We stopped by iSwirl for some frozen yogurt tonight. We haven't been to iSwirl for at least a few months. On our previous visits, the yogurt was decent - not bad for being about a mile away from our house. BTW, our favorite fro-yo store in the Valley is juju berri.
We tried three flavors tonight - mango, original, and pink lemonade, with a bit of mochi sprinkled on top. All of them were absolutely terrible. They were very sweet with strong artificial tastes. Yuck! The mochi pieces were also overly chewy, with a hardened skin - indicating that they were not fresh (or stored incorrectly). It seems that the quality and taste of the yogurt at iSwirl has declined significantly.
I'm guessing that we won't be going back to iSwirl.
Places mentioned:
iSwirl
13778 W Mcdowell Road, Suite 301
Goodyear, AZ 85395
juju berri
7369 W Bell Rd, Suite 5A-1
Peoria, AZ 85382
Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Berrygood
Berrygood is berrybad...
After dinner tonight, we went to try Berrygood. It's a new Korean style frozen yogurt store not too far from our house. I had read a really negative review about this place, but we still were open to trying it. How bad can frozen yogurt be???
We tried their "Premium" and "Green Tea" flavors with mochi topping. Both flavors were absolutely terrible. The flavors had a strange "off" taste and the texture was very watery and powdery, resulting in an even stranger aftertaste.
In the (Phoenix metro) area, we like Ice Tango the best, although they don't have a location near us yet (they are opening one very near to Berrygood). There is a place near us called iSwirl which is decent.
Places mentioned:
Berrygood (various locations)
15479 W. McDowell Rd.
Goodyear, AZ 85338
After dinner tonight, we went to try Berrygood. It's a new Korean style frozen yogurt store not too far from our house. I had read a really negative review about this place, but we still were open to trying it. How bad can frozen yogurt be???
We tried their "Premium" and "Green Tea" flavors with mochi topping. Both flavors were absolutely terrible. The flavors had a strange "off" taste and the texture was very watery and powdery, resulting in an even stranger aftertaste.
In the (Phoenix metro) area, we like Ice Tango the best, although they don't have a location near us yet (they are opening one very near to Berrygood). There is a place near us called iSwirl which is decent.
Places mentioned:
Berrygood (various locations)
15479 W. McDowell Rd.
Goodyear, AZ 85338
Monday, January 7, 2008
Flo's Asian Kitchen and Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt
This past Saturday, we were doing some shopping @ The Promenade in North Scottsdale and decided to eat at Flo's Asian Kitchen for dinner. In-N-Out was tempting but we just went there a few weeks ago (one burger a month limit!). I'm pretty sure I've been to Flo's Asian Kitchen before, but it has been at least a few years.
As we glanced through the menu, I noted that the prices seemed quite high. If I remember correctly, all beef dishes are around $13. We ended up ordering the Thai Lettuce Cups ($9) and Thai Basil Chicken ($10).
The Thai Lettuce Cups arrived first. The dish was too salty and very oily. Also, the lettuce was very, very wet. Each leaf was soaked and the bottom of the plate holding the lettuce was filled with water. I couldn't complain that the lettuce wasn't washed. We both thought this dish was worse than the corresponding dish at Pei Wei. Note, we rarely eat at Pei Wei, but it was the most comparable place I could think of where we've also had Lettuce Wraps.

The Thai Basil Chicken was actually pretty good. The chicken was very tender. We both liked this dish.

The bill came and we saw that the Lettuce Cups were only $4.50. YEAH! We we're there during Happy Hour which meant half-price appetizers! That made the (originally) $9 dish a tiny bit better. I'd probably put Flo's Asian Kitchen somewhere between Pei Wei and P.F. Chang's. Like those two, it's definitely "Americanized" food. Although the happy hour prices aren't bad, we probably won't be coming back any time soon.
After dinner we headed to Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt for dessert. This was our first visit to a Golden Spoon. Patty ordered a mini size strawberry yogurt w/ yogurt chips and I had a mini size vanilla w/ cookie dough.
The strawberry yogurt was very sweet w/ a strong artificial strawberry flavor. The yogurt chips didn't provide much in terms of taste. Both of us didn't like this one.

