Phood on Main

 I traveled five hours from Phoenix to Riverside, CA, where we ran into another Fun Frank Friday at a restaurant called "Phood on Main".  What caught my eye was their own description of being a "hip and creative eaterie".  Here they create new dishes as well as improvise on other chef's creations but giving credit where credit is due.   We were joined on our adventure with some of Patti's family members, John and Julie as well as Rachel, who were willing to brave a "phoodies" indulgence.

So Patti started off by ordering from the "little plates" side of the menu.  This would give her several options of tastes to try without having to order several different entrees.  First out was the sweet potato fries.  Described as being served with "mapled" Superstuff, but the kicker was the apricot orange ketchup.  She really loved the ketchup and was disappointed when the fries ran out before the ketchup did and she had nothing left to dip.
Next out was the Bibimbap Arancin.  She chose the option for the carnivore, which is a rice ball deep fried and stuffed with sausage and cheese.  They came atop a mushroom parmesean cream sauce that  helped balance the dryness of the rice ball.

 And last of the three was the Rock Shrimp Katsuya-is.  The menu described it as "Our attempt at stealing and copying a dish we had in LA."  However as I have never been to Katsuya in LA I could not verify how close they came to imitating it.   These breaded tiny bites of rock shrimp were served in a  spicy sambal-garlic creamy toss-sauce.  It was delicious and because Patti loves me lots she shared.  It was a smidge too spicy for her liking which is why she was willing to share more than a single bite.

Rachel, who is a very adventurous eater by nature, chose the chicken parmesean.  This surprised me as I would consider it a more common-place Italian dish.  Nonetheless, this delicious chicken was smothered in marinara and parmesean and served with a side of garlic cheese bread.  I don't feel she shared nearly enough of the crazy addictive bread.

 Next was Julie who ordered the French Onion Steak Tower.  This included 

layers of Hereford Beef steak medallions topped with deep-fried caramelized onion straws and Swiss Cheese.  The bite she shared with me included the medallion that was incredibly tasty and tender.  The onion straws gave a nice crunchy texture to the meal.

John opted for the BBQ Pork Ribs because he wanted to make sure there was enough to share.  These ribs are done in a St. Louis style with a BBQ sauce that is slightly sticky & slightly spicy.  They were "fall off the bone tender" and I was glad he was sharing! The side of house chips seemed like a nice touch but they were a little under seasoned.  Patti however was pleased to be able to dip them in her ketchup.

I went for one of the signature dishes, the "Drunken chicken".  The chicken breasts were smothered in their rum, wine, shallot, leek, green onion, mushroom and parmesan cream sauce.  The chicken was juicy and with the sauce it gave even more of a robust flavor.  I could see why this would be one of their top dishes.  I ate the whole thing as was reluctant to share even with Patti.

So if you find yourself in downtown Riverside California, near the Mission district, stop by Phood on Main.  Because if you haven't tried a drunken chicken, or apricot orange ketchup, try it now.