Along with the Vosges chocolate bars I picked up in Houston I also got a New Tree "Tranquility" chocolate bar because the combination of lavender and lime blossom sounded intriguing to me. The milk chocolate might've been good, but I couldn't taste it for the overly perfumy flavor. At least the chocolate was smooth.
The last chocolate bar I picked up while in Houston was a SAID milk chocolate bar. It was very creamy and good, but I should've tried a dark chocolate bar instead because plain milk chocolate is too plain for me.
One day Lynn got me a Choxie "Fiery Chocolate Truffle Bar" to compare to the Vosges "Red Fire Bar". I didn't know what they meant by truffle bar until I tried it; it tasted like they whipped air into the chocolate making it very light. Normally I find Choxie's chocolate too sweet, but this dark chocolate was more balanced. Maybe it was because the chile was so strong? I didn't like the brash spiciness of this bar any more than the more subtle chile of the Vosges "Red Fire Bar". I think chocolate and chile just isn't a good combination for me.
When JK Grence mentioned a creperie in Flagstaff it got my attention because Lynn loves crepes and I'm pretty keen on them too. JK said it was in an alley, but I thought it'd be easy to find since hiding a crepe stand would be difficult. That was until I went looking for the place and didn't find a crepe stand anywhere. It was hidden in a niche next to a building so unless you saw a folding sign you weren't very likely to find it.
We were only there for snacking so we only had a savory crepe and a sweet one. The savory crepe was the Paris (ham, gruyere, basil, and bechamel sauce). I've never been a fan of bechamel except for croque sandwiches because the nutmeg in the sauce actually goes well with the gruyere and the combination worked well in the crepe too since it was basically a croque monsieur. I thought it was absolutely delicious, but Lynn didn't like the basil so she ate around it.
Our sweet crepe was the Normandy (baked cinnamon apples, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream). The apples were good, but the multitude of sauces were distracting. If it only had caramel sauce it would've been much more focused.
I don't eat that often in Flagstaff, but I could see eating at Old Town Creperie again.
I've been on an Indian food kick so I wanted to go to Pasand to try some of the southern Indian items that silverbear suggested after my last visit to Pasand and better vegetable samosas than I had at Priya recently. I was amazed Lynn was up for it too because we've eaten significantly more Indian food than normal recently.
Our waiter tried to talk us into the lunch buffet, and it even looked good, but it didn't have vegetable samosas so the buffet would have to wait for another time. Instead we got vegetable samosas, an uttapam [lentil and rice flour pancake] for me, and a rava masala dosa [semolina crepe stuffed with vegetables] for Lynn. The vegetable samosas were once again well fried, but this time the filling tasted like dish water. I'm not sure what ingredient in the filling could've accounted for that flavor, but at least the red sauce covered it up.
Our waiter then brought out two cups of sambar [vegetable soup] and my uttapam. The sambar was thin with a light floral flavor, but (similar to miso soup) it picked up some body if you mixed it up (and some lentil flavor too). The floral flavor wasn't my thing, but the soup was still pretty good. The uttapam was a dense pancake like thing made with medium chopped onions and chiles well browned on both sides that reminded me of Korean seafood pancakes. The chiles weren't de-seeded so it could get hot very quickly so I could see a mango lassi being a good accompaniment. It occurred to me later that coconut chutney probably would be good with it too. I really liked it, but Lynn didn't because of the few caraway seeds in it and it was too hot and dense for her. I tried the uttapam with the sambar and it brought out the floral flavor in the soup even more so I didn't eat them together.
Later Lynn's rava masala dosa arrived and it was a huge lacy, crispy crepe that was twice the size of the large plate it was on so it was folded over itself. The thin crepe had a good flavor on its own and was tasty with the vegetables too. Oddly enough the dosa also made the sambar more floral.
If the vegetable samosas were good I would've been thrilled with lunch, but I guess I'll have to settle for happy. I do want to go back and try the buffet though; the tandoor chicken looked succulent and there were a couple of different pakoras.
I haven't had a great beef hard taco since Viva Maria went out of business so I've been trying to find a replacement ever since. Daniel tried a place called Casa Reynoso recently and said they made great hard tacos so I had to try them. When he told me their location I knew it was a restaurant I'd eaten at once before though. Apparently Tempe is full of restaurants that I've only bothered eating at once.
After we were seated we were given a bowl of chips and salsa. The chips were light and crispy, but the salsa just seemed hot. I saw green chile on the menu and had a pretty good idea what I ordered the first time that disappointed me. This time I got a shredded beef hard taco, machaca beef tostada, and a chile relleno. I could tell by looking at my taco that it was overcooked. I didn't send it back because it looked like only the edges were overcooked, but it was bad enough to ruin my first couple of bites after I already removed the edges. Turns out I wasn't missing much because the shredded beef was mushy and tasted a little odd. I don't usually disagree with Daniel on food, but this was a bad hard taco on a couple of levels.
At least the tostada shell wasn't overcooked. The machaca was the moist variety with vegetables in it, but it didn't cause the tostada shell to get soggy (maybe due to the layer of refried beans?). The tostada was actually pretty good, but I could taste something unusual in meat that turned out to be cinnamon. That explained what I tasted in the shredded beef, only it wasn't as obvious. Oddly enough I liked the machaca better. The chile relleno wasn't served with sauce, which was the first time that's happened to me. The batter was thin and crispy and the cheese filled relleno was good. It needed a sauce to complete the dish so I poured some salsa on it and tasted something familiar, cinnamon. I couldn't believe there was cinnamon in the salsa too! It wasn't obvious in the salsa by itself, but there was something about the chile relleno that really brought it out.
Lunch wasn't terrible, but I didn't like anything enough to want to return. Looks like I had them right the first time.
Once many years ago when I was very new to Indian food I went to Priya. I don't remember what I had, but I decided to wait a year or two to try Indian food again. A more recent long time ago someone recommended Priya and it wasn't until I pulled into their parking lot that I realized it was the same place. More than enough time had passed since my first visit so there wasn't any reason not to try it again.
They had their lunch buffet going, but we decided to order off the menu since neither of us has faith in buffets. I was glad the waitress didn't give us an attitude about it, unlike other restaurants I've been to with lunch buffets. The menu looked exactly like Pasand's with an additional page or two of options. There were a few appetizers I wanted to try, but ended up getting vegetable samosas to compare to the ones we had recently at Pasand. The fritters were golden brown with a predominately potato filling with a few peas in it. The potatoes were somewhat spiced with a medium amount of heat, and were good, but it seemed like there was something missing in the flavor. I hoped one of the two sauces would add what it needed, but that didn't happen. The chile sauce was too one dimensional and while the cilantro sauce wasn't bad with the samosa it wasn't a great match either. Overall the samosas were good, but I liked Pasand's better.
I went with the andhra special (two idli [steamed rice cake], two methu vada [deep fried dough], upma [basically firm cream of wheat], and sambar [vegetable soup]) because it was all completely new to me. I was also given two chutneys, a coconut and a tamarind. The coconut chutney very creamy and too mild to eat with items that don't have much flavor on their own. The waiter said it was tamarind chutney, but it looked red and didn't have any tamarind flavor. It wasn't much of a tamarind chutney, but it was spicy enough that it was good with the plain methu vada. At first the crispy methu vada were too dense and plain for me, but they grew on me. Not enough that I'd get them again though because they were too dependant on the quality of the sauce. The idli were light and sour (I'd later learn because they're fermented), and not good with anything. It was definitely not my sort of thing. The sambar was too plain to enhance anything possibly dipped in it. The upma was my favorite item because it was the only thing with flavor. It had a nuttiness that I dug in a comfort food sort of way that somehow reminded me of polenta or masa.
