yet). loved their baguette though. at that with d'affoinis and a sheep's milk cheese that i mistakenly picked up thinking it was humboldt fog. it was still really good. took a look at the dried cranberries to go along with the bread and cheese but couldn't pull the trigger as they were $7 and huge. probably should have though.

also picked up a wedge of parmigiano reggiano (my first) and a wedge of mizithra cheese (for the mizithra cheese & browned butter recipe - OSF).

also picked up a lime extract and a mint extract for further cupcake exporation.

also did 4 truffles (2 double latte, 1 black & white & 1 chocolate decadence). haven't dug into those yet but eager to.

i think that was it... oh to be rich. i could probably spend a couple grand in there on a shopping trip if i tried. too dangerous.

pita jungle takeout

we had pj brought into the office yesterday. i really think that pj is going to take over the world. good food. cheap. everybody loves it. i need a lot of money to buy into this business before it becomes a nationwide chain. that's right! i'm calling it today 5/17/07. pj is going to be a huge multi-million dollar national chain.

of course i had the hummus with chicken (and pine nuts). man i love that dish....even though we did find out they use store bought pita. we ordered a bunch of pita so they gave us a couple bags worth (can't remember the name of the manufacturer). of course i killed my lunch and also had ample helpings of a hummus combo that someone was nice enough to order.

sabuddy's

stopped by sabuddy's today. was my first visit. as i'd heard the hummus & the falafel were great, i went for the falafel dinner at $5.99. included 4 falafel balls, hummus, salad and 2 pitas. was definitely enough to satisfy. i thought it was great as well. it's a nice space as well. the owner was also walking around and talking with folks (lots of hugging going on) and seemed very nice. heard that the chicken shwarma is their specialty so i think i'm going to give that a try. i know they just reducded their prices so maybe i'll add a couple falafel balls for $.39 a piece. can't beat that, right? lemonade was respectable as well.

goldman's

walked over to goldman's yesterday for lunch. they had split pea so i did the 1/2 sandwich and soup. the split pea was great as always. for my 1/2 sandwich, i got pastrami on kaiser roll. last time i was there i asked how lean they were & they said they could do anything lean. didn't mention that today & got a lot more fat on my pastrami. didn't enjoy it as much. also ordered a side of fries as last time i went, i thought they were killer (a coworker ordered them). still thought they were great. i was also looking to try a knish. last time they had a ground meat one & i was looking for that but alas, no meat. settled on a potato knish. it was decent but not that flavorful imo. would wait until i see a meat knish. man it was expensive though. it's always expensive. with what i mentioned, add a fountain drink and i was over $20 for one person.

sakana

did a lunch meeting at sakana. colleagues did the sakana lunch, the sashimi lunch and i went for the chicken cutlet. everything was good as usual. lots of respectable food for a good value. how can you not like that.

shanghai palace

stopped by sp on the way home to get some chow fun for marina (and some sticky rice with mango). had never been inside before. it's nice. kind of like a noodles ranch vibe but smaller. not quite as funky as noodles ranch either. the other thing that jumped out was... man were they packed!!! the place was full and there were about 6 people waiting for take out orders. a good sign, i'd say. marina loved her chow fun (which heather finished) and the sticky rice too.

mother's day brunch - doubletree

did the standard doubletree mother's day brunch. we've been doing it every year for several years except for the last one - we ended up at the james hotel in the restaurant that is now asia de cuba.

it was very cool that mum was out here from oz for mother's day. we had the whole crew. us, jen/stu/syd/cam, missy/jr/soph/aleah, mom.

doubletree is no longer doing brunch in the restaurant. it was in a huge ballroom.

the selection of food was decent. the excecution was decent. nothing exceptional. nothing horrifyingly terrible.

some of the stuff i had: bacon, marinated steak, fried eggs, mac & cheese (from the kids table), chicken finger (from the kids table), an excellent danish, some very decent proscuitto, brie, cheddar cheese, a taste of 3 weak pates, decent prime rib, mediocre ham, coffee, oj, etc.

they did have a piano and someone playing contemporary hits (or at least 70's & 80's). the girls were crazy & loud but at least we were all together & it was fun.

i think the family is happy enough with it. was about $50 including tax & tip. i'd almost rather splurge the extra cash & head to the phonecian or the marquesa just to upgrade the food a bit.

pops on a roll

dad decided to have a lash at the side street deep fried pork chops. of course they were awesome. sliced them a bit thinner and had a thinner crust on them but they were totally excellent. i filled up on them before we even got to the beer battered chicken or dinner. that happened to be salt & pepper shrimp, sauteed broccoli and rice. superyum.

here's the recipe pops went off of and a little blurb about the place: http://starbulletin.com/1999/08/25/features/story1.html

jewel of the crown; ot drinks

after my gym, we were trying to find a place to go. pischke's (wait was too long), arcadia farms (only reservations - it is mother's day weekend after all), az88 (not open for lunch), orange table (another 45 minute wait). we ended up heading to jewel of the crown by default as it was right there.

it was really, really good. i have no idea why it has been so long since we've last visited. started with lamb samosas and vegetable pakoras for marina & syd. man the lamb samosas were good, expecially with the tamarind dip. marina & syd are lucky i only ate my share & didn't swipe theirs. also downed several pakoras with the excellent tamarind dip.

for lunch, we went with the chicken tikka masala & chicken korma (to try & ward off the wind for heather & sienna). both were yummy. i ate way, way too much basmanti rice, masala, korma, garlic naan. everything was great but i lost control and ended up unreasonably full. also had several good lemonades.

i'll be happy to head back there anytime!

we did of course stop at orange table for an excellent coffee soda (with vanilla & cream) and a soy decaf latte (our standards) to go. man i love that place.

