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Back in 2006, I wrote a post criticizing the Ahwatukee Foothills News for their Best of Ahwatukee list. The winners in almost all categories were well known chain restaurants, leading me to wonder whether it was the paper pandering to their advertisers, or the case that people in Ahwatukee just had no taste.

You'll understand then why I became completely infuriated when I came across the Arizona Republic's 2008 Reader's and Critic's Choice Awards for Best Dining & Food. While I can say that the critic's awards were all within the realm of possibility (although I find some of the categories odd), the Reader's Choice awards were completely appalling. By an amazing happenstance, Oreganos's Pizza Bistro (no link, their site requires an annoying ActiveX control, which is a possible security hazard) won 11 out of 31 categories. That's right. Not only did they win best pizza, but also best Italian, best sandwich, best dessert, best family owned, best for a first-date, best local treasure, best takeout, best patio dining, best worth the wait and best quick (non-fast) food. How the heck do you win both best quick and best worth the wait? I don't even know where to start with this. If Oregano's had simply won best pizza, I could have lived with that, although I would have personally disagreed. However, winning 11 out of 31 categories, some of them totally ridiculous completely smacks of ballot-stuffing. Come on AZ Republic, wake up! Learn how to run a poll. I've never lived in or visited another major city with such a crappy (and consistently crappy) reader's choice awards.

Just so you can see the full list for yourself, here it is, along with some snarky commentary from me:

• Best Dessert: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - I know people like the pizza cookie, but come on. There are some seriously talented pastry chefs in the valley, and this is the best that people could come up with?
• Best Breakfast: Crackers & Co. - never been there, so I can't argue with this one.
• Best Indian Restaurant: Indian Maharaja Palace - Indian food in the valley is mediocre at best.
• Best Pizza: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - If this is the will of the people, fine. However, there is much better to be found as you can see from the runner-up list.
• Best Neighborhood Mexican: Carolina's Mexican Food - This makes sense.
• Best Bakery: Wicked Witch Bakery - Works for me, although I find the bakery selection in the valley to be seriously lacking.
• Best Family-owned Restaurant: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - it is a family owned restaurant.
• Best Late-Night Eats: Fez - Couldn't agree more. Excellent food all the way through closing.
• Best Place for a First Date: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - if someone took me here for a first date, it would also be the last date.
• Best Salsa: Macayo's - WTF?!!?
• Best Sushi: Ra See best salsa!
• Best Restaurant 'Worth the Wait': Oregano's Pizza Bistro - with long waits both at lunch and on weekends, Oregano's is definitely popular. However, I can't say it's really worth the wait.
• Best Wine Selection: D'Vine Bistro & Wine Bar - Been there and wasn't that impressed. If wine selection is really the criteria, then how could a place like Cowboy Ciao (even though I hate how their wine list is organized), or Kazimierz not win?
• Best Barbecue: Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que - very hot topic. My pick would be Joe's Real BBQ, but that's just me.
• Best Local Treasure: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - Seriously now. Local treasure? Can you say huh?
• Best Chinese: P. F. Chang's China Bistro - Good Chinese isn't great in the valley, but we do have better than P. F. Chang's, and I don't mean Pei Wei.
• Best Place for Takeout: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - NO!
• Best Non-Chain Hamburger: Zipps Sports Grill - Oh boy. It's a typical bar burger. It isn't bad, but it's by far not the best. Both Delux and Chuckbox should easily have been at the top of the list.
• Best Ice Cream/Frozen Novelty: Maui Wowi - Wowi Maui. Good job.
• Best Middle Eastern Restaurant: Haji-Baba - Very popular and supplies most of the rest of the middle eastern/Mediterranean restaurants in the area.
• Best Italian Restaurant: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - It's a pizza place with a handful of other Italian dishes! There are many, many more Italian restaurants in the valley that are far superior.
• Best Sandwich: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - This is such a broad category. In many other cities they would break this one out. Mention this wind to a dozen of your friends and see how many of them react with "are you kidding me?"
• Best Restaurant to Splurge: Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar - it's definitely $$$, but for the money, I'd rather go to Kai.
• Best Quick (Non-Fast) Food: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - This one defies logic. Considering the long waits that are a staple of Oregano's, I don't see how you can read this one with a straight face. Even when you do finally get a table, it's often a long wait for the food!
• Best Steakhouse: Donovan's Steak & Chop House - I think you'll find a lot of people divided on this one.
• Best Romantic Restaurant: The Melting Pot - Fondue can definitely be romantic, however, for overall atmosphere, there are better choices.
• Best Pub with Grub: Zipps Sports Grill - For the love of all things! Four Peaks, Sonoran, and about ten other places come to mind before I would have ever thought to myself "hey Zipp's!"
• Best Patio Dining: Oregano's Pizza Bistro - The AZ republic actually got this right in their commentary on the win when they wrote "Located all over the Valley, with patios overlooking parking lots, streets and walls, it's hard to say what, exactly, it was about the outdoor dining spaces at the various Oregano's that azcentral.com voters found so alluring."
• Best Health Food Store: Trader Joe's - I love Trader Joe's, and so does everyone else.
• Best Sunday Brunch: T. Cook's - There is talent there, although the execution can be spotty.
• Best Thai Restaurant: Pink Pepper Thai Cuisine - NO WAY IN HELL. Swaddee, Maylee's, Yuppha, and many more should be at the top of this list.