Lynn had the shrimp vindaloo dinner and the shrimp were completely overcooked. The sauce smelt spicy, but there was hardly anything to the flavor except maybe a little ginger. It completely sucked. The dinner came with dhal [lentil curry], rice, naan, and kheer [vermicelli pudding]. The dhal was very tasty and especially good for dipping. Too bad everything else wasn't as good. The rice was just plain rice and the naan was a little too fluffy. The kheer tasted unseasoned, but it was still good plain.
Plain described too many things we had at Priya and neither of us were happy with lunch. I hate it when a recommendation doesn't work out, but it seems I've missed whatever is good at Priya twice so it's unlikely I'll ever return.
One night Lynn and I were at one of Lynn's friend's house and everyone was hungry. One person was in the mood for Royal Taj, which no one was opposed to so we got a good selection of food. There was beef vindaloo, chicken korma, chicken curry, lamb biryani, malai kofta, saag paneer, garlic naan, and special naan. I love being able to try so many different things at once.
The beef in the beef vindaloo tasted gamey making us think it was lamb, not beef. Other than that the meat was tender enough, the potatoes near creamy, and the sauce was good and spicy. The chicken korma was mild and creamy. It was too mild for my tastes so not something I'd order. The chicken curry was a little greasy and the dark meat chicken wasn't a good match for the sauce. It wasn't a surprise to me since I can't remember ever liking an Indian chicken curry. The lamb biryani was very spicy and very good. Even though it wasn't as complex as the biryani from Copper Kettle I'd get it again.
There was a vegetarian in our midst who specifically ordered the malai kofta, and their only other vegetarian option was the saag paneer, so I just tried the sauce without the fritters. I'd never had the dish before, but I was impressed enough with the cheesy sauce that I could make a meal of just it and naan. The saag paneer was excellent with highly spiced spinach and chewy chunks of cheese. Lynn found it too hot to eat.
The garlic naan was fairly flat, kind of crispy, and pretty good. Too bad the garlic didn't add anything to it. I'd say Royal Taj's naan was better than Delhi Palace's, but not as good as Copper Kettle's.
We finished dinner off with complimentary gulab jamun and the special naan. I've never been a big fan of the little deep fried balls in syrup and I wasn't a fan of these gulab jamun either. At least they were free. The special naan was stuffed with coconut and nuts, and barely sweet, but made for an excellent dessert. For some reason it reminded me of comfort food (like maybe it resembles some Belizean dessert I've forgotten about?).
Lynn and I were both happy with dinner, but Lynn would rather eat at Delhi Palace.
Twice now I've run into Silver Dragon's odd hours: first, they aren't open on Wednesdays (which is the only restaurant I know that does that), and second, they aren't open for lunch on Saturdays. Thankfully that's it so when I made lunch plans with Ken I knew they'd be open.
Long told me the last time he had the scallops in XO sauce they tasted like they used chili sauce instead of XO sauce. Forewarned I had to get it anyway because it's my favorite at Silver Dragon. When the scallops arrived I could tell by looking at them that it was the same dish since XO sauce and chili sauce look very different. The firm green beans and tender scallops in a mildly spicy, seafoody sauce was still great to me.
Ken got the beef chow mein Hong Kong style, his favorite dish. The thin pan fried noodles were excellent, even without the beef or the Chinese broccoli, but the overly salty sauce made it difficult to eat. Ken was significantly more disappointed than I was.
Lunch could've been great if it wasn't for the sauce on the chow mein. There are a few other dishes I like at Silver Dragon so I hope I can talk Lynn into going there again even though its one of her least favorite Chinese restaurants.
[Previous visit to Silver Dragon.]
Kodak has come up with an innovation for digital sensors that's so simple that I'm surprised no one else thought of it first. The simple explanation is they're suggesting making sensors more sensitive at the cost of color accuracy. It'll be interesting to see how the pictures turn out when the sensors actually exist. If you're interested in more details read "Kodak High Sensitivity Image Sensor Tech".
Yesterday Lynn and I went to Flagstaff to go camping, but we discovered we were missing half the tent when we got there. Lynn didn't want to sleep on the ground and I didn't want to buy another tent so we decided to leave. I didn't want the trip to be a total waste so we went to Lockett Meadow, a campground Lynn's manager told her about. The road to the campground was twisty, narrow, and occasionally scary. The meadow was smaller than I thought it would be, but it was cool seeing aspens amongst all those pine trees. Maybe we'll camp there someday.
We were actually going to avoid town this time and just camp, but since we didn't have anything better to do we went downtown for some crepes at Old Town Creperie. They were a little difficult to find since they were hidden next to a building in an alley, but their savory crepe was worth the effort. Too bad the sweet crepe wasn't very good.
We left Flagstaff and our crepe snack started us starving. We had steaks to barbecue, but we weren't going to survive the car ride home and the time it would take to make dinner. I wish I knew the location of Madelyn's Restaurant in Anthem because it would've been convenient and I want to try them. I was hungry enough to find a McDonand's to do a Big Mac Rap, but we explored a strip mall and found Affinito's Bistro instead. I was leery of them, but most of what we ate was very good to excellent.
We still want to go camping, but I don't know how quickly I'll be up for that drive again. I guarantee we won't forgot the box with the tent poles next time though.
One Saturday I tried to hit Yasu Sushi Bistro for lunch, but they aren't open for lunch on Saturdays. I remembered Silver Dragon existed and was in the mood for their scallops in XO sauce, but they also don't serve lunch on Saturdays. Who knew!? Dejected I almost resorted to Taco Bell, but decided an inconsistent Sylvia's La Canasta was better than a consistently decent hard taco. It had been at least a year since the last time I visited La Canasta so I wondered if anything had changed.
Lynn and I were having a light lunch so we split a green chile chimichanga with sour cream and guacamole. La Canasta carries aguas frescas so Lynn got a horchata and I had a jamaica. The jamaica kind of sweet, but basically tasteless. The horchata was significantly better, but for some reason I didn't like the sweet, creamy flavor as much as Lynn.
I've always liked the chips and smooth red salsa at La Canasta, but this time the chips were slightly stale. I thought La Canasta had really slipped, but the chimichanga reminded me of what I used to like about the place. It was light and golden brown and filled with spicy green chile that had a good flavor (although it could've been the guacamole that made it taste so good). If I thought the green chile would always be that good I'd visit La Canasta more often, but at least my next visit will probably be in less than a year.
I enjoyed Taggia's burrata [fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and cream] with arugula at the Slow Food Farm Tour enough that I made a mental note to eat there someday. One Friday night Lynn, one of Lynn's friends, and I headed to the FireSky Resort to give them a try.