andreoli's redux

swung back by today as well and split the salumi panino and the filet mignon panino with mozzarella. both were great! happy to reorder either! downed a limonatta with it

i don't think i'll be able to od on andreoli's and expect that it will be often repeated in the weekly rotation. andreoli's is definitely cool. lots of good stuff to try on the menu.

saw an order of the calamari appetizer and it smelled awesome. wasn't deep fried but looked as if it were fried in oil. definitely want to try that.

can't believe i forgot the french fries, leeks & aoli! doh!

nos drink

saw a very cool energy drink today and had to buy it.

it was basically another standard energy drink but the thing that made it stand out was it's excellent packaging. it was designed to look like a canister of nos (nitrous oxide - used to power the fast & the furious type cars). i thought it was a hilarious idea as it's serving the same purpose but just for humans. it looks like a blue canister with a twist valve.

you can see it here: http://www.drinknos.com/

and then you can see the nos canisters here: http://www.holley.com/index.asp?division=nos

the funny thing was that it tasted awesome. it's a passionfruit drink. loved it!

cupcakes at hilton village

Tried the new Cupcakes shop today in Hilton Village. Had the vanilla cake with the vanilla buttercream. Don't have a menu and haven't been able to find a website for them and I can't remember the exact details. Great cupcake. Rich but I didn't feel like I was going to die instantenously from artery hardening after it as I sometimes do with Tammie Coe's. Also finished the party animal (similar flavor with sprinkles & some other unidentified flavors) for a colleague who it was too sweet for and then I felt like I was going to die. Great cupcake too. Brought some home & tonight tried a vegan lemon cupcake which was quite good and a bite of a chocolate peanut butter one. Also very good. My sister had a chocolate one and she liked the cake part better than Tammie Coe's. That's pretty high praise in my book.

The place looks very similar to Lu Lu's cupcakes (http://www.luluscupcakes.com/) on Miller & McDowell and the style of cupcakes also appears very similar. They also have the same "no transfat" signage as Lu Lu's does. I actually asked if they were related or if the place was totally independent. I'd almost guess they were part of a franchise by the similarity. Nope.

They do have some quite interesting flavors as well. One in particular, "the cosmopolitan", sounded really interesting with I think a lime/coconut/vodka description but that was a Tuesday/Saturday flavor if I remember correctly. Really wish I had a menu or a website.

One thing that I found remarkable was that the cupcakes are $3.25 ea with quantity discounts (more than the typical $2.50 of Tammie Coe or Lu Lu's). While I sometimes OD on the amount of frosting on TC's Ooey Gooey and the coconut one, I have no idea what would justify the additional .$75 per cupcake. $2.50 already seems like a lot to me, though I can't help ordering a few every LGO visit. I know that the coming Sprinkles (Camelback & Scottsdale) also sells their cupcakes for $3.25 each so maybe that's where that came from.

I also have to mention that over the past couple weeks, we had some great Tammie Coe flavors that were new to us that we really loved. We had a vanilla cake with butterscotch frosting that was awesome (also had a bit thinner frosting layer which seemed to work perfectly). Then last weekend, we had a peanut butter & jelly cupcake that was also killer. Again a bit thinner frosting layer that worked perfectly.

While I've only had the basics at Lu Lu's (Blonde Bombshell - vanilla buttercream on vanilla cake and Tantrum Tamer - chocolate buttercream on vanilla cake), my preference would be...

#1: Tammie Coe's
#2: tie between Lu Lu's and Cupcakes.

I'm sure we will go back to Cupcakes on occasion but I will likely begrudge that $3.25 per cupcake each time. And I actually saw that Lu Lu's cupcakes are individually $2.95 or 4 for $10. Tammie Coe's seem like a bargain now! : )

Having seen a Food Network Bobby Flay Throwdown tonight on cupcakes against Autie Em's in SoCal, I'm really looking to try a red velvet cupcake which Sprinkle's has in their everyday lineup (http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/flavors.html).

country glazed ham

original ham sandwich

chicken roasted red pepper sandwich


fries ok.

goldman's

pastrami in kaiser, matzo ball soup

reuben.

killer fries.

pita jungle arcadia & lgo

hummus trio

hummus, pine nuts & grilled chicken

garlic dip


lgo decaf honey latte, spanish latte, tammie coe peanut butter & jelly cupcakes

carolina's north

machaca taco combo
chorizo combo
beef chimi w/guac & sc
beef chimi w/guac
hard taco
2 butter tortillas
dozen tortillas to go
chips

tottie's shanghai palace

fried rice
pad thai
panang
thai stir fry
chow fun
spring rolls
sticky rice with mango

andreoli's

on chowhound, saw a recommendation for an interesting italian grocery store/deli by molto.

went there yesterday and really enjoyed it. cool place with a lot of character. reminds me a bit of defalco's on scottsdale just north of oak which we love as well. seems a bit more relaxed though.

for this visit, we just tested the food off the menu. there was 4 of us plus our 2 year old. we did a variety of sandwiches & antipasto to share.

btw no pasta special today though. there was a filet special at about $18 so i didn't listen too closely as that seemed a bit much for lunch.

sandwiches:

panino in porchetta (roasted pork, garlic, fennel, black pepper) - ordered this for our dairy allergic daughter. it was great. came on a baguette (which btw is). comes with a side salad that was well liked by everyone.

panino del tirolo (smoked proscuitto spec, pesto, tomatoes and rucola) - i really liked this sandwich. great flavors, great bread. would definitely order again.

panino bocca di rosa (eggplant, mozzarella, tomato sauce and parmigiano) - this was also awesome. great flavors. definitely would order again.

schiacciata du belin (focaccia with tuna and pecorino) - i actually wasn't a huge fan of this as i'm not a focaccia guy but the others in my party really, really liked it. simple but they said the pecorino really made it stand out.

