Beaver Choice - Tempe, AZ

I need to start this post off with a disclaimer: the owners of Beaver Choice are actually one of my clients; I leased them the space to open the restaurant, so I went into this hoping that it would be good and I wouldn't have to write a bad review, well, I am happy to report that the food here is excellent!!  I really shouldn't have worried, as all of the reviews on Yelp were glowing, but you just never know! 

So I know you are probably chuckling at the name, who would name a restaurant Beaver Choice?  Especially if that restaurant was to be located in the same shopping center as Ted's Hot Dogs?  It makes for quite a comical corner for food, but it is tasty food, so I guess it just adds to the experience.  The owner of Beaver Choice, Hanna, is the nicest lady you could ever meet.  She ended up in Arizona via Canada via Sweden via Poland, and there are influences of each in her food.  Apparently the national animal of Canada is a beaver, so that is how the restaurant got it's name, and yes, she does know what beaver is slang for, but she thinks it is funny and gets people talking about her restaurant!

Luckily, her food is good enough to get people talking, and the name becomes just a side comment!  The day we were there, they were still writing orders by hand, but were going to be getting a computer system in the next week.  My only complaint about my experience was probably the wait and confusion due to the hand written orders, so now that that should be all cleared up, there is no reason to not go to Beaver Choice!

The menu is full of delicious sandwiches and pitas, as well as favorites such as QuebecPoutine (fries covered in cheese curds and gravy, a Canadian classic) and Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Sauce.  There were so many choices it was hard to choose, but we finally were ready to order.

My sister went with the Pork Tenderloin in Gin and Cream sauce.  Each entree comes with three side choices, and she went with the side salad, broccoli and the pan fried thyme potatoes.   When the food was served her plate was heaping with food, making the $11.50 dish well worthy of the price.  The pork medallions were perfectly cooked and tender, and delicious when dipped in the cream sauce, that had quite a bite from the gin.  The salad, was a salad, but the lemon dressing was tasty.  The broccoli was cooked well, but nothing special, which was not the case with the potatoes, they were phenomenal!  Perfectly roasted, crispy on the outside and seasoned with thyme, they were the perfect pairing to the pork.  My sister was very happy with her meal, and vowed to be more adventurous with her side choices the next time. 

I decided to try the dish that everyone says is the best one on the menu, the Chicken Schnitzel Cordon Bleu.  It is basically a chicken breast, pounded thin, then stuffed with ham and brie cheese.  It is then breaded, and sauteed until crispy and served with a creamy mushroom sauce smothered over the top.....and Oh My God...it is AMAZING!  I don't even like mushrooms, but the sauce is scrumptious and goes so well with the crispy chicken, salty ham and creamy cheese.  I chose the creamy dill mashed potatoes as one of my sides, and they were perfect for sopping up the extra sauce.  I also got the marinated green beans, which were served like a cold bean salad, and had great flavor and the tomato basil salad, which was delicious as well.  Both were light and refreshing, which was the perfect compliment to the savory chicken dish.  The portions here are huge, so even though the dish was $11.75, I easily got two meals out of it.

The space doesn't have many tables, and is quite minimalist when it comes to decor (all from IKEA) but it makes up for it with the amazing flavors being pumped out of their tiny kitchen.  The menu is full of interesting and exotic sounding items, but also has a cheeseburger for the non-adventurous eaters in your life.  I can't wait to go back, and I really hope that when I do, Hanna has made some fresh pierogi that she has as a special every now and then! 

Beaver Choice

1743 E. Broadway Rd.

Tempe, AZ 85282

480-921-3137

www.beaverchoice.com

House of Tricks - Tempe, AZ

 I had been hearing great things about House of Tricks for years, but I had never made a trip there due to the price point of the menu.  Fast forward to my sister's birthday and this is where she picked for dinner, which was perfect because it would be on my parent's nickel! Now, my sister's birthday was actually at the end of June, so I am about three month's late on this post, but honestly, I think I delayed posting because I wasn't really all that impressed with my experience.

The building itself is so cute, a little old house in the heart of Tempe with lots of charm.  It being June, in Arizona, we had to eat inside and they didn't seem to have the best air conditioning, so I would not really recommend going during the summer months.  Our waiter was really attentive and did a good job, but I think the food was over promised and under delivered.

We got the Watermelon, Tomato and Burrata (mozzarella) salad to start, it was a lovely presentation, but I didn't think it justified the $12 price tag.  The burrata was delicious, but the watermelon was odd for us, plus it wasn't ripe and had no sweetness to it.

