Defalco’s Italian Grocery

Defalco's Italian Grocery

2334 N Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85257

Defalco's reminds me of many Italian deli's in New York. Racks of Italian foods that are often hard to find, and a long line to get waited on.

The sandwiches are food of the Gods. Well stuffed with premium ingredients, some are so big that they consist of more food than many third world countries eat in a month! Their hot sandwiches evoke wonderful memories of sandwiches eaten many years ago in New York, and the wonderful aromas made my stomach rumble in anticipation of the food it was soon to receive.

If you find that a sandwich is too much to eat, you can get a half sandwich for a few dollars less. Several selections on the menu are vegetarian, including an excellent eggplant parmigiana and an outstanding grilled portobello mushroom sandwich with goat cheese.

For those from back east, they serve a terrific sausage, pepper and onion sandwich which will bring back memories of places long gone. They also have sausage and meatball sandwiches that i was hard pressed to try and finish. However, leave room for dessert. Traditional Cannelloni,  Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Napoleons - all wonderful. Of course, its even better with a cup of cappuccino or espresso or a latte to help wash it all down.

Lest I forget, they also have a selection of calzones as well as pizza's and pasta's.

They stock a wonderful assortment of Italian food stuffs ranging from olive oils to boxed pastas along with an excellent wine section. In addition, Defalco's produces some of it's own pastas as well as it's own homemade sausages.

While there is not an abundance of tables, you can eat on the premises if you wish. Defalco's is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. so you can eat lunch or dinner there. Be prepared for portions that are large - in fact many of them could easily be split between 2 people.

To be honest, nothing about Defalco's is cheap, but then again, you are getting premium ingredients in large quantities for that premium price.

Other than it is hard to find parking and the sometimes a long line one has to wait in to get service I can't really find anything to complain about. Good food, good service worth waiting for, and good attitudes all add up to a solid 4 star rating.

Crazy Chicken & Crab - CLOSED

Crazy Chicken & Crab - CLOSED
1825 W Chandler Blvd
Chandler, AZ 85224
                                                                       
I and two companions arrived promptly at six for dinner, and entered a mostly empty restaurant. We were seated immediately and ordered assorted soft drinks.

We all started off with the egg rolls ($2.99), which were provided with a dipping sauce of sweet chile, a usual Thai ingredient and not at all Korean. I must say that none of us were impressed by the egg rolls. They were properly cooked, but were lacking in flavor.

Next, companion #1 ordered the calamari ($7.99). This was a high point of the meal. Done in a fashion I had not seen before, they were long strips of thicker calamari (perhaps cut from the tubes of larger ones?), lightly breaded and lightly fried. I'm not sure just how they were cooked, but they were perhaps the most tender calamari I have ever eaten. It was served with a mayonnaise based spiced dipping sauce that was nicely complementary to it.

Companion #2 ordered the sweet and spicy chicken ($9.99) along with the egg fried rice ($3.99). She pronounce the rice to be excellent.

Companion #1 made the mistake of ordering the shrimp for $12. For the price, companion got 8 shrimp that when the head and tail were removed were no more than a U-30. Fortunately, I had ordered a bowl of egg fried rice to share with companion and that became most of companions meal.

For myself, I ordered 1/2 garlic soy sauce chicken ($9.99) and 1/2 sweet and spicy chicken ($9.99). The garlic chicken was acceptable though the only dark meat I could find was a single drum stick. The sweet and spicy chicken was so drowned in sauce as to be almost inedible.

True Korean fried chicken is an experience that you never forget. The chicken pieces are given a light coating of either cornstarch or rice starch and are then deep fried. Allowed to rest and cool, the chicken is then deep fried a second time, which removes any fat from under the skin and makes it super crispy. Unfortunately, this is not the case here.

The chicken is chopped into relatively small pieces, then battered and fried. With so much batter on it, the sauces coat the entire piece of chicken and becomes overpowering. I took a doggy bag of the sweet and spicy chicken home, and rinsed it in the sink to remove most of the sauce. Tomorrow I will briefly refry the chicken and put an acceptable Korean sauce on it.

