Tag: rogers

Food Review: Saiwok Vietnamese Street Food in Rogers, AR

All of the ratings online for this place were amazing. It is the #1 restaurant on Yelp in Rogers now. So, I had to check it out. Here’s the breakdown:

ENVIRONMENT

Located in a new shopping center, this place looks like every other business here.

When you walk in, you grab a menu or read it on screen. You order up front, take a number, then find a seat.
There is a bar area with t.v.s to watch or plenty of wooden stools and tables to enjoy.

Overall, it is very modern. Each wall is unique with different modern wallpaper. A large “Saiwok” sign is lit up on one wall. It is very fun.

Where you get your own drinks, you can also pick up sriracha, hoisin, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and sugar or sugar substitutes.

MENU

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Saiwok/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1844062562490958

Their menu can be found on their Facebook page, linked above. However, this menu is a little outdated. The cucumber salad is missing.
Overall, there are a lot of options: fun appetizers such as fried brussel sprouts or street corn, banh mi sandwiches, baos, bowls, soups, salads, and even desserts.

FOOD

Cucumber Salad, $9
Description: Cucumber cubes, heirloom tomatoes, wafu dressing

We started with this beautiful cucumber salad. One of the best veggie dishes I’ve ever tasted was a cucumber salad in Chinatown in NYC. So, I expected flavors of heat, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.
While this was gorgeous, the flavor was lacking. Their “wafu dressing” is tasty, but there’s no heat. There’s not much salt either. So, I added some soy and sriracha and that made it enjoyable.

House Salad, $6 or $2 to add on to a meal
Description: Mixed greens, cucumber ribbons, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, ginger sesame dressing

We also got our add-on house salad for $2 before our entrees, which I requested. This salad was as tasty as it looked. And it was beautiful! Ribbons of carrots and cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, perfect greens. The dressing was just the right amount and very flavorfully sweet. Loved it!

Saiwok Bowl with Grilled Lemongrass Pork, $9.95
Description: Choose your meat, choose your base, add any additional items. All bowls come with pickled veggies, tomato, cucumber, scallion oil, and chili lime vinaigrette.

Our first entree (I make Drew share everything we get so I can taste it all) was the Saiwok bowl. I choose the grilled lemongrass pork, which was amazing! It was large, tender, so flavorful, and juicy. We put it on top of greens, which may have been a mistake as we just ate two salads already. Rice may have been a more satisfying choice. And I topped it off with an over easy egg.
The egg was perfect! The veggies were perfect. I couldn’t tell there was any scallion oil, it was very dry. So, I used the entire small side of chili lime vinaigrette. After it is all mixed up, it was very tasty.
My only issue was there were no knives to cut the pork into smaller pieces. The pork pieces were about 3 bites each, so I ended holding a piece of pork in my hand and taking a bite with every forkful….it didn’t look very graceful.

Pho Au Jus Banh Mi, $9
Description: Sliced brisket, pho broth, hoisin sauce, sriracha, with shrimp chips. All banh mis come with two small ones.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was weary of these banh mis, as they look very bread-heavy. However, I was mistaken. The bread is perfect. The inside is so soft, it is hardly there, just enough to keep your juices in….well, mostly.

This little baby was so flavorful and juicy. I loved every bite. I didn’t even need to dunk it into the pho broth on the side. It was one of the best banh mis I have had…and I’ve had MANY.

The pho broth was delicious on its own, I would definitely suggest trying it!

The problem came with the shrimp chips. I LOVE shrimp chips. I buy them by the bags when I can find them at Asian grocery stores. These, however, were horribly stale and had no flavor. They were left un-eaten.

OVERALL

This is definitely a place to try while in Rogers. It is fun and casual, and can make quite the tasty, healthy meal if you order right…..or it can be as carb-filled and fried as you please. So, really, it’s the perfect place for a group that has varying dietary wants.

While the service is almost missing, you aren’t going to be treated as if you are at a 5 star restaurant. But that’s ok. In fact, I kind of enjoy that. Get what you want, take care of yourself, you’re an adult.

You MUST try the banh mis. Add on the $2 house salad.
Let me know any other must-tries for my next visit.

Food Review: Rogers, AR: Cuban Fare and a Greek Food Truck

Drew and I got to go to Rogers one weekend for some time on Beaver Lake before he had some work to do in Fayetteville. While we were there, we had some amazing food! Here are the two highlights:

HAVANA TROPICAL GRILL

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been here before and loved it. I came back for the same dishes, in fact. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Seated in a small shopping center off of busy Walnut street, Havana Tropical Grill doesn’t stand out, but is easy enough to find.

The interior is open, with plenty of space and tables, with a few Cuban themed items to give it some ambiance. The really long bar with signs about special mojitos and what-not gives the impression this place may be known for its drinks….but I was here for the food.