I was having a hard time deciding what sounded good to me on the menu, and ultimately chose the Roasted Chicken stuffed Ravioli in a corn sauce, and my Uncle Tony followed suit.  The sauce was nice and light and the filling of the raviolis was good, but there was one major problem, the outer edges of the raviolis were so thick, they were tough!  That's right, tough pasta, a major problem!  Maybe it was just that night's batch, but they really needed to roll the dough much thinner.  Uncle Tony and I both agreed that the dish needed the touch of an Italian grandmother!

My sister and my dad both got the Grilled Filet with a Mushroom Demi Glace, Potato Galette and Asparagus salad.  Both of their steaks came cooked to order and they enjoyed the potato gratin.  They both enjoyed their meal, but they did go pretty basic so there wasn't too much to comment about.

My mom got the Nori Wrapped Ahi Tuna Tempura, which had a beautiful presentation.  It was served on a bed of brown rice with enoki mushrooms and a soy ginger vinaigrette.  My mom loves seared ahi, and this was a unique take on it, by actually battering it and flash frying to give it a crunchy outside.  She really liked this and said that all the flavors blended really well together.

Aunt Martha ordered the Shitake Mushroom Crusted Salmon that was served over a Scallion Risotto.  The dish was topped with tempura style haricot verts (green beans), which really gave it that wow factor!  The beans were crunchy and tender, and went well with the crust on the salmon.  Martha loved this dish, but then again, if you know my Aunt Martha, she's never met a food she didn't like!

Since we were there to celebrate a birthday, of course we had to get dessert too!  The list that the waiter rattled off had so many options that we had to get two!  The first one was a chocolate peanut butter bread pudding with chocolate dipped pretzels and caramel sauce.....sounds amazing right?  Well, it was actually a big let down!  The bread pudding part was really mush and the flavors didn't stand out on their own....plus the pretzels were chewy...which means they were stale!  This had such potential, but just didn't cut it :(

My sister's favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie, so we ordered that as well.  We have had a lot of Key Lime pies in our days, but this one was probably near the bottom of the pack.  It didn't have that much tartness too it, which is a key component to key lime pie.  The filling was smooth and creamy, but it mostly just tasted like sugar.



We all had a nice time and my sister enjoyed her birthday meal, but I don't think I will be heading out to House of Tricks anytime soon again.  I don't mind paying big price tags for a good meal, but I just wasn't impressed enough to run out and have another $25 entree.  Once it cools down I may consider going for lunch on the patio with some girlfriends, but I will pass for dinner.

House of Tricks

114 E. 7th Street

Tempe, AZ 85281

www.houseoftricks.com

El Charro Cafe - Tucson, AZ

Yes friends, your eyes are not deceiving you, I went to Tucson.  I know that anything related to Tucson is against my religion being a Sun Devil and all, but I went to see this country lady.

 

Do you recognize her?  It's Carrie Underwood!  I have loved Carrie since her days on American Idol, and when she won and started putting out country albums, I loved her even more!  The first time she came to Phoenix I had a conflict and couldn't go to the show....fast forward a year later and it is announced that she is coming back to Arizona....but this time to Tucson....yuck!  But this is how much I love Carrie, I will head into enemy territory to see her!  The show was awesome, and the picture above is of her in an old truck that literally was right over our heads!  My sister and I had a great time, but not wanting to stay in Tucson for too long, we left and drove back to Phoenix right after the show!

We got to Tucson about an hour and a half before the show and wanted to grab some dinner.  My sister and I are both Mexican food junkies, so we decided to check out some of the local food and plugged in our request to the GPS and let it guide us.  Our GPS led us to the El Charro Cafe, which was an adorable, old, little building in downtown Tucson, it didn't look scary and the parking lot was busy so we decided to give it a try!

The restaurant is comprised of a couple of little old houses and patios, very cute, but very lacking in bathrooms!  Once we were seated at a table indoors, we were presented with a basket of chips and two kinds of salsas, one red and one green.  The chips were on the thick side for my taste, and not warm, but they were decent.  The red salsa was milder than the green one, but still had some nice kick to it.  Both were tasty, but not the chunky kind of salsa that I like the most.

My sister was wanting to eat lighter that night and decided to start with the Charro Salad.  The menu didn't have much of a description, but she was treated to what she called the "most amazing salad ever!"  The salad was mixed greens, with chunks of mango, roasted pepitas, dried cranberries and Casero cheese in a light vinaigrette.  The presentation was beautiful, and she loved the combination of flavors; just the other day she mentioned how good it was and we were there 2 months ago!

In the last 6 months, my sister has become absolutely obsessed with shrimp tacos.  She orders them wherever we go, and rules out places and picks places based on the availability of shrimp tacos!  Well, this night she didn't get shrimp tacos, even though they had them on the menu, but she opted for Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas.  The tostadas were on the appetizer menu, but the serving was 3 large tostadas, so definitely enough for a meal.  The shrimp tasted so fresh with the lime, lemon and tomato marinade.  The crispy shells with the cool seafood topping were the perfect dish for a hot summer night.

