Best Thing I Ever Ate - Guilty Pleasure

Several years ago I started visiting the various Asian markets in the Phoenix area and was always amazed at the products in their bakery. Cute little buns that seemed to be stuffed with all sorts of interesting things. I finally decided to give one a try and selected the 'custard bun'. I was forever changed...

Ok that is a little dramatic, but seriously, these things are amazing. A light flaky bun with just the slightest sweetness filled with a thick and creamy custard. It is heavenly but it is a giant carb and fat bomb! That is why I consider this one of my guilty pleasures, something to enjoy once every few months with a nice strong cup of coffee.



What is your guilty pleasure food?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Chicken

There is a local Mexican restaurant here called Mucho Gusto and they used to have some of the very best food in the East Valley in the Phoenix area. Recently I have heard that they haven't been putting out the same quality of food, but back in the day I used to love this Tequila Chicken that they would have on special most days.


The chicken was super moist with a creamy tequila sauce and served with New Mexican mashed potatoes and sauteed veggies. It was heavenly. Tom was enjoying a steak and a big caeser salad.

What is your favorite way to enjoy chicken?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Spicy Stuff

When I am sick, I don't want chicken noodle soup, I want something with a kick that will get my sinuses flowing and have me sweating by the time the meal is done. My go to meal is Pho from a local place called Noodles Ranch.

If you are not familiar, Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup that comes in all sorts of varieties, you can even get it with tripe, which I have tried and loved. The version I get comes with spicy chili on the side, so I can make it just as hot as I can handle. I like to bring it home and bring it to a boil and poach an egg in it as well.


If you get a chance, try some Pho!

What is your favorite thing to have when you are not feeling well?

Best Thing I Ever Ate - Fast Food

In Arizona we are fortunate to have a lot of variety in restaurants, including fast food. I know that some of you are going to freak that I didn't choose In n' Out, since so few people can get it where they live. But this is not just about the hamburger, it is about the whole meal. I prefer Five Guys because there is a lot more variety and I like the fries better. Plus, you get to munch on peanuts while you wait for your food. We recently got a Culver's Butter Burger here and it is right up there at the top of the list too, but I am sticking with Five Guys as my favorite if I have to get fast food.



What is your favorite fast food place??

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Using Chopsticks

We don't go out for sushi very often, but there is a place close to our house called Sapporo that has excellent happy hour sushi prices. When we go I love to get my favorite roll, the Las Vegas Roll.


I know this is kind of cheating since it is flash fried, but I can't help it I LOVE it. It is avocado, eel, crab, cream cheese in a deep fried roll. How can it not be delicious?

Do you eat sushi? If so, what is your favorite thing to get?

Best Thing I Ever Ate - Salsa

One food that Tom loves and has a passion for is salsa and hot sauce. In 1987 a restaurant opened in his neighborhood that served chips and salsa. Tom did not like the chunks in the salsa so his parents ordered him the hot sauce, and an addiction was born.

The restaurant is still open, but has changed ownership. But, the hot sauce was so popular the new owners kept it on the menu. We go here a lot during football season so I can catch the Steelers games. Tom is right there ready to eat hot sauce at 10am with me every Sunday. I admit that I love it now too and really just love going there with him because it was where we had our first date, 12 years ago!



What is the best salsa or hot sauce you have ever had?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Street Food

If you have seen the movie Pulp Fiction then you know that people in Holland love to drown their fries in mayonaise. I have been eating fries this way since I was a little kid so I was so excited to try this when I got to Amsterdam. There are a bunch of little places that stay open late selling 'chips' with various toppings. I went with the classic Chips with Mayo and I loved every bite! Tom and I would often end our day sharing one of these and I still crave them.



Have you tried fries with mayo?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Cupcakes

My husband and I got married a few years ago in the courthouse with a small reception at our house after for just immediate family. It was exactly everything I wanted, including the food. For our 'cake' we had a cupcake tower filled with Sprinkle's Cupcakes.



Instead of feeding each other, we fed our dogs the dog cupcakes from Sprinkles.





That is our dog Joey who we lost this time last year, he was the most amazing little character. Oh and yes, my husband did wear a Don Mattingly jersey at our wedding. I wore a plain shirt and jeans. We are about the most laid back people you will ever meet, obviously :)

If you ever have the chance to try Sprinkles cupcakes, I recommend them!