It's hard to get people to take Arizona seriously as a foodie destination when this is the best we can come up with.

Ever since I came back from a conference in Bethesda Maryland a few weeks ago, I've been in the mood for a Thai style beef salad like one I had at a prepared food's place called Eatzi's. Their web site was kind enough to list the basic ingredients, minus what was used in the dressing. From there, I came up with my own version, which I thought came pretty close.

For Salad:

• 1 lb flank steak, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper - grilled medium rare and thinly sliced
• 1 bag babby letuces (Trader Joe's)
• 1 English cucumber, seeded and cut into cubes
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts (unsalted)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

For Dressing:

• 6 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
• 3 stalks lemongrass (bottom 1/3), finely chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk first five ingredients, then add red pepper, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, salt, and pepper. Add dressing to salad ingredients and toss well to combine.

I had dinner the other night with two of my co-workers from our Philippine operation. We ate at a place called The Red Crab in Alabang, which is famous for both their black pepper and Thai chili crabs.

We started off our meal with an order of Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp). There was a ton of garlic in the dish, and it tasted great. I love gambas al ajillo, but for some reason, never seem to make them at home.

Next up was a warm salad with corn, carrots, lettuce, and mango. It was ok, but not at all memorable. After the salad, I had a bowl of "crab bisque". I'm not sure why they call it a bisque, as there was barely any cream in the dish. It was mainly crab and veggies in stock. It was ok, but not what I expected. It was probably good that it didn't contain a lot of cream, though as I still had a huge crab on its way.

Knowing I was going to Singapore in a few days, I decided not to get the pepper crab as that's a specialty in Singapore. Instead, I opted for the Thai chili crab. When it arrived, it was huge! If you've never had Thai chili crab before, it can be quite messy as it's cooked in red chili paste and coconut milk and served dripping in the sauce. Because you eat it with your hands, most places give you a bib, which I happily accepted, regardless of how ridiculous it was going to make me look.

The Thai chili crab was awesome. The combination of sweet and hot, one that happens to be my favorite, really complimented the crab. It was very juicy, and there were large chunks of crab meat to be had. Paired with my San Miguel beer, life was good. Even though I had the bib, I still managed to get a bunch of sauce all over my shirt when I was cracking one of the claws and it exploded all over me.

By the time I finished my crab, I was pretty full. However, not wanting to miss out on anything, the guys I was with convinced me to have some dessert. I went with the coconut ice which turned out to be just right. It was nice and light, and had just the right amount of sweetness to finish off the meal. Now that I've had the Thai chili crab, I'm really looking forward to trying the pepper crab in Singapore. The Red Crab turned out to be a really good idea. There's one a lot closer to the hotel I'm staying at in Makati, so I may make another trip depending on how the black pepper crab in Singapore turns out.

I was walking around Greenbelt shopping area in Makati the other day looking for a place to have lunch before I caught a movie when I happened across Blue Ginger Thai on the second level. The place looked nice enough from the outside, so I headed on in.

I was pretty hungry and had about an hour until the movie started, so I figured lunch didn't need to be hurried, but I also didn't have time for a long drawn out dining experience either. While I looked over the menu, I ordered one of my favorite local drinks, a ripe mango shake. I was also interested in the blue ginger martini on the menu, so I ordered one of those as well.

While my drinks were being made, I decided to start my meal with Yam Sam-O (Pomelo Salad) followed by yellow curry with chicken and an order of steamed rice. The pomelo salad arrived first. If you've never had pomelo, it's essentially like a ruby red grapefruit, only a bit drier in taste. The pomelo salad contained pomelo, shrimp, chicken, fish sauce, coconut flake, lime juice, peanuts, chilis, lettuce, and a few other ingredients I'm sure I missed. It was very tasty and something I would love to try to make when I return home. It had a nice balance of sweet, salty, sour, and hot - just as most Thai food does.

