What was once a winter home built at the base of Camelback Mountain for a wealthy New Yorker is what we know of as The Royal Palms Resort and Spa. The fine dining restaurant of the resort is called T Cooks. They serve Breakfast, Daily Brunch, Dinner and a Friday, Saturday 7-10pm Snack Menu that they call a Mix Up Menu and more.

The atmosphere is very dramatic and rich with Spanish influences. There are also mature palm trees growing threw the dining room.

It was still Restaurant Week so we tried out the Restaurant  Week Menu. ($44.00@ for Three Courses Fall 2018)

They started us out with a tasty treat of Rosemary Focaccia Bread and Pesto.

My starter was the Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup.

The soup had delicious warm flavors, sweet pops of golden raisins and a really great velvety mouth feel…….but it was painfully salty to me. But to my husband …..who has a greater love for salt than me it wasn’t too salty. So that means for 1/2 the people out there this soup is too salty but for the other half of people out there this soup might be just right……..Something happened I never experienced anywhere before……….Our server checked on us and I did tell him that the soup was salt forward for me……He said that the kitchen will make the soup less salty for me……He insisted on taking the soup back to the kitchen….A few minutes latter he came back with a thinned down soup that was indeed less salty.

My husband started with Butternut Squash Agnolotti.

The menu read brown butter sauce and sage but this was more like melted butter and parsley. The Agnolotti were similar to Ravioli with nice thin house made pasta. They were very generously  stuffed with sweetened seasoned butternut squash. This plate was almost dessert-like.

For Dinner I tried the Pan Seared Glacier Sea Bass with Spinach, Marinated Tomatoes, Beet/Bean Puree and Toasted Almonds.

The most spectacular bite of the evening for me and also my husband (who is not a fish person) was the Sea Bass. It just couldn’t be more perfect. When a fish is very fresh and cooked to perfection there is just nothing like it. It was so fresh tasting, moist and tender. It just melted in our mouths. The Almonds and Beet/Bean Puree was tasty….Tomatoes ran salt forward.

My husband had the Rosemary Thyme Grilled Petite Filet.

The platter came with excellent cheesy white grits and bacon wrapped haricot verts. The steak had nice grill marks and was prepared to request. (medium rare) For us it could have used a little salt and seasoning. (it’s possible the chef or cook misunderstood and thought we were a table that doesn’t tolerate salt since I expressed the soup was too salty for me)?????????

Our third course was dessert and so we tried one of each. The Crema Catalana and the Croissant Bread Pudding.

The Croissant Bread Pudding ran very dense and heavy….but we both enjoyed the Crema Catalana…….I might even add that the Crema Catalana (Spanish Creme Brûlée) might have been the best Creme Brûlée type dessert I’ve ever had….(and I’m not normally a person that likes this kind of dessert) It had a nice crisp thin shell that didn’t taste too burnt. The cream was rich with a really great mouth feel but what made this dish stand out was the taste. It was SCRUMPTIOUS  because it was laced with a bitter orange kind of taste that was yummolicious.

Service was attentive and friendly and welcoming.

That was my trip to T Cooks in Phoenix AZ.

Stand Outs were-

Focaccia and fresh Pesto

Pan Seared Glacier Sea Bass

White Cheddar Cheesy Grits

Crema Catalina

It should be noted that my personal taste will differ from yours. This is a lovely restaurant with amazing service and shouldn’t be overlooked.

www.TCooksPhoenix.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.