Eva's Cupcakes, Anchorage, AK

3048 Moutain View Drive
Suite 116
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 929-1246
evascupcakery@gci.net

Eva's Cupcakes
Ok mixed reviews on this one. On one hand I love these cupcakes and they are a great treat for a girls day out. On the other hand paying almost double ($4.00) for what I would pay for a Cupcake Wars winner's cupcake in South Carolina, is a little disappointing.
With over 20 different flavors and changed out daily you never know what will be offered from one visit to the next.
Flavors I have tried already are
S'mores Cupcake: Rich Chocolate Cake w/ Graham Cracker Crust & Homemade Marshmallow   
   Frosting. ***Best***
Chocolate Raspberry: Rich Dark Chocolate Cupcake filled with Raspberry and topped with a
   Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Southern Classic Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
German Chocolate Cupcake with Classic Coconut-Pecan Frosting
Sweet Potato Cupcake: Spice Cake baked with real Sweet Potatoes and Cream Cheese Frosting

These little cupcakes, topped with a hefty amount of frosting are amazing. I have yet to be disappointed with any of them!! The best way to eat these is to take the bottom half off and place it on top. Cupcake sandwich! Every bite gets icing and no icing up the nose!

Kava Pancake House, Anchorage, AK

Northway Mall, 3001 Penland Pkwy, Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 258-5282

Menu:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/cities/64/restaurants/1732377/menu_photos/308249

Kava Pancake House
This place is amazing and busy! Be prepared to wait for seating. If you have young children needing a highchair be warned a lot of theirs have broken safety belts.

The Good News! GREAT FOOD!!!
Stepping out of my normal typical breakfast comfort zone for sure with this one but so freaking worth it! Ok the following will not sound that great but trust me when it all comes together it is amazing!
Hollandaise Broccoli Chicken Skillet
Fried chicken with mushrooms, broccoli, swiss cheese, two eggs covered in hollandaise sauce. I know this sounds very unusual and like a walking heart attack but it is so good. When ordering the eggs over them over medium so when you break the yolk it can mix in with the hollandaise sauce, it complements it very well. The wait staff when busy might over look you a bit but are very nice and very helpful. My darling, little, screaming bundle of joy was not having anything to do with us eating out. The staff was very helpful and compassionate about the situation. 

Fruit Land Fresh, Anchorage, AK

1118 N Muldoon Rd #120
Anchorage, AK
(907) 644-8888

Fruit Land Fresh
Only get smoothies from a smoothie place...point made, lesson learned.
Bad service, very long wait and frozen premade food. The only fresh thing about the teriyaki chicken I 
ordered was the rice, everything else was premade or from frozen. I am a stickler for fresh vegetables
with my food, particularly when the length of time it took to get my order I could have grown fresh
vegetables. Overall the food was edible but that is about it.

The smoothies are suppose to be great, next time I will have to try that instead.   

BurgerFi, Anchorage. AK

600 E Northern Lights Blvd Suite 118, Anchorage, AK 99503
Menu
http://burgerfi.com/menu/

Interesting concept bad location for it.
The industrial style of BurgerFi is really cool. the art work and the colors are really eye catching and draw you in. Then you have to get the instructions on how to order...Huh? Yup, You need directions on how to order. It's a gourmet burger style place meets Burger King's "have it your way" mentality. The location is in the Sears mall. While the concept of a patio style eating space is available, the "patio area" is just outside the restaurant in the mall walking area. Which is a little bit of a let down considering the feel of this place makes you want to have that patio area.
Moving on to the food...
Yes the buns are stamped with BurgerFi on them which is a cool novelty. They are smaller than expected and for the price it is a bit of a let down. The burger themselves are excellent and cooked medium unless otherwise specified. When ordering your burger you have numerous add-ons and options for your burger, but keep in mind each additional item is around $1.00 to add on.
 Then the fries, go with the small order. To compare portion sizes of the food look at the picture shown below. The small portion size of fries is bigger than the two burgers, one being a double. Even compared to the ketchup you can see how small the burgers are. The shakes, is what they are also known for. My husband and I did not get a chance to grab one on this visit; we enjoyed watching the kids who did though. BurgerFi is known for their shakes that you can hold upside down because they are so thick. The children at the table next to us Kept flipping their shakes over and giggling. At first I didn't know why until I read the advertisement for them. It's a great treat for kids and they get a kick out of the tip able, flip able shake. If you are out at the Sears mall and want a quick bite to eat I do recommend this stop and this mall. They are really making an effort to improve this mall.

Falafel King, Anchorage, AK

930 Gambell St, Anchorage, AK
(907) 258-4328
 
Falafel King
NO! NO! NO!!
I was craving middle eastern food since the first week arriving here, and this is what I got!
I can get past the bad neighborhood, the hole in the wall, run down, gross appearance. and the take out
only option. If it is good food, I am always up for an adventure! When my husband came out with our
bag of what I thought was a long waited craving....was such a let down! let's break it down.....
Ordered Chicken Shawarma
I could not even get a picture that could complement the tin foil wrapped slop.
With the first eager bite my stomach turned. This was not hummus....not a true hummus. It tasted of
pure Tahini. If you have ever cooked with tahini it has a bitter sesame taste to it. Tahini is great mixed
in when making sauces like tzatziki and hummus; you can eat it alone but it's an acquired taste in my
opinion. Not to mention If it sits, it separates and needs to be stirred to be used; this did not even taste
stirred. I could not even taste the chicken shawarma underneath the unyielding taste of tahini and
straight onion. When I say straight onion, I mean that I found the chunk of the center of an onion
Inside my falafel! Yum!Nothing like biting into a raw onion to make your meal awesome. After, 
eating almost a 1/4 of a raw onion in my falafel, I gave up in trying to eat the worst tasting middle
eastern food EVER! Since I had a horrible rancid onion taste in my mouth that I could not get to go
away even with gum, I tried the baklava....bad mistake. 
Side note: I love baklava, I love it so much my husband would get this for me instead of chocolates on 
special occasions. 
This was not a flaky goodness, this was a train wreck! The overly sticky dessert had way too much
honey making the filo dough soggy, and way too chewy. Baklava should have flakey layers of filo
dough with mixture of honey and nuts. I could not finish the first bite or anymore of this horrible joke
of a dessert. Will never go there again! I can still taste the onion just thinking about it!
  

