PHOENIX PHOOD

Tonight was our daughter's 3yr old birthday party & we found that we were hungry still after all the party PHood. We headed north on Central again, very enjoyable on a early May Saturday night with the windows down & sunroof open & enjoyed an outdoor dinner @ HULA'S MODERN TIKI.
On the NW corner of Highland & Central sits an up & coming shopping center that hosts HULA'S. You've probulbly seen it driving by. It's got open walls that marry inside eating w/ outdoor enjoyment, it's got a 1 of a kind appearance that you don't see much in restaurants, & the location couldn't be better for a busy venue such as this, plenty of parking.
This was our appitizer, actually dove in right when they put in down & forgot until it was almost gone to snap a pic. It's amazing! HAWAIIAN CEVICHE $9.00 fresh white fish, “cooked” in citrus juice, with coconut milk, chili, cilantro, garlic. YUMMY!

We were offered a free BASKET OF SWEET POTATO FRIES ($6.00 normally) with their world famous secret dipping sauce, for the kids. This was the best sauce for fries! Very tasty & great portions!
After looking @ the menu I was baffled by what I was going to order, it ALL looked amazing. The waitress was extreamly knowledgeable & helpful. She recomended the BUTTERFISH which is firm, light, delicious $16.00. You get to choose from 6 different types of preperation for your fish & I chose the: JAMAICAN JERK jerk sauce, rice, plantains, with 2 johnny cakes. The sauce was dense & tasty, the plantains are banana like & very enjoyable fried as they are. The johnny cakes are a sweet cornbread type of cake, tasty especially when mixed with the mango, rice, & jerk sauce. Very good plate!
The Old Man ordred the LUAU PORK SANDWICH $11.00 dubbed as “heaven on a bun”, topped with coleslaw. I had a couple bites of this & it was the best pulled pork sandwich I've ever had. The bun was correctly crunchy on the outside, it had a sweetness to the slaw, bun, & pork. This is the best $11.00 purchase in all of central Phoenix...
The wife had THE HULA BURGER $10.00 with maui onions and hula sauce with Jack cheese $.50, grilled pineapple $1.00 and french fries. Once again, was VERY IMPRESSED w/ the quality of PHood here! The burger patties are ground on sight, & must be some type of strip steak or prime. It's a wonderful combination of sauces, seasoned beef, cheese, pineapple, & lightly sweetened bun.
Our friends split the Tacos, they asked for one of each: SHRIMP TACO ($14.00 normally w/ 2 tacos) sautéed shrimp, tortillas, beans and rice PORK TACO ($12 normally w/ 2 tacos) slow roasted pork, tortillas, beans and rice. With the combination it was $13.00 & enjoyed by our fiends. Smelled very good & may have to order this next time I go myself...
Comfort on the patio was good. There is a very cool fire pit in the middle of the patio area. It adds so much to the ambiance but added a little too much heat for my liking on a May night in Phoenix. They'll also need to add some misters one of these days but tonight was still comfortable. We sat on a 10 top table w/ 9 people & had ample room to spread out & let the kids settle in. With our friend's kids, we had 4 kids 3yrs or younger, with 5 adults. Our kids had 1 of the 2 highchairs in the whole place.
COMFORT: 7 out of 10.

Service & Value was top grade! The waitress was wonderful & knew more about her menu than most waiters @ Ruth's Chris know about theirs. She was versed with drinks, fish, pork quality, & what kids need to be happy.
The prices for what you get are more than fair. The quality of the PHood was obvious & the portions were healthy! Presentation of the PHood looked like something you would see on the Food Network &/or possibly in a magazine with hours to perfect the picture. Very well done Hula's Staff!
SERVICE & VAULE: 10 out of 10!

Venue & location is as good as it gets in uptown Phoenix. Parking availability was open. Location being right on Central Ave was easy to access & quality of the tenant improvements for the actual building was extremely impressive! Hula's turned a previously "Tear-down" type building into a hip, updated, & 1 of a kind venue!
VENUE & LOCATION: 10 out of 10!

Labels: dinner , lunch , uptown phoenix