Companion #2 ordered Mochi for dessert. Since mochi is Japanese, I was a bit surprised to find it on the menu. Based on the flavors available and based on looks and taste, I was quite sure the mochi came from Mekong Market or LeeLee's.

Inspection of the restroom was a very unpleasant affair, as the aroma made it impossible to stay in there for any amount of time.

Service was fair though a few things were not correctly served. I would have expected much better food for a bill of $54.90 plus tip.

2 stars for service and appetizers.

Habbouz Tunisian Cuisine - CLOSED

Habbouz Tunisian Cuisine - CLOSED
7816 N. 27th Avenue
Phoenix

Sometimes we come across a gem in the rough, and this is Habbouz.

Companion and I arrived for a 5:45 dinner and were promptly seated. The rough part of this restaurant is that it is sparsely decorated and looks more like a little nook than a restaurant. It is located in a strip mall with a number of other ethnic places.

Companion started with a soft drink, and I ordered hot tea. The tea came in a small cup with a number of mint leaves in it. Not being the biggest fan of mint in the world, on a personal level I didn’t care for the tea, and it was removed from our bill at the end.

The menu has a fair number of lamb dishes on it. Deciding on what to eat from such a delicious looking menu was difficult, but we both settled on the lamb shank. When places offer lamb shanks I usually order them as cooking them properly takes lots of time and seasoning them properly takes a good hand. With the exception of the lamb shanks which must be cooked in advance, everything else on the menu is cooked upon ordering. While this might take a little extra time, it is well worth it.

In short order, two beautiful plates of lamb shank were placed in front of us. The shank was nestled in a bed of what was perhaps the best couscous I have ever eaten. Also on the plate was a small salad with green olives in it that were wonderful. On the side, was a serviette of sauce to slather on the lamb and couscous. To say that this was delicious would be an understatement. The restaurant uses very little silverware, and gives patrons plastic ware to eat with. In truth, this is the real test of whether the meat is tender or not, as plastic is known for breaking on tough meat.

Touching the meat with the plastic fork resulted in it almost falling off the bone. Rich with flavor it was truly succulent. Some like their couscous dry, and some prefer it with more sauce on it. I ate it both ways and can honestly say it was wonderful either way you ate it. The portions on the plate were so large I was unable to finish the food. Companion took a doggy bag home.

We had an assortment of dessert items including some truly wonderful baklava that again, is made on the premises and was similar, yet different from any I had ever eaten before.

Companion also ordered a second meal just to take home for the next day. I noted that on the menu they sell merguez sausage. For those not familiar with this, it is a lamb sausage that is nice and spicy. Not with heat, but with flavor. It does have a small amount of berber seasoning in it which gives it just a tiny bit of heat. I ordered a portion of it to take home and it was excellent the next day.

Were this food to be served in any fancier place, it would be packed with patrons and would be a top pick for any food critic.

4 stars for friendly, excellent service, wonderful food, and a wonderful experience. I highly recommend this place.

Valley Plaza Tempe Food Truck Festival

Valley Plaza Tempe Food Truck Festival                                                                                2/21/2016

3115 S. McClintock Drive

Tempe, AZ  85282

I arrived at the festival at about 5:30. A large crowd of ASU students had shown up, and were queued at each vendor.

I started with Aioli Burger. On the good side, they cooked my burger (white truffle swiss burger) medium rare as I had asked for. Also on the good side, the burger was of a good size, had good flavor, was juicy and was on a nice bun. However, all is not necessarily good in whoville. The first ding was that there is no price list to be found anywhere – not on their web site nor on the truck nor on any sign near the truck. Patrons have no idea what they are paying for anything, and the vendor is able to change prices at will. The second ding was that when you present a credit card, they present you with a portable screen on which are listed various tip amounts. Only upon reading through the screen did one see the small print that said “No Tip”. Tips are for service rendered, and after 18 years of this type of work, I’ve yet to understand why some people just put their hands out and expect a tip for taking an order and nothing else. There is also a large tip jar on the counter which people were stuffing with bills. Personally, I just don’t understand this.  

Unfortunately, tables were not exactly in excess, and most people either ate in their cars or standing up. The ding for this is upon the organizers, who should have made sure that more than 4 tables were available for a crowd this size.