The menu at El Charro is huge, and I had such a hard time deciding what to order!  There were many items that sounded good and were so different from some of the items that are typically found on menus, but we were in a bit of a rush to go to the concert so I got an old stand-by, a Green Chile Beef Burrito Enchilada Style with a side of beans!  I like to measure most Mexican restaurants by their Green Chile, so I figured I would give it a try here.  The beef was nice and tender, and the green chile packed just enough heat that made it flavorful but didn't make it so it scalded my mouth.  The beans, well they were just blah, boring, no flavor, not good.  And look, they didn't even garnish them with any cheese!

I don't think we could have stumbled upon a better place to eat on our trip to Tucson, for the most part the food was tasty, the building was historic (built in 1922) and they got us in and out in record time, letting us get to the show, which was our real mission for the night.  I wouldn't go back if I was really in the mood for some good beans, but I would return just to try out some of their other intriguing dishes.

El Charro Cafe (5 Tucson locations)
311 N. Court Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
www.elcharrocafe.com

Va Bene Italian Restaurant

In general, I Like Italian food, but I Love Mexican food!  But now Va Bene Italian Restaurant has changed that because I loved Va Bene!  I planned one of my monthly sorority dinners here after hearing good reviews, it is not near my normal neighborhood so I felt that this was a good chance to try some place new!  This particular night there were 9 of us meeting for dinner, and while some of the girls had been out with me when I was reviewing a restaurant before, the other ones were really good sports and just went along with it when I passed the camera around the table (which will also explain some of the crazy picture angles) and made them take pictures before taking bites!  Since this dinner was over a month ago now, I don't really remember what each of these dishes was let alone the comments from those that ate them, so I am basically just going to tell you what each dish is to the best of my memory....but what I do know is that everyone loved their dinners and a few of us even got dessert (although I forgot to pass to the camera at this point)! 

I think this was just penne with a fresh tomato sauce....looks tasty!

I think that this is the Pollo alla Genovese, which was chicken breast with artichoke hearts in a dijon cream sauce.  It was served with veggies and mashed potatoes on the side.

I believe this is the Linguine Gamberoni con Rucola which is a linguine pasta with tomatoes, arugla and shrimp with a touch of cream.  Whoever ordered this must have been at the other end of the table from me, because i definately would have wanted a bite!

This is what I ordred, the Gnocchi alla Vodka to which I added Italian sausage.  Let me just say, this was the best gnocchi that I have ever had, the little nuggets were so tender they just melted in my mouth.  The vodka sauce was also done just perfect; creamy with a touch of heat.  I wasn't expecting the sausage to be in a crumbled form, I would have preferred it sliced, but the gnocchi was so good that it didn't matter.

This is the Penne Aglio Olio Peperoncino con Broccoli, a pretty long name for pasta with broccoli!  This was just a nice clean dish that my friend really enjoyed.

My friend Kim at the Filet special, which was a filet in a mushroom cream sauce.  Since she couldn't decide between a steak or pasta, the waiter was kind enough to change out her side item to some of the Gnocchi all Vodka!  She was in heaven and the plate was clean by the time she was done!

Va Bene's version of the Linguine Vongole looked and smelled amazing!  We couldn't believe how many clams were mounded onto the dish, and the white wine sauce was fresh and clean with a touch of garlic.

My sister has been on a Seafood Risotto kick lately, so she couldn't pass up trying the version at Va Bene.  This version had scallops, shrimp and mushrooms in a light brandy cream sauce.  She thought that this was an amazing risotto, while rich, not overpowering and the seafood was cooked perfectly!

We had a wonderful time at Va Bene, the food was delicious, the service outstanding and top that with good friends and it wa the recipe for the perfect evening.  I am going to have to come up with reasons to head down to that part of town more often so that I can try some more of their delicious dishes!

Va Bene Italian Restaurant
4647 E. Chandler Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85048
http://www.vabeneaz.com/

Cafe Carumba

A couple of weeks ago we had one of our monthly alum dinners that I am in charge of planning.  I couldn't quite figure out where to go; it is getting hard because I don't like to repeat restaurants, but eventually I decided on Cafe Carumba which is in Old Town Scottsdale.  I had been there once, when it just opened about 4 years ago, but after I looked at the menu I could see that it had been revamped, so I was excited to try it.  Our group arrived, and we thought the interior was cute, decorated in modern Southwestern decor, but we were shocked to see only about 2 other tables occupied....and it was 7:00 on a Friday night!?!  Nevertheless, we were there, we were hungry, and we figured we would't have to wait too long!