I had trouble finding he restaurant in the resort because I was looking for a sign and they had their name spray painted on the wall. The restaurant was nice enough though and had an entire wall that opened up to the patio. It was a warm night, but they had the restaurant completely open. It felt warmer to me inside the restaurant than outside so we sat on the patio.
we were splitting everything, and the appetizers sounded better than the entrees, so we got three appetizers and only two entrees. The appetizers were the burrata with roasted tomatoes and crostini, grilled calamari with Umbrian beans, and fried calamari, shrimp, and scallops. I thought I wouldn't like the burrata without something peppery like arugula to give it spark, but the sweetness of tomatoes shifted the focus to the creamy cheese, which worked well. Unfortunately the crostini were burnt just enough at the edges to ruin what would've been tasty bread otherwise. The grilled calamari was simply that focusing on the charred grill flavor that was delicious with the sauce and beans. It was a simple combination that we all found pretty tasty. I'd get both of those appetizers again, unlike the fried calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Most of the calamari tasted unsalted, except for the few pieces that tasted over salted. We tried to use the marinara sauce for flavor, but if there was more than stewed tomatoes in it it didn't taste like it. The shrimp were cut into little pieces and a little shrimpy in addition to being plain. The scallops were also cut up into little pieces coated in a hard batter that was over seasoned. It just seemed too much or too little with the fried items.
Our waiter asked us about the calamari when he took the nearly full plate away and we told him what we thought of it. Later someone came by and told us they removed the calamari from the bill.
Our two entrees were the traghetti with bacon, red onion, and parmesan and a daily special, Mediterranean Sea Bass with potatoes and artichokes. Traghetti is a pasta extruded through a triangular die instead of a circular one giving it a novel shape. This one was thicker than spaghetti and was toothier than your average pasta. It was great on a straight pasta level and with its toppings. The traghetti was so good I immediately wanted a second order all for myself and I'd return to Taggia just for it. The sea bass, on the other hand, was a disappointment because while it was well cooked there wasn't anything more to the flavor. It seemed like the entire point of the dish was to say "this is sea bass". I liked the fish, as did Lynn's friend, but Lynn thought it tasted fishy. The potatoes were soaked in a sauce that could best be described as fish water so they were fishy as hell. The artichokes were grassy and terrible even to the artichoke lovers. The entrees were just as hit and miss as the appetizers.
The waiter listed off the desserts and the only one I heard was panna cotta with strawberries, mint, and prosecco. It was probably the best panna cotta I've ever had. The panna cotta was mild and creamy which was great with the diced strawberries and prosecco. Lynn normally loves panna cotta, but she hates fresh mint so I pretty much had the dessert to myself. I was glad dinner ended on a high note because that'll make it easier for me to return there even if the food was hit and miss; I get the feeling it wouldn't take too much effort to eat nothing but the good stuff.
I love great pizza, but I can only handle pizza about once a month. Despite recently having had great deep dish pizza from Star Pizza in Houston and an excellent cheeseburger pizza from Flancer's Cafe I was still in the mood for pizza. I wanted to try something new so I followed up on a recommendation for Miele's from Geri.
The restaurant is in a strip mall and their interior was dark and reminiscent of a strip mall. We sat ourselves and were looked at the menus on the table. We easily agreed on a pepperoni and roasted red bell pepper pizza and a bruschetta to start. The bruschetta had a plate of toasted bread buried underneath a mound of chopped tomatoes. Unfortunately the bruschetta tasted like nothing but watery tomatoes and olive oil. Oddly enough the toasted bread was better on its own than with the tomatoes. Salt and pepper helped turn the appetizer around, but the only way it was good was with the fresh basil and garlic they sparingly placed on top of the mound. I wouldn't order the bruschetta again and Lynn definitely wouldn't either because the only thing she could taste was the bitterness of the olive oil.
Our pizza came out and had a thin, crispy crust that was excellent and a generous portion of toppings. The roasted red bell peppers were especially good and matched well with the cheese. Lynn couldn't taste the cheese or the sauce so I figured she was having an off day. We both agreed that the pepperoni tasted cheap though. I'd return to Miele's for the pizza, I'd just avoid the pepperoni next time.
When we were ready to leave we had half a pizza left so I asked one of the guys for a box. He gave us a 10" box for half a 14" pizza. Not cool. Other than that the service was fine.
Lunch at Miele's Pizzeria Restaurant was a mixed experience, but I'll hit them at least a couple more times because I liked their pizza and there were a few items on their expanded menu (on a separate sheet of paper and written on a white board) that I want to try.
I had tried Vosges truffles the last time Lynn and I were in Vegas and wasn't impressed. For exotic chocolate none of the truffles seemed that distinctive or interesting. A sucker for anything new though I picked up a couple of their chocolate bars when we were in Houston.
The first bar I tried was their "Naga Bar" (sweet Indian curry and roasted coconut). There was no mistaking the curry in the bar because as soon as I opened the sealed packaging the scent of it filled the air. The chocolate was smooth and the flavor was rich, complex, refined, and balanced. I thought it was excellent, but a little too weird for me. Lynn hated it while her dad took an immediate liking to it. After a couple bites I found myself addicted to it. So much for first impressions.
The other bar I got was the "Red Fire Bar" (dark chocolate, chile, and cinnamon). This bar was rustic with course ground ingredients and the flavors were big and straight forward. I liked the tingle in the finish from the chiles, but I didn't care for the chocolate bar.
The Vosges were hit and miss, but if they're distinctive then they probably would be. I wonder if I can find their bacon chocolate bar.
For something slightly less exotic I picked up my favorite Japanese chocolate candy, Glico's chocolate covered fried almonds, at Fujiya Market. It's amazing how good a fried almond can be.
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Lynn's dad returned home today so it's back to babysitting four nights a week. Oddly enough I'll probably get more writing done now because having Lynn and her dad around was distracting, especially when everyone got hooked on playing Powergrid on Brettspielwelt.
It was nice not having to take care of the kid by myself for a month straight, but it's not a job I mind. A few days ago the kid started standing unaided. Lynn said she's even seen him take a couple of steps on his own. He hasn't done either enough for me to get excited, but it probably wont be too long before he's walking. Amazingly he still only has three teeth.
Our Houston trip was a lot of fun despite it raining three out of four days, but eating well helps. I thought Houston would be a humid version of Phoenix, but the part I saw had quite a bit more personality than my hometown. There was a lot of architecture I would've loved to take pictures of, and I was loaded with cameras (a Canon digital, panoramic, and Kiev), but shooting in the rain was more of a challenge than I was usually up for. I did get a couple of good shots though. Hopefully we'll spend more time in Houston next visit.
One day Lynn and I needed to get lunch and the barbecue beef and shrimp with vermicelli from Saigon Pho sounded perfect. Lynn isn't crazy about Vietnamese food so she went with the beef chow fun. The barbecue beef wasn't great like our previous visit so I was disappointed. The chow fun was a little sweet and had a little wok flavor that made it decent. It wasn't great like Cyclo's, but it was worthwhile.
Another night when nothing sounded good Lynn, Lynn's dad, and I went to dinner at Saigon Pho. I got a lemonade (limeade) and it was so sweet I could hardly taste the lime juice. That seems consistent at Saigon Pho so it's doubtful I'll get a lemonade there again.
We tried the barbecue beef spring rolls because I needed something more substantial than the soup I was getting. The spring rolls were served with a hoisin sauce and started out tasty, but got weird at times when they had too many bean sprouts in them. I probably wouldn't get them again.
I almost went for a bowl of pho when I saw spicy beef soup on the menu. Since I always squirt a lot of sriracha into my pho a pre-spiced soup sounded interesting. The soup was thick and brown like hot and sour soup and the flavor was similar to it too, except for the lemon grass which clashed with the rest of it. The noodles were chow fun instead of the usual pho rice noodles and they were too delicate to sit in soup. Before long I had to eat the noodles with my soup spoon because they disintegrated when I tried to pick them up with my chop sticks. It was an interesting experiment, but I prefer a regular bowl of pho with sriracha.