Next was Cousins Maine Lobster. At $17 for a lobster roll, it was a bit exorbitant and I didn’t have my banker with me to foot a loan. I only saw 3 people in the line for this truck. In speaking to people in the area, it was almost unanimous that they were way overpriced. Currently, fresh lobster is going for $11.95 a pound locally, and I’m quite sure the rolls did not contain a pound of lobster on them. On the plus side, they had their prices posted prominently on a large electronic screen for all to see.

Right next door was Kick’s Frozen Yogurt. It seemed a bit redundant to have their truck there when the actual physical location of Kick’s is in the same shopping center. Unlike most of the other vendors, they only take Visa and Mastercard. Kick’s had a selection of flavors available.

Continuing around, I next came to Modern Tortilla. They had a good sized sign out front with the prices on it, albeit in small, but readable printing. Polling those who were eating there, most of the people were enjoying the food and felt that it was properly priced. In fact, a number of people felt that it was actually a cheap place to eat at. Portion sizes were nice, and while I did not have room to actually taste it, it smelled quite good.

Last but certainly not least was Bang Bang Dumpling, a truck that came in at the last minute when Bites Donuts was not able to attend.

A small menu was posted outside with some of the prices, however, more food was available than was on the menu, causing people to have to ask prices or worse, ordering food without being aware of how much they were spending. While I only was able to speak to 5 people who had the food from this truck, they all liked the flavors, but felt the portion size was a bit on the skimpy side.

The trucks certainly attracted a good crowd from ASU, and I certainly hope they will continue in the future, but please – post your prices as well as what credit cards you accept. The customer behind me in line wanted to pay with cash and was actually worried that they might not accept it!

3 stars for a good effort.

Salt Cellar

Salt Cellar

550 N Hayden Rd.

Scottsdale, AZ 85257

Companion and I arrived for a 5:00 dinner reservation just a bit early. We were asked to wait in the bar, which would not have been a problem except that every seat was already taken with people waiting. After a short wait, we were seated at our table.

The bar waitress arrived quickly and took our drink order – 20 year old port for myself and a pink squirrel for companion. The port was a Graham and was excellent, and companion loved the pink squirrel. It is notable that the bar has a large stock of premium single malts, ports, and other spirits. Best of all, they have a bartender that has knowledge of what is being served and knows what he/she is doing.

We started our dinner with a bowl of chowder – Manhattan for companion and New England for myself. The chowder had lots of chubby clams and potatoes in it, and instead of being thick and goopy (is that even a word?) it had a nicer, thinner texture that was very enjoyable.

Next came an order of Steamed Mussels. They were satisfactory except that many of the shells did not have a mussel in them. Our waitress made things right very quickly by bringing us a steaming hot new order to replace those. The mussels were cooked perfectly and came with a broth and a melted butter cruet to dip them in. Best of all, the mussels were totally clean with not a drop of foreign material in them.

On with the salad, perhaps the only weak point in the meal. Two problems presented themselves – first was that the salad itself was either torn into small pieces that were hard to get on the fork, and other pieces were too big to be put in ones mouth without being cut up. The second problem was that we selected the house vinaigrette, which just really wasn’t to my personal taste. Not wanting to be a complainer, I ate the salad and accepted it as part of the experience.

The main course arrived next – baked stuffed lobster. Each lobster was stuffed with a mixture of crab meat and scallops, then covered in bread crumbs and baked. The lobsters are smaller ones – about 1 ¼ pounds I would guess, but after the appetizers and the salad they were more than adequate. The lobsters come with a candle heater with drawn butter in it. I prefer a good salt butter to eat with my seafood, and somehow, miraculously, a small packet of Maldon Sea Salt appeared from my purse to help with the butter. The lobster was delicious and nicely cooked. Our waitress, when serving it took the hard parts apart for us so the eating it was simple and non-messy.

Our only unfortunate part of the evening was that we were seated next to a buffoon cardiologist that insisted on recounting his latest surgery experiences to his table in loud enough tones that the entire dining room found out about his sutures. I did not allow that to affect my appetite though.

