POSH

 This week for Fun Frank Friday, we found a restaurant in Scottsdale that is the true embodiment of "Adventures in Eating".    When we first heard of this place, we looked up online to check out what they serve.  Come to find out that there is absolutely NO menu whatsoever.  They do what is called an "Improvisational Menu".  It varies from time to time, what is served today is not necessarily what will be served tomorrow.   It starts with an explanation of the paperwork.  Each patron is given a sheet of paper in which they make their selections and preferences known. 
The first selection you make is the number of courses you will be served.  This is what determines your cost for the meal.  The next option is if you choose to upgrade one of the courses for an additional fee.  For an example, our options to upgrade included adding foie gras or kobe beef.  Your next decision is more of an elimination of what you refuse to eat rather than what you want to eat as in a traditional menu.  For an example, the paper has a list of 18 protein choices.  Our choices ranged from rainbow trout to quail.  You simply cross off any you don't want to eat.  The next section gives you the choice of indicating temperature for the meat and fish as well as if you prefer to eat raw meat/fish or not.  The last sections are for you to list any allergies, food aversions, or dietary restrictions.  Once you have completely filled out the paper, our waiter Timothy, read back everything to us for clarification and that there was nothing else left off.

So we chose to have a five course meal and the only item I crossed off my list was trout, hoping that they would indulge me in the less familiar proteins.  Patti didn't want to take any chances and immediately crossed off those items she knew she would not eat.  I wasn't too picky about the temperature of my meat and I did mark that I would eat raw meat and raw fish.  The only restrictions I placed were no grapes or raisins as I am allergic to them.  Shortly after they received all of our information, Timothy came out with what I call a "palate cleanser".  This was French butter and pink salt topped with a slice of radish and chives.  Do not be mistaken this was not numbered as one of the courses you ordered.

 First course: I was given an heirloom tomato salad with cucumber, shishito pepper relish and garnished with tomato jelly.  Patti was given a garlic cauliflower soup with a dollop of sour cream, scallions and a single large homemade potato chip.

The salad was fresh crunch with a slight tang.  But Patti's course was hand's down the more delicious of the two.  It was a hearty full flavor, but when you took a bite with the potato chip there was an extra explosion of nutty flavor in your mouth.  This was one of the best soups we have ever tasted.   We even asked if we could take some extra home and they said they still had a bunch of people we need to feed.  This is one of the tastes that will leave you craving to return to Posh.

 Second Course:  I was brought PEI mussels in a Thai curry broth with bok choy and radish sprouts.  Patti was brought some Mahi Mahi fish with carrot and caraway spaetzel with sauteed mushrooms and sprouts.  My mussels were incredibly tender and delicious and the Thai curry broth gave it just the right amount of kick to bring this dish to the height of its flavor.  Patti's fish was tender and flaky and she really enjoyed the spaetzel.  I felt that my mussel dish was the clear winner for this round.  Although Patti disagrees but that is only because she doesn't like mussels.

Third course:  My beggar's purse pastry filled with escargot was surrounded by white asparagus and topped with a horseradish and hazelnut sauce.  Patti's lemongrass poached shrimp was served on top of an okonomiyaki otherwise known as a Japanese cabbage pancake.  This was then topped with Japanese mayo and barbecue sauce.  My beggar's purse was incredibly light and flaky with a flavorful escargot but I must admit that Patti's poached shrimp was amazing and won this round.  It had the tang and sweet flavor that was complimented with the textures and excitement of the okonomiyaki.

Fourth course:  Placed in front of me was a lamb sausage atop of chickpea hummus and served with a cherry mint sauce.  In front of Patti was placed a breaded and pan fired pork cheek atop a cherry glaze and roasted carrots.  The lamb sausage had a strong hearty flavor with a distinctive taste of port wine.  Don't be fooled by the strong flavor this did not have a strong after taste.  Patti's pork was flavorful but thought the breading made it a bit dry.  Although the glaze helped it, my dish definitely won this round.

 Fifth course: Dessert!  No matter what you choose all the options have a dessert course.  My dessert was a deconstructed apple tartlet made with puff pastry and topped with apples and droplets of cinnamon complimented with a vanilla sauce.  Patti's dessert was a dark chocolate pate topped by a  lavender white chocolate mousse and complimented with huckleberry and vanilla en glace and sprinkled with white chocolate.  These were both two incredible desserts.  I will have to call it a tie on which one was better.  My tartlet was really fun with the droplets of cinnamon that holds together until you bite into it and get an explosion of flavor in your mouth.  Patti's dessert was rich and creamy and an excellent way to end this meal.

