SPICY THAI

Where: Spicy Thai, 3230 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Kelsey, Daniel, Scott & Hayley

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Green Curry, Pad Thai, Pineapple Red Curry, Pineapple Yellow Curry, Mango & Sticky Rice

What It Cost: $27.25 for two people (2 entrees + dessert)

What We Thought:

Decent curry, not the cheapest prices, kind of Americanized dishes.

None of the dishes were anything to go crazy about, but none of them were bad. This meal left me full, but not really excited, if you know what I mean? I thought their heat meters were pretty accurate - I was satisfied with the spiciness of my dish, without having my taste buds burned off. But for those of you who like your Thai food REALLY spicy, Spicy Thai may not be your best bet.

The Pad Thai was pretty good - not as peanut-y as I normally like, and the sauce was pretty acidic. Of course this didn't stop me from eating the whole thing with Owen, since Pad Thai is my new favorite meal of 2014, but I've had better. I liked how you could choose what type (or if) of meat you wanted.

Cute rice container! There was plenty of rice for everyone's curry, which was nice. Nothing worse that shortages of rice! I thought it was a little odd how much they charged extra if you want sticky or brown rice though...I love sticky rice, but I definitely wouldn't "upgrade" to it here.

Normal yellow pineapple curry. Nothing too crazy here...

I ordered the red pineapple curry, and thought it was pretty good. It was actually my first red curry (I usually stick to yellow), and I was surprised to find I like it more! Nice pepper flavor coming through, which was tasty with the pineapple to mellow out the heat.

I always have to get mangoes & sticky rice! This one was much more soup-y than others I've had - it kind of seemed like the coconut sauce was just poured on top instead of cooking the rice with any coconut flavor. But mango was in season, so the fruit was absolutely divine.

What You Should Do: It's not a bad choice, but it definitely wasn't my favorite Thai place we've been to. I've heard they are really good for take-out, but I don't know if we'll be back, since it wasn't that cheap for the portion sizes.

Read other reviews here: 

CHEDDATRUCK

Where: CheddaTruck, Food Truck

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen and the Interns

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Ole' Faithful Burger, Mother Hen Burger, and The Nasty Burger

What It Cost: $8 per burger

What We Thought: 

And the food truck details continue! I wonder how these food trucks will survive during the winter....do they just shut down until summer comes around? If anyone has details on this, I would greatly appreciate it! 

Anyway, I've been wanting to try CheddaTruck for a while now, since they park overnight across the way from my house and I looked at their menu online....it's pretty exciting. Let's just say, one of the burgers is served on a Krispy Kreme doughnut (to be tasted...)

I was not feeling quite so incredibly gluttonous this day, so I went with the Mother Hen burger, which is still pretty intense! Okay, it's really intense. A burger, served on an English muffin, with bacon, muenster cheese, a fried egg, sriracha aioli, and a spring mix of greens. Wowza. It was TOTALLY worth all of the calories I saved up all day! The English muffin was a little small to hold it all in, so it was totally messy, but the flavor of the muffin went great with the breakfast twist of eggs & bacon, and the sriracha aioli was mild, but still interesting enough to give it some pizzazz. The muenster was a nice salty cheese, which was balanced by the greens, and this thing was just a few moments of messy burger happiness.

Owen got the Nasty, which has braised onions, pepperjack cheese, sriracha buffalo sauce and tarragon dressing. Here I got to try the CheddaTruck's regular bun, which was fresh and heavenly. MAN THIS PLACE MAKES GOOD BURGERS. This one was spicy and just plain awesome.

Finally, we tried the Ole' Faithful, which is their basic, "traditional" burger (with braised onions, roasted tomatoes, and the tarragon dressing of course). It was of course fabulous. Hands down, one of the best burgers I've ever tried, and definitely the best one I've ever had from a truck! The regular burger was amazing, but how could you ever get a traditional burger when you have choices like these:

The Green Mile Burger - Mac & Cheese, Roasted Peppers, Bacon, Whole Grain Mustard

The Hipster "Burger" - Brat Haus Veggie Patty, Roasted Tomatoes, Brie, Corn Pudding, Arugula

Kill Me Softly Burger - Bacon, Blue Cheese, Arugula, Cranberry Gastrique, and Krispy Kreme Donut Bun

What You Should Do: Meet me down at the Provo Food Truck roundup, where you can try these guys, and a bunch of other fun places! The roundup is every Thursday from 5-9 at the Startup building in Provo (near the FrontRunner station). Just follow the lines of cars :) But it's so worth it! I definitely recommend trying the CheddaTruck, and you can follow them on Instagram to get updates on where they will be throughout the day!

ZUB'S

Where: Zub's, 684 N Freedom Blvd, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 2 (.5)

What We Ordered: New York Sandwich, Greek Pizza, Apple Pie Pizza

What It Cost: $13.99 (for two entrees)

What We Thought: 

FRESH BREAD. One of the best smells in the world, isn't it? Zub's, which started out in Springville, has decided to open another location in Provo in what I sometimes refer to as the "doomsday stretch" of restaurants along Freedom Blvd (I swear restaurants are in and out of there ALL the time). They've taken over Shirley's Bakery, but still bake up something delicious -- fresh bread and pizza dough from scratch that is seriously divine. 

The original Zub's location in Springville is a take-out only, with no restaurant seating. They kind of did the opposite here at the Provo location - it almost feels like there is too much seating, especially when they aren't very busy. It can feel a little awkward. But honestly, I am a little surprised that this place isn't more busy yet....