antipasto:

potatine e porri fritti con salsina ghiotta (french fries & leeks with aoli) - of course we had to try these after molto's recommendation. they were great. i forgot to order them extra crispy as directed and in my opinion, they would benefit from that. will definitely be a staple but will also be asking for extra crispy.

arancini alla catonese (rice stuffed with bolognase and peas, breaded and deep fried) - these were great. hadn't seen these since cool delis in australia. i just love this whole idea and would be happy to see them do multiple versions with different stuffings. i love risotto, and how can you not love breading & deep frying...just makes everything better. i could see 5 or 6 different versions of this...would be very happy to!

other:

we also did a few bottles of limonata, chinotto, a latte e menta (a milk drink with mint syrup - which we had cold - that was very refreshing and nice) and a few lattes (respectable). we did get a few of the flower shaped almond cookies (raspberry filled, apricot filled? and marzipan filled) and they were killer.

note:

i did speak with giovanni afterwards and he indicated that he flies fresh fish in on the weekends (fridays & saturdays). some recent ones have been cuttlefish from san francisco (i think i saw referred to in a cuttlefish with black ink risotto) and baby octopus from greece. we will definitely be happy to come back and try the specials out.

one other thing that was a standout to me is that for a not very large menu, i could easily pick out 10 - 15 other sandwiches/salada/antipasto that i definitely want to try. for that size of a menu, this seems like a lot of interesting selections to me. i can get stuck in the "order the same thing" rut too easily but i don't think that would be the case here.

lgo with mum, jen & stu

drove around. drove past lo lo's chicken & waffles, the roosevelt, cibo.

went to phoenix ranch market with mum as marina had to take a pit stop. had a horchata (always yummy), a limon (lime - yummy), a melon (very yummy) and a bannana drink (yummy). we also had fish tacos back at the back and they were very good.

after that we drove by el nopalito. definitely divey but so want to go back.

met jen, stu, sid & cammy at lgo after that. jen did a green chile burger which was great, fries for the girls (again salted/seasoned this time), we did the padre (superyum) and a 1/2 avocado 1/2 roasted corn. stuey liked the roasted corn. mum only tried the avocado i think. jen only tried the padre & avocado. didn't get raves from jen but she is weird like that. she doesn't get too excited some times when i think she will and she doesn't love other stuff that i think she will. she didn't try the roasted corn. she didn't have a coffee (stu & i did spanish, mum & heather did honey latte). stu & mum liked theirs.

marina & sydney had tangerine gelato from archellino's as well. great as always. jen also got us some banana tammie coe cupcakes which were great. very yum!

pane, lux for lunch; 1st time cyclo for dinner!!

after my gym (this time with mum), we decided we needed to reload on lux coffee beans.

we headed back to pane bianco and lux.

ordered basically the same as last weekend (bunch of market sandwiches - which happened to be lamb again; a couple mozzarella, tomato & basil sandwiches; the day's foccaccia; a $6 chocolate bar - actually way, way good; a cream soda; and several of the excellent rice puddings).

we did a bit of a spin on it today and bought some of the ash ripened goad cheese and spread it on the market sandwiches to great effect.

pair that with assoreted lattes and a velvet from lux and you've got a great saturday.

btw, if you do pane bianco without getting the rice pudding, you're missing out. : )


first time cyclo!

had our first visit to cyclo tonight. it was great. we all loved the food, including our 2 year old daughter. justina, who has been mentioned often, was super nice and very fun.

as my wife is pregnant, we had to skip the beef carpaccio that i'd read so much about. definitely will be trying that within the next month or two. we did the tamarind pork short ribs with the green papaya salad for the appetizer. the short ribs were super tasty (very moist as well as some had reported them dry). they also went beautifully with the green papaya salad as has been mentioned. the papaya salad was great from the get go and grew on us even more throughout the night - awesome mix of sweetness and heat - very refreshing.

for our entrees, we did...

the hong kong beef chow fun - as good as any we've had in town. with a canton, china born father, this is a family staple wherever we go. it's also one of the main things our dairy/egg/shellfish allergic daughter can eat. along with scarfing the short ribs, i think our daughter ate more without prompting than i've ever seen her.

the hanoi rice vermicelli - super tasty thought we weren't sure how to eat it at first. we first went at it lettuce wrap style (of which i had a bite) and it was awesome. justina later indicated that we tear the lettuce and herbs and put them into the bowl and eat it that way - yummy.

my wife had the seafood noodle soup and was very happy with it. she's a chile freak so when i tried it, it was a bit too spicy for me. she finished it down to the last drop.

i had the minced crab & shrimp soup (with tomato, egg & tofu) and thought that was wonderful as well. this also was completely gone.

along with dinner, i had the vietnamese coffee - superyum - and we also had the house made lemonade. i think this might have been the best lemonade i'd ever tasted. our daughter definitely agreed. when we gave her a sip (with about a third left in the glass), she drained it without taking her lips off the straw.

we were going to head over to angel sweet as i'd seen it on the board and with a dairy allergic daughter, we do a lot of gelato. justina mentioned what they had for desert and we caved though. we did the sticky rice with mango and the jasmine cream brulee. we all loved the sticky rice with mango and it was plated beautifully but our daughter commandeered the dish and finished the entire thing. we were quite full at this point so didn't put up a fight. we did have the jasmine cream brulee to split and that was unbelievable. very subtle but just awesome.

all in all, we loved it. a comfortable fun, funky place with great music and great food. it was busy as would make sense but was worth the wait. we were 4 down when we got there at 8 pm with everyone waiting outside. i think it took us about a half hour to get in but it didn't seem too bad.