 I would like to tip my hat to the waiters who explained our dishes slowly and elegantly for us to understand and the excellent professionalism of Timothy for indulging our extensive notetaking.
But wait there is more!  Just when you thought it had all ended and the check has arrived, two more treats arrived at our table.  We each were given a bag of cookies with brittle and a frozen pumpkin spice cheesecake lollipop for the drive home.

This place is amazing!  I enjoyed the spontaneity and the creativity of the food.  So if you haven't had a chance to try an improvisational meal, go to Posh and try it now!

Monsterland

 Fall is finally upon us where leaves will change colors and temperatures become cooler, except here in Arizona where it is still 105 degrees.  But that doesn't mean you can't get ready for one of my FAVORITE holidays.  This is the time of year where the days get shorter the nights get longer and scary things come out for Halloween.  So in preparation, we headed to Monsterland in Mesa.  As you enter, you walk through a small maze before you are greeted by "Frank".  There are quite a few, large animatronics in this restaurant.  So don't be too surprised if one jumps out at you.  On our way to the table, we noticed iconic horror movie characters throughout the restaurant.  In one corner lurks "Freddy Krueger" while a pack of werewolves watch over you from above the bar.
We sat down next to a creature in a crouching position  which was easily at least 6 feet tall.  Off to the side of the bar was a large silver screen where they playing a classic black and white horror movie.  Every 10 minutes or so, all the animatronics would come alive.  The fellow next to our table, started to growl and thump his fist as he rose to stand at  a towering 15 feet.  This does make for a lot of entertainment while dining but as Halloween approaches, starting Oct 5th, the restaurant will open it's own haunted house in the basement as well.  This sounds like a blast as we were also told that they will set up monitors in the restaurant for diners to watch people being scared as they go through it.  The music playing the background was 1980's punk, so I felt truly at home and I even enjoyed the extra darkness.  How many restaurants can you go in and ask "where's the dank?"  As the night progressed they did turn on additional lights but be prepared to use your cell phone light to help you read the menu.
The menu has a horror theme as an example our appetizer was the "Children of the Corn"  This is an order of about five sweet potato and corn fritters flavored with garlic, cilantro, pepper jack cheese, and then topped a green chili lime aioli.  Served warm and a bit messy, these were some of the most incredible fritters I've had since beginning "Fun Frank Fridays".  These had more flavor than typical fritters.  Although messy from the sauce on top, we could have used a side of extra sauce for dipping.  There were other appetizers on the menu, such as "Bat wings", "Wicker man" and "Casket of Chips".  These are other appetizers to try in the future when I return for the haunted house tour.  On top of each table in place of typical traditional salt and pepper shakers, there were four bottles of a variety of flavored salts.
Each flavor was identified by a symbol with the corresponding symbol on the shaker.  The flavors included: Sour cream and onion, dill pickle, cheddar bacon ranch and cheddar habenero garlic.  Unfortunately for us the cheddar bacon ranch and the cheddar habenero garlic had both lost their identifying symbols and both looked the same color.  So with my adventurous spirit, I shook one of the unmarked bottles into my hand and licked it to determine which was which.  I lucked out and found the cheddar bacon ranch one, which was the one I wanted to try.

My first choice on the menu that caught my eye was the "I killed the monster" challenge.  At first it didn't sound too bad, all I had to do was eat a Triple Monster Burger, double chips, children of the corn, and swamp slaw in 20 minutes and I would get the “I killed the monster” T-shirt, my picture on a headstone, and bragging rights.  I was almost sold until I found out that the single burger was a half pound, so I opted to put that off for another time when I have not eaten for several days.  But I did choose to do a preview and ordered the single Monster Burger.  This burger comes topped with pepper jack cheese, roasted pablano peppers, fried onion strings and chipotle aioli on a toasted bun.  This also comes with a side of homemade potato chips.  These are freshly made and served unseasoned and unsalted.  But this is where your before mentioned containers of salt come in handy.  I doused my chips with the cheddar bacon flavor.