We started off with the Nacho Bowl, which was basically all of the nacho toppings placed in  bowl with chips to dip in it.  The girls that ordered it really liked it, but I thought that it was missing a key element to nachos...the cheese!  It was just seasoned ground beef, sour cream, onions and tomatoes; while all the ingredients were tasty, I think some cheese would have made things a whole lot better!  But it didn't stop them from scraping the bowl clean!

One of the other girls wasn't too hungry, so she opted for the Caracas Chopped Salad, which was a combination of grilled chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and cojita cheese served on romaine. The presentation of the salad was very nice, the bright colors of the corn and tomatoes made it look very appetizing. The chicken was nicely cooked and the combination of all the simple flavors made for a nice, light meal.

The most popular item with our group was the Taco Platter, three out of group of seven ordered it, but they all chose different fillings!  The picture below shows the grilled chicken tacos, but there was also on order of the steak tacos and the pork tacos too!  Everyone liked their tacos, the fillings were generous and the flavors were good, and since the platter came with three tacos and two side dishes....there were a lot of leftovers!  We all thought that the choices for side dishes were quite unique, not just your typical rice and beans.  We tried almost all of them amongst us; the side salad, sweet potato fries, homemade potato chips, black beans, pinto beans and even the roasted mushrooms and spinach!  The homemade chips and the sweet potato fries were our favorites, but they were all quite good.

My sister opted for the most unique entree out of group, she ordered the Chicken Oscar "Carumba" Style!  The dish was a grilled chicken breast topped with two crab cakes, asparagus and topped with an ancho hollandaise sauce.  The presentation was lovely; the chicken was cooked perfectly and the crab cakes were full of crab, but the only thing that didn't make this an out of this world dish for her was that the sauce was a bit too spicy for her.  I tasted the sauce and liked it, so if you don't mind a bit of spice, this is a fun Southwest twist on a classic dish!

There were a lot of items that sounded good to me on the menu, but ultimately I decided to go with the Green Chile Pork.  I love green chile pork, and I usually measure most against the one at Z'Tejas, so I was intrigued to try this version.  It was served in a hot skillet with warm tortillas on the side.  I tried a bite of the pork first and it was very tender, it just fell apart, but I didn't really get much green chile flavor.  I scooped some into a tortilla, along with some pinto beans and took a bite, it was good, but it just didn't have that much flavor, the beans overpowered the pork!  It was not a terrible dish, but I guess I am a bit of a Green Chile snob....and this one is not one that I will be ordering again!

Overall, we had a nice experience at Cafe Carumba, the food was good for the most part and the service was quick.  I am still perplexed as to why the restaurant was so empty the entire time that we were there, but I have heard that it is a popular brunch spot on the weekends, so I may have to go and check that out.  I would go back again to try out their happy hour as well, especially, since unlike almost all the other restaurants in Old Town, they actually have their own parking lot!

Cafe Carumba
7303 E. Indian School Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85281
http://www.cafecarumba.com/

Brio Tuscan Grille

We told my dad to pick a restaurant to go to for his birthday, he didn't know what where he wanted to go, so we suggested Brio that had just opened at the Scottsdale Quarter.  As I have said before, my dad LOVES Italian food, so we thought this would be a good pick for his special day, and fun for everyone since none of us had ever been there before.

We had a 7:00 reservation on a Thursday night and were seated promptly upon our arrival.  Let me just say, the interior of the restaurant is so beautiful; it has high ceilings which have been ornately decorated with chandeliers and fabric swags.  Even though the ceilings were so high, and there were so many tables, it really didn't get to be all that loud inside, so we were happy about that, especially my dad.

We were greeted by a friendly waiter within seconds of sitting down, and placed our beverage orders.  We were also given a nice basket of assorted breads and cracker breads, the cracker breads were the best of the bunch; seasoned with rosemary and parmesan cheese!

We looked over the menu and were impressed by the selection, and felt that the prices were very reasonable considering the atmospher of the restaurant, so we were hoping the food wouldn't let us down!  We decided to start with some Lobster Bisque and salad before our entrees.  My family cannot resist a bowl of Lobster Bisque, and if we see it on a menu, we generally find ourselves ordering a bowl with four spoons!

The bisque came out in an adorable soup toureen that had lion heads on either side of it, which is something that my mom, sister and I couldn't help but point out!  I was the first to take a bite of the bisque, and while I found the flavor to be nice and lots of big chunks of lobster, I found the texture to be a bit off.  A bisque is supposed to be as smooth and velvety, but this was really thick, almost like you had to chew your soup!  We all decided that the flavor was there, but that the execution was off, so next time we will probably pass on the bisque.

