Smile Lao Thai, located in a Tempe strip mall, delivers a varied and delightful menu of Thai and Lao specialties. Come here for the deftly made curries, including a wonderfully creamy and mint-colored avocado curry, and a very fragrant pumpkin curry infused with sweet basil. You'll also find excellent renditions of mainstream Thai staples like pad si ew, Thai fried rice, and tom yum soup, plus harder-to-find dishes like larb, a minced chicken salad perfumed effusively with mint and lemongrass. The casual yet refined ambiance at Smile Lao Thai makes it suitable for a quick lunch, but also smart enough for a nice dinner.

Far north Phoenix's swanky outdoor mall, Desert Ridge, seems like an unlikely setting for a high-end Korean barbecue restaurant. It takes guts to pull off that kind of endeavor, but chef Hyunwoo Lee proves he's up to the challenge with Sizzle, a slick restaurant with a menu designed to appeal to both newbies and longtime Korean barbecue aficionados. Unlike traditional Korean barbecue joints, the restaurant has dedicated chefs to man the tableside grills. No matter who's cooking, though, the results are generally delightful. A big part of Sizzle's success rests on use of high-quality ingredients, which include prime beef and heritage pork, coupled with skillful execution. The results are beautifully seared cuts of rib eye, skirt steak, tongue, and brisket, tender and awash in flavor. Just try to resist the house bulgogi, infused with a garlicky marinade and then beautifully charred over the fire before your eyes.

Unfortunately, it's easy enough to let Nobuo at Teeter House slip off your culinary radar. The restaurant has been quietly operating out of a historic bungalow in Heritage Square for almost a decade. It's become such a fixture of downtown dining that it's relatively easy to take for granted what it meant for downtown Phoenix to finally land its very own highly refined yet unassuming izakaya. Rather than let that happen, though, it's worth shelling out some bucks for a delicious refresher on the virtues of Nobuo. Chef Fukuda's tasting menu is always a treat; it has been known to include highlights like Miyazaki wagyu beef, exquisitely braised to reveal every layer of flavor. Another major highlight of dining at Nobuo is the chef's famous sashimi spoons, bite-sized servings of raw fish artfully arranged on white ceramic spoons, which often feature unconventional ingredients like nuts, olive oil, and even cheese. Regardless of what's on the menu during your visit, it will very likely taste divine.

As regional Chinese cooking blossoms in metro Phoenix, Chou's Kitchen continues to shine as one of the most satisfying destinations for traditional Chinese food. The restaurant's focus is on the cuisine of northeastern China, a regional variety that's still not as heartily celebrated as other provincial foodways. At Chou's Kitchen, though, the cold-weather cuisine of the Dongbei region is celebrated with a menu teeming with specialties like plump pork and chive dumplings; meat pies and homemade potstickers; cold noodle bowls that sing with notes of cilantro and chile paste; cumin-scented lamb; and the eternal comfort of a bowl of zhajiangmian, homemade wheat noodles topped with pork. The extensive menu at Chou's rewards repeat visits, and it's easy to unearth a new and unexpected dish with every meal.

Growing up in Phoenix, our favorite chain Mexican restaurants always offered a hamburger on the kids' menu for unadventurous tykes. But we were shocked to see ham and cheese and bacon sandwiches on the menu of a sophisticated Chinese restaurant in Tempe. Turns out, that's part of what makes Asian Fusion Café so authentic. Diners are a thing in China, and we're thrilled, because we love this one. We rarely order from the American side of Asian Fusion's menu, but our dining companions do, and then they demand dessert — also good, since the cold case is packed with creative options and a big machine spits out the softest shaved ice you can imagine.