Lynn got the beef chow fun and thought the noodles were too soft. I agreed. The beef chow fun wasn't as good as when we had them for lunch, but they still weren't bad. Lynn's dad got the barbecue beef and shrimp with vermicelli and the beef was once again great.
If Saigon Pho was more consistent I might visit them more often.
Lynn and I just got back from Houston and here's our best and worst of the trip. The food was surprisingly good.
Category |
Lynn's Pick(s) |
Mario's Pick(s) |
|---|---|---|
Best Appetizer |
Liver and Onions (seared foie gras with candied onions) - Brennan's Oysters Damian (fried oysters with horseradish cream and pico de gallo) - Pesce |
Oysters Damian (fried oysters with horseradish cream and pico de gallo) - Pesce |
Worst Appetizer |
A Study in Tuna (carpaccio, tataki, and tartare) - Pesce |
Shrimp and Crab Remoulade - Pesce |
Best Salad |
Goat Cheese-Potato Cakes - Indika |
Goat Cheese-Potato Cakes - Indika |
Worst Salad |
n/a |
n/a |
Best Entree |
Steak - Brennan's |
Dou of Lamb - Brennan's |
Worst Entree |
Dou of Filets (swordfish and filet mignon) - t'afia |
Barbecue Brisket - Goode Company Barbecue |
Best Side |
Potatoes au Gratin - Pesce |
Potatoes au Gratin - Pesce |
Worst Side |
Polenta - t'afia |
Baked Beans - Goode Company Barbecue |
Best Dessert |
Bananas Foster - Brennan's |
Bananas Foster - Brennan's Spiced Coconut Creme Caramel with Guava Puree - Indika |
Worst Dessert |
Caramel Semi Freddo - t'afia |
Caramel Semi Freddo - t'afia |
Best Meal |
Pesce |
Pesce |
Worst Meal |
Goode Company Barbecue |
Goode Company Barbecue |
Best Atmosphere |
Pesce |
Pesce |
Worst Atmosphere |
t'afia |
t'afia |
Best Service |
Pesce |
Pesce |
Worst Service |
Indika |
Indika |
Honorable Mention: fried pickles - Boudreaux's (so addictive - both of us), green garlic spread with pita - t'afia (Lynn), A Study in Tuna (carpaccio, tataki, and tartare) - Pesce (me), crab samosas - Indika (me), Marilyn's deep dish pizza (Canadian bacon, pepperoni, and onions) - Star Pizza (both of us), rice flour coconut pancakes with blueberries and bananas - Indika (me), shrimp and scallops in saffron - Indika (Lynn), crab samosas with papaya ginger chutney - Indika (me)
I hadn't been to Restaurant Mexico since they relocated to Mill Avenue because their new location is even more of a pain in the ass to me than the old University one. A serious craving for their deshebrada [shredded beef] tostadas compelled me to give them a visit though. I went with Daniel and the road construction made the trip even more inconvenient than it already was.
The restaurant was busy so we had to wait a couple of minutes for a table. Once we were seated we were given the usual bowl of chips and salsa. The chips were light and crispy, but the salsa was a little one dimensional. Daniel thought there was something wrong with the salsa. I was feeling hungry so I got two tostadas, a chicken flauta, and a horchata. I didn't remember seeing horchata on their menu before and when I tasted it I knew why: the horchata was horribly watery so must've I blanked it from my mind. Hopefully I don't forget about it again.
The beef on the tostadas was moist, but greasy. I liked it less chewy than usual, but I didn't like the mouthful of grease. The beef was also on the edge of being overseasoned, but the refried beans on the tostada helped keep it bearable. The chicken flauta came with a generous serving of guacamole, but even that wasn't enough to make up for the bland flauta. I couldn't even force myself to finish it. Daniel had a beef and a chicken flauta and he thought they were both flavorless too.
Lunch was somewhat of a disappointment and since I already hate the drive into downtown Tempe so it'll probably be a while before I visit Restaurant Mexico again.
[Previous visit to Restaurant Mexico.]
Since Lynn's dad is in town watching the baby we actually got to go out Friday night. Lynn went with a friend to AZ Wine Co.'s La Crema tasting. I met them there, but was too hungry to really drink any alcohol so I just tried a couple sips of the La Crema "Los Carneros Pinot Noir" and "Nine Barrel Pinot Noir". I didn't like either of them because they both seemed kind of watery. Lynn kind of liked the Nine Barrel.
AZ Wine now has a menu supplied by Atlas Bistro, but Atlas took their great calamari off the menu. We got a two cheese plate ($8) because I couldn't resist the Balarina gouda (goat) and want to try the Garroxta (also goat). The Balarina is an aged gouda that has a goaty flavor to make it interesting. The Garroxta was creamy with a very mild goat flavor that made it excellent with the crostini that came on the plate. There were also many different types of fruits on the plate and an excellent Spanish chorizo. I would've traded some of the fruit for more chorizo.
We left AZ Wine and headed up to Taggia for dinner. We started with the burrata, grilled calamari with Umbrian beans, and fried calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Both the burrata and grilled calamari were simple, but tasty. The fried items were either bland or over seasoned and uniformly disliked by the whole table. We had the traghetti with bacon, red onion, and parmesan and a daily special, Mediterranean Sea Bass with potatoes and artichokes. The traghetti is a pasta forced through a triangular die instead of a circular one like spaghetti and was toothier than your average pasta. It was great on a straight pasta level and with the toppings. The traghetti alone is reason enough to return to Taggia. The sea bass, on the other hand, was a disappointment either because of the lack of embellishment or the sorry sides (depending on who you asked). Dinner ended on a high note though with panna cotta with strawberries, mint, and prosecco. (I'll have a better write up later.)
We ended the night at Kazimierz. We had a bottle of wine at dinner so the only thing that sounded good to me was a dessert wine. Kaz Bar shares the same great wine list with Cowboy Ciao/Sea Saw so I had a good selection to choose from by the glass. I got a glass of Pocas "Colheita Tawny Port 1970" that was good, but I'm still an Australian tawny port kind of guy. Kaz Bar was nice without seeming too trendy so I dug the place.
It was a good night, but one that we probably won't be able to repeat for a long time.
I don't usually do anything to celebrate my birthday, but Lynn has been insisting on taking me somewhere for my birthday this year. We were thinking about Las Vegas, but when Lynn was rattling off cities to check prices for we noticed that flights to Chicago were actually fairly cheap. Unable to resist a good bargain that's where we're going for my birthday. Funny because before today I never seriously considered visiting Chicago.
Not surprisingly I already have reservations for my birthday dinner at Moto. I can't wait to see what kind of crazy/delicious stuff Homaro Cantu and his crew whips up.
The previous two visits to Lychee Inn were disappointing for me so this last visit I went there strictly for the yui shan pork, which I knew I liked. The bamboo shoots and watercress in the dish were a bit much this time, but the sweet and spicy sauce was still great with the pork. I wonder if the yui shan pork is going to be the only dish I like at Lychee Inn.
[Previous visit to Lychee Inn.]
I've been to Zest Spirited Dining way too many times since the last time I wrote about them. I'd been trying to write about those visits, but never got motivated to finish them. When I heard Zest changed ownership I thought those old visits wouldn't even be relevant so didn't bother with them. At least until I ate there again. One Monday night Lynn, Lynn's mom, and I wanted to go out to eat and because of the limited restaurant choices Zest sounded best. It turned out to be a good choice too.