Susette and Kirk split the King Kong burger which is a bacon cheese burger with plenty of bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and onion on a toasted bun.  Monsterland does modify any burger to your liking as well as cook to your desired wellness.  Kirk was enjoying himself with the iconic horror atmosphere but Susette was completely unnerved by it and even jumped sky-high when the waitress came up from behind to take our drink orders.

Patti spent several minutes using her cell phone to try and read the menu before deciding on her choice of the Dr. Jekyll Chicken Burger.  This is a grilled seasoned chicken breast, served with bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, tomato, spinach, and a red pepper aioli on toasted bun.  It was extremely pepper flavored and I was convinced it had been "as-salt-ed" by a pepper gun.  But all in all, it was definitely a mouthful and she ended up taking some of it home.

The next time we go, we definitely also plan to eat some of the "Dragon eggs" and "Gooey Eyeballs" for dessert.

So if you are in the mood for things that go "bump" in the night or if you are feeling like "death warmed over", you'll have to take a trip with me to Monsterland.  Because if you haven't had "Children of the Corn" you should try it now.

Donovan's Steak and Chop House

 Welcome to Arizona Restaurant Week.  There are over 200 hundred restaurants that are participating in this event.  Arizona Restaurant week is an opportunity twice a year to encourage people to go and try places for a fixed price.  All the restaurants will offer a three course meal including appetizer, entree and dessert.  As I was looking over the list of restaurants and comparing the options given with the menus online, I found one restaurant that didn't post the prices online.   You know it was an "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" restaurant.  Here was an opportunity to try such a restaurant for a fixed affordable price.  Donovan's is located at Camelback and 32nd Street.  We made reservations for 5:30 and dropped our car off with the complimentary valet so parking was not an issue.  We were led to our table quickly and introduced shortly thereafter to the three servers who would be assisting us with our dinner.  Yes, we did not miscount, there were three waiters per table.  When you participate in Arizona Restaurant week, Donovan's offers three different appetizers, four different entrees and two different desserts to choose from.  Of course, you are also able to order anything off the regular menu at it's regular cost. 
Our first choice was from the regular menu, Bacon Wrapped Scallops.  These were sea scallops slightly seared, wrapped well with bacon and placed a top a raft of asparagus floating in an orange ginger sauce.
The bacon had an excellent crisp on the outside which paired well with the smooth scallop center.  When eaten with the sweet orange sauce, you had just the right tang.  And to my surprise, Patti even found the asparagus to her liking with not too much bitterness as she typically finds the vegetable to be.

My appetizer choice was the soup.  The soup de jour was a lobster bisque. This light creamy tomato soup comes out piping hot and a generous portion of lobster meat on top.  Although this may be small, it packed large flavor.  Patti's appetizer choice was the chopped house salad with a dijon dressing.  This salad was an extremely large salad for an appetizer and she ended up sharing at least half of it with me.  Besides the chopped lettuce, it also included bacon, carrots, tomatoes, hearts of palm, bell peppers and red onions.

For my entree, I ordered the twin filet mignon medallions topped with bleu cheese and port wine demi glace.  As I am not a big fan of bleu cheese, I asked for the toppings to come on the side.  Each entree also comes with a potato, I opted for garlic smashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables.  The medallions were cooked to a beautiful medium rare and the port wine demi glace added a touch of sweetness.  I decided to be brave and try the bleu cheese.  I knew that as soon as I took a bite, I would gag from the "mold" taste that would assault my mouth.  I was completely taken aback when the creamy cheese did not have any moldy aftertaste.  So when you paired the sharpness of the cheese with the sweetness from the glace together with the meatiness of the medallions you ended with a combination that was divine.  And to let you in on a little secret, save some of the bleu cheese to add to your potatoes on the side, you will not be disappointed.

 Patti's entree choice was the Cherry glazed pork chop.  She was amazed at how large the portion was.  The sweetness of the cherry glaze did not overpower the meat and the pork remained juicy from start to finish.  She was however slightly disappointed at the vegetables.  She prefers them to be a tad bit softer when cooked rather than the crunch they have when raw.  When Patti first saw the menu, she expected high prices and small portions.  But this was obviously not the case and ended up having to take half the chop home for left overs.