What is the best cupcake you have ever had?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Appetizer

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to go to Michael Symon's restaurant Lola in Cleveland, Ohio. I went with my sister, my niece and my aunt and we had such a wonderful time. The one thing I had been looking forward to from the moment I knew we were going was the Beef Cheek Pierogies. As you know from a previous post, I love pierogies. You may also remember I love beef cheek, so this is the most amazing combination of both. The sauce is a horseradish cream sauce, which is another of my favorite flavors. It was like he made this dish just for me!


If you find yourself in Cleveland I cannot recommend Lola enough, you really must go!

What is the best appetizer you ever ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Hot Dogs

First of all, Happy Memorial Day! I hope you are all having a nice day with your families and thinking of all of those we have lost that this day honors. Memorial Day always reminds me of cook outs and my favorite cook out food, hot dogs!

A little over a year ago my husband, Tom, started going to lunch at a place called Maui Dog and told me all about the unique hot dogs they served there. I LOVE hot dogs, so I was intrigued, and I was also amazed that Tom was eating hot dogs with coconut and pineapple on them. I had to go!

The delicious hot dog you see below is called the "Island Dog" and is topped with chipotle garlic mayo, maui mustard, coconut sauce, pineapple and BACON!


Sadly Maui Dog did not survive, these are tough times for new restaurants. I really want to try and recreate this hot dog, so I will let you know if I am successful and share the ingredients. The spicy mustard and coconut sauce will be the tricky part.

What is your favorite cook out or BBQ food?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Seafood

The first time I went to Amsterdam we didn't have much time to really do everything we wanted, and I didn't get to try everything I wanted to eat. The second time we went I insisted that I was getting mussels even if there was nothing on the menu for my husband to eat. So being the good sport he was he sat and enjoyed a Heineken while I ate the most delicious mussels I have ever had.




I am proud to say I finished almost all of them and the smell didn't even bother Tom.

What is the best seafood you have ever had?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Burgers

I am not a huge burger fan, but I am a HUGE Michael Symon fan, so when I go back to PA to visit my sister, we always try to make it to one of his restaurants. He owns a couple of burger places called B Spot. This is where I had the best burger ever!


This is the Thin Lizzy burger. Not only is it named after one of my favorite bands, it also includes some of my favorite ingredients. The burger is topped with cheddar, grilled onions, mayo and pickles. YUM.

If you ever get a chance to visit one of Michael Symon's restaurants, I highly recommend it.

What is the best burger you ever ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Pizza

I have to preface this entry by saying that I have not had pizza in New York City, Chicago or Italy, but the very best pizza I have ever had was in Amsterdam. My husband and I went there on our honeymoon in 2008 and we fell in love with this pizza place.



Prior to our honeymoon, my husband had been to the Netherlands and Belgium several times with his family as his Dad worked for KLM and other travel related companies. He always raved about how good the pizza was. I wondered how much better can it be, really?

Well the first time this was placed in front of me I figured it out pretty quick.



We just got plain cheese every time because you do not need to have anything else on the pizza when all the ingredients are fresh and delicious. They make the pizza right in front of you in this tiny little restaurant off of Dam Square. I am really excited to post this entry because we just booked another trip to the Netherlands for the fall. The pizza is on my list of things to do the DAY we arrive.

What is the best pizza you ever ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Tacos

Last summer my husband and I went to Carpinteria, California for a wedding with his parents and his brother and our sister in law. We walked to the main street to get some lunch after arriving and we were all starving. We went in to an Italian sit down place and waited forever just to get drinks, so we paid for our drinks and left. I went on Yelp to check out some other local places and discovered we walked right past a little taco shop that got great reviews. We headed right back the way we came! The place was called Taco Don Roge and it was a no frills taco shop. You ordered by protein type and you receive a street taco style taco on a corn tortilla. The proteins included tongue and cheek as well as your normal chicken, pork, beef, etc. They have an awesome salsa bar with fresh salsa and other veggies you can put on to your own liking. I ordered a chicken and a beef cheek taco. The chicken was good but the beef cheek taco is the best taco I ever had. I ordered another after the first because it was that good. If you have not had beef cheek before I encourage you to try it. It is the most tender and moist cut of meat I have ever tried.
If you are ever in Santa Barbara or Carpinteria I highly suggest you visit Taco Don Roge.
What is the best taco you have ever had?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Soup

I like that show on the Food Network where chefs talk about the best thing they ever ate. I thought I would post something like that at random just because I love talking about food and I love reading your comments about it.

So this week I am concentrating on soup...the best soup I ever ate was...


Paprika Soup at the Koepel Cafe in Amsterdam. Tom and I went here for our honeymoon and it was such a wonderful trip. This was definitely my food highlight. Something so simple using my favorite ingredient, Paprika!

What is the best soup you ever ate?