213 september 28, 2023 | WWW.bestofphoenix2023.c0m | best of phoenix 2023 Best Japanese Restaurant HANA JAPANESE EATERY 5524 N. Seventh Ave. 602-973-1238 hanajapaneseeatery.com Hana Japanese Eatery is a perennial favorite located just north of the Melrose District. On any given evening, Lori Hashimoto’s restaurant is abuzz with activity: Sushi chefs work with precision, servers hustle around the two-room space, and folks from around the neighborhood wait patiently for to-go orders. The menu gives diners plenty of options of both the sushi and non-sushi variety. The vegetable tempura, chicken katsu and spicy tuna will delight fans of classic Japanese fare, but more adventurous diners will find plenty to explore. We love the perfectly chewy takoyaki, octopus dumplings with Japanese mayo, house-made sauce, pickled ginger, green onions and bonito; and the Hana Pride roll, crafted with six kinds of fish with pickled burdock root, avocado, asparagus and sprouts wrapped in cucumber. Choose one of Hana’s many sake and Japanese beer options and prepare for a feast. Best Authentic Chinese Food OLD TOWN TASTE 1845 E. Broadway Road, Tempe 480-702-7101 oldtowntaste.com When you walk into Old Town Taste in Tempe, the first thing you notice is the turquoise. It’s not the most traditional color scheme for a Chinese restaurant, but the teal-colored walls accented with murals, teal chairs and teal booths make for a distinctive appearance. But the bright decor will cease to draw the eye once your food appears on the table. Old Town Taste serves Sichuan-style cuisine, and the byword here is “spice.” Chongqing-style chicken, a specialty, comes out delicately fried, accompanied by green beans and polka-dotted with chiles. Fried lamb with cumin is rich and earthy, and Special Flavored Pork Ribs have an incredible barbecue pork flavor as you nibble the meat off the bones. The restaurant also serves more Americanized Chinese dishes, like General Tso’s chicken and kung pao shrimp, but you can find those anywhere. When at Old Town Taste, lean into the more authentic side of the menu. Best Canto- American Chinese Food JADE PALACE 8876 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale 480-585-6630 9160 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale 480-391-0607 jadepalace-az.com The unique style of Americanized Cantonese cuisine has seen its share of devotion and derision over the decades, but if you grew up on it, there’s no substitute. Canto-American has recently engendered a new wave of appreciation for its unique cross-cultural charms, the key being that Americanized Chinese food doesn’t have to be greasy to-go counter Cheapinese. Jade Palace is unquestionably Americanized, but it executes the classic takeout fare with skill. Meats are lightly dusted and crisply fried rather than entombed in a thick batter sarcophagus. Sauces are thick and sugary-sweet, but they’re vibrant and flavorful rather than tasting of cornstarch. Juicy potstickers are deftly pan-fried, the sizzling rice soup actually sizzles, and the titanic New York egg roll still looks like a bloated, deep-fried dirigible, but the filling is fresh, the casing is crisp and it boasts the unmistakable, sweet nuttiness of a light smear of peanut butter. It’s not Chinese, exactly, but it’s ours, and it’s delicious. Best Indian Restaurant CITY OF SPICE 2945 E. Bell Road 602-603-9457 cityofspice.com If there’s one universal truth about Indian cuisine, it’s that you’ll never get everyone to agree on the best. There are too many regions, too many styles, too many inflexible preferences. But if there’s one Indian restaurant that got us the most excited this year, it’s assuredly City of Spice. On the surface, it looks like any other family-run Indian restaurant lining Bell Road, save for the lack of a buffet. But that lack of a buffet is the first clue that City of Spice is different. Brothers Azher and Syed Uddin hail from Hyderabad, and along with Azher’s wife, Bhoomi, the trio have pushed to maintain a level of quality they feel is lacking in most Phoenix Indian restaurants. It started with a refusal to let their food slowly languish in a steam table,
