Cafe Monarch is located in Old Town Scottsdale. This is a Multi Award Winning, Reservation Only, Fine Dining Restaurant. Just a couple of the many awards they won are for most romantic restaurant in the country from Yelp an another recent award is from Tripadvisor that rates Cafe Monarch as #1 out of 956 restaurants in Scottsdale (April 2018). They have servers that are knowledgeable and all are sommelier trained.

When you walk in the first thing you see is the bar.

They have indoor and outdoor seating…..Today would have been a great day to sit outdoors but I didn’t specify my seat when I made the reservation so we got seated in one of the dining rooms at a secluded table.

You know me…….I have to tell The Forking Truth…..I’m in a lovely place in a lovely room….I’m about to enjoy a four course dinner soon…..But these chairs are in need of repair (or replacement) and are indeed uncomfortable. My husband’s chair and my chair both have broken springs and out butts fall threw the chairs…..The weird feeling sort of passes and we get used to it.

Our waiter greets us. He seems genuinely excited to wait on us and is very friendly and seems very knowledgeable…..I then get presented with a white linen napkin to rest on my black attire…..The Forking Truth is that this is a small thing but it slightly offends me because fine dining 101 is to match the napkin to the guest’s attire. They should have offered me a black napkin. We order and hope for the best.

Anyways…..

All is forgiving after the first course.

WOW!

The Squash Blossom Relleno is highly recommended by me.

God it’s amazing. It’s one of the best things I ate this year.

It’s layered and complex with all kinds of interesting textures.

The Squash Blossom Relleno is coated in the lightest crispest batter and rest on creamy black bean puree. Pickled red onions counter the richness of the Oaxaca Cheese. Poblano pepper, New Mexico Chili sauce and herbs add just the right flavors. There is a little heat but it’s very controlled. Just delicious in every way…..We both wished we could eat a big plate of these…..they were really extra great….I mean FORKING GREAT!

Second course was the Compressed Spring Watermelon Salad.

This was a small detailed plate that contained many ingredients. In the end it was light and refreshing.

Third Course for me was Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo.

Here was a rice cake that was topped with the freshest tuna laced with Calabrian Chili Aioli, Tare Sauce, Capelin Caviar, Chives and the tastiest micro green I have ever tasted. It tasted like a sweet pea. This was light and very delicious…….also with a light controlled heat. My husband tasted a piece of this and he said it was much better than what he picked.

He picked the Hanger Steak.

Not a thing was bad about the Hanger Steak…..It just wasn’t as bright and flavorful as the Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo. This was also a detailed many ingredient plate. It was prepared with prime beef, herb spaetzle, wild ramp béchamel, tomato confiture, asparagus, shallots, pecan pesto, garlic chips and pea tendril.

Fourth Course for me was the Citrus Crusted Sea Bass.

I eat mostly fish when I go out to eat and have had many dishes of fish called sea bass. This sea bass was unlike any sea bass I had before. It was a big thick generously sized piece of fish.This sea bass had the appearance of halibut but with a much less meaty texture and was a very light and sweet.  It was prepared close to perfect. We were light on the citrus here but the fish picked up a lot of the butter and some of the sweet beurre blanc sauce for flavor. There was a detailed sort of patty of basmati rice, roasted corn, ramps, peppadew peppers, taro root and squash that was tasty. A pretty yellow swipe of something was on the plate that tasted like sweet roasted corn to me.

My husband had the Bucatini ai Frutti di Mare.

All the Seafood was great….(Diver Scallop, King Crab Leg, Tiger Prawn, small piece of Lobster Tail)……The House made Bucatini was great too but the portion might have been overly petite. My husband said the sauce was excellent but he wished they gave him two shrimp and more bucatini.

I’m full but my husband insist that we order a dessert….He knows I’m a sucker for a good desert.

We decide on the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding.

Not a fan of the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding……(neither of us liked this dessert)………..It’s very dense and not sweet. Bananas don’t taste ripe or even flambé. …….Bad finish to a mostly lovely meal. I would come back but I doubt I’d ever order a dessert here again.

The Forking Truth is that I tell it how it was!

The menu changes ever other week at Cafe Monarch.

I would say everything except dessert was Worth a Fork at Cafe Monarch.

www.CafeMonarch.com

EVERY FORKING THING EVERYWHERE is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.