The vanilla yogurt was ok. I thought it was very similar to McDonald's soft serve. The cookie dough bits were way too sweet. I tried three or four of them and then couldn't stomach any more. Yuck.

Both of us didn't finish our minis - the quantity was too much...plus the yogurt wasn't that great. BTW, we noticed that almost every customer ordered a small or regular sized yogurt.
Places mentioned:
Flo's Asian Kitchen
16495 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
(@ The Promenade)
Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt
9397 E. Shea Blvd. #110
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(multiple locations)
As we glanced through the menu, I noted that the prices seemed quite high. If I remember correctly, all beef dishes are around $13. We ended up ordering the Thai Lettuce Cups ($9) and Thai Basil Chicken ($10).
The Thai Lettuce Cups arrived first. The dish was too salty and very oily. Also, the lettuce was very, very wet. Each leaf was soaked and the bottom of the plate holding the lettuce was filled with water. I couldn't complain that the lettuce wasn't washed. We both thought this dish was worse than the corresponding dish at Pei Wei. Note, we rarely eat at Pei Wei, but it was the most comparable place I could think of where we've also had Lettuce Wraps.
The Thai Basil Chicken was actually pretty good. The chicken was very tender. We both liked this dish.
The bill came and we saw that the Lettuce Cups were only $4.50. YEAH! We we're there during Happy Hour which meant half-price appetizers! That made the (originally) $9 dish a tiny bit better. I'd probably put Flo's Asian Kitchen somewhere between Pei Wei and P.F. Chang's. Like those two, it's definitely "Americanized" food. Although the happy hour prices aren't bad, we probably won't be coming back any time soon.
After dinner we headed to Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt for dessert. This was our first visit to a Golden Spoon. Patty ordered a mini size strawberry yogurt w/ yogurt chips and I had a mini size vanilla w/ cookie dough.
The strawberry yogurt was very sweet w/ a strong artificial strawberry flavor. The yogurt chips didn't provide much in terms of taste
The vanilla yogurt was ok. I thought it was very similar to McDonald's soft serve. The cookie dough bits were way too sweet. I tried three or four of them and then couldn't stomach any more. Yuck.
Both of us didn't finish our minis - the quantity was too much...plus the yogurt wasn't that great.
Places mentioned:
Flo's Asian Kitchen
16495 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
(@ The Promenade)
Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt
9397 E. Shea Blvd. #110
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(multiple locations)
Monday, October 22, 2007
LA and San Diego trip
My grandpa passed away recently so Patty and I drove to LA last Thursday to attend his funeral service.
THURSDAY
On our way there, we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. (Even though we have a store about a mile from us, it's a requirement that whenever we drive to LA, we must go to In-N-Out.)
After arriving, we had a snack at Niko Niko Sushi (Redland, CA). We ordered a genki roll (crab, eel, salmon) and inari to go. Both were pretty good.

Later in the night, we went to Victoria Gardens (an outdoor mall in Rancho Cucamonga) to walk around. I wish there was something like this in Phoenix. The most comparable mall here would be Kierland Commons. It's much bigger (and better) than Kierland though. Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge don't compare.
Before going back to my parent's house, we stopped by Pinkberry for a green tea yogurt w/ mango. (It was kind of chilly so we ate inside the shop - no pictures allowed.)
FRIDAY
We had a quick lunch at Tea Station. We had luo buo gao (turnip cake), fried taro balls, fried tofu, and gua bao (a kind of "bun" sandwich). We also had a boba tea. The food items were pretty bad (how can you mess up fried food???) but the drink was good.
Here are some pictures:




After lunch, we headed to the Buddhist Mausoleum at Rose Hills for my grandpa's service.
Here's a picture of him...
Up until his late 80s, he was still riding a moped to get around. He was probably famous in our neighborhood as "the old man with the red scooter"...
After the service, we met up w/ my parents for snacks at Diamond Plaza (in Rowland Heights). We got pastries (can't remember the name of the bakery) and yogurt from Kiwiberry - hover over the pictures for descriptions. I loved the mochi topping on the yogurt...
Here are some pictures:




For a "pre-dinner" snack, Patty and I went to Canaan Restaurant (in the Diamond Plaza Food Court). We had mi fun and won ton soup. Both were good.