We had also ordered both the Caesar Salad (minus the croutons) and the Brio Chopped Salad as starters.  The Caesar was just your classic version, but both my sister and dad really liked the dressing.  It was nicely dressed and sprinkled with Paresan cheese, and the lettuce was nice and crisp.  My mom really enjoyed the chopped salad that was filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions and dressed in a red wine vinaigrette.  Everything was chopped into similar sized pieces making it easy to eat, and she thought it all went very well together.  The salads had made up for the chewy bisque, so we were looking forward to our entrees!

I decided to order off of the appetizer menu since I wasn't overly hungry that night, and I chose the Gorgonzola Lamb Chops.  They offer an entree sized portion of these, but when the waiter informed me that it came with EIGHT chops, I decided that was just way to much!  The chops were cooked to a perfectly pink middle and were baked with a crust of gorgonzola cheese.  Dipped in the red wine veal sauce that they were served with, they really just melted in your mouth!  The sauce was one of my favorite parts of this dish, I was dipping my bread in it at the end to make sure I didn't miss any of it!

My dad chose the Veal Marsala for his entree.  The veal was super tender like veal should be, and was swimming in a classic Marsala sauce specked with mushrooms.  On the side, there were crispy roasted potatoes and green beans.  My dad loves veal, and tends to order it most of the time that he goes for Italian food and he really liked this version.  The portion was a good size and he especially liked the roasted potatoes.

My mom and my sister both ordered the same thing, the Shrimp and Scallop Risotto.  The dish came out and smelled amazing, and we could all see that it was overflowing with shrimp and scallops.  The risotto was made with fire roasted tomatoes and cream, giving it a rich and creamy flavor.  It was drizzled with a pesto sauce that added just the right amount of nuttiness to the dish.  I was able to snag a few bites and fell in love with this, it reminded me of my beloved "pink sauce" that I tend to gravitate to when ordering pasta.  They both had leftovers to take home, and reported that it was almost even better leftover!

Since we were celebrating a birthday, we couldn't not have dessert, although the birthday boy wasn't interested, so my mom and I got to choose!  We decided to get a Creme Brulee Trio that included a classic version, a caramel version and a chocolate version.  For some reason my sister does not like Creme Brulee, silly girl, so it was all for me and my mom!  They were all smooth, silky and creamy but the caramel one was our favorite.  It was not overly sweet, but had just enough of the caramel flavor that it was just divine. 

We all really enjoyed our whole experience at Brio; the service, food and atmosphere were all excellent.  The menu had quite the selection and we all agreed that there were other dishes that we would be interested in trying, so I am guessing that we will be back again in the near future!

Brio Tuscan Grille

15301 N. Scottsdale Rd.

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

http://www.brioitalian.com/

Thai Rama

Ever since we had dinner at Yupha's Thai Kitchen a few weeks ago, where my sister got her first taste of Tom Kha Gai soup, she had been craving another bowl of the soup.  So, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to go to the Arizona 5A-II state football championship game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe because our high school, Chaparral was vying for the championship. (They ended up winning!)  We thought it would be fun, but boy did it make us feel old, especially when I realized that I was sitting in those same stands 10 years ago when I was a senior in high school.....wow does time fly!  We had rushed to get to the game in time after work on that Friday, so we didn't have time to eat dinner beforehand, so when we left the game we were hungry!

Since it was a cold December night, my sister really wanted to get some of the Tom Kha Gai soup.  Well, I didn't feel like driving all the way down to Yupha's, and since there seem to be a bunch of Thai restaurants that have recently popped up around ASU's campus, we decided to try someplace new, which is how we ended up at Thai Rama.  I was a little bit skeptical at first because I remembered the restaurant being a place called Char's Thai back when I was in college, and while I had never eaten there, I had heard that it was very old inside.  So we were pleasantly surprised when we walked in and found a restaurant that had been completely remodeled, it was so clean and fresh looking.  The new owner's had put in all new flooring, paint and tables, giving the place a much needed facelift.

We looked over the menu, which was vast, but it didn't take my sister long to decide, she had her mind set on some soup!  But first we decided to get some Crab Puffs as an appetizer.  My sister and I always tend to order crab puffs when we are together, and can you blame us?  Crispy shells filled with creamy cheese and crab, dunked into some sweet and sour sauce....delicious!  These puffs were an excellent version of the classic, they had just the right ratio of crab to cream cheese; which made the filling creamy but didn't overpower the crab flavor.  The shells were perfectly crisped, and were not greasy at all, which is a major bonus.  The portion as huge, it included 6 large wonton stars; so far, so good!

