WhyyyyyyyWhyyyyyWhy…..
It’s very painful for me to tell the story about a recent dining experience at a Modern European Restaurant in Scottsdale since I had prior experiences here that were excellent at this place. I purposely have not used the name of this restaurant in my review because I don’t want to bring negative attention to them but I do want to tell The Forking Truth………because that’s how I roll………I do really hope that what I experienced was temporary…….. This is a stunningly beautiful restaurant with a glamorous artsy atmosphere of crystal, cozy sofas and beautiful wood work. It has a unique stunning atmosphere indoors or out.
I thought this would be an idea place to dine out with my In-Laws for my Mother In-Laws’ Birthday.
I’ve been here a few times before and we have enjoyed.
House salmon over potato cakes.
Pastrami Hash
Dessert Pierogis
Oxtail Stew
Ruskie Pierogis
Filet
Everything pictured above was Amazing and Delicious!
The Pierogis were so incredible last time that I suggested that we start off with a plate of them to share. Last time they were well prepared, spectacular with all kinds of complexity, a delicious sherry wine glaze, caramelized onions, melted leeks and tasty mushrooms with carefully made pierogi containing a careful combination of farmers cheese and potatoes. These pierogis really knocked my socks off. At the time I thought they were the best I ever had.
This time I received something different.
These Pierogis were made with very GOOEY DOUGH and lacked the sherry wine glaze and many of the flavors they had last time. We all tried them and ate them not because they were good but because I couldn’t believe how strange they were…….I did inform the waiter they were different from last time. 🙁 I thought at the time it was best to just move on…hoping that this wasn’t a precursor of things to come. But I also did get a sudden urge to leave that I ignored.
My Mother – In – Law and I both order the BBQ Glazed Salmon. Maybe you don’t want to read the details below. To sum things up this plate was NOT GOOD.
- The Fish was old tasting 🙁
- BBQ Sauce (LOOK at the BBQ Sauce…does it look like BBQ Sauce?) tasted like raw salty tomato paste with another slightly sour ingredient that highlighted the lack of freshness of the fish. (the sauce made the fish taste even worst)
- Potatoes weren’t awful but were rather plain and might have lacked dill and hemp I thought I read on the menu.
- Corn splash on left side of plate did taste like corn but also with a raw flour taste.
- Corn splash on right of plate just didn’t taste good. (one corn splash was suppose to be Creamed Corn and the other was suppose to be a Corn Nage) 🙁
…this dinner was 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
NOT WORTH A FORK!
To tell the whole Forking Truth the other two dinners were ok I was told.
Octopus Dinner
Stuffed Cod Dinner.
The waiter noticed I left a good amount of food on my plate and he asked me if I wanted it wrapped up. At that point I did inform the waiter about the “Off Tasting” “Old Tasting” fish and he said he’d tell the kitchen. I didn’t really expect much but I was surprised that nothing came of this either. But then again I didn’t go into detail with the dish……I thought I’d just sum up the most serious offensive. As offensive as the BBQ sauce was I was able to scrap it off but I couldn’t scrap off the fishy fish taste. The only part of my dish I finished was the small clump of spinach.
After the main courses my In-Laws and Husband all had Gelato. They complained to me that all the gelato served all was full of ice crystals. 🙁
When I made my reservation I specifically requested a Happy Birthday to my Mother-In-Law and my request was overlooked. 🙁
The Forking Truth is that no matter how beautiful the atmosphere is or how nice the waiter seems……The Food is what matters in the end and in the end I can only remember Gooey Flat tasting Pierogis and Fishy Fish topped with Salty Slightly SourTomato Paste masquerading as BBQ sauce.
I don’t know what happened…….I can only speculate the chef has been replaced with someone far less skilled. (I am just saying the very least)
I can only hope that maybe this restaurant is between Chefs and soon will be Amazing Again.
The Forking Truth is that everything is subject to change and YOUR or MY Dining Experience may or may not differ.
The Forking Truth
… perhaps the chef had been replaced with someone far less skilled … like perhaps a freshman high school student in their first year of home ec! Blech! And really lousy that they not only did nothing to rectify an obvious issue with your Neal, but that they were so unorganized not to have done something for your relative’s birthday. A lot of good hype about this place, but not for long if they don’t know how to run a restaurant!!
I was being overly careful in my wording…although instead of home ec student I was thinking (Forking) Chimpanzee….But I was holding back because Toscana Osterio in Glendale was one of the best restaurants in Glendale (for a very short time) For only a few weeks they were in-between chefs (but not as bad as my experience that I just wrote about) and they got a visit by AZRepublic with a not so good write up. Toscana did get another very good chef but it was too late and they did close. That dinner were I was at for sure was one of the worst I had in some time…