Author: mamygail@msn.com

Food Review: Zoe’s Kitchen, One of My Favorite Chains

I don’t usually review chain restaurants, because they get enough of that on their own. But I have NEVER had a disappointing meal at Zoe’s Kitchen, in Little Rock. In fact, every time, I am impressed. So, I just have to let you know how good it is.
We’ll skip all the “environment” stuff since it is a chain. Just know it is pretty modern, bright, and clean.
The menu can be found on their site, but it is mostly Mediterranean- style foods, with many healthy options such as salads and power grain bowls and kabobs, etc.
So, what we are gonna do is talk about what I’ve had, and love here.

Hummus Trio

Zoe’s makes their own hummus and pesto, and you get to try them all in this appetizer. Their basil pesto hummus is my favorite, perfectly balanced between pesto and hummus. Their harissa red pepper hummus is also tasty, though not as flavorful as the pesto. Their classic hummus is the least flavorful, but still a delicious version of a typical hummus. I also love that this trio comes with not only cold pita, but grilled pita, and three types of veggies for dipping: green bell peppers, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.
Though this is VERY filling just for an appetizer…great to share with multiple people.

Mediterranean Lamb Kafta

This is a new menu item, and so far, has been my least favorite dish from here. The lamb and beef meatballs were pretty dense and tasted more like beef than lamb. However, the tzatziki sauce they are plated on is delicious and tastes very fresh. The Moroccan harissa sauce on top is very flavorful and gives a bit of acidity. Overall, it tastes fine, but it hard to eat. I won’t get this again…too many other good things to eat here.

Tomato Bisque Soup

13472324_10100470809851286_1342400467_n

While many chains have a delicious tomato bisque (Panera Bread, La Madeline, for example) this soup is also perfectly creamy and delicious. No complaints here….except I can get good tomato soup in many other places. So, I try to only get this occasionally.

Shrimp Kabobs

13460887_10100470809926136_210847796_o

These PERFECTLY cooked every time (four times total for me) large shrimp skewers have thick slices of zucchini between them, are perfectly seasoned, and absolutely delicious. I got this my first visit and I have gotten many times since.
It comes with two sides, which we’ll talk about soon.

Vegetable Kabobs

13405369_10100468024977196_221333693_o

These kabobs come with zucchini, thick-cut mushrooms, red onion, green bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes. I hate to sound like a broken record, but these are perfectly seasoned and then perfectly charred. So, you get a great smokey taste without losing the texture of each vegetable.

Harissa Salmon Pita

This stuffed pita comes with harissa-marinated salmon, house-made tzatziki, Moroccan harissa, Mediterranean relish, cabbage, feta, and fresh dill. I am not a salmon fan but I LOVE this pita. It is fresh, vibrant, full of different textures and flavors….and there’s no fishiness here. It is delicious! Though, it only comes with one side. =(

Sides

My three go-to sides are:
-Braised White Beans:  These are the best beans around. They have
a surprising rosemary taste, which sets them apart. They are cooked
so slowly, they break down and become more of a soup. Gah, they
are so good!
– Roasted vegetables: These are veggies done right! With broccoli,
mushrooms, carrots, and onions. These veggies, like everything else,
are seasoned liberally, but not too much. Then they are perfectly
charred, making delicious roasted veggies. This is a side to truly enjoy
and feel good about what you’re eating.
– Side Greek Salad:  which is a nice mix of lettuces, cucumber, olives, green bell
peppers, cherry tomatoes, and feta. The only dressing available is their
signature Zoe’s vinaigrette, found on each table. It is light and flavorful.

Overall, this place is healthy and delicious and a great place for a quick meal. Check it out if you haven’t, you won’t be disappointed.

Food Review: Fujiyama on the Wheels, What a Deal!

I have seen this new, somewhat randomly placed, food truck in Morgan, on Hwy 365, right next to the Kum N Go. I finally decided to see if there were any reviews of the place yet, and there could only be a few found on their Facebook page. Though, all of the 27 FB reviews rated it 5/5. So, I had to get dinner there. Here’s the breakdown:

The Truck

The people were extremely nice and they got all the food I ordered (3 meals, including sushi) out in about 12 minutes. That is pretty fast! So, the experience here was great.

The Menu

I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable everything was. At a regular hibachi restaurant, hibachi chicken would be well over $10 dollars ($14.95 at Maumelle’s only other Japanese restaurant). I was also pleased that there was actual sushi! Though with all of it being cooked sushi, and most of it fried, it isn’t very authentic. However, it seemed cheap, so I had to try some.

The Food

California Bite Roll ($2.99)- top
Description: Deep fried California roll with 3 special sauces.

I was surprised at how much fried sushi I got for only $3!!!! The five pieces were very large and they sliced the sushi BEFORE frying it. So each piece was fully coated in tempura batter and deep fried. Then, it was covered in three sauces, though I could only detect two: spicy mayo and eel. It was good, though hard to eat, because it was so large. Nothing special, except for what a bargain! And if you love your sushi really fried, you will love this.

Seafood Special Roll ($7.95)- bottom
Description: Tuna, crab, shrimp, with yummy sauce deep fried with 3 oshin sauces. (all cooked)

The 8 pieces of this sushi roll was even larger than the California roll. They were packed full of the seafood filling, which mostly tasted of yum yum sauce, not that I’m complaining. The fry on this roll was different, it was crispier than the tempura batter as it appeared to be made of “crunch” and other breadcrumb breading. (If you know Arkansas sushi, you know what “crunch” is.)
I definitely liked the crunchiness of this roll. And there were definitely three sauces on this one, one being sriracha. So, I liked the sweet and slightly spicy combo of the sauce and seafood filling. It was definitely better than the California roll, but $5. But still, $8 for a huge sushi roll? I don’t hear of that anywhere else either. Still cheap!

Hibachi Vegetables ($5.95)

Holy moly, this was a ton of food! The entire to-go container was  packed. The fried rice only consisted of rice and a bit of egg, and it was very bland. Though, it was the perfect texture, not overcooked like many others. The veggies included broccoli, onion, carrots, and zucchini. These were still very al-dente and also weren’t swimming in flavor. However, a cup of yumyum sauce also accompanies each entree. This $6 “meal” (more like 2-3) may be the best deal in Maumelle.

Hibachi Steak ($8.95)

While this again, was quite a deal compared to other places, this was the most disappointing item I bought. The steak was ordered medium-rare, though it was a little overcooked and there wasn’t much flavor. There also wasn’t much of it, period.

With the rice and veggies needing a little extra, I took both hibachi entrees and put them into my larger skillet, added four eggs, soy sauce, and the yum yum packets and made a very delicious fried rice with the veggies and steak mixed in.

While Drew and I ate some suchi, we couldn’t finish it all. We only had a few bites each of the rice and veggie mix. So, now we have those two to-go containers completely full of delicious leftovers. This will easily equal three- four more meals. WHAT A DEAL!

Overall

I am so glad to have this addition in Maumelle! Cheap, heaping amounts of Japanese food? Yes, please! I would order the shrimp hibachi entree instead of the steak. The reviews on that are it is delicious and perfectly cooked. I would definitely get the hibachi vegetables again, even if I have to mix them up and add soy sauce, big deal? And while it will be pretty darn hard to pass up $3 sushi, I may go with trying a couple of the other rolls. Their $5 crunchy shrimp is temping, and I heard people in line saying how good the Maumelle roll is. Will I be back? Definitely. And then I’ll eat for days.