I was thinking about getting a green tea mojito, but the ruby red Cosmo (Absolut Ruby Red vodka and cranberry juice) sounded too good to pass up as someone who likes Sea Breezes and Greyhounds. It was both excellent and potent (at least to my low tolerance).
When we were seated we were handed a menu of specials with the same type of dishes they'd always serve. It was a good sign. We planned on getting the eggplant cheesecake appetizer, and probably the tequila orange shrimp, but the appetizer special of crab Napoleon (curried crab sandwiched between layers of masa) was too tempting so we got it and the cheesecake. The cheesecake was garnished with plenty of fresh basil and was its usual creamy excellence. The crab Napoleon was amazing! The combination of crab, curry, and corn was brilliant and I wanted a second order just for myself. I know it's unlikely, but I hope the crab appetizer makes its way onto the regular menu.
The salad, which its choice of blue cheese, pecans, mandarin oranges, and cranberries, was still one of the best salads around.
The entrees have traditionally been the weakest part of the meal for me at Zest. The ribeye has been the best menu entree I've tasted so I was almost certain I was going to get it when I saw the entree special of half rack of New Zealand lamb with a dijon-mint crust. Normally I find New Zealand lamb too gamey for my tastes, and I think mint sauce is too sweet for lamb, but I was willing to chance it. It was a good gamble too because the lamb was perfectly cooked, not at all gamey, and the bit of sweetness from the mint was great with the lamb. The only thing that would've made it better was a full rack of lamb. The dish came with sides of garlic mashed broccoli and some sort of hominy thing. The broccoli was indeed garlicky, but only ok because it was pretty one dimensional. Maybe if it was roasted it would've been better? The hominy was kind of cheesy and very spicy with a flavor that reminded me of pozole. It was good, but it had such a heavy flavor I couldn't eat much of it.
Lynn got her usual goat cheese stuffed shrimp with linguini, but it was different this time. The breading on the shrimp was seasoned and neither of us liked the addition. For once I actually liked the linguini because the sauce wasn't overly acidic which meant Lynn thought the sauce was too sweet so she didn't like the linguini as much. Lynn's mom got the ribeye and it was still excellent. It's definitely my "go to" entree at Zest (even if I've never ordered it myself).
There was a new dessert hidden on the menu, something with blueberry streusel, but they didn't have any. Too bad because it sounded like the perfect ending for our excellent meal.
This was the best or second best meal I've had at Zest so the ownership change hasn't been detrimental. As for all those old visits I still haven't made up my mind whether I'll finish writing them or not.
Lynn's in training the entire month of May so she's working days and her dad's here to take care of the kid while we're both at work. Obviously we haven't hiked in a long time, and I'm not getting any fitter just sitting around, so we just started jogging. Hopefully we can keep this up for the next three weeks.
Yesterday we all went to lunch at Welcome Diner and had a Garfield with a burger patty. Lynn really liked it, but said she probably wouldn't order it again because there was something sweet in one of the toppings she didn't care for. I need to remember to stop taking Lynn's dad there because he thinks the burgers are only ok and the fries burnt (they did look well past well done yesterday). Afterwards we headed to Mary Coyle for some ice cream. I had a sundae with black raspberry, honey banana, and butter brittle ice creams (you've got to love the old fashioned flavors) covered in strawberry sauce and whipped cream. I doubt a week's worth of jogging could've worked that sundae off, but I have my priorities. I can't wait until Mario Edward is old enough to enjoy ice cream.
I haven't been in the photography mood lately so I haven't taken many pictures. I have picked up some camera equipment though: a fisheye lens for my Kiev, a photo backpack to carry my cameras during trips, and a discontinued Polaroid Mio. The Mio uses Fuji Instax Mini instant color film that's far superior to the Polaroid izone film I used to use, but I actually wish the pictures were smaller. Right now it's relegated to baby pictures.
 taken with my crappy mini digital camera.'))
I probably have a good thirty restaurant visits to write about so what do I want to write about right now? Only the best thing I've ever had at Welcome Diner! The last time I was there one of the guys mentioned the Garfield (fried egg sandwich with cheese, salsa, and grilled Poblanos and onions) with a burger patty. It sounded great, but they had already started working on my double cheeseburger so it was too late to get one. I couldn't wait until I could try it though.
That happened today. The entire restaurant smelled great when it was cooking and it didn't disappoint. The sandwich was very messy, and there were a lot of things going on in it, but the combination of fried eggs and hamburgers that just works. Whether I could taste the onions, chiles, cheese, salsa, or pickles it was all great. Unlike the burgers it was even filling.
I liked the burgerfied Garfield so much that I now want to take everyone I've ever taken to Welcome Diner there to try it. Just not all at once though because there aren't enough seats in the place.
[The last time I wrote about Welcome Diner.]
One of our programmers told me about one of his favorite restaurants, Los Taquitos. He said the carne asada was very good so I went there with him for lunch one day. The place was a hole in wall, which isn't unusual for a taqueria except that they're located in Ahwatukee. I got a carne asada tostada and two carne asada tacos. The tostada had all the usual items (crispy shell, refried beans, lettuce, and cheese), but it was only decent. Maybe I'd like it better on a different day? The tacos were also standard taqueria style, but the corn tortillas and white onions complimented the excellent carne asada much better.
Los Taquitos wasn't anything unexpected, but the carne asada was good enough that I'd return.
Lately I've been obsessed with trying the other menu items at Da Vang and I've been lucky enough to be with someone willing to split a barbecue pork bahn mi so I don't feel like I'm missing anything while doing it.
Lynn had the lemongrass beef a long time ago and I loved it even if she didn't. I tried it again recently and even though all the ingredients were there (beef, onions, lemongrass, and chile) it seemed to be missing something because the flavor was just flat. The entire time I was eating it I kept thinking it wasn't as good as their barbecue beef.
The next time I was at Da Vang I got the fried rice with roast chicken. It was half a chicken that looked exactly like Thai barbecue chicken (the first Thai dish I ever had and probably the only Thai dish I've never eaten more than once) served on a pile of fried rice. The roast chicken was a little sweet so even the flavor reminded me of Thai barbecue chicken. I didn't like it, but at least I didn't have to worry about food poisoning until I found part of my chicken still pink. I would've been done with the chicken, but it came with a cup of sauce that looked like jus and gave the chicken a pleasant saltiness so I just avoided the pink parts. It was the only thing I liked about the dish because I the fried rice was terrible because it was loaded with carrots. The prior meal was disappointing, but this one almost made me want to stop exploring the menu.
Last week Long told me the egg noodle soup at Da Vang was tasty so that got me curious enough to try it. The egg noodle soup I got came with pork wontons, sliced pork, shrimp, squid, imitation crab, and fish balls. The bowl was small for Vietnamese soup (so less than half a gallon), but there was so much stuff in it that my soup spoon couldn't touch the bottom of the bowl. The broth was light with a mild seafood flavor, but it was too bland for me. I picked up a piece of the thinly sliced pork and was even more disappointed because it tasted kind of porky. It was easy to avoid the rest of the sliced pork and a quick shot of sriracha worked great with the broth making the soup significantly better. The wontons were tasty with a thin wrapper surrounding a good pork filling with a surprising amount of black pepper in it. Normally I'm not fond of imitation crab, but it was actually better than the shrimp (quite good), fish balls (not bad), and squid (chewy and only ok, but who expects more from squid?). I finished off my bowl and, needless to say, I'd get it again.