We had just barely finished the crab puffs when our entrees arrived, starting with my sister's soup.  At most restaurants, it is called Tom Kha Gai, but Thai Rama refers to it as Tohm Khah Goong; I am not really sure how the name difference comes into play, but it is the exact same soup.  At Yupha's we had just ordered a small cup of the soup, but at Thai Rama, Laura ordered the full portion; this was served in a silver urn like contraption that has a whole in the middle that is lit on fire to keep the soup warm, it is a pretty common way to serve soup in Thai restaurants, but it didn't stop us from getting a kick out of it!  Laura liked this version of the soup even better than Yupha's, mostly because it used shrimp instead of chicken.  The broth was so flavorful with that hint of coconut, and they had spiced it just right to not make it overly spicy for my spice averse sister.  She raved about how she was going to be addicted to this now, especially since the restaurant is just down the street from where she lives!

I didn't really know what I wanted to order that night since I wasn't really in the mood for Thai food (I agreed because I knew my sister was really craving it, and many times she gives in to my Mexican cravings!), but ultimately I decided on the Khao Paht, or fried rice.  You got to choose between chicken, beef, pork or shrimp to be added to the rice, and I went with the pork at a mild spice level.  I have to say, I didn't have any expectations for this because I wasn't in the mood for Thai, but after my first bite, I was singing a different tune!  The rice was amazing; perfectly seasoned, with a hint of heat.  Although, the best part about it was the pork, they used a tenderloin, and it was the most tender pork I have ever had; it just melted in my mouth.  I had my sister try a bite of it, and she too thought that it was excellent.  The portion was huge, so I took quite a bit of it home and I have to say, it was every bit as good leftover and cold the next morning!

We had a really great meal at Thai Rama, and I can't wait to go back and try some of their other dishes, like the Pad Thai and Panang Curry.  The atmosphere was pleasant, the restaurant was clean, and the servers took excellent care of us.  I noticed that Thai Rama has a few other locations around town, so if you are in the mood for some good Thai food, look them up and find one near you!

Thai Rama

927 E. University Dr.

Tempe, AZ 85281

http://www.thai-rama-az.com/

The Greene House

Starting in early December, over a span of 30 days, my family celebrates my mom's birthday, Christmas, New Year's and my dad's birthday....that is a lot of celebrating!  But even though the holiday season usually has all of our schedules packed, we always make time to celebrate together as a family.  My mom's birthday was on a Thursday night, and when we asked her where she wanted to go, she immediately said The Greene House.  Now for most people this wouldn't sound strange, but my mom is one who doesn't like to have a fuss made about her, and usually responds with an "I don't care" or "You choose," so I knew that The Greene House must be good if my mom actually chose to have her birthday dinner there.  She and my dad had been there a handful of times and she declared that they had her favorite scallop dish, which is why she picked it, since neither my sister nor I had ever been there we were equally excited to check it out.

The Greene House is located in Scottsdale in the Scottsdale Kierland shopping center.  If you have never been to Kierland, I suggest checking it out, especially at night, and during the holidays.  In a city so spread out like Phoenix, it is a true gem; with shops and restaurants on the bottom floors, and condos above, it gives you that city living feeling that we don't really have here.  We had a reservation for 6:30 and were seated promptly at a corner booth/table combination.  My first impressions of the interior were this, crisp, clean, loud and the tables were too close together!  I know that I said Kierland gives you that big city feel, and much like the restaurants that are found in New York and Chicago, The Greene House really packs in the tables to make the most of their space.  I guess I am just spoiled as far as roomy seating goes, but I enjoy a good booth with high backs where I can't overhear the conversation of the people sitting next to me.  But, we were here, and we were hungry, so I just ignored the noise and the extra conversations floating around and focused on the food.

We decided to get a few appetizers to start, first choosing the Herb Hummus that was topped with tomatoes, onions and feta cheese and served with warm flatbread.  My first impression was that I loved the flatbread!  It was definitely made fresh, which was evidenced by the grill marks, and was served warm which brought out a slight sweetness to it.  The combination of the herbed hummus with the cool tomato, onion and cheese with the warm bread was just heavenly.  The portion was quite generous, and could easily be a meal for a non-meater.  I would order it again just for the flatbread alone!

We also decided to get the Tempura Calamari to start with, and we were in for a pleasant surprise when it arrived.  Not only did the dish include delicious, tender pieces of lightly battered calamari sprinkled with sea salt, but there were thinly sliced pieces of zucchini mixed in with it as well!  The zucchini slices were paper thin, giving them a nice cruch, almost like a potato chip, when you bit into them.  We all loved this little bonus, and I may have liked them even more than the calamari!  The dish was served with a sweet chili vinaigrette for dipping; it had just the right balance of heat and sweet that went well with both the zucchini and calamari.  We almost didn't order this dish to begin with, but the empty plate that was left in front of us proved that it was a good last minute decision.

