Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupies

Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupie. It sounds like some kind of bad sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? Actually it’s what my overactive imagination came up with on hearing that the Notorious P.I.G All American BBQ  didn’t have any words to go with the P.I.G. acronym. I thought they should have a contest and whoever came up with the best name would win a free dinner. So that’s my entry.

The Notorious P.I.G is a new BBQ restaurant on the corner of Thunderbird and 32nd St. where Carmella’s Italian Restaurant used to be. Now that Carmella’s talented former chef is cooking at Gino’s (see below) this is an even better use for the building. The interior hasn’t changed a lot, in fact they still have the same uncomfortable chairs (new ones are on the way), but the simplicity works well for a BBQ joint. For sports fans there are two flat screen TVs in the dining room, and more in the busy bar. It was a little past lunch time and the dining room was almost empty so we had lots of time to talk with our server, Torry. He moved to Phoenix a few weeks ago from Cincinnati, and this is his first restaurant job. We really enjoyed his enthusiasm. Ken asked a question about the chili, and Torry got a sample from the kitchen (with two spoons - smart man). When I said I had heard that the hushpuppies were overly seasoned with cayenne pepper, he went back again to make sure I could get some that would be to my liking. He checked in on us frequently, and later brought other staff members over to meet us.

 Before our entrees, we were served a little loaf of piping hot, sweet cornbread, still in the dish in which it had been cooked. It was accompanied by honey butter. I was already being won over.  There are three kinds of BBQ sauce - a mild tomato based one, the mild kind spiced up with pepper (I combined these two to make a slightly hot sauce), and a North Carolina mustard based sauce that captured Ken’s heart.
I “ingested” a pulled pork sandwich ($8.99) topped with delicious coleslaw that had a blue cheese dressing. The pork, nicely moist and flavorful, combined with the slaw (I would have liked a little more of it on my sandwich) and a decent roll was very satisfying. One side comes with the sandwiches, so I chose the hushpuppies. There wasn’t a trace of cayenne, which I appreciated, but they were a little lacking in corn flavor. The texture, however, was fabulous, they were so light they were almost airborne.  Ken had ribs and beef brisket ($16.99). Be forewarned - the ribs are dry cooked, not falling off the bone and swimming in sauce. The dry rub was nicely balanced and the meat was perfectly tender, as was the brisket. The mac & cheese side needed a slight flavor nudge. We suggested adding truffle oil.  We were too full for dessert, but Torry told us that there are several homemade pies ($3.99 including pecan and sweet potato), cobblers, and cookie sundaes (both $4.99).

Get this - on January 29 (I think that’s the correct date) there’s going to be a FREE
pig-pickin’. You can bet this Notorious Porker Ingesting Groupies will be there.

The Notorious P.I.G.
3230 E. Thunderbird Rd.   Phoenix  
602-992-3700
www.thenotoriouspig.com (website still under construction)  call for hours of operation

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Curiouser and curiouser

“Surely I have fallen down the rabbit hole” thought menumaven as she entered the dark, dingy empty front room of Al Mostafa grocery and restaurant. A turbaned cleric was braying prayers from the TV high on the wall. Dark, slightly ominous “art” looked down at her. A few brightly colored polyester blankets were sitting on cartons on the floor, perhaps for sale. Some tables, covered in plastic, were pushed against two walls, and on the back wall a counter, with some photographs above it. “Would the Mad Hatter have taken me here if it wasn’t safe?” wondered menumaven. A man appeared behind the counter. When asked if there were any menus, he pointed to the photographs. Were these pictures of food? There was something that looked vaguely like a lamb shank. It turned out to be a whole fish. The thing that looked like a giant shrimp was actually a chicken leg. The heap of small brown pebbles on a plate were bits of lamb. The Mad Hatter, who had survived his first visit here a few weeks ago, pointed to the photograph of brown logs and declared that they were actually delicious kefta kebabs. We ordered the pebbles and logs.

While we waited we were served water from a stainless steel pitcher, poured into stainless steel cups. It tasted interestingly metallic. Several dark men floated in and out of the back room, including one wearing a flowing black bisht. All smiled as us politely.

After a fairly lengthy wait, during which we watched more prayers on the TV, we were brought large servings of our meat choices, two plates of chopped salad vegetables with lime wedges , a basket of pita bread and another basket of a larger, dryer flatbread. After a few minutes a different man brought out two plates of humus. Yet a third, with a plate of sliced tomatoes. I pulled off a portion of flatbread, spread it with humus, piled on some salad, and added a few pieces of lamb. Although the texture of the lamb did bear some resemblance to pebbles, it was very tasty, especially the pieces of fried onion that were mixed in with it. The humus was light as a feather, probably the best I’ve had. All together, it was a delicious mouthful. The kefta was even more enjoyable than the lamb. It, too, was light, not densely packed like many versions of this dish, and nicely seasoned. 

