These are our restaurant reviewer’s favorite bites of 2023

I admire the people who measure each year by the number of goals attained and resolutions kept. As for me, I measure each year with a fork. After all, it’s easy to keep a resolution when it’s the same every year: Eat more delicious food. In 2023, I lived up to this promise to myself and, of course, I couldn’t do it alone. The Anchorage food scene had my back.

My 2023 was full of culinary delights. Here are my five favorite bites of the year, with a few honorable mentions.

Hong Kong Spirit Food: Stir-fried rice noodles with beef

One of my favorite discoveries of the year was this off-the-beaten-track Chinese eatery specializing in dim sum on the weekend. It’s an eclectic spot with an eclectic menu and when you find the dining room — through a shared office lobby space — you’ll feel like a real culinary sleuth. I love their dumplings and their pillowy pork buns with their sweet and spicy filling. But do not snooze on their classic stir-fry dishes. My personal favorite is the stir-fried rice noodles with beef. Wide, silky noodles and perfectly charred bites of tender beef are quick-fried with bright green onions, tender-crisp bean sprouts, and a salty-sweet stir-fry sauce. This is a simple, homey dish that is elevated by its perfect execution. It’s the dish that I’m thinking of when I say, “I’m craving Chinese food.”

Seoul Casa: K-Town wings

When I first reviewed Seoul Casa in 2018, I worried that this quirky Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant would be too high-concept to gain traction. What did I know? The restaurateurs behind Seoul Casa banked on their menu’s playful but thoughtful marriages and mash-ups of kimchi, bulgogi and burritos, and this spot is still going strong. I revisited at the beginning of the year to try their K-Town chicken wings for my Super Bowl chicken wing round-up. They easily made that list and this one too. These are among the plumpest, meatiest wings out there and I love the alchemy that makes these wings both saucy and crunchy — a culinary magic trick. You have a choice of sauces but I’m partial to the Korean Fire Sauce, which has a nice balance of heat and smoke without blowing out your palate. This dish is meant to be shared, but I say get your own.

Turkish Delight: Meze platter

If you haven’t yet visited Turkish Delight since it changed hands last year, put it on your list of resolutions. The new owners have kept the heart and flavors of the original restaurant while giving it a fresh face and an updated menu. I have a lot of favorites here but it’s their meze platter that I crave the most. I customize mine with the following: hummus, dolma, ezme, sigara borek, and patlican salata. The hummus is satin-smooth with a subtly nutty flavor and will make you re-think the industrial-sized tubs of mass-produced hummus that most of us have in our refrigerators. Similarly, the dolmas, lighter, tangier and fluffier than the ones stacked in salad bars, are an elevated version of the classic. The sigara borek, tight little rolls of salty, savory cheese fried up in yufka, a dough similar to phyllo, is a decadent little package. The patlican salata, an eggplant-based dip similar to baba ghanoush, makes eating vegetables feel rather sinful. Lastly, the esme, a spicy tomato stew that I would cheerfully eat with a spoon or on top of literally anything at all, is my new favorite condiment. This mosaic of tasty flavors served up alongside a basket of naan is, for me, the perfect meal.

B Street Gumbo: Gumbo

I’m a little bit proud of my gumbo — though I only get it exactly right about half the time — so, I was a bit conflicted when I tried the gumbo from B Street Gumbo, a roving food truck that’s new to the Anchorage food scene. Sigh. It’s better than mine. Much. It takes steely determination to get a roux the espresso-dark that it should be for the richest, most flavorful gumbo and I lack either the expertise or the nerve. There’s clearly no shortage of either in B Street’s kitchen. The base is smoky and deep with a hint of that subtle burnt-toast flavor that makes gumbo unique. It’s teeming with chicken and andouille sausage and rests on a mixed bed of long-grain and brown rice. In a way, it’s like I was served up a bowlful of hurt ego. But it was far too delicious to stay resentful. Best of all, B Street winterized their truck and if ever there was a winter that calls for spicy, warming, stick-to-your-ribs gumbo, it’s this one.

Birch and Alder: “The Bagel Experience”

“The Bagel Experience” at Birch and Alder, the charming roadhouse perched on the edge of Turnagain Arm, is true to its name. The experience of acquiring this incredible sandwich is as pleasurable as the experience of eating it. A quick drive down the Seward Highway toward Girdwood will earn you an everything, sea salt or plain bagel layered with cream cheese, Alaska cold-smoked lox, crisped tomato chips, Alaska sprouts, and preserved lemon. It’s an impeccably balanced construction. The salty smoke of the buttery salmon, the citrusy acid of the lemon and tomato, and the fresh grassiness of the sprouts make for a perfect bite. And the bagel holding it together — a little different from the pillowy, shiny New York-style bagels — is hearty and flavorful with a dense chewy interior and crispy, crackly crust. This is a five-star breakfast and so is the view you get to enjoy as you eat it.

Honorable mentions

I can’t resist adding a few honorable mentions that hovered around my short-list: The not-quite-on-the-menu caviar dish from Altura Bistro, served on a bed of house-made potato chips and drizzled with crème fraiche; the exceptional pretzels from Bore Tide Pretzel Co. served with house-made mustard, cheddar-beer cheese sauce, or jam; and the simple and addictive miso tare cucumbers served at Whisky & Ramen all lingered in my mind while reviewing my year on a fork.

I’ve made the same New Year’s resolution that I do every year: Eat more good food. Thanks in advance to Anchorage’s fantastic food scene for making it one I know I’ll keep.

If you go:

Hong Kong Spirit House

Hong Kong Spirit House

570 W. 53rd Ave.

907-222-1368

Thursday-Friday: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday (dim sum): 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Seoul Casa

601 E. Dimond Blvd. #6

907-344-3333

Monday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sunday: Noon-9 p.m.

Turkish Delight

2210 E. Northern Lights Blvd. #110

907-865-5373

Tuesday-Saturday: 11:30a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9:30 p.m.

Sunday: 4:30-9:30 p.m.

B Street Gumbo

907-759-3980

For hours and locations, follow them on Facebook or Instagram: @bstreetgumbo

Birch & Alder

27635 Seward Highway in Indian

Thursday-Sunday: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (These hours vary so please double-check before you make the drive.)

907-802-0850