Da Vang is still one of my favorite places to eat at in Phoenix, but I may stick to the bahn mi, barbecue meat, and soup for a while.
[Previous visit to Da Vang.]
It may have taken a couple of years between my first and second visits at Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles, but I wasn't going to let that happen again. Murray enjoyed his first visit to Lo-Lo's so much he wanted to go back immediately. I wasn't going to argue.
I got a "Tre Tre" (two fried drumsticks and a waffle) and an extra drumstick because two didn't seem like it would be enough. The chicken wasn't as well spiced as the previous visit, but the chicken was still crispy, moist, and just excellent overall. Murray loved his pecan waffles last time so I had to give them a try. They were good, but not significantly better than the regular waffles.
The last time I was at Lo-Lo's I shared the love with my mom and Gordon. This time I got a "Betty Boop" (a fried breast and a waffle) with a extra drumstick because three drumsticks was the right amount of meat, but one drumstick too many. The food took much longer to arrive this time, but I didn't mind because it was just closer to how long you realistically expect fried chicken to cook. The chicken was almost perfectly spiced this time, but the breast was a little dry. It wasn't dry enough to detract from the crispy skin though.
I got a sweet tea to drink and it was sweet. It wasn't bad, but I like my tea hot and unsweetened. I also found it too sweet to drink with a syrup covered waffle.
My mom and Gordon also got a "Betty Boop" and my mom got a side of gravy. The gravy came in a bowl large enough for all three of us to use the gravy. It was thick, brown, a little salty, and loaded with flavor. The gravy was decent with the drumstick, but went perfectly with the slightly dry chicken breast. I'll probably get a side of it whenever I get a breast again. My mom was happy with her lunch and Gordon finally found his replacement for It's About Time's fried chicken.
There's nothing like great food to improve my disposition and my last three visits to Lo-Lo's made me downright cheerful despite whatever I may have been feeling earlier at work.
One day Lynn and I were in the mood for a burger, but not in the mood to drive across town to get one so we gave Simply Burgers another try.
This time I got the 1/3 of a pound Angus cheeseburger with guacamole while Lynn had the 1/3 of a pound "Kobe" (American wagyu) cheeseburger with guacamole. The burgers now come with a choice of fries or salad so we both got a salad with chipotle ranch dressing. The 1/3 of a pound patties were satisfyingly thick although the flavor of the beef was still mild. My burger was still beefy despite being mild and I really enjoyed it. Lynn's "Kobe" burger was too mild for me because the only thing I could taste was a little twang. Lynn described the twang as gaminess and even though she doesn't like gaminess she does appreciate it in the right context. The funny thing is we both liked the burger we ordered better than the other.
The salad consisted of lettuce, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. The dressing was thinner than your typical ranch dressing, but the smokiness and heat from the chipotle was excellent. Lynn found the dressing too spicy to eat.
After the owner responded positively to my last visit to Simply Burgers I hoped I wouldn't have anything too negative to write something about my second visit, but Lynn and I would definitely return. The burgers at Simply Burgers still aren't Welcome Diner or Delux, but they are the top of my second tier.
I used to think the dim sum at Great Wall was just as good as C-Fu Gourmet, but Lynn never has. After this last experience I have to agree with her.
Let me start with the great items since there were so few. It was my first time having chicken wings at Great Wall and they were fantastic. They were deep fried crispy and seasoned with green onion, garlic, and jalapeno making for wings I'd love to eat by the dozen. The only other great item were the pineapple buns (custard stuffed bans with a crumbly top) for self explanatory reasons.
The chow mein, shrimp stuffed eggplant, deep fried shrimp rolls, and steamed barbecue pork buns were all good, but the eggplant would've been better with sauce and the barbecue pork buns seemed excessively small.
The biggest disappoint were the seafood dumplings. I used to love them at Great Wall, but they had a peculiar flavor this time. I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but it seemed related to the oil the greens in the dumpling were cooked with. Normally I don't get rice porridge because I'm one of the few people who likes the bland concoction, but we didn't have that many people with us so I got a bowl. The porridge had ground pork and green onion in it that helped give it flavor, but the porridge was excessively greasy, which I didn't think could be accounted for by the pork.
Service was terrible the entire time; we had to hunt people down for everything but the food, and the Chinese broccoli Lynn ordered was never brought to the table. The selection didn't seem very good either. Everyone at dim sum had been to C-Fu Gourmet before and we all agreed that C-Fu was better. Lynn was so unhappy with our lunch at Great Wall that she doesn't want to return and I can't say I'm really inclined to either.
[Addendum: I forgot to mention that the steamed pork buns were tiny. They felt like a complete rip off.]
[Previous visit to Great Wall.]
Today Long and I went to lunch at Taco Nazo. I wanted a tostada from Restaurant Mexico, but Long wanted tripe tacos from Taco Nazo. We were going to go or separate ways for lunch, but Long called Taco Nazo to verify they made tostadas. I had a dim memory that the tostadas weren't bad at Taco Nazo so it sounded decent.
I had to look up what I liked at Taco Nazo since it had been so long (one of the original reasons I started this site). It was pastor and chicken so I got a pastor [marinated pork] tostada, three chicken tacos, and a large jamaica [hibiscus drink]. The jamaica was too concentrated for my tastes because it was a little more sour and astringent than I like. It could just be that drinking the watered down jamaica from Bang and Ole has ruined me.
My tostada looked great with a crispy homemade shell and the refried beans and pastor were both good on it, but the pastor wasn't nearly as satisfying as beef would've been. The chicken was succulent and well seasoned making me happy I got three chicken tacos. I raved about it so much Long ended up getting a chicken taco. He liked it, but preferred the tripe or tongue.
My lunch was good, but I thought I should've ordered a chicken torta and a green chile tostada instead. And I still want a couple deshebrada [shredded beef] tostadas from Restaurant Mexico.
[Previous time I wrote about Taco Nazo.]
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Last week the kid's first tooth came in. The only ones I could see coming in were the top two front teeth, but it was the bottom front tooth that came in. So far he doesn't seem to be as bothered by the other teeth.
Lynn and I wanted a light lunch, but nothing sounded good until Lynn mentioned Floridino's. We were only going to get a dozen pizza muffins, but I noticed the zesty breadsticks (cheddar, bacon, and jalapenos) on their white board and thought they sounded too good to pass up.
I don't know why cheese, Italian sausage, and ham wrapped in dough and baked (the pizza muffins) sounded light to me, but I think their heaviness kept me from enjoying them as much as I normally would. Lynn didn't have the same issue so she thought they were great. The breadsticks cheesy, meat, and hot, but the bread was fluffy and crispy which made it light to my tastes. I loved the breadsticks, but Lynn didn't like the pickled jalapenos. At least we were both happy with our lunch.
The last time Lynn and I went to Floridino's it was because we were in the mood for the pizza muffins and zesty breadsticks. Both were excellent and I was much happier with the pizza muffins this time. I have a bad habit of ordering too much so I got an order of the eggplant parmesan too. They split the order for us so we both had a breaded eggplant filet and spaghetti (it came with a choice of spaghetti or ziti). The plates had spent some time under a broiler so the cheese on both items was well melted. I liked the flavor of the eggplant with the marinara and cheese, but Lynn (who doesn't like the combination of breading and eggplant) thought the eggplant was too thin. The spaghetti was typical, but melted mozzarella makes most things better. The dish came with breadsticks that were a little plain, but crispy and better than most freebies.