SATURDAY
Patty and I drove to San Diego for a short overnight trip.
Our first stop was La Jolla. We walked around the Village and Ellen Scrips Browning Park.
Here are some pictures:




For lunch we went to Curry House. We ordered a pork katsu curry, corn soup, and iced green tea. All of the items were just ok for me.


After lunch we walked around Nijiya Market (which is in the same plaza as Curry House).


We checked into our hotel, took a short afternoon nap, and then headed to the downtown/Gaslamp area. Before leaving, I checked out the Chowhound California board to see what restaurants people were recommending in San Diego. A French place called Cafe Chloe seemed to be mentioned most often so I decided to go there for dinner. We arrived at 5:20pm, right before the dinner rush. By the time we left (around 7), the place was packed. It's a nice looking place w/ indoor and outdoor seating. Here are a few pics:



We ordered the following items:

We waited another twenty minutes before our entrees arrived. The steak and frites were lukewarm. The accompanying cauliflower gratin was extremely hot. The black cod was also lukewarm. I'm guessing this was a timing issue where the kitchen was waiting for the gratin to finish.


The steak and frites were just ok. The black cod was slightly above average. The cauliflower gratin and pumpkin puree were probably the best items.
Service was somewhat erratic throughout the meal. Thinking back, we definitely should have mentioned the temperature of the dishes and the overcooked shrimp.
I was pretty disappointed w/ Cafe Chloe. It's a nice place but the food seems overrated.
After dinner, we walked around the Gaslamp area and Horton Plaza.
Next, we headed to Little Italy. We stopped at Cafe Zucchero for a chocolate and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. We thought the gelato would/should be decent in Little Italy but we were wrong. The texture and flavor of both the chocolate and nociolla was off. Both had a powdery texture and artificial taste.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Saffron for a "post-dessert" snack. We originally wanted sticky rice w/ mango, but the cashier told us that it was only available during the summer months. We ended up getting sticky rice w/ banana instead. It was very tasty!
SUNDAY
We spent the morning at Balboa Park. It was beautiful - I wish we had something like this in Phoenix. It's so sad - I can't think of any major "attractions" in Phoenix. Whenever people come to visit, we end up taking them to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, etc. Why are we still here?!?



As we were walking back to the car, we saw condos (directly across from the park) w/ a banner - "Starting from the 300's". We were going to check them out but upon closer inspection, we saw that they had studio, 1br, and 2br units. 300k for a studio?!? Given it's a prime location, but still...we passed and went to lunch instead.
For lunch we went to Dumpling Inn. I've been to Dumpling Inn twice before, on previous visits to San Diego.
We had spicy beef noodle soup, marinated cucumber, and xiao long bao. The beef noodle soup was good, although the beef was not quite as tender as it should have been. The marinated cucumbers were great - the best thing I ate during our trip. The xiao long bao were good - not the best I've had, but good.