Soon after we finished our appetizers, our entrees arrived, with my mom's beloved scallops coming out first.  The plate had four large scallops that were nicely seared and served with carmelized cauliflower, snap peas and bacon, with the sauce from the veggies drizzled on the plate.  The first thing my mom did once she got her dish was hand the bacon to my dad!  While my mom has nothing against bacon, she is not a huge fan, and knows how much my dad loves it....how sweet is that?  After the bacon was gone, she started in on the scallops, she said they were cooked perfectly as usual, and loves the flavors in the sauce and with the cauliflower. I tried a bite of a scallop, and while they were cooked well, I wasn't as big of a fan of the flavorings, it tasted a bit blah to me, but I have had some amazing scallops lately so maybe that was part of my problem.  Nonetheless, my mom loved her dish, and since it was her birthday, thats all that mattered!

My sister ordered the Harvest Chopped salad and added a grilled chicken breast on top.  She loved the combination of the dark, leafy greens paired with the sweetness of the grapes, apples and strawberries and the tang of the goat cheese.  The salad also was sprinkled with walnuts to give it some crunch, and was dressed in a light vinaigrette.  My sister loves a good salad, and she really loves goat cheese, so she was very happy with her meal.

I had a hard time deciding what to order that night, but ended up going with the Grilled Mahi Tacos.  The dish came with two large tacos loaded with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and sprinkled with cojita cheese.  They also came with a side of seasoned white beans.  I tried the beans first, and wow, they were good!  They had a nice smokiness to them, with just a bit of heat; they too had been sprinkled with cojita cheese.  I next tried my taco, it was pretty good, I liked the fresh tortillas and the toppings, but I felt that the fish was a bit overcooked, which made it dry.  I also think the fish lacked some initial seasoning, because besides being dry, they were pretty blah.  The lady at the table next to us had ordered the steak tacos, they looked to be really juicy, so I am thinking I just got some overcooked fish.  But I think my heart still belongs to the fish tacos at Loco Patron...if you haven't tried them....they are a must!

My dad ordered the Twin Kobe Burgers as his entree, I guess he was in a red meat mood but didn't want to mess with a steak.  The burgers were a bit larger than a traditional slider, so the made for a substantial meal.  They were topped with fontina cheese and homemade pickles and served on brioche buns.  My dad ordered his medium-rare, and was very happen to discover upon his first bite that they were cooked perfectly.  As his side dish, he upgraded to the White Truffle Parmesan and Chive French Fires....and Oh My Goodness....they were AMAZING!  Cooked to perfect golden brown and sprinkled with flavor, they were truly some magnificient french fries, and we were all very happy that my dad was in a sharing mood that night!

Since we were there celebrating a birthday, of course we had to get some dessert, and of course we let the birthday girl choose!  I can't say that I wasn't secretly thrilled when she happened to choose the one that I had been eyeing on the menu, the Blueberry Crostata a la mode. It was basically like a mini blueberry pie minus the top crust and topped with vanilla ice cream.  This was delicious!  The crust was rich, buttery and flaky, and the blueberry filling was smooth and sweet.  The crostata was served warm, so eating it with the cool vanilla ice cream was just divine.

Now that I have been to The Greene House, I would likely go back, because overall I felt that food was of superb quality and flavor.  My mom told me that the best time to go there is when the weather is nice, because they do have a patio, and it is not nearly as noisy.  So once the spring comes around again, I might just find myself venturing back to The Greene House for another delicious meal!

The Greene House

15024 N. Scottsdale Rd.

Suite 100

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

http://www.foxrestaurantconcepts.com/

Yupha's Thai Kitchen

A couple of weeks ago, I made plans to go out to dinner with "My Biggest Fan" (aka Kelly) and her family, as usual, she wanted me to pick the place, and preferably make it someplace new. When we get together, we tend to always go for Mexican food, and while neither of us have ever been known to turn our nose up at a good enchilada, I thought we should shake things up a bit. I had remembered reading about Yupha's awhile ago, and I always had wanted to try it, and with it conveniently being located in Tempe between my house in Scottsdale and her house in Chandler, it just made since. Plus, she and her husband Jimmy love them some spicy food, so if we weren't going for Mexican, at least they could still get their spice fix! Never wanting to miss out on some Thai food, or getting to play with a cute baby, my sister came along with us as well.

Yupha's is located in the same plaza as Vincitorio's Restaurant on the Southeast corner of McClintock and Elliot. They used to be located on Rural and Elliot, but have moved to this new location in the past year. The space is big, open and modern; with high ceilings, minimal furniture and modern art, it makes for a very relaxing vibe. We arrived at 6:30 on a Thursday night, and while the place wasn't completely full, most of the tables were occupied. Our waitress came by and took our beverage order, and then gave us some time to look over the menu. And time she gave us, because it seemed like it was 10 minutes before she finally returned; they must have been understaffed that night, because it was just her and one other waitress covering the whole restaurant, so we decided not to get to upset by this.

