The Many Delightful Specials of Chula Seafood

[Skillet Doux]

I am firmly of the conviction that if you collected the best of the specials Chula Seafood has offered over the past few years, you'd have a menu that would stand out on a national stage.

We all know and love the regular menu. (I mean... I do.) But when Kyle Kent and his crew start messing around and having fun with their one-off weekend specials, they are routinely sending out some absolutely fantastic stuff. It certainly merits its own thread, IMO, so allow me to kick off this love-in with the special from last Friday:

chula_salmonbelly.jpg (208.65 KiB) Viewed 2622 times

This is strips of salmon belly that have been fried in a light turmeric-laced batter, drizzled with fish sauce caramel and topped with fried shallots. You grab some crispy salmon, wrap it in a lettuce leaf with cucumber, mint, cilantro and a spritz of lime, then dunk the whole thing in a tamarind sweet-sour before eating.

Holy fuck, this is good. There's a little Thai going on here, a lot of Vietnamese, and all kinds of wonderful. For starters, the texture on that tempura salmon belly is just stellar. A really light, delicate crisp that isn't getting in the way. A little turmeric and shallot scent, perfect. You get some simply crispy veg for both flavor and textural contrast (piping hot crispy fish + icy cold crispy veg = swoon), then it goes for a swim in the tamarind sauce, and that tamarind sauce POPS.

Chula Seafood - South Scottsdale
chulaseafood.com/scottsdale
480-621-5121
8015 E. Roosevelt Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85257

Chula Seafood - Uptown Phoenix
chulaseafood.com/uptown-phoenix
602-354-3599
100 E. Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85012

Chula Seafood - Grayhawk
chulaseafood.com/grayhawk
480-597-9125
20581 N. Hayden Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85255

[Nightbloom]

I totally agree! The salmon lettuce wraps absolutely rank as my favorite in recent memory. I also loved the swordfish "katsu" japanese curry last month. It was so rich and hearty, I couldn't even finish it.

[mkspangenberg]

I also love their community involvement and donations. Got to love that. Delish food too.

[exit2lef]

Chula changes its menu frequently, so I sometimes lose track of what is a special and what is an item that rotated on or off the regular menu. That said, I think this katsu (swordfish, I believe) was a special, and it was quite good.

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As you can see in the picture, there's a lot going on there, maybe more than necessary, but still good. There's some gari, shisito peppers, an egg, sushi rice, half a lemon, cabbage slaw, and two different condiments all sharing space with that slab of breaded fish.

[jayj]

I don't know why, but I had previously shrugged off Chula Seafood until my parents came to visit and both were craving some fish and chips. Welp. But Chula delivered!

[Nightbloom]

...I think this katsu (swordfish, I believe) was a special, and it was quite good.
As you can see in the picture, there's a lot going on there...

This happens to be one of my absolute favorite dishes too, so I'll add a little more...

Thankfully this one, their Hawaiian Plate Lunch, is a weekly feature, rather than a one-off special. Great news for all of us who love it and even better for those who still need to go try it for the first time.

It's only made at their Uptown location and currently lives on the menu as their weekly Wednesday feature. Most of us got really used to it being a Friday thing, but they shifted it to mid-week a few months ago. Ask me how I know.

So, it's actually Albacore katsu, an important clarification because it is served med-rare and you wouldn't want to be eating underdone Swordfish. The many accompaniments include a spicy kewpie slaw, charred shishitos [if you're like me, you hope for a hot one!], some sushi rice w/furikake, a bit of onion jam, and some bulldog sauce. Oh, how could I forget, the soy [and mirin and sake] marinated egg with it's rich jammy center--it might be my fav part of this dish! I usually eat the shishitos as an app, totally ignore the rice, and then try to get a bit of all the rest in every bite, saving some of the rich egg for my last and best bite.

Fuckin' hungry now. I need to look at upcoming Wednesdays and get a crew together because it's been way too long since I've had the Hawaiian Plate Lunch at Chula Uptown, a truly killer dish.

[exit2lef]

...I think this katsu (swordfish, I believe) was a special, and it was quite good.
As you can see in the picture, there's a lot going on there...

This happens to be one of my absolute favorite dishes too, so I'll add a little more...

Thankfully this one, their Hawaiian Plate Lunch, is a weekly feature, rather than a one-off special. Great news for all of us who love it and even better for those who still need to go try it for the first time.

It's only made at their Uptown location and currently lives on the menu as their weekly Wednesday feature. Most of us got really used to it being a Friday thing, but they shifted it to mid-week a few months ago. Ask me how I know.

So, it's actually Albacore katsu, an important clarification because it is served med-rare and you wouldn't want to be eating underdone Swordfish. The many accompaniments include a spicy kewpie slaw, charred shishitos [if you're like me, you hope for a hot one!], some sushi rice w/furikake, a bit of onion jam, and some bulldog sauce. Oh, how could I forget, the soy [and mirin and sake] marinated egg with it's rich jammy center--it might be my fav part of this dish! I usually eat the shishitos as an app, totally ignore the rice, and then try to get a bit of all the rest in every bite, saving some of the rich egg for my last and best bite.

Fuckin' hungry now. I need to look at upcoming Wednesdays and get a crew together because it's been way too long since I've had the Hawaiian Plate Lunch at Chula Uptown, a truly killer dish.

Thank you for clarifying: 1) That it is a day-of-week special rather than a one-off. Chula changes things often enough that I get confused about what's what. That's not a criticism of Chula. Instead, it's a strength. The kitchen keeps innovating and never gets stale. 2) The species. They use swordfish in some other dishes that I enjoy, but albacore is better suited to this preparation.

[Skillet Doux]

Had another good one a couple of weeks ago. Good enough, in fact, that they've now made it the regular Friday special at Uptown. (Not my doing!)

Chula - Scallop Khao Soi.jpg (554.71 KiB) Viewed 623 times

Behold the Scallop Khao Soi, a fresh feature from Chef Dung.

Straight up front, the curry itself — while very nice — is not going to knock out favorites like Lom Wong, Wanwaan or Glai Baan. But it's still damn tasty, and the dish on the whole is a really nice riff on the classic that's done with a lot of finesse. Those scallops are gorgeous. Plump and sweet and perfectly seared. And I dig the pickles a lot. Less of an edge than I expect on a traditional khao soi, a little more sweet-tart, and with a fabulous crisp crunch. Plus, I'm a sucker for big chunks of fresh herbs to gnaw on.

Big thumbs up.