After lunch we headed back to Phoenix. It looks like we got out of there just in time! (raging fires in San Diego)
THURSDAY
On our way there, we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. (Even though we have a store about a mile from us, it's a requirement that whenever we drive to LA, we must go to In-N-Out.)
After arriving, we had a snack at Niko Niko Sushi (Redland, CA). We ordered a genki roll (crab, eel, salmon) and inari to go. Both were pretty good.
Later in the night, we went to Victoria Gardens (an outdoor mall in Rancho Cucamonga) to walk around. I wish there was something like this in Phoenix. The most comparable mall here would be Kierland Commons. It's much bigger (and better) than Kierland though. Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge don't compare.
Before going back to my parent's house, we stopped by Pinkberry for a green tea yogurt w/ mango. (It was kind of chilly so we ate inside the shop - no pictures allowed.)
FRIDAY
We had a quick lunch at Tea Station. We had luo buo gao (turnip cake), fried taro balls, fried tofu, and gua bao (a kind of "bun" sandwich). We also had a boba tea. The food items were pretty bad (how can you mess up fried food???) but the drink was good.
Here are some pictures:
After lunch, we headed to the Buddhist Mausoleum at Rose Hills for my grandpa's service.
Here's a picture of him...
Up until his late 80s, he was still riding a moped to get around. He was probably famous in our neighborhood as "the old man with the red scooter"...
After the service, we met up w/ my parents for snacks at Diamond Plaza (in Rowland Heights). We got pastries (can't remember the name of the bakery) and yogurt from Kiwiberry - hover over the pictures for descriptions. I loved the mochi topping on the yogurt...
Here are some pictures:
For a "pre-dinner" snack, Patty and I went to Canaan Restaurant (in the Diamond Plaza Food Court). We had mi fun and won ton soup. Both were good.
SATURDAY
Patty and I drove to San Diego for a short overnight trip.
Our first stop was La Jolla. We walked around the Village and Ellen Scrips Browning Park.
Here are some pictures:
For lunch we went to Curry House. We ordered a pork katsu curry, corn soup, and iced green tea. All of the items were just ok for me.
After lunch we walked around Nijiya Market (which is in the same plaza as Curry House).
We checked into our hotel, took a short afternoon nap, and then headed to the downtown/Gaslamp area. Before leaving, I checked out the Chowhound California board to see what restaurants people were recommending in San Diego. A French place called Cafe Chloe seemed to be mentioned most often so I decided to go there for dinner. We arrived at 5:20pm, right before the dinner rush. By the time we left (around 7), the place was packed. It's a nice looking place w/ indoor and outdoor seating. Here are a few pics:
We ordered the following items:
- Garlic Shrimp Brochette
- Steak and frites w/ a cauliflower gratin
- Black Cod w/ pumpkin puree and artichokes
- Pomegranate Mimosa
We waited another twenty minutes before our entrees arrived. The steak and frites were lukewarm. The accompanying cauliflower gratin was extremely hot. The black cod was also lukewarm. I'm guessing this was a timing issue where the kitchen was waiting for the gratin to finish.
The steak and frites were just ok. The black cod was slightly above average. The cauliflower gratin and pumpkin puree were probably the best items.
Service was somewhat erratic throughout the meal. Thinking back, we definitely should have mentioned the temperature of the dishes and the overcooked shrimp.
I was pretty disappointed w/ Cafe Chloe. It's a nice place but the food seems overrated.
After dinner, we walked around the Gaslamp area and Horton Plaza.
Next, we headed to Little Italy. We stopped at Cafe Zucchero for a chocolate and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. We thought the gelato would/should be decent in Little Italy but we were wrong. The texture and flavor of both the chocolate and nociolla was off. Both had a powdery texture and artificial taste.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Saffron for a "post-dessert" snack. We originally wanted sticky rice w/ mango, but the cashier told us that it was only available during the summer months. We ended up getting sticky rice w/ banana instead. It was very tasty!
SUNDAY
We spent the morning at Balboa Park. It was beautiful - I wish we had something like this in Phoenix. It's so sad - I can't think of any major "attractions" in Phoenix. Whenever people come to visit, we end up taking them to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, etc. Why are we still here?!?
As we were walking back to the car, we saw condos (directly across from the park) w/ a banner - "Starting from the 300's". We were going to check them out but upon closer inspection, we saw that they had studio, 1br, and 2br units. 300k for a studio?!? Given it's a prime location, but still...we passed and went to lunch instead.
For lunch we went to Dumpling Inn. I've been to Dumpling Inn twice before, on previous visits to San Diego.
We had spicy beef noodle soup, marinated cucumber, and xiao long bao. The beef noodle soup was good, although the beef was not quite as tender as it should have been. The marinated cucumbers were great - the best thing I ate during our trip. The xiao long bao were good - not the best I've had, but good.
After lunch we headed back to Phoenix. It looks like we got out of there just in time! (raging fires in San Diego)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Recap of the last few days
Random bits from the last few days...
Saturday (8/25/07):
While we were in the LA area, I wanted to try some frozen yogurt. The last time I had frozen yogurt was probably back in the 80's, around the time when TCBY was popular. Now, there are all these new frozen yogurt shops sprouting up everywhere - i.e. Pinkberry, Kiwiberry, Yogurtland, Cantaloop, Red Mango, etc. On our way to Rowland Heights for lunch, we stopped by Pinkberry (@ Victoria Gardens). We had a small green tea frozen yogurt w/ strawberries. It was a nice and refreshing "pre-lunch" snack.
Here's a pic:

