Our latest adventure brought us to a Joe's Farm Grill, a ranch style home turned mid-century modern design of a burger stand (according to the website), located on Ray just west of Higley. It was a very mild June Saturday, and burgers were on our mind. After a quick perusal of the menu I settled on the Fontina burger (Roasted red pepper, grilled mushrooms, arugula, farm-made pecan pesto, Fontina cheese) hold the mushrooms. I also took the opportunity to upgrade from the regular fries to the garlic fries, order a Dark Chocolate shake, and to top it off I ordered Chocolate Coconut Fritters which Joe's had been twittering about and made my mouth water just to think about.
We finished ordering, got our buzzer - oh those modern conveniences - and went outside to stake out a picnic table. That's right; al fresco dining is one of the attractions because you are literally sitting in the middle of a farm. The freshest ingredients make the best food.
So our order was up and we went to the window and collected our food, then sat down to survey the meal. The buns looked perfectly toasted, the pickles homemade, the veggies fresh and crisp, we could tell that this would be an enjoyable meal.
When I bit into my burger, there was an explosion of flavor, the slight sweetness of the red peppers mixing with the bite of the arugula and red onions, herbiness of the pesto, and of course the meat it's self. I don't know if they grill over an open flame, but I have to think they do, because this meat had a delicious char to it that you really only get from a true flame. The Fontina, arugula, pesto and peppers perfectly complemented the beef and led to a burger that I could not wait to devour. But alas, duty called, I needed to sample the rest of my meal.
When I bit into the garlic fries, I was literally in heaven. These fries had a great crunch to them, and an unbelievable flavor. The mix of garlic and Romano was something you would expect from Garlic bread served with your pasta at an Italian restaurant, not from fries.
As my mouth was now full of food I turned to my trusty chocolate shake. "You better be delicious", I thought and I was not disappointed. Now I won't say this was the best shake I have ever had, it was serviceable as shakes go, but this shake had a great consistency, I wasn't stuck sucking and sucking at the straw to get a drink, and the chocolate flavor went great with the meal. Overall I was glad I deviated from my normal strawberry.
Now, dessert. Let's see here. Chocolate, coconut and batter, deep fried and topped with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and an orange cherry. Hmmm. I had to try some of those. When I bit into the first fritter, the light crispy outside left me completely unprepared for the chewy, gooey, chocolatey inside. These fritters literally melted in my mouth. I tried to snap a quick picture between bites to show the great mix of chocolate and coconut:
It wasn't just a fritter rolled in coconut and fried, but rather it really and truly was a chocolate coconut fritter with everything mixed together. As a dessert freak, er aficionado, I was delighted to finish my meal with such a wonderful treat.
Altogether, Joe's Farm Grill has great atmosphere, you can sit under a tree and eat or walk to the farm stand and buy fresh produce, or sit at a table and enjoy the company of friends, but what really makes Joe's special is the quality of the food. The freshness of the ingredients and pride in their product comes through with every bite. This is one place that I cannot wait to go back to. I rate Joe's Farm Grill as a 4.5
No comments:
Post a Comment