Now on to desserts!  As soon as I saw the chocolate mousse option on the menu, I called "dibs".  It starts off with a small ring of raspberry sauce around a thin layer of dark chocolate cake.  Then they add the thick fluffy chocolate mousse.  A thin layer of milk chocolate tops the mousse with a dollop of whipped cream, two red raspberries, a fresh mint leaf and the whole thing is then dusted with powdered sugar.  After the first bite, I was hesitant to share even with Patti.  This combination is pure genius.

Although Patti could have ordered the mousse as well, she opted to try the bread pudding.  Surprisingly this is served with cherries for tartness rather than the traditional sweet raisin.  Bonus for me as I am allergic to raisins and was able to help share in her dessert.  I must admit that it is a much better choice to contrast the sweet cinnamon bread with tart cherries instead of complimenting sweet with sweet.

Donovan's is a first class restaurant all the way.  At the end of our meal they offered to take a photo and print it out for us to take home as a reminder of our experience here.  This is an excellent place to celebrate special occasions.  Donovan's is a place where you are treated well, with an intimate atmosphere and excellent food.

So if you haven't tried a cherry glazed pork chop or a lobster bisque, go to Donovan's and try it now!

Fibber Magee's Irish Restaurant and Pub

 Sometimes St. Patty's Day doesn't come often enough.  There needs to be a time and a place when you can let loose with your silver tongue after you kiss the Blarney stone.  Here at Fibber Magee's you will find such a place.  Located in Chandler off of Dobson and Elliot, this quiet little pub is a great place to relax.  But if you come on St. Patrick's day be prepared for standing room only.  Luckily for Patti and I, we arrived early enough to be able to get a table.  I ordered my usual Coke and Patti ordered a glass of water with lemon.  However after taking one sip of the water, she asked for a diet Coke to get the weird taste of the water out of her mouth.  This is a pub!  Who goes to a pub and orders water?  After contemplating the menu, we ordered two appetizers and two entrees at the same time.  Big mistake!  When I order appetizers, I expect them to come out first.  In this case our entrees and appetizers arrived at our table simultaneously.  Our waitress apologized for the untimely arrival but wasn't able to correct the matter.  So I set my entree to the side so that I would be able to enjoy my appetizer first.   Our first one to try was the "Dirty Nellies".  These are fresh cut, deep fried chips covered with bacon, bleu cheese, carmelized onions and a roasted red pepper crema.  The sweetness of the carmelized onions totally made this dish!  I'm not a big bleu cheese fan but when put with the bacon and the onions, the flavor of the cheese was tolerable. 
Our other appetizer was the "Bowl of Mussels".
 It starts off with a heaping helping of mussels in a bowl, covered in broth consisting of leeks, garlic, bacon and red pepper.  This is served with a side of toasted garlic bread.  The mussels were incredibly tender and delicious.  I considered the broth to be like a light soup that in itself was surprisingly well done.  When you dipped the garlic bread in the broth, it tasted like heaven.




With a name like "Patti McGee" she had to go with the traditional Irish meal of "Corned Beef and Cabbage".  Especially since she only gets it once a year and has never actually tried it in a restaurant before.  The plate consisted of corned beef with a dark mustard onion demi over it, a side of cooked marinated cabbage and a scoop of "champ".   For those of you who don't know what "champ" might be, it is actually mashed potatoes and scallions with butter and milk.  The corned beef was very delicious and could have been served without the demi.  Although the demi gave it a strong flavor which was in contrast to the very bland "champ".  When you mixed the two together you end up with a very tasty bite indeed.  Patti was also impressed with the cabbage, as hers never comes out looking this green and crisp but without the bitterness of undercooked cabbage. 


Frank opted for the traditional Irish comfort food "Real Lamb Shepherd's Pie".  This dish is a brown gravy base with ground lamb, carrots, peas which are typically found in most pot pies.  This meat mixture is decoratively topped with mashed potatoes and cooked to golden brown and served with two slices of toasted brown bread.  I was expecting my entree would be on the cool side since it had been sitting on the sidelines waiting for me to finish my appetizer.  But to my surprise the pie was still piping hot.  Although the lamb may have a strong flavor it was tempered by the mashed potatoes. 
So if you would like a taste of Old Irish tradition and come on down to Fibber Magee's.  And if you haven't tried dirty nellies, try it now.