living in scottsdale, we frequent noodles ranch quite often and love it. while we love the food there along with the ambiance and the service, we thought the food was a couple of notches better at cyclo. the prices were still reasonable and it was quite fun.

we'll probably be splitting time between the two from now on and we're looking forward to the upcoming old town scottsdale cyclo. while i expect this to be great, i bet it will be a little more funky, pricey (with the old town rent) and crowded. i expect we'll be making the trek down the 101 for a long time to come.

vallone's / pizza express

tonight we headed over to vallone's or pizza express on thomas & hayden. while the restaurant changed hands some time ago and we weren't expecting the old standard of excellence, we felt like a local casual meal.

so it was a bunch of us, 6 adults, a 3 year old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 month old. when we first got there, there were a few other tables filled but they trickled out after a while and we were left with the entire restaurant for a while. very cool with "can be loud" children.

we started with the antipasto platter which was very good, cheese, salami, meat & black olives (syd was stealing all the black olives) over lettuce with an excellent dressing. as this was one of jen's old haunts when she lived nearby, she asked them for an extra side of dressing. this was a great call as their dressing was killer and excellent for dousing on their excellent garlic and regular hot italian bread (free refills).

for dinner we got a couple of pizzas. thin crust for the aussies with chicken, brocolli, garlic, green pepper, canadian bacon, black olives, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes. they loved their pizza. jen, mom & i got regular crust wtih mushrooms, onions & meatballs. jen was less than happy as the meatballs were pretty much quartered so there were huge chunks on it (i guess they used to slice them). i thought they were good anyway. marina (being dairy/egg allergic) got an order of chicken caccitore which she liked. i also ordered an eggplant rollotini that we shared and everybody enjoyed.

all in all, the food was good, it was super casual, it was a good value and it was close.

molecular gastronomy info

ran across some interesting links:

http://www.chow.com/stories/10411

http://hungryinhogtown.typepad.com/hungry_in_hogtown/2006/02/sugar_high_frid.html

http://hungryinhogtown.typepad.com/hungry_in_hogtown/molecular_gastronomy/index.html

http://www.alacuisine.org/alacuisine/2004/11/molecular_gastr.html


Chef Grant Achatz is actually posting on this forum as chefg.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49670

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s=67aa6a88758709302ed36915bcfff5d6&showtopic=49694

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showforum=91

One of his pieces of equipment: http://www.chow.com/stories/10167

Alinea dish pics and descriptions 24 course tasting menu: http://www.foodite.com/foodite/2006/09/alinea.html
Bigger pics, holy moly: http://flickr.com/photos/gsanjose/sets/72157594271893811/

Great article on Achatz & Alinea:
part 1 http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/17966/
part 2 http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18043/


Chef Ferran Adria also posting as Ferran Adrià (has El Bulli in Spain which is super MG famous)

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=57873

lgo

did the lgo pizza roll tonight. man it was good of course.

we did a turn in the grocery and they had vanilla tammie coe cupcakes!!! while we love the ooey gooey and coconut, we like vanilla cake. these were vanilla toffee. ate them at home later and they were great. back to dinner.

so we started with a lemonade and a boylan's root beer. good. ordered marina a burger.

pizza. padre. roasted corn. sausage and fennel.

butterscotsh pudding.

houston's

was working at an act! gig until late in the evening. never did lunch so the client went over and bought me a chicken salad from houstons. tasted like it had an asian peanut dressing and had some crispy won ton strips on it as well. it was really nice.

first time china chili

marina's chuck episode. good food.

salt & pepper pork

chow fun

veggie chow fun

house chow mein

fried shrimp

pot stickers

beans

handicapped plates, traffic, courtesy

pane bianco, lux, borders

after my gym, jen, stu, syd, cameron, heather, marina & i made the trek out to central phoenix.

heather needed beans so a lux run was on the agenda. jen said she needed beans too and was up for a pane bianco try. this was the first for everybody but me so i was nervous and excited.

looking at the board, the market sandwich was lamb again! nice as heather and stu are lamb freaks. we got there a bit early so just to ensure we didn't miss out, i ordered 3 of the market sandwiches and a mozzerella, tomato & basil sandwich. jen and stu got there just as i'd finished ordering so jen came in and ordered the soppressata sandwich with aged provolone and olivida and the fococcia of the day with piave cheese and tomatoes (warmed of course).

stu, being mr. lamb, loved the market sandwich - being tender and flavorful. heather and i both thought it was very good but could have used something else - maybe some of that piave cheese to take it into the next realm? the soppressata sandwich was excellent as was the mozzarella, tomato and basil. for my own taste, i'll probably keep an eye out for meat version market sandwiches in the future with teh soppressata as a backup.

when we left we went back in to order some triple cream red XXX chese, another cream soda and the organic rice pudding. the rice pudding was awesome - possible taste of condensed milk??? yum. i will definitely be always ordering the rice pudding.

along with our lunch, we did order coffee's and of course our beans to go (ground espresso and drip). i had the typical velvet (always good). stu had a red eye (coffee with a shot of espresso) and jen and heather both had soy decaf lattes. all good.

ok so more errands followed.

then we ended up at borders for an errand. while i've had some excellent coffee shakes here in the past, i was a bit let down. the warmed white chocolate chip cookie did not disappoint as usual. superyum.

more errands. crash at home. try the triple cream cheese which was very good but a bit too blue-ish for what we wanted at that point, so finished the night off with 2 breakfast jacks and 2 cardboard tacos for both heather and i.

sakana

chicken cutlet

sakana lunch, sashimi lunch

andiamo

at our sister & brother's request, we shared a meatball panini with extra sauce. it was huge and super good. nice bread. the meatballs were great. the sauce was very yummy - the extra sauce was a nice call. there was also a salad on the place. it was definitely big enough for 2 people to split.