We had plenty of leftovers, but we were both in the mood for the "Sicilian sundae" (fresh baked chocolate chip cookie dough or brownie with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce) with cookie dough. The cookie had been in the oven a little too long so even though it wasn't overcooked it was dry making the ice cream a necessity. We weren't as happy with the "Sicilian sundae" this time, but our waitress gave it to us for free so it wasn't so bad. That also saved her tip because she was never around when we wanted her (we were her only table in the front of the restaurant so I cut her a little slack for that) and she forgot my water (which is a huge pet peeve of mine).
As much as I like cheese I'm not often in the mood for mass quantities of melted cheese, but when I am it's good to have Floridino's around.
[Previous visit to Floridino's.]
Cafe Roma is almost next door to one of my favorite restaurants, the Cornish Pasty Co., but I never considered going there because of the prominent window display stating pizza by the slice. My assumption was that they were about cheap food, not good food. Daniel had been there a few times and said it was pretty good so him and I went there for lunch one day.
We walked in through the back door to the dining room and I was greeted by scent of garlic and, to my surprise, a pleasant looking dining room that had a well-to-do mom and pop feel that I liked. There was even a board up with some daily specials, one of which was lobster ravioli. I was thinking about getting the lobster ravioli when I remembered how seldom I've liked it at other places so I decided to go with a safer pasta. That is until I remembered I was going to have lasagna for dinner so I avoided pasta altogether and got a dozen hot wings (medium) and a slice of cheese pizza (on Daniel's recommendation).
I started with the pizza since I didn't want it to get cold or soggy on me. The crust was probably twice as thick as a New York style pizza, but crispy (probably due to reheating, but it worked) with good cheese. There wasn't anything to get excited about, but it was a fine slice of pizza. Next time I'll probably the pepperoni even though Daniel said the cheese is better. The hot wings were crispy and completely cooked, which is more of a rarity than it should be. The sauce wasn't my favorite even though it had some heat to it and wasn't all vinegary because it seemed like it could've used something. They were the best hot wings I've had in the area so I'll definitely get them again although maybe I'll go for the hot sauce.
The service was a little slow that day because there was only one waiter for the entire dining room, but he didn't do a bad job and lunch wasn't overly drawn out. I obviously liked the good well enough that I'll return, but I don't eat much Italian food at lunch so the return visits may take awhile in coming.
I've been to Welcome Diner more than a few times since the last time I wrote about them so I've decided to lump all those experiences together.
One of the times I took Lynn to Welcome Diner she had the cheeseburger with grilled chiles. It was pretty good, but it could've used the sweetness from the grilled onions. The visit after that I tried a cheeseburger with the grilled chile-onion combination and while it was good I preferred my regular grilled onion version.
Typically I get two cheeseburgers at Welcome Diner because one is too small to be satisfying, but that gets pricey. Normally I stay aware from double cheeseburgers because it throws the burger/bun/topping ratio off, but I wanted to see if I liked Welcome Diner's enough for it to be a viable cheaper alternative. To my surprise I liked the double just as much as the single. It was a lot messier than a single because the patties headed in opposite directions as soon as I picked the burger up, but the flavors were still the same. Since then I've alternated between two cheeseburgers and the double, but I favor the two burgers just because I don't like my hands getting that messy.
I'd seen the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie on the menu at Welcome Diner for some time, but never considered ordering it until the day someone else had one. The cookie is baked to order so it was impossible for me to resist the scent of a hot chocolate chip cookie. For a single cookie it was large enough for three people. Lynn didn't like the combination of oatmeal and chocolate, but she doesn't like oatmeal cookies. I thought the cookie was quite tasty even though it was chewy.
The last time I was at Welcome Diner I noticed a couple of new menu items, like French toast and fried egg sandwiches. What got me excited was that their hours expanded to 9 to 3, Monday through Saturday. Now they're actually open late enough Saturday for me to catch lunch.
In the last couple of months Welcome Diner has become one of my favorite restaurants because of their cheeseburger. I think it ranks up there with Delux's, but the difference is I only want a burger from Delux about once every couple of months while I could eat one at Welcome Diner about once a week.
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Last week the kid was teething and generally miserable so most of my time was spent comforting him. His teeth haven't come in yet, but even though there are at least three coming in right now they don't seem to bother him as much this week so life has returned to normal. On a milestone note he just started sitting up on his own.
I had meant to follow up on a really old recommendation for Priya Indian Cuisine, but Lynn and I ended up at Pasand instead. I'm glad we did.
Looking at the menu I was happy to see there were single ingredient pakoras since I've never been crazy about the mixed vegetable variety. Lynn was feeling apprehensive about the pakoras for some strange reason so I got an order of vegetable samosas instead. They arrived almost dark brown, but perfectly cooked because they were crispy without tasting overdone. The flavor of the fried dough actually reminded me of a flauta! The mixed vegetable filling was mild, but very tasty. The samosas came with two sauces, a white one and an orange one. The white one was mild with a coconut milk flavor that didn't really work with the samosas for us. The orange sauce tasted similar to a smooth red salsa and complimented the samosas well. I guess it's no surprise that the flauta like item tasted good with the salsa type sauce. I liked the samosas enough that they may be what draws me back to Pasand (although spicy onion pakoras sound good too).
There were some unusual items on the menu, but I couldn't tell if they were entrees so we both ended up going for dishes typical for us, boneless lamb curry for me and ginger chicken masala for Lynn. The lamb curry was hearty and seasoned with enough chile to suit my preference for spicy. Much of the lamb was chewy, but it didn't bother me. I thought Lynn's dish was terrible because it was bland and I couldn't even taste any ginger in the sauce. I knew Lynn couldn't be very happy with it because she doesn't like dark meat and the dish was full of it.
The entrees came with a choice of a paratha or two pooris. I'd never had either before so I just went with the paratha. To my surprise Lynn also got a paratha even though she'd never tried either one of them either. I guess I'll have to order the pooris myself next time. I love naan more than most eatable things so I had to get one of those too. The paratha was rectangular, thin, and hard with a flavor that reminded me of an overcooked tortilla (again with the Mexican food resemblance!?). The paratha wasn't bad, but I'd rather eat mediocre naan. Lynn liked the paratha more than I did and would get it again. Pasand's naan had the right combination of fluffiness and crispiness, but it was unfortunately bland. Eaten with my curry it was quite good so I'll probably end up ordering them again.
Lunch was a little hit and miss, but promising so I think if we try some of the more unique items on Pasand's menu we'll have better luck.
On a night when nothing sounded good Zinc Bistro was the only place that didn't sound bad so Lynn and I went there for dinner.
We started with our two favorite appetizers, the ahi tuna tartare and fondue. The tuna tartare was a little different this time because it already had mustard mixed into the minced tuna, which was nice because the tartare always needed mustard and they never put enough of it on the plate. The mustard was a little too strong, but not enough to keep us from finishing it off. The fondue was mild and tasty. Normally I prefer it with the cracker or the sourdough bread, but both were equally good this time. Both appetizers were still excellent and quite satisfying.
