20 Jan 5th–Jan 11th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | wedged between buttered and grilled toast and served with charred lemon. Lom Wong 218 East Portland Street 360-622-9738 lomwongaz.com For regional Thai cuisine in the Valley, it doesn’t get much better than Lom Wong, a new restaurant that hails from a black bungalow at Second and Portland streets in downtown Phoenix. Owners Yotaka “Sunny” Martin and Alex Martin are precisely positioned to bring the flavor. Yotaka grew up in a village in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai, where she planted herb and rice gardens, raised animals, and cooked fragrant dishes under the guidance of her mother and grandmother. Alex lived in Thailand for 12 years while working in academia and met Yotaka at a Starbucks one fateful day. The two even- tually moved stateside, and downtown Phoenix is better for it. A seasonal menu boasts dishes such as Yam Mamuang Boran, green mango salad with hand-torn shrimp; and Kaeng Phet Fak Tawng, curry paste and coconut milk with kabocha squash, bamboo shoots, and Thai eggplant, served with fluffy jasmine rice. The cocktails are just as impressive, whether you go for the Thunder’s Pina Colada, an airy concoction made of rum, coconut cream, and a dash of fish sauce, or the Eleven Tigers, a smoky bourbon tipple with Campari, grenadine, and ya dong, a Thai sugarcane spirit. Mika’s Kitchen 648 West Pierson Street 480-250-9049 instagram.com/mikaskitchenphx/ On a small neighborhood street, next to a used car dealership, sits a little patio serving big flavors. Mika’s Kitchen opened this fall, when Netanel “Nate” Harat decided to follow his dream to share food from home with Phoenix. Harat grew up in Jerusalem and sells a selection of dishes he learned from his mother, Mika, with a few tweaks of his own. The stewed beef falls apart and has a richness almost like lamb. The grilled chicken is soft and fragrant, marinated overnight in spices. The hummus is tangy with tahini, and all of the dishes get a bright pop of flavor from a range of colorful hot sauces made in-house — or rather, in the commissary kitchen where all of the food is prepared before it’s brought to the Melrose cafe and loaded into the custom stainless-steel food card. This little spot is open for weekday lunch only, but it makes for the perfect workday break. The vibe is friendly and casual, and the food is outstanding. St. Urban 5538 North Seventh Street 682-675-1885 sturbanaz.com If you didn’t know it was there, St. Urban would be easy to miss. This small but stylish restaurant is located above Neighborly Public House on Seventh Street. Head up a flight of stairs and enter the pink- hued space, complete with a wrap-around bar, rose- patterned wallpaper, and plush pink seating. This spot is perfect for your next girls’ night out. While it certainly is pretty, this restaurant offers more than just looks. The menu is stacked with shareable appetizers and flat- breads, plus a few individual entrees. We’re partial to the burrata served with spicy tomato jam, but it’s hard to go wrong with any selection. St. Urban is the latest addition to Common Ground Culinary’s repertoire, and it’s a welcome addition to the party. Tia Carmen 5350 East Marriott Drive 480-293-3636 tiacarmendesertridge.com A celebrity chef at the helm may give a restaurant some attention, but it doesn’t guarantee quality. But in Tia Carmen, at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, Top Chef alum Angelo Sosa has created an outstanding dining experience that doesn’t need a famous name to draw in guests. The white-and-beige decor is an elegant neutral palette that pushes the food front and center, and what Sosa has created certainly deserves the spotlight. In the summer, a tomato salad with pureed and burnt corn, basil, pickled onions, and serranos was simple but exquisite. The ember-roasted purple yam, which comes doused in a thick queso sauce, is a lick-the-bowl delight we can’t get enough of. But the dish we can’t stop thinking about is the Wagyu tomahawk steak, a 32-ounce behemoth with a price tag to match. Served with a crust of bone marrow butter and plated with Sosa’s house-aged tepary bean mole negro, the result is a rich, complex flavor bomb that short-circuits the senses and re-routes all available resources to the taste buds. As a hotel restaurant, Tia Carmen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, meaning there’s no bad time of day to expe- rience what it’s got to offer. Tia Carmen The avocado aguachile at Tia Carmen is made with date sesame crumble, Persian cucumbers, and serrano chiles. First from p 18