we also as a table shared an order of spinach ravioli. it was definitely good. i'd be happy to eat it again though i'd go with the meatball panini first for lunch.

they also served hot bread with an herbed butter that was nice.

the only negatives were that their tap water tasted like hell. it was bad enough that i noticed it and i knew for sure that heather wouldn't be able to drink it. their raspberry iced tea is also super sweet so jen had to swap that out for a regular iced tea.

all in all, a nice italian place right next door to work and close to home. i'm sure we'll be there many times again.

kampai

andiamo

chicken milanese

fiesta burrito

2 taco special. deep fried shredded tacos, rice, beans. carnitas taco (soft corn tortilla). horchata


2 taco combo - beans, rice; carnitas taco; horchata

noodles ranch

noodles ranch

green, lulus, kyoto

green

lulus

kyoto

az88

az88

arizona

you know what... i've had a complete turnaround. some lady wrote some article disparaging the az food scene in the republic. it stimulated a lot of talk on the chowhound board and i realized i don't think az is food-lame or character-inhibited anymore. it's pretty cool even if it doesn't have a beach.

below is the post i wrote in response to the thread...



You know what, Seth? I think that problem is that the food here doesn't get enough props. I don't think people do enough to promote it.

I was born (back in 1969) and raised here and I didn't fully appreciate what we have or even know about it until recently. I'm also not some put ketchup on your filet, completely food unaware schmoe. I've had my subscription to Phoenix Magazine (only for the restaurant reviews) for a while now and have been reading Seftel on-line for years. I've been totally into food my whole life as is the rest of my family. With my dad being one of the owners of the Glass Door and growing up working there, we live for food. Everywhere I've gone, I've searched out the great places.

How could someone with that great an interest in it who was born and raised here so miss everything??? How could my entire family be so unaware? I just think people don't know!
As I'm thinking about it, growing up and spending most my time in Scottsdale (now called South Scottsdale??), might have made it harder to see what we have here.

Over the past years I've lived in Washington DC, Huntington Beach, Kauai and Oahu. Though I've been back about 5 years and knew there were some great restaurants here and love many of them, I still thought we were not even close to the same league as the coasts (SoCal, San Fran, NY, etc.). I even kind of had a moderate disdain for the state in that regard - felt AZ was pretty lacking in character in general - the land of malls, strip malls and chains.

It wasn't until I found Chowhound (about a month ago) from searching on Binkley's after an incredible meal and landing upon your review, that I started reading about the hidden gems & started actively searching out places.

Since then, I (and my wife as well) have had a complete reversal in my/our opinion of Phoenix in general. I came back because my family was here & always kind of felt that I was missing out on stuff (food for one) by living here. I've done a 180 and have a much, much greater appreciation for the food we have here and for the character of Phoenix in general. Searching recommendations out from the board and driving through different areas of the city has let me see that there is much more to AZ than the malls & chains. There is a ton of character in the little places you mention.

In fact I'm totally indebted to Chowhound. I've gotten rid of that nagging worry that I'm missing out by living here. I'm digging the city I live in and grew up in. I just want to find the next great place to go.

Recent chowhound inspired hits - Rito's, Fry Bread House, Pane Bianco, Lux, DaVang, LGO, Binkley's, Carolina's, Galileo's, Arlecchino's, Phoenix Ranch Market.

Firsts on deck - Marcellino's, Tarbell's, Tradiciones, The Roosevelt, Richardson's, Pizzeria Bianco, Lo Lo's Chicken & Waffles, Barrio Cafe, Cyclo, Blue Fin.

sushi

while this is a very cool thread, i wish people had noted their frame of reference - what they like - when they were making recommendations. i think sushi recommendations come in wildly different flavors and it is because people like wildly different things.

for instance, sushi (and japanese food) is our favorite thing ever and a very serious deal. we're about one thing - quality. excellent, super fresh, authentic sushi. couldn't care less about the crazy, creative bonzai superman philly volcano roll. quantity is also not a big deal. don't care a whit for atmosphere or friendliness or chatter from the chefs. it's all about the food. always omakase.

don't know why but also seem to be more comfortable if the chef is from japan. loved the fact that sushi sasabune (in HI) had the sushi nazi thing going and was all about quality and keeping it authentic and want to hit sushi nozawa (in CA) for the same reason.

i totally get that people look for completely different things. i have friends that value an engaging chef as highly as the food. we go to the places they like and are happy to just order safely. i think that as you experience higher and higher quality sushi that it's impossible to go back. better to do a shrimp tempura roll (which i like) at a mediocre sushi place than to take a chance on being bummed out by a c+ order of uni.

with that being said, our 2 favorite local places to go are...

-sea saw for just flat out awesome japanese inspired food (thought it is priced way beyond us)

-kampai for awesome, fresh authentic sushi at an incredible value

at kampai, we always, always wait for yuki-san (gray haired chef to the right) though aji-san rocks as well. only sat with the apprentices once and yuki-san took over when one was going to give us some tuna that he didn't approve of. had them go into the back and get the other stuff... i don't think he likes it too much when we leave it all up to him but he's used to it. it's always stellar and unreasonably cheap when compared to other quality places.

shinbay was great as well so we're waiting and hoping to hear something positive out of the autumn court development. we've also had great food at shimogamo. the other valley place that stands out in memory was mikado (long gone from camelback and scottsdale roads). had some great sushi and even kaiseki-style there.

