Shabu Fondue

THE PLACE: Shabu Fondue

3400 W Chandler Blvd Ste 5
Chandler, AZ 85226
Phone: (480) 857-9477

THE RATING: 4 out of 5


THE SKINNY: Trendy sheik Fondue at a slightly more accessible price than "the other place". Great service made the world of difference.

PROS:

• Great service (ask for Brannon) patient, relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
• Decent pricing compared to competition.
• Sleek, hip atmosphere, with a cute little, glassed off nook for the bar.
  

CONS:

• Hostess was a little rude, or simply inexperienced and ambivalent.
  
• No reservations for parties less than 6.
  

THE FAT: So we had our doubts about Shabu Fondue, my pessimism stemming from the reviews I had read and the slightly cheesy (no pun intended) name, Muriel's pessimism based on her previously disappointing experiences with American fondue (Melting Pot). The hostess, who rudely informed me that they didn't accept reservations, and that though they didn't close until 9:30 would not be serving us dinner after 9:00, did not help matters. (I am a firm believer that to close at 9:30 should mean seating until such time.) We were, however very pleasantly surprised. After watching two servers negotiating which one of them would be taking this late-arriving table and consequently (presumably) who would be closing the restaurant down, we were seated by Brannon, who immediately made us feel welcomed and at home. Brannon was patient, informative and very well natured regardless of the fact that we all knew we'd be keeping her well after their official closing time. We began with a glass of the Irony Pinot ($9) for myself and the Rosenblum Zin ($8) for Muriel. Though the Zin was sweet vinegar, upon inquiring when it had been opened, our server was more than happy to check the opening date of the bottle and quick to replace it with a fresh glass. We took as our appetizer the Swiss Fondue for two ($13), the flavor of which we both preferred to the cheese offering at Melting Pot, and upon clearing, was recommended by our server to hold onto the apple bits for the chocolate dessert yet to come. We shared for our dinner entree one order of the Shrimp and Sterling ribeye beef ($18.95), only substituting the Scallops for the shrimp, which Brannon was again very accommodating for. Upon inquiring as to whether the two accompanying sauces we chose (Gomdari, a traditional Shabu sauce, and the Japanese Chili sauce), gave us a good variety, our server recommended a third that she brought out for us complimentary (the Garlic Sesame), which rounded out our selection of sauces nicely. The chili-sauce was a little too strong to use as a solitary sauce on its own and we benefited greatly from the third sauce; I preferred the traditional Gomdari, Muriel the Garlic Sesame. There was a $4. split charge to share the dinner entree, which though was unexpected, is fairly standard in many restaurants, and then we finished with the chocolate fondue ($9.50), which came with a plethora of tasty dippables, including plenty of fruit (bananas, strawberries, maraschino cherries, pineapples), marshmallows and graham crackers. Our total cost including the wine came to $67.51, for which you could add another $19. assuming two dinner entrees. I think the sign of a great restaurant is that in the middle of the dining experience, we were already discussing what we should try the next time we came! (the blue cheese fondue for me..mmn mmn, a "French Martini cocktail" for Muriel.) All in all, i'm glad we didn't listen to the reviews that complained about the sauce portions being two small (they're happy to bring out more, but the little bullets of sauce were more than sufficient for us, or the complaints that the service was so bad, because ours was probably the best we've had since arriving in Phoenix. For the French, it is vital that dinner is not rushed, it is an event with which to cherish the evening, our server, regardless of how late we arrived was more than patient to let us enjoy it as such, afterall what is fondue if not to enjoy the experience?
Still i am curious as to how the entire experience would have been under the hands of a less patient, less amiable server and so until our second experience, i shall reserve the last of the 5 stars...really probably also the hostess' fault :) Otherwise, we were both very happy with Shabu Fondue, and we hope your experience is just as good (ask for Brannon if you can)

P.S, just as an interesting side note, on the reviews page I read, admidst all the poor reviews, I found a very sweet and articulate apology from one of the staff members, admitting to having service issues in the past, and politely addressing the complaints of the sauces and style of the restaurant, though i'm sorry to hear that this server (Amy) is no longer working there, it was in fact this "review/disclaimer/apology that made me decide to give Shabu Fondue the opportunity to prove the reviews wrong, and thank God for that, for we will certainly be back.