For a true Arabian experience, unadorned and as you would find it in the Arabian Gulf, Mandi House delivers. The no-frills restaurant is lined with booths topped with napkin dispensers, and one wall is reserved for traditional seating on floor cushions. Your soda will come in a can, not a glass, and you will notice a few kernels of rice dotting the recently occupied tables. That's because the food here is all about the rice, ideally eaten by hand and crowned with a perfectly charred piece of fish, chicken, or meat. Though they offer some pan-Arabian specialties, like the ubiquitous hummus and falafel, their specialty is Yemeni food, from a country far from the fertile valleys of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. So, it's best to stick with Arabian Gulf classics, like fassoulia, a rich fava bean, onion, garlic, and herb dish served with warm flatbread. Their namesake mandi, a saffron-rubbed baked chicken served atop flavorful broth- and spice-enriched rice along with yogurt and a tangy tomato salsa, is pure comfort food. But their chicken muthbi, a chargrilled version of the dish, is even better. Fish here is marinated in spices before being butterflied, grilled, and presented on a metal platter of rice that would easily be shareable. This is not your "Mediterranean" gyro sandwich and Greek salad joint — it is real Arabian home cooking, offering a true taste of regional Middle Eastern food in a town awash with hummus and babaganoush.

Phoenix is blessed with some seriously great Iranian food, from white tablecloth restaurants serving lavish jeweled rices and skewers of perfectly cooked filet, to small bakeries serving fresh stuffed savory pastries and breads. AZ Kabob House is the most casual of the sit-down restaurants, offering counter service in a bright, airy space in a strip mall. The interior is cheerful but not lavish, and the menu includes less traditional fare, like Greek salads and hummus, but their Persian specialties, like tender, ground beef kubideh kabobs served over saffron rice; homemade doogh, a salted mint and yogurt drink; and gormeh sabzi, a lamb and herb stew, are some of the best versions of these classic Persian dishes anywhere in town. And we believe they are the only ones in town serving dizzi, an utterly luscious mashed meat and potato stew served with a rich bone broth and warm, fresh-baked bread that could be the most satisfying of all Persian comfort foods. Affordable prices and consistently good, solid Iranian classics make it the best place in Phoenix to get your Persian fix.

Nandini is home to the same kind of Punjabi-inflected menu you'll find at most Indian restaurants around the Valley, where classics like tandoori chicken and chicken tikka are still the centerpiece of every menu. But at this Tempe outpost, the curries are thick and satisfying, the butter chicken melt-in-your-mouth, and the service friendly and fast. From street food appetizers called chaat to well-executed tandoori dishes and those wonderful curries, Nandini covers the basics — and even has an entire page of the menu devoted to different kids of naan bread. Come at lunch for an inexpensive buffet or relax over dinner. Don't skip the milky rice pudding for dessert.

The small Central America country of Belize has a culinary canon that reflects the influence of ancient, rustic Mayan foods, modern Mexican street fare, and trade-town-style Caribbean dishes tinged with Spanish and African touches. The staple dish of Belize, a hearty plate of coconut rice and beans served with a tangy, black pepper-heavy potato salad, fried sweet plantains, and rich, stewed chicken, is a good representation of the country's food culture. In Chandler, you can get your first taste of the real deal at Elvira's, which opened this year. Simple and homey, their star dish has nothing spicy or exotic about it. The rice and beans are topped with shredded coconut and laced with black pepper. The plantains prove to be a lovely, sweet counterpart to the subtle chicken, and the potato salad is perhaps the most flavorful element on the plate, with the potatoes and boiled egg dancing in a creamy, slightly sweet and tangy dressing along with chopped onions and small beans. Their stewed chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender, with a rich broth that begs to be poured over the rice along with a hearty dash of Marie Sharp's Habanero Pepper Sauce. On the weekends, the owners, Luis and Elvira, offer specials like Belize-style tamales and whole grilled fish, that are "pure Belizean." As the first restaurant of its kind in the Valley, it is a welcome addition.

There are an increasing number of gluten-free menus popping up at restaurants around town, but one of the only 100 percent gluten-free options in the Valley is Grabbagreen. Thankfully for GF diners, there are four branches across the city, and several more opening soon. The fast-casual shop doesn't bother subbing in gluten-free carbs; instead, they focus on offering clean, whole foods that are naturally gluten-free, with hearty grain bowls like the Patagonia, stuffed with black beans, cilantro, corn, quinoa, red onion, bell pepper, and steak, tossed in a garlicky chimichurri sauce. They also offer salads, soups, fresh juices, kale-leaf-wrapped breakfast burritos, and chia and coconut mango breakfast bowls. It's the kind of place where you can eat gluten-free without a second thought, special request, or apology, and that's pretty great.