When she finally did return to take our order, she couldn't have been more pleasant; answering our random questions and suggesting items on the menu. Kelly and Jimmy ordered the Thai Rolls to start and I got some Tom Kha Gai soup to begin with. The spring rolls came with four in an order, and plum sauce on the side for dipping. Everyone's first reaction to them was how skinny they were, and not in a good way. The menu described them as being filled with bean threads and vegetables; well, upon their first tastes, Kelly and Jimmy saw a bean thread or two inside of them, but other than that, it just seemed to be all wrapper. They were cooked to a nice, golden, crunchy brown, but they were seriously lacking in the veggie department. The plum sauce was good, but they are probably not something that I would recommend for anyone to order.


I absolutely love Tom Kha Gai soup, but almost every Thai restaurant that I go to doesn't offer just a single serving bowl of it, they get all fancy and serve it in these giant silver urns, so I rarely end up ordering it. When I saw that I was able to order just a bowl of the soup, I knew that I had to give this version a try. Well, I have to say, this was the best version I have ever had; it had a touch of heat, mixed with the cool coconut and lime leaves, it was heavenly. My sister had never tried this kind of soup, so I scooped some into a bowl for her and she too thought that it was really good. The flavors were so well balanced, that I really could have eaten a giant urn full of this version!


I like all different kinds of Thai dishes, curries, noodles, etc., but on this particular night I wasn't feeling that adventurous, so I decided to go with the old Pad Thai standby. Kelly decided she was going to have the Pad Thai as well (but I won't bore you all with two pictures of the same dish). I ordered mine mild with the chicken and shrimp, while Kelly ordered hers at a hot heat level and with just tofu. When the dishes came out they were giant plates, just heaping with noodles. The ever present crushed peanuts and bean sprouts were strewn across the top just waiting to be mixed in to the delicious sauce and noodles below. Both Kelly and I dug in and were immediately happy with our dish; the noodles were perfectly cooked, and the sauce had just enough sweet and heat to give it a savory flavor. We both really enjoyed this classic, and I even felt that this is quite possibly the best version that I have ever had. My only complaint would be that I got a whopping two shrimp in my dish, and one of them was so hidden I didn't even find it until I was boxing up my leftovers!


Laura, whom I usually refer to as the Pad Thai Queen, because she never varies from her order, actually surprised me and ordered the Roasted Duck. Well, I shouldn't say this totally surprised me, because while she loves a good Pad Thai, if there is duck on the menu, it is no contest. She was quite surprised by how many different duck dishes Yupha's had on their menu, typically, if there is duck, there is one option, but they had at least four options plus a duck special! Not being one for spicy food, she opted for the Roasted Duck that was served over a bed a steamed spinach and with a brown sauce on the side. When her plate arrived, she was amazed to see the entire duck on her plate...bonus! The duck's skin was nice and crispy, and when dipped into the brown sauce, the flavor was really accentuated. Laura was really happy with this dish, and while it didn't scream Thai food, she was happy to pass up her usual Pad Thai in favor of the duck (though that didn't stop her from stealing a few bites off of my plate)!

Jimmy was in the mood for curry, and finally decided on the Green Curry with Beef, at a hot heat level! When the bowl came out, I could smell the heat wafting off of it and the scent of the lemongrass; it looked really good. After piling his plate with rice, he scooped beef and green curry sauce over the rice to begin his feast. He really like it, the meat was tender and the heat of the curry was tempered by the rice. At one point, he ran out of rice, and due to the shaky service, we waited a long time before Laura told him to just eat the rest of her rice; which was a good thing, because we might still be waiting for rice and water today! Once he got more rice, Jimmy was able to polish of the curry and declared it to be a success!

When we first got to the restaurant, Logan was still asleep, and of course he decided to wake up just before we got our food....but he is such a good baby that it didn't cause any problems. Laura hadn't seen him since he was a few days old, and she was excited to see how big he had gotten at five months old! We tried to take some pictures with him at the end of dinner, but he wasn't in the mood for photographs, but that didn't stop us from trying!

Myself, Laura, Logan & Kelly

(Not Pictured - Jimmy the Camera Man!)

Dinner was excellent, I am so glad that I finally made it to Yupha's, and I think the consensus of the group was that this was some above average Thai food. As always, we went for the company, but enjoyed the food, not a bad Thursday night at all!

Yupha's Thai Kitchen
1805 E. Elliot Rd., Suite 115
Tempe, AZ 85284
www.yuphasthaikitchen.com