other than that, we do want to try sushi-ko as we've seen that the chef is ex-matsuhisa. don't know if that will mean a lick but the last ex-matsuhisa chef we ate at became our go to person when i lived in huntington beach (takashi abe of ristorante abe and now of blue fin)

so if anybody feels like qualifying/chiming in on what they like about the places they've recommended (fancy creative rolls, scene, huge portions, just plain fresh and unique fish), it might be super helpful???
pulling from thread...
-Ichi Ban - Central and Thomas
-Tokyo Lobby
-Fish Market
-Dozo-Akaihana
-Sushi Ko
-Mishima
-Sakana (hayden & indian bend): do lunches here as right next to work, decent quality, good vlaue
-Zen 32
-Sushi on Shea
-Mr. Sushi
-Sushi Eye
-Sushi Kee
-Sushi Ken
-Kampai: our favorite for excellent quality sushi, also happens to be a great value
-Kyoto: decent sushi, super, super, super, super cheap, first tried sushi here back in 1985??
-Shimogamo: very good quality, good variety, need to try again
-Sea Saw: not standard sushi but just flat out awesome japanese inspired dishes, don't question the value but still can't afford more than once or twice a year. been coming in at $400+ for 2 of us with no crazy wine.

just can't get my mind around listing Ra & Blue Wasabi, though in fairness i've never given them a chance.

and if any of those falls in the flat out awesome quality, authentic sushi (interesting selections imported in from japan or elsewhere always a bonus) category, would love to hear so!!!

sushi progression...
kyoto
ninja (chandler)
mikado
kampai
move to ca
matsu (recommended by yuki-san & aji-san)
the view at the marriott on fashion island
tsunami (don't bother for straight sushi)
daimon (don't bother for straight sushi)
ristorante abe
matsuhisa
ginza sushika
move to kauai
kintaro (stay away from kintaro's if you're a quality person)
tip top (only decent sushi on island)
heard hanamalu cafe was good
move to oahu
yanagi sushi
sushi sasabune
move back to az
more kampai
nobu in lv
nobu in ny
sea saw
kaygetsu (san mateo)
shinbay
tetsuya in syndey oz
shimogamo
hiro sushi
stingray (cool but don't bother for straight sushi)
blue fin (ca)

ultimate goal is to do masa in ny

non-sushi loved japanese: ca shabu shabu (ca)kappo honda (ca)ebisu (ca)

corleones

thinking about lunch, we debated on gallileo's (heather wasn't feeling adventurous), pane bianco (too far of a drive), rito's (too spicy for the pregger belly) and decided upon corleone's.

nothing special but how can you not like a good old fashioned cheesesteak with wiz. i went crazy and got a food long with double wiz and double meat. it was unbelieveably huge. super good as always. of course i finished it. heather got her standard foot long with extra wiz. we both had fries which are great and we were even given an side of wiz which we used to dip our fries in (as our servings of extra wiz had already done the job). pair that with a standby coke (sweet and salty) and how could you ask for more. the one diappointment was that they were out of the lovely butterscotch tastycakes. all in all, another satisfied corleone's visit.

wed night

phx ranch market

slc - day 3

lunch today was pizza at wasatch pizza. pretty good. nice crust. had a piece of bbq chicken and a piece of chicken pesto. the chicken pesto sounded like a great idea & was talked up. it was good but nothing exceptional. kind of dry. the bbq chicken was quite good though. good crust, nice huge chunks of chicken breast and green onions charred. pretty good.

for dinner, made it to red iguana. cool place. chips were good. hot sauce was very good. was pretty set on having one of their moles as that's what they were known form. deliberated for a while and the server offered to bring a taste. brought a plate with 5 moles on it. as described:

mole amarillo - good but a bit too spicy for me. menu description: a very spice mole, chile guajillo, chile habanero, fresh vegetables and spices, sauteed and simmered to perfection. a oaxacan treat. served with chicken.

red pipian - very good. seemed to lack heat so didn't order it but it was my alternate. after i ordered, detected heat so i kind of kicked myself. menu description: peanuts, pumpkin seeds, pasilla & guajillo chile transport to you Mexico, a delicious national dish. served with chicken.

mole poblano - this is what i chose in part because of the server recommendation. menu description: a rich blend of peanuts, walnuts, almonds and a hint of mexican chocolate make this puebla original the king of moles. delicioso!! served with turkey.

mole verde - this was good. would be happy if someone served it to me but when compared with the other moles, just didn't seem as distinctive. not much spice, no real bold flavors. menu description: a verdant pleasure from oaxaca of fresh green vegetables sauteed and blended with pumpkin seeds and spices. served with your choice of chicken or turkey.

mole negro - this was good too. some spice. some strong flavors. thought about going with it. menu description: chile mulato, peanuts, walnuts, almonds and fennel seeds fuse together with spices to make this oaxacan treasure unforgettable. served with chicken or turkey.

so i ended up ordering the mole poblano. i really liked it. had big chunks of turkey in it. came with rice, beans and tortillas. they were decent but nothing special. the tortillas at rito's and carolina's killed them. the beans at rito's killed them. if you put the mole together with a carolina's tortilla and rito's beans, it would be too good. the mole was pretty thick. the heat definitely built too. after a bit, i had to keep eating bites with the tortilla or with rice on the fork...something to offset the heat. wasn't too much for me but it was spicy. by the time i'd fished most of the chunks of turkey out (which were covered with the thick mole) and just had the mole sauce left, i couldn't do just the sauce anymore. too spicy and too much.

followed that up with arroz con leche - homemade mexican style rice pudding. this rocked hugely. it was basically rice cooked in a sweet milk with cinnamon sprinkled on top & shards of vanilla bean & raisins throughout. the consistency was pretty liquidy - not very pudding-like. still, i really, really enjoyed it. sweet but not too sweet, nice notes of cinnamon and vanilla. yummy.

slc - day 2

had a killer salad for lunch. they brought catered in. had rice, beans, lettuce, awesome crispy tortilla strips (very thin), seasoned chicken breast and a killer dressing. need to find the name of that place.