Brazilian Bull

Greetings from the Arizona Rim country!  I am currently camping in the middle of a forest up in the mountains with not a soul within a mile (except for Patti).  Some people have a hard time getting cell service in their own house, let alone up here in the wilderness.  Ain't technology great?  There are many wild animals up here like Elk and Bear but if you are looking for a Brazilian Bull you will have to head to Chandler instead.  The Brazilian Bull restaurant is a unique dining experience.  It was here that I got the original idea of Fun Frank Fridays.  We sat down at our table and were asked what types of drinks we wanted.  Since we had been here before, we were well aware that we needed something light and not as filling, so we chose water rather than soda.  But if you choose to have soda, I am happy to say they serve Coke products.  The waiter did briefly explain the restaurant and control cylinder work.

The control cylinder is about a 4 inch cylinder painted in red, yellow and green.  When the red is on top, that means “Stop or I’m taking a break”, when you flip it over to green, then that means “Go or keep the meats coming”.  When you lay it sideways, that means. “I’m done and ready for dessert”.  This is very important to remember because as long as the green side is up food will keep coming to your table.  So I recommend if you need a break for a rest or if you don't want to have your conversation interrupted, don't hesitate to flip it to red.  They do have an extensive salad/appetizer bar that includes items as varied as squid salad down to meatloaf.  If you are a hard core carnivore, don't even bother with it.  Just keep your focus on having the green side up!

When you go over to the salad bar, you will notice it is less of a salad bar and more of a mini buffet.  I decided to go with a small sample of shrimp salad, a crab salad, squid salad and two large mussels.  I know that seafood is relatively light and I knew I would not be filling myself up before gorging on the meat.  Patti on the other hand was probably the smarter one of us.  She did not want to fill up at all, so what she put on her plate would not even satisfy even the smallest of rabbits.  She had three pieces of lettuce, one tomato and two beets with a touch of garlic cilantro dressing and hummus.  Even though everything looked good at the appetizer bar, this is NOT the reason we come to the Brazilian Bull.

 When we returned to the table from the salad bar, our server brought out a rice ball.  It was golden brown on the outside with a warm doughy consistency but with the flavor of bacon.  These are incredibly delicious but be warned , don't fill up on bread!  Because you are going to get more bread.  They also brought out these amazingly addictive, cheese flavored dough balls.  Served warm, they melt in your mouth!  It is a clever trick they must use to help fill you up before the main feature.

Next comes the special hot side dishes which includes fried bananas, garlic rice, beans, Farofa (Brazilian seasoning) and salsa vinaigrette.  All of these are very tasty and I particularly enjoyed the fried bananas.  Most restaurants that we have been here in Arizona, typically serve fried plantain bananas.  Plantains are normally more firm and meaty while regular bananas are smooth and creamy.  That is why I was pleasantly surprised that these were regular bananas.  Let me warn you again!  You will be sorry if you fill up on rice and beans!

Now for the main course!  At the Brazilian bull, all their meats are slow cooked on a skewer and brought directly to the diner on that skewer. The beauty of this is that you can control how much or how little meat you want.  You just let the server know when to stop. There is also no lack of variety when it comes to options.  In fact for dinner you have 16 choices.  I was able to try 15 of the 16 and went back for seconds on a few of them.  Some of my favorites were the bacon wrapped filet mignon, which was not apparently on the list of choices we were given.  But I did also specifically request the chicken hearts that I truly enjoyed.  Some of Patti's favorites were the Tri Tip, the ham and most of all the grilled pineapple.

 Each time they came to the our table, I received a small portion of meat.  Typically this is only two or three bites but by the time I was three quarters of the way finished there would appear another server with another skewer of meat.  When it comes to these skewers, timing is quite essential.  If you get meat from a skewer that has been replaced back in the heat and this was the case with our pork loin.  It was dry and tough.  I'm sure it would have been delicious if we had tried it sooner.  So when the server does come to your table take a look at the meat and see if it is appealing.   But there is always my motto, if you haven't tried it, try it now.   I recommend you do try it even it is a little bit dry, they will not be offended if you leave any meat on the plate.   They even continued to come to us and ask if there was a particular meat we would like to try.

So if you are a true carnivore and you haven't tried chicken hearts, go to the Brazilian Bull and try it now!