I was actually just about finished my salad when my blue ginger martini arrived. True to it's name, it was both blue in color and had several match sticks of ginger sitting in the bottom of the martini glass. I was a little disappointed with the actual taste of the martini, though. It tasted to me like it was almost entirely made from blue curacao, with only the slightest hint of ginger, and no trace of an underlying spirit like vodka.

Once the yellow curry and the steamed rice arrived, I was ready to dig in. I had asked for the dish extra spicy, but found to be extremely mild. The pomelo salad was spicier than my curry. Other than that, it tasted very nice, but was no where near as complex and flavorful as the yellow curry at my favorite Thai restaurant in Arizona, Swaddee.

Overall, my meal was enjoyable, and I learned about a new dish that I'll have to look for to compare back home. If you're in the Makati area and looking for a decent Thai meal at very reasonable prices, give Blue Ginger Thai a try.

Yesterday, Moody and I headed over to Cyclo for lunch. When we got there, the place was packed so rather than wait, we decided to head across the street to Thai Rama. I've been to Thai Rama a few times before, and although the food is nowhere near as good as the food at Swaddee or Yupha's, it had always done the job when a Thai craving was at hand.

We were in a bit of a hurry, so by the time the waitress came by to take our drink orders, we were ready to order everything. I went with the yellow curry. I asked for it "super spicy". I love really hot food, and am usually able to tolerate the hottest foods that most eateries can dish out. I get tired of telling wait staff that "no I haven't eater here before, but I want it as hot as you can make it", or "yes, I mean number 10". Our waitress didn't argue, and I was happy for that.

When the waitress returned with our order, I immediately noticed something off about my yellow curry. The first thing that got me was the layer of oil floating on top with bits of pepper throughout. The pepper I didn't mind, but the oil definitely didn't belong there. There was also an odd odor. It took me a few minutes to place it, but I finally realized it was habanero. The first bite was completely disappointing. Not only was the curry devoid of any flavor, it was so unbalanced that all I got was heat and the pungent taste of habanero. The dish was definitely spicy, which was good, but it came completely at the expense of any flavor. The chicken was bland, the potatoes were overcooked, and anything else that was in there had completely turned to mush. Worst of all, there was absolutely no coconut flavor.

I think I remember now why I don't go to Thai Rama on a regular basis - there are just too many better choices for Thai in the area. Next time I'm in a pinch, I'll save myself the disappointment and head down the road to Swaddee.

Swaddee Thai is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in the valley. They make the absolute best yellow curry around. It's a spot I frequently visit for lunch, just as I did yesterday.

I was really in the mood for sticky rice with mango ever since the last time I had it at Yupha's. Given that I find Swaddee's food generally better than Yupha's, I was looking forward to seeing how their version of the tasty dessert stacked up.

As usual, I ordered the yellow curry, 5 star "Thai hot". This is usually amusing to my friends and coworkers as I tend to sweat profusely when I eat it, and sometimes even before the dish makes it to the table. For me, it isn't hot enough unless it makes me sweat. I like my yellow curry so spicy that it almost resembles red curry, and Sawadee usually gets the heat right. As expected, when my meal arrived, it was just what I had expected. The potatos cooked to the point where they are still firm, almost crunchy without being raw. The carrot the same way. The sauce itself was that perfect balance of hot and seeet that I just can't seem to get enough of. I could drink this stuff with a straw!

When I first started ordering the dish, I used to spoon it out of the bowl and onto the mound of rice on my plate. Not anymore. These days, I spoon some of the rice from my plate into the bowl of wonderful golden red goodness and eat it with a spoon, just like soup.

Although I had asked for an order of the mango and sticky rice to be brought out with my meal, it didn't actually arrive until we were all done eating. Normally this would have been fine, but we were in a bit of a hurry to make it back to work. When the dessert arrived, I was a little disappointed right off the bat. At Yupha's, the presentation was artistic with the sticky rice molded in a mound, and each half of a mango nicely fanned out across the plate and garnished with a flower. The plate I got at Sawadee contained what can only be described as a "glop" of the sticky rice on the plate with the two cut halves of the mango on either side, sliced through, but not fanned.

Unfortunately for me, the overall taste of the dish wasn't much better. The rice was overly starchy and bland, with the sweetness of the coconut milk unevenly distributed. The mango wasn't bursting with flavor as it was at Yupha's either. So, while Swaddee may make a better yellow curry than Yupha's, they could certainly take a lesson or two from her on how to make a great sticky rice with mango.