Menu

   

The menu truly is Cuban. Full of appetizers such as fried yuca, empanadas, cuban meatballs (abondigas), etc. There are also a variety of Cuban pressed sandwiches, as well as many Cucan specialties such as Ropa Vieja, Vaca Frita, Cuban steak and fries, and so much more.  It was definitely hard to decide what to get the first time I came here.

Food

On our first visit, we got the appetizer sampler, which included fried empanadas, ham croquetas, fried plantains, sweet plantains, and fried yuca. While it was all delicious, the ham croquetas stood out above all the rest…by far.

Croquetas (4): $7
Description: Handmade ham croquettes, lightly battered and fried, served with house sauce.

Oh. My. Gosh. These are to die for. Therefore, we only got the croquetas for our appetizer this time, no need to waste time on the rest of the apps.

These babies are crunchy on the outside (not too greasy) but so silky smoothe on the inside. The ham must be put through a food processor and tastes smoky and perfect. The dipping sauce is a little tangy to give a nice balance to the richness of the croquetas.

Cuban Sandwich: $10.50
Description: Slow roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, a touch of garlic butter, and pressed on Cuban bread. Served with one side item.

No doubt, this is the best Cuban sandwich I have ever had.  Granted, I order it without cheese, but it was still absolutely juicy and decadent. The bread is perfect with garlic butter making it very flavorful. The roasted pork is so tender and juicy. The mustard gives it that perfect bit of tanginess. I want another one, now. Get this.
The fried plantains are perfectly fried and very good for fried plantains. In my opinion, fried plantains are a little bland, so dipping them in the green oil/ sauce they give you is a must.

Mofongo with Vaca Frita: $15
Description: Green plantains mashed with garlic and pork chunks, with your choice of meat. 

This heaping, beautiful plate is so worth $15. First off, I love mofongo. If you haven’t had it, it is fried plantains mashed with garlic and pork and shaped into a bowl. Then, it is filled with the meat of your choice. I got vaca frita, which is seared (crispy) beef with onions. Here, they put the extra meat that won’t fit in the mofongo on your plate so you can keep adding the meat as you need.
The vaca frita was so juicy and flavorful, though there were way too many onions, in my opinion. The juices make the somewhat dry mofongo very tasty and juicy. It was delicious! I couldn’t even finish 1/3 of it, but took the rest to the hotel to microwave for leftovers that night.

Overall

Anytime I’m in the area, I stop here. The croquetas and the Cuban are a must. While the mofongo is a must-have if you’ve never tried it before, it isn’t the best mofongo I’ve had. Though, it is still delicious! The service was also great. I love this place.

 

PERSEPHONĒ ON WHEELS

After a day on the beautiful Beaver Lake, some friends suggested this food truck, with plenty of options for our vegetarian friend. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Well, it’s a food truck. Though, this one does offer free water from a cooler, which was nice.

They also had a really nice area next to the food truck with cute tables and chairs, each with a small vase of flowers on it.  It was super cute and cozy. However, the flies were so awful, we had to leave to eat elsewhere.

Menu

The menu seems like a modern twist on Greek food. With appetizers such as “aphrodite tots, falafel cones, and a honey fruit bowl. There were many pita sandwiches to choose from : falafel, sweet potato masala, gyro, and more. There were also sides such as garlic fries or tots, greek salad, hummus and pita, etc. There’s even a kids’ menu.

Food

Aphrodite Tots: $6
Description: Feta, veggies, house pickles, olives, fried garlic, tzatziki sauce.

These tots were beautiful. There is an option to add on falafel or gyro meat for $3, but I forgot to mention I wanted added falafel. I also ordered mine without feta. These tots were beautiful! And very large. However, they were a little greasy. However, the mixture of pickles veggies and tzatziki sauce really brightened them up. These were very unique and tasty.

Gyro Pita (made into a salad bowl): $12
Description: roasted pork, grilled onion, cabbage, tomato, pickles onions, tzatziki sauce….salad bowl comes with no pita, but everything is put onto a bed of greens.

While it is hard to tell the difference between the looks of these two dishes, this one was both Drew and my favorite.  The pork was tender and juicy and mellowed out the tanginess of the pickled onions and tzatziki. All the colors, flavors, and textures really made a delicious dish. I would get this again over the Aphrodite tots, as this dish was juicier and more flavorful with that delicious pork.

*While I don’t have a picture of it, my friend ordered the sweet potato masala pita. Personally, I don’t love sweet potatoes, but she swore this was their best dish and insisted I take a bite. She was right. This was phenomenal…I may have “tried” her pita a couple other times. I would definitely get this- whether you are a vegetarian or sweet potato-lover or not.

Overall- Especially the Service

It must be noted how amazing the people that own and work this food truck are. A mother and daughter were more than accommodating to us: explaining the menu, answering a million questions with no sense of being in a rush. Even when I ordered both dishes without feta, and one had feta, (granted, my order was not as specific as it should have been, this was probably my fault) they were extremely apologetic and got me a new dish without feta very promptly. They could not have been more welcoming and kind. Go visit these ladies, their food is great!