I wasn't really in the mood for meat so the only dishes that appealed to me were the crab and truffle omelette with matchstick potatoes and the eggplant stuffed agnolotti with vegetables. Lynn was on a similar wavelength because the only dish that appealed to her was agnolotti so she got that while I got the omelette. The omelette was fluffy and large enough for two meals. The eggs were lightly salted, which is a little less than I like, but the crab and matchstick potatoes both provided enough saltiness to suit my tastes. The buttery crab was delicious and paired well with the eggs although I couldn't taste any truffle in the eggs or the crab. The matchstick potatoes added a nice change of texture that made an already excellent omelette great.
The agnolotti pasta was thin and pretty good, but the eggplant filling sucked the moisture out of my mouth. It was good, but it needed a butter sauce. Lynn liked it better than I did, but she also thought it needed a sauce.
Zinc Bistro has probably had the cheese plate on their menu forever, but we didn't notice it until this visit. We were already pretty full so we only got the three cheese plate. The waiter presented us with a list of cheeses to choose from and we selected a Pecorino, Epoisses Berthaut, and Pierre Robert. The plate arrived with healthy portions of the cheeses, apple slices, grapes, salami, olives, walnuts, focaccia, and rye bread. The Pecorino was not at all what I expected because I've only seen the hard version before, but this was a young, soft cheese. It was creamy with a mild sour flavor that wasn't my sort of thing, but it was excellent with the salami. The Pecorino was my one pick, but it turned out to be Lynn's favorite cheese. The Epoisses Berthaut was very creamy with some of the burnt tire flavor I expect from Epoisses. It was also very salty, but tasty with the focaccia or the apples. It was my favorite. The Pierre Robert was a triple cream that melted in our mouths like butter. It was slightly salty with a flavor almost like blue cheese. It was good with the apples or walnuts.
I thought we might get one dessert, but Lynn and I never seem to agree on desserts so we got two. I had the pecan sticky bun with butterscotch pot de creme and Lynn had the praline chocolate torte with strawberry ice cream. The pecan sticky bun was basically a caramel bread pudding with pecans in it. I really enjoyed it, but without the pecans. The butterscotch pot de creme was simply the best butterscotch pudding I've ever had. Lynn's chocolate torte was creamy and extremely rich with only a hint of sweetness. I liked the crunch of the thin praline layer, but would've liked the chocolate sweeter. The strawberry ice cream helped, but two bites of torte was enough for me. Lynn likes bittersweet chocolate so she was actually able to eat three or four bites.
I wasn't sure I'd be happy with any meal that night, but Zinc Bistro was excellent and satisfying.
[Previous visit to Zinc Bistro.]
This weekend was Lynn's birthday so we were supposed to spend the weekend in Tucson eating great food and wine tasting at Callaghan and Dos Cabezas, but I threw my back out Friday morning. Walking, much less staying in Tucson, was out of the question, but we made it to Janos for Lynn's birthday dinner.
Luckily I didn't throw my back out nearly as bad as the first time so after a couple of days of muscle relaxants my back is almost back to normal. Too bad about the timing though.
Tokyo Stop is one of my regular lunch haunts because of their yakisoba. I've tried some of their other dishes and haven't liked any of them (with the exception of the tonkatsudon which I only sort of like). During one of my recent visits there I noticed a sign on the register for bool kogi and since it's one of my favorite Korean barbecue dishes so I had to try it. It was served as a rice bowl covered in thinly sliced beef and onions. The beef was savory with soy sauce making up a good portion of the flavor. The flavor was a lot closer to gyudon than bool kogi, but it didn't matter because I like gyudon and it was delicious. At least now I have two things I'm likely to order at Tokyo Stop (as opposed to the tonkatsudon, which I order once every couple of years).
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Last Sunday Lynn, her friend, and I went on the Slow Food Phoenix Farm Tour. It started with a quick educational tour of Sahuaro Ranch Park in Glendale. I'd been to before, but the only thing I remembered about the place was the peacocks. Surprisingly those were typical of the period because they made great alarms when strangers approached. I liked the park because where else in Phoenix do you find rose bushes, chickens, and peacocks?
After finding out about the ranch we got to sample shrimp ceviche on a gordita [small fat corn tortilla] from Cafe Bistro. They used Desert Sweet Shrimp in the ceviche and it worked well with the spicy sauce and guacamole. It had all of us impressed so it's too bad it's not on their menu otherwise we might've eaten at the restaurant that night.
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After the great food we piled onto school buses and headed to McClendon's Select, a certified organic farm that primarily sells to restaurants. Bob McClendon showed us around the farm and told us all about the food he grows. It was actually quite a bit more interesting than I described.
Chefs from Taggia were there with burrata [fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and cream], roasted golden beets, arugula, almonds, and olive pesto and bread from MJ Bread. The bread was excellent as were the roasted beets (and I don't even like beets). The burrata was more about texture than taste, but in concert with the arugula and almonds it impressed me with its thoughtfulness. It wasn't exciting food, but it made me want to eat at Taggia nonetheless. Their menu specializes in coastal Italian, which in additional to being unusual for Phoenix looks great. I'm going to have to eat there someday soon.
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The next stop was Crooked Sky Farms, a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. People pay a subscription fee to the CSA and the farm supplies the subscribers with fresh produce weekly. It's a great way to support local farms, get great produce, and learn how to cook with ingredients that you may not have cooked with before. Lynn and I were going to join one, but the pick up location/hours weren't good for us. At the end of the tour they gave everyone basil plants and a bunch of carrots.
Mosaic was at Crooked Sky Farms with a shot of carrot juice, a beet and green salad, and a vegetable-chorizo soup. The carrot juice simply had some ginger in it, but that's all it needed to make it excellent. It was a much better amuse than the cassis "soup" we were given at our one dinner at Mosaic. The salad had a miso dressing on it that would've made anything taste good. There was a slice of red beet and chiogga beet with a little bit of salt on it. Red beets are my least favorite beet so it was no surprise I didn't care for them. The chiogga beet, with its distinctive red and white stripes, had a mild flavor that I enjoyed. The soup was hearty with lots of vegetables and beans with a creamy texture. I thought a hot soup with well spiced chorizo might not be a good idea on a warm day, but I actually felt cooler when I was done with it. So far I was amazed by all the food on the tour.
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Our last stop was Tolmachoff Farms, which specializes in kid entertainment and pick your own produce. They even let us pick from whatever they had (like lettuce, beets, Swiss chard, green onions, etc...).
The last food station was by Chef Elizabeth Milburn from Leave it to Elizabeth. There were some pickled vegetables from the Tolmachoff's (my favorite was the pickled baby corn with was crisp and sweet), tomato slices, greens sauteed with garlic, sauteed beets and daikon, and a pork-vegetable soup. The tomatoes and sauteed greens both would've been tastier with a little salt, and the beets and daikon were interesting, but the soup tasted like unseasoned pork in water. It was a disappointment considering all the prior great food.
The point of the entire tour was to encourage people to eat local and I think they did a great job accomplishing that raising awareness of local farms and restaurants that support them. I obviously enjoyed the food a lot and appreciated that we got to visit a variety of farm types. I can't wait to see what they have planned for next year.
Normally I don't go for blog type quizzes, but I find a classic theme like the seven deadly sins hard to resist. I bet the higher score on lust than gluttony surprised more than a few people (including me, although once I thought about it...). I was also surprised I scored high in gluttony because I'm more likely to order too much rather than actually eat too much. Oh well, it's not like it's a scientific test.
| Greed: | Medium | |
| Gluttony: | High | |
| Wrath: | Medium | |
| Sloth: | Medium | |
| Envy: | Very Low | |
| Lust: | Very High | |
| Pride: | Medium |