Lakeshore Restaurant

Mesa, Central Arizona. 48 miles south of Payson
(supposedly Ranked #206 in Mesa, AZ ...out of 300 or so)

• 14011 N Bush Hwy, Saguaro Lake Marina, 14011 Bush Highway, Mesa, AZ 85215
• Phone: (480) 984-5311
• Lakeshore Restaurant (no website to be found, but heres another review)
  

THE RATING: Half Star out of 5. (Strictly for the view)

THE SKINNY: BAD DRINKS, BAD FOOD, JERRY SPRINGER CIRCUS SERVICE. NICE VIEW.

PROS:

• Sitting on the patio allows for a wonderful scenic lakeside view, and probably a nice place to watch the sunset.
  

CONS:

• Everything Else.
  

THE FAT: So we were returning from Payson, and took the long scenic route as my girlfriend loves a good scenic drive. We thought that a nice Lake side dining experience before the long drive still ahead of us would be a nice way to finish the evening off. Oh my Lord, were we wrong. So the menu should have made us turn around I think, it was pretty elementary bar food, already not quite the level we were aiming for, but we figured eh, lets give it a shot, the view itself will be worth it. So we go in and are eventually seated by one of the four people hanging out in front. Outside on the lake side elevated patio, the view really was gorgeous, but was soon followed by the worst water downed margarita I've ever had in my life. To call this thing a water downed margarita is an insult to bad drinks; this was more like sewer water poured into a glass that previously contained a water downed margarita. My lady had a burger which honestly was the safe bet and at least excusable as a burger and almost as good (not quite) as a low grade fast food joint burger, me being the moron that I am, decided to go with the catfish. I've had the self proclaimed"best catfish in the world" in a diner in Baton Rouge....and now I can honestly say, I've experienced both ends of the spectrum. This meal, interrupted only by the juvenile rantings of some 18 year old waitress' proclamation of what she was going to do to her babies daddies new girlfriend to her table which was next to ours, our own server who would occasionally stop by to perform her over dramatized rendition of what she's seen servers on t.v performing as and at one point in the middle of the meal, having to eat in the complete dark when the bar decided to turn off its beer light which it turns out was the only lighting being offered on the patio at the time. It was only when our Charlie Chaplin mockery of a server came out and tripped on herself that they decided to turn another light on. As I went to choke the last bit of flattened sad, humiliated over-breaded catfish swimming in its depressing puddle of grease, the lemon slices that i had requested as soon as we had received our meals (somewhere about the time, the other waitress was asking her tables to confirm that "yes, ofcourse my baby ain't ugly, look at me, i'm hot and classy, ain't I?" finally arrived to the table. I considered sucking on them just to wash the taste and the memory of the whole experience from my mouth.

Really is a shame, the view is great, and the location albeit limited I'm sure has some potential with the right management and timing. (A ferry chock full of hungry tourists landed a few minutes after they closed) It would be nice to see someone clean out this outhouse and actually put a restaurant here. Unless all you want is a bottled beer (wouldn't even trust them to pour a draft beer correctly) and maybe throw in a shot at being the other waitress' third babies daddy, I would steer way way clear of this place, Bring a picnic and go sit on the waterfront docks below, you'll be much happier.

Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria

As I've already been in town for a few months now and enjoyed many a dining experience with my beautiful girlfriend, there are a few places I'd like to revisit before commenting on them, namely Tricks, where Muriel took me for my birthday and a handful of Indian places (we do love our Indian buffets) that deserve a second glance.

For now however, lets start with Pizza. Why not right? Everyone loves pizza. Me in particular, having been born in NY and raised around, what remains in my opinion, the way pizza "should" be made, am a little biased towards the deliciously fold-able NY style thin crust; you can keep your Chicago Deep Dishes and fancy California White Pizzas, without sauce, and little organically grown broccolli florets decorating the pristine greaseless surfaces of your faux pizza... not really my thing. Nothing wrong with it of course, but we all have our preferences. So, me and my lady start by asking around for the best NY style Pizza in the Valley Metropolitan area, a subject prompted by a claim from the guy sitting behind a counter of Gus's (where we still have yet to visit) and several fingers it seems, leads us first to Patsy Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria.

THE PLACE: GRIMALDI'S COAL BRICK-OVEN PIZZERIA
Old Town Scottsdale, AZ 480-994-1100
Check out the Grimaldi's Website

THE RATING: 4 out of 5


THE SKINNY: Legendary Brooklyn Gate Pizzaria may have traded a little authenticity for Commercial success...but only a little.