As for dessert, a sign on the back wall read “We have ice cream”. It was above a rectangular box that may or may not have been a freezer. I really didn’t want to know.
We drove over to Luci’s Healthy Eats and bought some cake.

The Mad Hatter had promised me an interesting experience, and indeed it was. In fact, I’d go back just to look at the photographs some more and sample some “who knows what”. The food really was quite good.

Al Mostafa Grocery and Restaurant
7144 N. 35th Avenue  (North of Glendale)  Phoenix
602-526-7544
no website

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Going bananas

It’s so exciting when a new cuisine comes to town!! Today we had lunch at El Coquito, a Puerto Rican restaurant that opened in June. This is a small, unpretentious “pop and girlfriend” place - Puerto Rico by way of the Bronx. In a scruffy strip mall on N. Granite Reef near McDowell, you actually feel transported to the island. The walls are painted navy blue and yellow, with a colorful striped border separating the two. Salsa music is playing, and you can see potted plants outside flanking the windows. There are photos of Puerto Rico on the walls. The menu is written on board up front.

The food, called Cocina Criolla (Creole Cooking), has evolved from foods produced by the original inhabitants, mostly seafood and fruits, added to by the Spanish who came with Columbus, then layered with flavors brought by the African slaves. Plantains, both sweet and green are ubiquitous, Golden rice with pigeon peas is a national dish. The only spicy hot note comes from the bottle of hot sauce on each table.

There are a number of appetizers. Pastelillos are thin, flaky pastry filled with hamburger or cheese, then deep fried. Bacalitos ($3.99), my favorite part of the meal, are cod fish fritters. If you rub each one with a lemon slice, then spread it with the accompanying minced garlic, it’s pure heaven. To avoid the deep fryer you could get pasteles, green banana dough filled with either beef or chicken, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled. Or empanadillas: ground yucca or casava which has been stuffed with chicken or pork, then rolled in - you guessed it, a banana leaf - and baked.

Soup and salad is available, but we moved right on to the main course. We shared a canu, a whole fried sweet plantain (do you sense a theme here?) filled with ground beef, olives and peppers, with melted cheese. You could go for the mofongo, twice fried plantain mashed and mixed with broth, pork cracklings and garlic, topped with steak and onions ($6.99 at lunch, $9.99 at dinner).  Roast pork, served with rice and beans is a speciality.

Lots of fresh fruit drinks ($2) are available, but we decided to try the drink that the restaurant is named for, el coquito ($2.75), which means “little coconut”. Made with coconut milk, it’s thick and sweet like eggnog, served with a cinnamon stick for stirring. There’s no liquor license here yet, but you’re invited to go across the street and bring back some rum to put in it. That would be sooooo good. For dessert there’s flan and tembleque (which is coconut pudding) both $2.75. We were too full.

The place was crowded when we arrived, we snagged the last table. As a result, our server, who was most pleasant, was overwhelmed, and it was a long, slow meal. But worth the wait. Especially for the bacalaitos. I realize that what I’ve written will not sound very tempting to a lot of you, but really, it’s worth a try, if only for the novelty.

El Coquito
1617 N. Granite Reef Rd.    Scottsdale
480-947-0680
elcoquito.net
Tuesday - Sunday   noon - 9      closed Monday

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Put a cork in it

It would be a real kindness if someone would come along and put Uncorked, “the unpretentious wine bar”  out of its misery. I think despondent would be a better word for it these days rather than unpretentious. It opened in the heyday of rising real estate values and hasn’t changed a bit since. The prices are still high and the furnishings - untouched - are hitting a new low. But what has really bottomed out is the kitchen.

Four of us arrived for lunch at 12:30. The place was empty, and stayed so except for one other party of two. When we sat down, Rob started to disappear under the table. The banquette had become unsprung. The laminate tabletop was peeling off in chunks. There was a sign on our table advertising summer specials. I’m wondering now why we stayed.

Ken and Rob ordered the soup of the day ($ 5), which our waitress said was chicken and corn chowder. I asked for a pulled pork sandwich ($10) and mac & cheese($9), which I was going to share with Ken. Rob also wanted the pulled pork, and Sue ordered a chicken salad sandwich ($9). The sandwiches are served with a side of 5 grapes?!?!. A bag of chips cost an extra dollar. A side salad is an additional $2.50.
Sue asked for a salad with a sesame dressing. The dressing that was served was an unidentifiable oil mixed with a touch of sesame oil - no vinegar or seasoning. It was awful. When she asked to exchange it for honey vinaigrette, she was served something orange flavored instead. The chowder contained no milk or cream. The bread on Sue's sandwich was inedibly stale. But the biggest gaffe of all was the
 pulled pork. Both sandwiches arrived at the table stone cold. Like just out of the refrigerator cold. The person in the kitchen, I wouldn’t call him chef, couldn’t even bring himself to put them in the microwave (which is a sin anyway). Ken, who is a bit of a conspiracy theorist, thinks that the kitchen staff is trying to sabotage the operation. Could be, except for letting a good mac & cheese slip out of the kitchen undetected, they’re certainly succeeding. 