Patty and I went to lunch w/ Patty's cousin, Yoru (who was visiting from Australia). We went to Sim Ba La (Rowland Heights), a place specializing in Taiwanese food. We had:
- Luo Buo Gao (turnip cake)

- Xiang Chang (Taiwanese sausage)

- Beef Noodle Soup

- Stewed Pork w/ bamboo shoots

- "8 Treasure" Shaved Ice (shaved ice w/ pudding, red beans, green beans, taro balls, grass jelly, boba, coconut jelly, love jelly, and condensed milk)

(this picture is deceptive - it was a HUGE plate!)
My favorites were the Luo Buo Gao, Xiang Chang, and shaved ice, although everything was very, very tasty (and inexpensive - $29 for 3 people)!!!
After lunch, we went to Phoenix for drinks. My hot milk tea was pretty good. Patty's Tangerine Honey tea was really bad, as was Yoru's coffee. We've been there a few times before for desserts, but never for drinks. Next time, we'll stick w/ their desserts.
Speaking of dessert, it was time for more frozen yogurt! We went to Kiwiberri (Rowland Heights) and had original frozen yogurt w/ mango, strawberries, and blueberries. I thought it was pretty similar to Pinkberry - light and fresh tasting.

Although both Pinkberry and Kiwiberri were good, I'm still not quite sure what why these frozen yogurt shops are so popular...
Anyways, by late afternoon we had already had three desserts...yum!
For dinner, we met up with my Uncle Liming, Aunt Joan, and Cousin Supin at Eki Eki Japanese Restaurant (Torrance). I forgot to take pictures but we had a bunch of things - 5 rolls, assorted sashimi, "monkey brains", tempura, etc. I can't remember all of it. I just remember that it was really good and I was very stuffed afterwards. So stuffed that I even declined gelato afterwards. (is that possible???)
Sunday (8/26/07):
For lunch on Sunday, my aunt and uncle took us to Szechwan Chinese Restaurant (Lomita).
To start things off, we had a few dim sum items. Everything was really good - very fresh and flavorful. Better than anything I've had in Phoenix. My favorite was the green tea "mochi" w/ peanuts. I've never seen it before. We had also ordered a fresh, live 4 lb. lobster fried w/ garlic. I think it was the best lobster I've ever had.

After lunch we headed to Long Beach airport for our flight back to Phoenix.
Back in (extremely hot) Phoenix, we went to Wildflower for dinner. We got our "usual" - the Harvest Apple Pork Sandwich and Emerald Spinach Salad. We also had a Georgia Peach frozen drink. The food items were both good (as usual) and the drink was one of the best smoothies I've ever had. Wildflower is a great place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The food is consistently good and the prices are reasonable.


Monday (8/27/07):
Patty's Birthday!
Patty loves seafood...especially shellfish. Even though we just had lobster the day before, we had previously decided that I would cook Dungeness Crab for dinner.
On my way to Super L market to buy the crab, I stopped by Honey Bear's for lunch. I had a pulled pork sandwich and small side of the cowbro' beans. Both were good. (no pics)
On to dinner, here's the crab I steamed:

After helping Patty eat the crab, I made a frozen pizza for myself. It was a brand that I've never tried before, but have heard very good things about: American Flatbread - Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Corn and Cheese.

Sorry, no picture of the pizza itself (I was too busy eating it). WOW - it was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. Extremely good flavor and texture - rivaling what you get in restaurants.
For a birthday cake, I got an "Ultimate Chocolate Cake" from Wildflower.