PROS:

• Made-to-order pizzas and calzones with fresh ingredients
• Brick ovens make food crisp and hot with a signature smokiness
  
• Pleasant restaurant environment, whether on a first date or a family gathering.
• Flattering, affordable and well executed wine list with over 30 btg offerings.
  

CONS:

• A little too much polish to maintain that old city authenticity (could be a pro to some)
  
• Limited number of menu items--pizza, calzones and salads. No pasta or other entrees.
• Pizza sauce sent through the commercial ringer, left just a little on the bland side.
  

THE FAT: Before leaving for our recommended destination for the evening Muriel discovered that there was another location much closer to us, but we opted to give the fullest amount of justice to the recommendation, and thus went with the original location...the flagship location of the 3 that now populate the Phoenix area in fact. As we enter through a sidewalk patio, we see signed prints of East Coast dignitaries lining the walls, and several dining areas including, the bar area set with tallboys on one side, a family dining area with red picnic checkered tablecloths on the other off to the side and some area both logistically and thematically in between, which is where we and seemingly most people chose to sit. From here, you could see, everything that was going on, including watching the pizza being made in the open kitchen on the far side. We had a nice seat by the window, overlooking a quiet side street, quaintly decorated with pleasing flora. (Muriel loves her scenic views). Truly, to be fair we didn't eat all too much, but the purpose tonight was not to find the best calzones in town, and not even particularly to review Grimaldi's in it's entirety, we were looking for the best New York Style Pizza, this burg had to offer. I started with a small house salad with blue cheese crumbles for myself and we shared a small (small is a relative term) 16" cheese pizza ($13), a few glasses of wine, the Tresa (Nero d'avola blend at $8. a glass was particularly pleasing) and ended with a top notch tiramisu ($5.) The service was great, the wine was fresh, and the pizza was well polished...but wait...well polished? did I go out in search for a well polished pizza? I'm not sure. Everything was perfect and yet still, there was a small child within me left wanting. I yearned for more grease, and paper plates, I yearned for a shaker of oregano at each table right besides the parmagian cheese shaker and the garlic salt, the way the original Grimaldi's in Hoboken and Brooklyn must have been. They have a Grimaldi's in Texas now, one in Peoria and three in the Valley Metropolitan area, dubbing itself the "Most Award Winning Pizza in America" Patsy Grimaldi's vision seems to have done quite well for itself, and me and Muriel were quite pleased with the experience as a whole, the pizza was perfectly crisped and thin crusted, a little but perhaps not scorched enough on the bottom, the cheese was fresh (homemade i think?) and the sauce...the sauce...the sauce was, but... well...aw hell, I'm just going to come and say it. BLAND. The Pizza sauce was bland, no zing, no spice...just sort of sterile, like they had stripped it clean, till all that remained was the lowest common denominator for the enjoyment of pizza. A sauce constructed so as to insure that not a single consumer could complain about any one protruding flavor...in short, a sauce that had very little. Me and Muriel both had the exact same impression, the thought shared without prompting from one another; The sauce was just plain bland.

All in all, it really was a pleasant dining experience, I'd hate for anyone to think we felt otherwise...but if this is the best Phoenix has to offer, I'll be a little disappointed, and though Grimaldi's was some very respectable New York Style Pizza, I think the journey for authenticity is going to have to continue. Perhaps I should have listened to the guy at Gus's? Someones also mentioned Rays, another successful local chain? With a different Pizzeria around every corner, this may be a long long journey...but one i'll be happy to take.

so it begins...

Having left an imploding restaurant scene in Tucson Arizona, in order to escape having to watch any more of my favorite dining estates sink into oblivion. (Goodbye Fuego, Bistro Zin, and Jnippon) I've arrived in the wonderfully coast-envious Valley scene of Phoenix, Arizona...and it is here that I shall dine for an undesignated many years. As in all things I approach in life, I will devour this town one precious meal at a time, and I hope you'll join me in what will certainly be a shamelessly self - indulging, wholely self-opinionated analysis of what the ideal dining experience should and should not be. In the mean time , in between the errant restaurant reviews of the Chandler, Scottsdale, and Phoenix areas, the occasional social commentary, observations, or tangents may also occur... after all, Phoenix has a lot more to comment on than just food and i intend on devouring every last inch of my new home.