found out today (day after) that it was from a chain! the place is called costa vida and they even have one in mesa. http://www.costavida.net/swfs/menu.html had the shredded chicken salad. huge chunks of marinated, grilled chicken. as mentioned, rice beans, lettuce, great crispy tortilla strips all in a tortilla lined bowl. one of the stars was the killer cucumber ranch or tomatillo ranch. can't find the description on the website and the locals here disagree. anyway it was rocking.

for dinner went to crown burger. basically a fast food dive with a bit of a twist. they do gyros & some other interesting stuff. the crown burger is a cheese burger with pastrami piled on top. as it was suggested that it was pretty rich and greasy, went for a standard cheeseburger meal. the cheeseburger was great. could really taste the charbroiled. fresh lettuce and tomato. nice. the fries were great and the onion rings were super great too. also tried the "fry sauce". seemed to be a mixture of stuff - maybe mayo, maybe ketchup, ??? maybe a little in the vein of 1000 island but that doesn't do it justice. was very good!

salt lake city - red rock brewery

Got in too late to have much choice. Drove by Red Iguana at 8:00 pm + and there were probably 15 people waiting outside. Since they closed at 9 pm, will hopefully have better luck in the next 2 days.

Ended up at Red Rock as Settbello was closed. Had a tasty Nut Brown ale. Yummy beer cracker appetizer - flatbread w/roasted garlic, gorgonzola cheese, kosher salt & fresh sage. Followed by a respectable bowl of french onion soup. Finished with a good chicken schnitzel (could have done without the Italian parsley). Was also a bit letdown by the horseradish mashed potatoes - couldn't really detect the horseradish at all.

In addition to brewing their beer, they also brew cream soda and root beer. Went with the cream soda and it was the best I've ever had. Awesome.

lgo revisited again

mummy wanted to do lgo again. as i was going out of town, it was a bit of an excuse and i never need much of one to go somewhere good to eat.

we did the croque madame again. man that rocks. i also did the spanish latte again. man that rocks. i'm a condensed milke freak so i just loooove the taste of it. mummy got the commuter sandwich which while it was good, was way too boring compared to the croque madame. she also got a couple orders of the homemade english muffins which rock - and the homemade jam double rocks too. marina got a huge bowl of fresh fruit (with the creme fraiche on the side). she also got a kick ass chocolate soy milk. was just tasty... mummy had a honey latte which was also very good. oh i forgot to mention that i loooove their sea salt.

after that marina conned us into gelatoing at archelitto's. super yum as always. marina got lemon gelato that was great. i got valentino which was pommegranite, something something of rose petals and lavendar. it was awesome. super tasty, light, just plain yum. then to get us over the $10 debit card minimum (which we didn't actually make), heather got a coconut gelato. it was awesome but super rich. as we were already stuffed at that time, it just didn't go down as well as the valentino.

oh and we got 4 tammy coe coconut cupcakes.

fry bread house - lux

went to fry bread house after saturday my gym. got to take heather, stu, jenny, marina, sydney & cameron. they were having a street fair so it was a bit of an ordeal to get parked & there.

once we got there, we ordered the hominy beef stew special (me), green chile taco x2 (heather & jen), the green chile special (stu), a beef taco (syd & marina) and 3 honey powdered sugar fry breads.

of course the highlights were the fry bread, especially the desert ones. i really love that hominy beef stew too and the fry bread dipped in it goes great. i think jen & heather were a bit let down by their green chile tacos because of the rito factor. basically i don't think you should get green chile anywhere else if you've eaten the rito green chile. it's not fair to the other place. everybody liked it though.

after fry bread house, we traversed over to lux and pane bianco. took a look in pane bianco & everybody thought it was cool. we were all so full that we couldn't do another sandwich. as the market sandwich for that day was a lamb one, people waffled & i was going to go in & get one but they'd run out of lamb & switched to pork.

did the lux thing though. i had a velvet (their name for white mocha) that was great. jen and heather had soy decaf lattes. stu had an espresso and whipped cream. don't remember what that was called. we also all shared a very yummy vanilla cupcake and a piece of chocolate cake.

got the thumbs up from jen & stu too. jen said it was the best coffee she's had in years.

got a special thumbs up from sydney. she tried heather's and stu's and didn't like them. she tried mine & said it's good! better than heather's! better than daddy's! she proceeded to use her spoon and spoon mouthful after mouthful. eventually she tired of that & picked up the cup & drained it. it was hilarious. she probably drank 1/3 of my velvet! :)

lgo round 2

avocado pizza
wings
salad
french fries



archell
strawberry
honeydew

lgo

spanish latte
croque madame
tammy coe
archellito's

mexican food

A brief trip to Guadalupe - the Mexican/Yaqui neighborhood at Guadalupe Rd. and Avenida del Yaqui - aka Priest Rd. - where you will find San Diego Bay restaurant (very simple, very good) and the Guadalupe Farmers' Market, with organic produce AND an array of house-labeled salsas and jams (try the Five Amigos Fire Roasted Pepper Salsa and the Peach Jalapeno jam). You'll also find a couple of markets for Mexican tiles and pottery in Guadalupe.