Service and cleanliness were excellent as was the food.

5 Stars

Couscous Express - CLOSED

Couscous Express

1915 E. McDowell Road

Phoenix, AZ  85006

                                                                                

This restaurant has been reviewed by Zagat’s and others, and unless this was an off night the restaurant is not deserving of some of the praise that has been given it.

I was looking forward to eating at this restaurant. I and two companions arrived for dinner at 6:00 on a Saturday night. Parking is difficult at the restaurant and we ended up parking next door.

The decor was reminiscent of a typical place in Morocco, with wall hangings and hookah's along with lots of pillows being the main decorations. We were seated immediately and were promptly brought some very nice mint tea that was heavily sweetened. The tea was also available unsweetened.

After a very short wait, we were brought bowls of fava bean soup. The soup was a bit spicy, with notes of onion, cardamom, cinnamon and possibly a touch of clove. The spice didn't come into play until after it had been swallowed, when the slow burn started in the back of one's throat. Companion #2 could not eat the soup because of the amount of heat. No other soup was offered to her.

Next came a dish of two homemade pita's which seemed to be made of whole wheat and were unlike any other pita I had ever had. Each one was approximately 1 inch thick. Along with the pita's came a plate of hummus. The hummus had the usual flavors of garlic and possibly tahini, but it also had some other spices added to it that changed its character totally from the familiar to the unfamiliar. It was o.k. as hummus goes, but the smooth, creaminess that I crave in a good hummus was missing, and was replaced with a grittiness that was not to my liking.

The owner came over and asked what we wanted to order. We had no menus and none were offered, so we told him to surprise us. This was a mistake on our part.

After a reasonable time, a tagine was brought out with veggies and some lamb along with a dish of couscous. The lamb, what there was of it, was flavorful and nicely cooked. However, at least half of it was bone. We did not bother to complain because we figured that there would be other dishes coming out and we would not be going away hungry. Another mistake on our part.

The owner certainly surprised us by not having another dish to serve to us. He claimed that there was 1.5 pounds of lamb in the dish. I claim that there was.5 pounds of bone in the dish. On top of that, he claimed that this dish was our entire dinner and there was nothing more coming out of the kitchen.

We asked about dessert, hoping that it would help us all fill up. We were brought a plate of small rope like pastries that appeared to have been fried, then coated in a light semi-sweet sauce and covered in sesame seeds. Each of us took one to eat, and we unanimously agreed that they were inedible.

We asked for our bill, and at $56.00 were startled at the cost, especially since we were all still hungry. Companion 1 said she wished she had stayed home.

A $5 tip was left.

2 stars for flavorful food, no star for service, and no star for portion size.

Oasis Bakery & Cuisine

1639 E Apache Blvd

Tempe, AZ 85281

Companion and I arrived for dinner and were promptly seated. Entry is through a small parking lot in the rear, and is easily missed.

The restaurant has two rooms, one with regular tables, and one in which guests are able to sit on the floor.

We started out with a plate of hummus (4.99). Startlingly smooth and beautifully not over spiced, this was to portend the start of a really good dinner.

For main courses we ordered Mandi Meat (Roasted Lamb w/basmati rice 13.99) , Zerban Meat (Lamb w/raisins, nuts, potatoes in a tomato based sauce 13.99), Falafel 5.99, and Areekah (Bread w/dates, honey, and cream 7.99)

The portions were large, and the lamb was cooked perfectly with wonderful flavors. The Areekah served as our dessert, and is almost addicting to eat. Once you start, you cannot stop.

Our only disappointment was with Falafel. It was on the dry side and was obviously made from a mix rather than fresh fava beans.

All this also came with complimentary salad with two types of dressings available and on the plate.

To be honest, this is going to become one of my new must eat at places because the food is so very good.

It is also worth noting that they also serve a breakfast menu which includes Shakshuka, which is a must have middle eastern dish of eggs cooked in a tomato base with spices. I personally cook this at home, and have never found any place that cooked it in the U.S.

I highly recommend this restaurant for a wonderful experience of eating middle eastern food.

4 stars for cleanliness, portion size, and wonderful flavors.

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