It was really good - nice and moist, and not too sweet.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading...
Saturday (8/25/07):
While we were in the LA area, I wanted to try some frozen yogurt. The last time I had frozen yogurt was probably back in the 80's, around the time when TCBY was popular. Now, there are all these new frozen yogurt shops sprouting up everywhere - i.e. Pinkberry, Kiwiberry, Yogurtland, Cantaloop, Red Mango, etc. On our way to Rowland Heights for lunch, we stopped by Pinkberry (@ Victoria Gardens). We had a small green tea frozen yogurt w/ strawberries. It was a nice and refreshing "pre-lunch" snack.
Here's a pic:
Patty and I went to lunch w/ Patty's cousin, Yoru (who was visiting from Australia). We went to Sim Ba La (Rowland Heights), a place specializing in Taiwanese food. We had:
- Luo Buo Gao (turnip cake)
- Xiang Chang (Taiwanese sausage)
- Beef Noodle Soup
- Stewed Pork w/ bamboo shoots
- "8 Treasure" Shaved Ice (shaved ice w/ pudding, red beans, green beans, taro balls, grass jelly, boba, coconut jelly, love jelly, and condensed milk)
(this picture is deceptive - it was a HUGE plate!)
My favorites were the Luo Buo Gao, Xiang Chang, and shaved ice, although everything was very, very tasty (and inexpensive - $29 for 3 people)!!!
After lunch, we went to Phoenix for drinks. My hot milk tea was pretty good. Patty's Tangerine Honey tea was really bad, as was Yoru's coffee. We've been there a few times before for desserts, but never for drinks. Next time, we'll stick w/ their desserts.
Speaking of dessert, it was time for more frozen yogurt! We went to Kiwiberri (Rowland Heights) and had original frozen yogurt w/ mango, strawberries, and blueberries. I thought it was pretty similar to Pinkberry - light and fresh tasting.
Although both Pinkberry and Kiwiberri were good, I'm still not quite sure what why these frozen yogurt shops are so popular...
Anyways, by late afternoon we had already had three desserts...yum!
For dinner, we met up with my Uncle Liming, Aunt Joan, and Cousin Supin at Eki Eki Japanese Restaurant (Torrance). I forgot to take pictures but we had a bunch of things - 5 rolls, assorted sashimi, "monkey brains", tempura, etc. I can't remember all of it. I just remember that it was really good and I was very stuffed afterwards. So stuffed that I even declined gelato afterwards. (is that possible???)
Sunday (8/26/07):
For lunch on Sunday, my aunt and uncle took us to Szechwan Chinese Restaurant (Lomita).
To start things off, we had a few dim sum items. Everything was really good - very fresh and flavorful. Better than anything I've had in Phoenix. My favorite was the green tea "mochi" w/ peanuts. I've never seen it before. We had also ordered a fresh, live 4 lb. lobster fried w/ garlic. I think it was the best lobster I've ever had.
After lunch we headed to Long Beach airport for our flight back to Phoenix.
Back in (extremely hot) Phoenix, we went to Wildflower for dinner. We got our "usual" - the Harvest Apple Pork Sandwich and Emerald Spinach Salad. We also had a Georgia Peach frozen drink. The food items were both good (as usual) and the drink was one of the best smoothies I've ever had. Wildflower is a great place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The food is consistently good and the prices are reasonable.
Monday (8/27/07):
Patty's Birthday!
Patty loves seafood...especially shellfish. Even though we just had lobster the day before, we had previously decided that I would cook Dungeness Crab for dinner.
On my way to Super L market to buy the crab, I stopped by Honey Bear's for lunch. I had a pulled pork sandwich and small side of the cowbro' beans. Both were good. (no pics)
On to dinner, here's the crab I steamed:
After helping Patty eat the crab, I made a frozen pizza for myself. It was a brand that I've never tried before, but have heard very good things about: American Flatbread - Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Corn and Cheese.
Sorry, no picture of the pizza itself (I was too busy eating it). WOW - it was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. Extremely good flavor and texture - rivaling what you get in restaurants.
For a birthday cake, I got an "Ultimate Chocolate Cake" from Wildflower.
It was really good - nice and moist, and not too sweet.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading...
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