We first ordered the New Yorker sandwich, and immediately, the bread to meat ratio made me scratch my head. It sure looked like a lot of bread for a puny amount of filling. But when you bite into that ultra fluffy bread with a slightly crisp exterior, you get it. At Zub's, they do subs right. I had my doubts, but when I stole a couple of bites from Owen's reuben-esque sandwich, I found I couldn't stop myself. And I don't even like reubens! But the bread is just sooooo good, and the fillings are fresh and flavorful, and really, this may be one of the best sandwiches I've ever had!

Next, my Greek pizza. Same story here. Ultra delicious, homemade crust that is wayyy better than any homemade I've ever made...Fresh, light toppings full of flavor and deliciousness. The pizza was a good size for one person - I ate three pieces and felt pretty full, and you know I always love taking one home for lunch the next day :) When I saw that the Springville location was so highly rated on Urbanspoon, I was a little confused about what could be so great about pizza and subs. But this place really does live up to the hype, my friends. 

NOW - my only problem. When I was reading the menu and reviews for the Springville site, my heart skipped a beat when I read about the apple pie pizza (pictured above). Owen is an apple pie fanatic, and I am always a sucker for a dessert pizza, so I knew we HAD to try it. But guess what? They only have it at the Springville site!! I was SO MAD! We obviously went to the Springville store and ordered one to go, so I could see if it was truly worth making a big deal of, and um yeah. It is. This apple pie pizza is seriously scrumptious. And I don't get why they don't make it at the Provo store?!

What You Should Do: My only reservation from giving this the full-fledged four-star review is that dang apple pie pizza. Add it the Provo menu, and I'm all-in. But nonetheless, Zub's proved to be a great little spot with killer sub sandwiches and pizzas. We tried the taco pizza and turkey/avocado sub on another trip, and they were equally delicious!

Read other reviews here:

AUBERGINE & COMPANY

Where: Aubergine & Company, 1365 S State Street, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Kierea

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Falafel Pita, Dream Salad, Açaí Bowl

What It Cost: $23

What We Thought: 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE! There are so many times when I am just wayyyyy too lazy to want to cook dinner (especially in the hot, hot summer), but I don't want the typical heavy food at restaurants. This place FINALLY offers a generally healthy menu that isn't totally boring. And man, is it good! 

First up, the sandwiches. They start out with a homemade whole wheat pita, which is absolutely delicious, and then you can choose a main protein options (we've always chosen the falafel, but they have chicken and other meats as well) and whatever fillings you like to go inside! The setup is kind of Cafe Rio-style, where they make the sandwich right there in front of you in a tasty little assembly line, and you can specify how much you want of each add-in. They have a lot of Greek choices, such as hummus, baba ganoush, roasted eggplant, tabbouleh, marinated tomatoes, kalamata olives, etc. I love Greek food because so much of it is healthy and flavorful, and Aubergine & Company really makes the most of this! A perfectly filling, healthy, and über delicious meal.

I ordered the dream salad, and I have to admit...I haven't ordered anything else for myself here because I love this salad so much! It has spinach, romaine, chicken, green apples, red onion, parmesan, walnuts and a cilantro/jalapeño dressing. And yes, I probably could make it at home. But sometimes you just don't want to get out all of the ingredients, go through the effort of chopping everything up and washing all the dishes (yeah, I'm lazy I know). And I love how they chop the whole salad up right there for you, mixing in the dressing so it's all perfectly mixed (a pet peeve with salads at most restaurants) and incredibly fresh. At first I thought the cilantro/jalapeño dressing would be weird with the apples and everything, but it is SO GOOD. Honestly, their other salads look incredible as well, and if I could justify it financially, I would seriously eat here every day.

Finally, the açaí bowls. Basically, healthy ice cream-ish dessert in a bowl. With fresh fruit. And happiness. Açaí is kind of an acquired taste, but they keep it pretty mild in most of their bowls, so basically everyone with taste buds will seriously enjoy this. The base is like a thickened berry smoothie, and this one was topped with freshly sliced strawberries, banana, and almonds. They have topping and base choices, and they all sound seriously delicious. For those who have been to Hawaii, I have been told that they don't really taste as sweet as the ones on the island, but my sources also say they are very similar to ones you can get in Brazil. So there's that. Either way, they are dang good.

What You Should Do: Go Go GO GO GO. I can't recommend this place enough. Every time I walk away, I feel perfectly satisfied and just happy. This is happy food. Good food. Please, eat here!

Read other reviews here:

ART CITY DONUTS

Where: Art City Donuts, Food Truck

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, and the Interns

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Sweet Pig Donuts

What It Cost: $6

What We Thought:

Okay, before I begin, let me just say -- writing this post on a Fast Sunday is a B.A.D. idea! Unless you're some sort of masochist. Just a word of caution to any of you food bloggers out there...

ANYWAY, back to the donuts! Honestly, I can't even write about these things without mentally drifting off to my happy place. Perhaps it is the lengthly lines that make food truck food taste so good, but these little bits of joy take it above and beyond. We ordered the Sweet Pig which is that newly-popular combo of maple + bacon, and wow. It has never been more delicious in this moment. I've even visited one of the places that made the bacon maple bar famous, but this was inexplicably superior. I've always loved those little hot doughnuts they sometimes sell at food markets, the way they just melt in your mouth like little bursts of happiness. But add toppings? They blew me away. My only regret was not ordering every flavor on the books.

What You Should Do: Follow on Instagram. Salivate. Stalk truck. Order. Die in peace.