Mat-Su Family Restaurant, Wasilla, AK

401 W Parks Hwy Wasilla, AK 99654

(907) 357-7017

 

 

Mat-Su Family Restaurant

 This is a little hidden gem! On the way outside of Wasilla heading towards Houston you will find this hole in the wall diner. I will admit, looking at the outside of this place I was not too excited about giving this one a try. I love being adventurous and trying unknown places but this one was not looking like a hit. I think it was the 1982 exterior that put me off. I was wrong!

Ok, not all items on the menu are hits, I will gladly admit. I had the stir fry special one night and I forgot to order my salt lick on the side, the vegetables you can tell it came out of a frozen steamer bag or as add in for this premade meal. What you need to order and try is the fried Halibut. Only one time out of the several times we have been there has it ever been over salted. The other 9 million times we have been there this dish will cause you to crave it in the middle of the night! The semi-sweet batter that is almost like a funnel cake it mixes so well with the (normally) lightly salted fish encased inside. Each bite makes your eyes roll back and your toes curl. Make sure to also dip it in the horseradish sauce as well for even more delight! The side salad and fries are ok nothing special, but the Halibut.... just typing this review up makes me want to drive to Wasilla to get some! I just hope it's a good night and not a overly salted night!

 

Casa, Anchorage, AK

http://www.casaak.com/
907.338.2272
720 Muldoon Rd, Anchorage, AK 99504

Hours:

Open today · 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Monday	11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday	11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday	11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday	11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday	11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Saturday	12:00 – 11:00 pm
Sunday	2:00 – 10:00 pm

Menu
http://www.casaak.com/menu.html

Casa
I was eagerly waiting for Casa to open. Once it opened my friend and I had a girls day out and decided to make it an adventure. It's a typical Mexican style restaurant. Looking at the menu you have some basic foods you would find in a Mexican restaurant, fajitas and such but then there is the other things mixed in that make it more interesting.... I asked the waitress what was the big seller that everyone liked, she suggested Bulgogi Enchilada (No sampling of meats or marinades before ordering)....These two items are great on their own but what happens when you put them together? The waitress assured me this was a popular item, and it was covered in cheese, what could go wrong?! While waiting on our food I asked if we got chips and salsa. This is a typical snacking item in a Mexican restaurant, we were told they don't come out until after we order. No biggy. When the chips came out snack size was exactly what they give you. Then it gets interesting.... On top of the small snack size of chips also comes the miso soup and salad bar. On the salad bar is also where you find your own salsa. They offer many different options in salsa on this so called salad bar. The salad bar however; consist of iceberg lettuce, black olives, cheese and dressing (Ranch or ginger). Once I made my typical Asian salad, and ate my miso soup, (boy they really meant Mexican Asian fusion with this place!) our Bulgogi Enchilada was coming out. it was covered in cheese and looked fantastic! The basic enchilada recipe is there, the enchilada sauce, cheese and flour tortilla...then the inside is all Asian. The bulgogi is a sweet Korean BBQ whish is odd when mixed with Mexican spices. your taste buds are almost confused with this combination of flavors. It is a meal that at first you start eating it, it is good....well, ok; but then half way through your brain and stomach catch up with your taste buds and the combination of flavors begin not agreeing at all.
I would recommend this place for the really adventurous people that are only looking to say, yeah I have ate there before. other than that not worth the money.

Miso soup, snack size chips and a variety of salsas from the salad bar.

Bulgogi Enchilada

Bulgogi Enchilada with a side of beans and rice

Shobu Sushi Restaurant, Anchorage, AK

351 Muldoon Rd
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
Phone number (907) 333-2008 


Shobu Sushi
This is the first "All you can eat" restaurant I have ever been to with a fine print.

The service at Shobu is great, except the constant second guessing of if you are sure you are going to finish what you order. My husband and I are sushi lovers and were really excited about an all you can eat sushi place up here.

Walking in the décor is very interesting, and modern. As you look over the menu you have a constant reminder that, "PLEASE ORDER ONLY WHAT YOU CAN FINISH. WE WILL CHARGE FULL PRICE FOR ANY REMAINING FOOD". When I say you are reminded I mean, this statement is on the menu, it is on the table placemat and on the wall (As seen in my pictures below).

The food is very fresh....until you eat a certain amount..... The rolls; when busy, do take a great deal of time coming out. After you eat a couple of rolls, the staff starts asking are you sure you can finish it? Seriously? Yes, with every additional order the staff asks this more and more and the quality of the food begins to go down. By the time we ordered the last roll of the evening the head chef personally came out and asked us, "are you sure you are going to be able to finish it"? The last set of rolls that were brought out smelled of fish and tasted horrible compared to everything else that evening. While the price of the food is very good for the quality, and quantity that you receive, the constant harassment of the food police really takes away from the experience. I have very mixed feeling about if I will ever go back, even if the food in the beginning is good the harassment and decline of food is not worth it.  

Fire Salmon

Jalapeno Poppers

Nigiri

Mt. McKinley

Ice cream Tempura