Uncorked
16427 N. Scottsdale Rd. (in the Promenade)   Scottsdale
480-699-9230
azeats.com

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The King Kong Burger

You may recall my moaning about the absence of New York style diners a few blog entries ago. Today I stopped complaining. I had seen an intriguing ad in the Savvy Shopper coupon magazine which showed a man with what looked like an eight inch high hamburger in front of him, and the message  “Home of the King Kong Burger”. This was something I had to see for myself - and luckily we didn’t have to go far. Gino’s NY Home Style Restaurant is just south of Thunderbird on 32nd St, a lot closer than Phil’s Restaurant out in Fountain Hills.

It’s in a free-standing building that used to house a greasy omelet place. Gino has been working at cleaning up the place, but there’s still a way to go. Open for only about two months he’s busy changing the menu and the decor. The menu, or I should say menus, are a lengthy read. All the dishes have names such as Memphis Mo Jo and Yo! Adrian Philly. At breakfast there are “Rappers” like the Patti Labelle Peppa, eggs, spinach mushrooms bell peppers onions and avocado wrapped in a tortilla and served with hash browns or home fries (made from scratch) for $5.25. There’s a number of Big Bangin Omelets in the $6 range, and a Breakfast Bonanza at $3.99 (with the purchase of a beverage) which includes 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, potatoes and toast, or pancakes, eggs and potatoes, or French toast, egg and potato. How about the Big Bopper breakfast sampler for 3 to 4 diners ($17.99). It includes “a bunch of scrambled egss” or a big Denver Omelet, plenty of bacon, sausage and ham, pancakes, French toast, home fries, corn bread, biscuits and gravy. Then you go home and take a nap.

The dinner entrees include many Italian specialties. Gino makes the sausage himself, and also grinds the beef (no Costco patties or meatballs here). The lasagna includes both beef and sausage, plus 4 cheeses and made-in-house red gravy ($9.75). There’s ravioli, baked ziti, chicken parmesan, or spaghetti with meatballs or sausage. These are served with garlic bread and salad. Keath’s North Westerner is a grilled balsamic 16 ounce Rib Eye with caramelized onions and mushrooms, served with seasonal veggies, smashed garlic-onion potatoes and cornbread all for $15.99. One day a week BBQ ribs are the special. Family style dinners are also served. The Capone Family consists of loaded baked ziti made with fresh ricotta, mozzarella, parm, meatballs and sausage. Served with salad and garlic bread ($33.99 to serve at least 4). The Gotti family has lasagna, chicken cutlet, and ravioli covered with mozzarella and baked ($39.99)

Lunch. There’s a selection of sliders ($7.99), “Weenies and Wings” and some main course salads. The sandwiches include hot and cold Italian subs, pastrami and corned beef, tuna and egg salads. Burgers are $6.75 - the Maui Wowwee is made with grilled ham, teriyaki seasonings, pineapple, red onions, peppers lettuce and tomato. Here’s the description of our King Kong Burger ($9.99): “If you’re brave enough, have good arteries and health insurance this one’s for you. This one pound gorilla has bacon, ham, fried onions, two cheeses, lettuce and tomato on a grilled bun”. You even get to have your photo taken with it and put up on the Wall of Fame. We got ours (we shared one) with some of Gino’s homemade cole slaw as our side. Both the burger and slaw were delicious. You could tell that the meat had been freshly ground. The funny thing is, this burger wasn’t big enough for some folks, so Gino came up with King Kong’s Ma-Ma, a “12 inch tower that will put you on top of the world, it almost has as many floors as the Empire State Building, ask Fay Ray: 1 1/2 pounds of fresh beef, bacon, ham, fried onions, 4 cheeses (instead of the meager 2 on King Kong), lettuce and tomatoes. Tums not included - Circle K is next door.” $14.50. Gino’s a funny guy.

No desserts were listed on the menu, but I just knew there had to be New York style cheesecake. Sure enough, and it had just finished setting up, so we got the first piece. It was outstanding. I haven’t had cheesecake so smooth and creamy since Lindy’s went out of business - and I won’t tell you how many years ago that was!! Gino is planning to make a variety of fruit toppings to go with it.

This is a friendly New York kind of place, not surly. On December 12, Gino is taking part in an event at the strip mall where the restaurant is located to aid Sojourner Center of Phoenix, which provides shelter and support for victims of domestic violence. There’ll be old cars, music, food, etc. Donations of women’s clothing suitable for job interviews, food and new children’s toys would be appreciated.

Gino’s
13623 N. 32nd St.  Phoenix   602-923-2500
Get this - Gino is planning to stay open 24/7 - even better than a diner.
Mon.-Sat  7AM-9PM   Sunday 7AM-3PM
Ginoscoasttocoast.com