Mexican food" is exceptionally varied because the various regions of Mexico produce different styles. Most Mexican food in Phoenix is going to be "Sonoran" style which usually means "mild comfort food." You can spice it up with jalapeños and similar, but it tends to be hearty with plenty of cheese and tortillas and fairly inexpensive.
If that is what you are looking for, I would suggest Pepe's Taco Villa on West Camelback, Rosita's Place on East McDowell, El Napolito on North 24th Street, Carolina's on East Mohave, or El Bravo on North 7th Street (especially their green corn tamales).
For a step up in price and atmosphere, I would definitely head over to Tradiciones at 16th Street and Roosevelt or Asi Es La Vida on North 24th Street.
High end would definitely be Barrio Cafe on 16th Street, just south of Thomas, but be advised that they do not take reservations and the wait could be substantial. (I will note here that my two visits here were very different. The first time, I thought it was great, while my last visit this past Thursday was very mixed and I was disappointed.)
If you want New Mexican, Richardson's is the place (16th Street and Bethany). There is also the "standard bearer" Los Dos Molinos (South Phoenix), but I was less than impressed on my last visit there because it seemed like they had turned down the heat in the dishes.
One of the things that often gets overlooked, though, is the incredible seafood creations that can be found in Mexican cooking. I think a place that does this very well is Mariscos Playa Hermosa at 16th Street and Garfield.
Also, don't forget our western suburbs. If you are up for a drive to Glendale, I highly recommend Pedro's and La Perla (both on Glendale Avenue), which serve classic Sonoran fare.
And, of course, you can't go wrong with a visit to the food court at Phoenix Ranch Market (16th Street and Roosevelt). Grab some street tacos, a torta, a horchata from the beverage station and save room for one of the pastries sitting in the case as you exit the market.

avanti

osso bucco milenase
seafood risotto
escargot
calamari
pasta special
benito salad oysters rockafeller

lux closed, copper star closed, mama java closed.

bonus trip - ranch market horchata

pita jungle

falafel, gyro, hummus plate.

g spot non-dairy coffee, chocolate, raspberry

devang

went to lunch at devang at the suggestion of the chowhounders.

super, duper good.

had bbq beef with rice

sandwich

rito's

i know heatherlee loves green chile. nothing special to me. i just went to a hole in the wall in phx called rito's. i had a green chile burro and two tacos. the tacos were great - put them up against anywhere but it was the green chile burro that kicked rear heiny. i don't even order green chile! and good tacos are just good tacos, nothing transcendental about a good taco.

the green chile burro. nice tortilla. soupy green chile filling with chunks of nice beef. just really great flavor/taste for $4.50.

unfortunately, i treated it like a taco bell burrito (not realizing how much sauce & such was in there) & it blew out the bottom & i covered my shirt & jeans with much of it (way too much of it as i wanted to eat it all). i look very cool right now.
it's on 14th and roosevelt (actually on 14th just south of roosevelt) in a residential neighborhood.

kind of reminds me of the carolina's scenario but with a far more limited menu. yummy, yummy green chile though.

bummer is only open m-f (9 - 5).

it was a mad-house though at around 11:30. huge line. didn't take that long to get through though. definitely will be going back.

..

update: stopped by rito's on the way home & barely squeezed in before they locked the door. got 2 green chile burros & a side of beans. heatherlee loved the green chile burro (we split it) and we both loved the beans. jcarnie, stuie & pp really liked the other one too! green chile from rito's!

pane bianco

ate at pane bianco today.

this is what it http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/pane/contact.html

simple, clean flavors. nothing crazy fancy but very, very good.

i had the market sandwich - pretty much the daily sandwich special. it was made with:

bresaola, piave cheese and arugula

their mozzarella, tomato & basil is supposed to be excellent.

since i didn't know bresaola or piave cheese, here you go.

bresaola:
bresaola is air-dried salted beef eye of round that has been aged about 2-3 months until it becomes hard and a dark red, almost purple colour. it originated in the valtellina valley in northern italy's lombardy region, with pieces of beef being strung up to cure in the cool alpine air. it is lean, has a sweet, musty smell and is tender. its rich taste stems from a strict trimming process, where legs of beef are thoroughly defatted and seasoned with a dry rub of coarse salt and spices. It is then left to dry for a few days. afterwards a curing period follows, which lasts between one and three months depending on the particular bresaola's weight. Up to 40% of the meat's original weight is lost during aging.

as an antipasto bresaola is usually served at room temperature or slightly chilled, is sliced paper thin, and is drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice, rocket salad (also known as rucola), a smattering of cracked black pepper and freshly shaved parmesan cheese. this recipe is often referred to as carpaccio, because of its similarities with this dish. however, the most common way to eat it is simply freshly cut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresaola; http://italianfood.about.com/od/curedmeats/r/blr0801.htm http://www.babbonyc.com/in-bresaola.html http://www.buonitalia.com/index.cfm/act/Catalog.cfm/catalogid/235/description/Bresaola/browse/null/MenuGroup/Home/desc/Bresaola.htm

piave cheese - kind of tasted like parmigiano reggiano:
piave is a cow's milk cheese made only in the the piave river valley region of bellunao, italy. shaped as a wheel, it is made from pasteurized milk collected in two milkings, one of which is skimmed.

piave has a dense texture without holes that is straw-yellow in hue. the taste is often compared to that of montasio cheese -- which is to say, it imparts an intense, full-bodied flavor. piave is sold in the united states as a hard cheese (called piave vecchio or stravecchio, meaning "old" or "extra-old") at which point its taste resembles that of a young parmigiano reggiano.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piave_cheesehttp://www.artisanalcheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=10404

fry bread house

ate at the fry bread house yesterday. holy hell it was good.

had the special with a fry bread & a bowl of hominy beef stew. so good that i couldn't wait & am still feeling the effects of burning the he double "l" out of my tongue. really tasty. crispy, doughy...just plain yummy.

then got a desert one with honey & powdered sugar. had to get back to class so tried to eat that while driving back - bad idea - honey & powdered sugar everywhere. honey all over my jeans, all over my car. powdered sugar all over my shirt. put it on hold until i got back to interface. was a complete mess when i got out of the car.

i was already late (i thought but no) but i stood outside the building stuffing my face as i couldn't put it down! honey & powdered sugar all over the face.

definitely a fan!