Since we had some business to conduct in Mesa, we decided to go to two new places that were on our “To Try” list. We started heading east on Shea to get to the 101 and got stuck in construction traffic. Our stomachs started rumbling, and we knew we’d never make it to Mesa, so we took a detour to Goldman’s Deli at Indian Bend and Hayden.
For as long as we’ve been in Phoenix, Goldman’s has been our go-to place for good Jewish food. Lately, however, I’ve noticed a sad decline in food quality and quantity. This was confirmed by our pit stop. Ken ordered half a tongue and swiss sandwich for us to share before our real lunch in Mesa. The sandwich was quite skimpy, especially for the price, but this didn’t matter since it wasn’t worth eating. How do you get tough tongue? I started imagining what the cow could have been doing to make it so, but this was particularly unappetizing and not a good path to go down. So I decided it must have been in the cooking. Very sad. We’re not particularly fond of Chompies - our hopes are now with Miracle Mile Deli which is opening this fall at Frank Lloyd Wright and Bell.
We continued on.....and on and on, to Val Vista Drive just north of Baseline and arrived at Pastis Delicatessen and EuroGrille.. It’s divided up into a little Eastern European grocery, a takeout deli which seems to specialize in smoked meats, and a casual, attractive restaurant and bar. The menu has some very interesting items, I read that they’re “Balkan/Mountain Slav”. One of the appetizers is skirt steak served with potato pancakes and garlic spinach with smoked tomato and oregano sauce ($9.25). There are also pierogi, calamari, crab cakes, and muscles (sic) in wine and garlic. Soup changes daily. We shared mushroom soup, very different from what we’re used to, loaded with mushrooms in a fairly thick but not creamy broth and quite spicy. The large bowlful was $4.75, and we didn’t leave a spoonful.
The grilled entrees were a must-have. We split a chevapi sandwich. This is Slavic ground sirloin links served on grilled lepinja bread (which reminded me of the bread Mexican tortas are served on) accompanied by homemade hummus and chopped onions so mild Ken was happy munching them solo. The spice blend in the meat was delicious. There were 8 links, more than enough to share, and not a bad deal at $9.75. Other items from the grill are a 16 ounce rib-eye ($18.75), sudjuk sausage, and portabellas covered with hummus and feta.
There are lots of sandwiches, hot and cold. Bratwurst, pastrami, meatball and sausage subs. Also five or six salads. And more entrees, not from the grill. The specialty dessert is crepes ($5.75) with many fillings available. Not made in-house, but very good looking are the little composed cake/mousse/ganache treats so popular now ($4.50). I have to write the description of one called Paradisio:
Vanilla genoise, mango/passionfruit mousse, coconut
mousse, dark chocolate and cape gooseberry decoration
The service was concerned and personable, the food outstanding, and the price reasonable. Despite the long drive, we’ll happily return.
We decided to do our business errand, then tackle dessert. We were very excited about going to Udder Delights since good ice cream is hard to come by in Phoenix. This little shop, tucked away in a strip mall in Gilbert is co-owned by two people very much into “local first”. In fact, the family of one owns a dairy farm. This may help explain the luxurious richness of the ice cream produced here. The flavors, of which there are 45 (they are rotated throughout the year) are spot-on, too. I was drawn to key lime pie, and found it more satisfying than the pastry version. It was perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, and had graham cracker crumbs mixed in. Ken tasted a chocolate/coffee mix that was so chocolaty it didn’t even need hot fudge.
Currently, Tracy Dempsey, a well known pastry chef is creating desserts for Udder Delights before the opening of her own dessert restaurant. We ordered some banana fudge bread pudding to go with Ken’s ice cream choice. What a combination!!
The shop is tiny, and feels very crowded even when there aren’t lots of people there. It also didn’t strike me as particularly clean, but there was only one employee, so I guess it was hard for her to keep up. Besides, I can overlook almost anything for ice cream this good. I’m glad Udder Delights is so far away. This place is truly dangerous.
We managed to make it safely home despite our carb hangovers. Needless to say, we skipped supper.
Pastis Delicatessen & EuroGrille
1935 S. Val Vista Dr. Mesa
480-926-3354 pastisaz.com
open 7 days, 11-9
Udder Delights
1385 E. Warner Rd. Gilbert
480-507-3859 udderdelightsaz.com
closed Monday
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