Sage Kitchen, Phoenix, "Dine & Demo" - a wonderful time! How often does one get a chance to have a dinner experience that is tasteful; where you learn essentials about the vegan lifestyle, and where you have fun at the same time! This was the evening my wife, myself and about 25 other guests experienced tonight at Sage Kitchen Restaurant. We were pleased to attend the very first Sage Kitchen "Dine & Demo", where guests were fed a sumptuous meal consisting of an elegantly presented vegan appetizer, salad, two entrees, and to top it off - a rich dessert. Several different herbal teas were served. The types of herbs and their effects on mind and body were explained by our hosts. During dinner the restaurant's Chef provided a live demo, explaining step-by-step how to prepare several vegan cheeses. After each presentation, the Chef answered any questions guests had. Five different cheeses were demonstrated including Cheddar, Mozzarella, Bleu, Parmesan, and Ricotta. Each dish served during dinner service included one of these cheeses so guests could taste each. The appetizer consisted of kale chips which were coated with Cheddar cheese and a side of salsa. Salad ingredients featured the Bleu cheese; also containing kale, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and sunflower seeds. The first entree was a vegan lasagna, served in a ramekin and featuring vegan Mozzarella. This also had mushrooms which were delicious. The second entree served was a ravioli dish covered with a flavorful vegan Alfredo sauce and featured the vegan Ricotta and Parmesan. The dessert was a vegan cheesecake, topped with coconut whipped cream, a sprig of mint and a raspberry. Really rich and delicious! The courses of the meal were timed perfectly with an adequate number of servers to properly ensure every guest was comfortable. The portions were just enough to make one satisfied but not overly full by the end of the evening. The evening could not have been more delicious, with a wonderful array of food, teas, and cheeses along with valuable vegan lifestyle education. The teas are available for purchase at the restaurant as it also contains an organic herbal store. I'm looking forward to Sage Kitchen continuing to offer future "Dine & Demo" sessions. Anyone can use these sessions to explore and expand their vegan lifestyle, with the bonus of a great meal!
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positive

Chinese New Year Dim Sum Brunch! It was a steep $68.88, but only happens a couple times a year. Was it worth the MONEY? I think yes! The first thing you will notice is the MOUNTAIN of halved Lobster, King Crab claws and large prawn/shrimp! They also had Tomahawk Ribeye at the carving station, but with all the seafood options, I really didn't want to fill up on beef! A couple mentionables : Lobster Salad with Yuzu Ponzu. This was PERFECT! Tender and flavorful Lobster and greens without an overbearing Yuzu flavor. One of the best things worthy of seconds and thirds! Duck Prosciutto and Asian Pear. This was delicious and a surprisingly good combination of sweet and savory. Much better than I initially expected :) The dim sum choices were limited but excellent in taste and quality of ingredients. Examples : Shark Fin Dumplings were AWESOME. One of the only dim sum choices I asked for seconds/thirds. Lobster Dumplings were good, but not nearly as yummy! Crispy Pork Belly was out of this world! The skin had a crisp creme-brulee-candy-coating like consistency...BEST I've had so far! The BEST Baked BBQ Pork Bao...very good! Slightly sweet, crumbly top with a delicious pork goodness inside! I will forever compare the others to this example :) Tea Smoked Duck. Wonderful! So much flavor in each bite! The BBQ Pork was also delicious! Small portions but big flavor. And tons of dessert options...my favorites were the Crispy Praline Nutella and Chocolate Mousse. Couple complaints (besides the entry price of course) : Wish they served melted butter for the lobster. It was simply steamed and could have used a bit more seasoning/flavor/butter. The raw oysters had shell/sand and were not enjoyable. The scallops were good but had an odd coloring to them. Not sure if that's how they were cooked, or if they were of poor quality. Overall, I would recommend it for a splurge! Just not sure if I will be back again for next time :)
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positive

Los Favoritos makes the best breakfast burritos that I have tasted so far!!! I get the egg, potato, and cheese burrito. The eggs are fluffy, the cheese plentiful, and the potatoes are FRENCH FRIES! If thats not love, I dont know what is. Haha. I love mixing their green and red sauces on my burrito to make a christmas sauce. Their burritos are not huge but a pretty good size and a pretty cheap breakfast when you compare to how much you would pay to get full at McDonalds or Wendy's. The only issue I have is that they don't speak much english there. Other than that, the breakfast burro with no meat is great and the atmosphere, although a little plain, is clean which is one of my biggest fears in little taco shops like this. I have been to some Filibertos that I felt were not very clean and honestly was a little skeptical to even try Los Fav's. Now that I have, I will have to give more of these little taco's shops a try and start listening to the hub a little more!
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positive

I went to Taqueria Canonita with a large group. In our party was a 50-year-old, white southerner who, we later find out, eats nothing but meat and potatoes. And has truly never had Mexican food. It was hilarious watching this extremely polite man's reactions as we tried to explain what a burrito is or why anyone would slow-roast pork on a banana leaf. He eventually settled on three soft tacos with rice but was perplexed with the color of the restaurant's cilantro rice. "Now, I hope you don't mind me asking but is green a normal color for rice?" I really liked Taqueria Canonita. I tried the Pepita Crab Cakes and the Smoked Chicken Quesadilla as appetizers. Both were very flavorful. I was actually surprised with the crab cakes because I usually compare them against those found in New England. They were solid, especially given that we were sitting in the middle of the desert. The chips were just okay but the salsa was good. And the guacamole was excellent and they give you a ton of it. For my entree, I ordered the Mexico City Chicken Enchiladas. It was good but nothing spectacular. I had a couple margaritas and they were okay. Nothing to write home about either but it did its job. The inside of the restaurant had a really fresh, hip vibe. We sat on the patio, under the Venetian's stars and next to the canal. After the second drink, I almost forgot that I was inside of a mall. For a place that serves green rice, this place was definitely able to please the crowd.
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positive