i do not eat in restaurants very often because more times than not
i am disappointed with the food. and, it seems that the more upscale
restaurants are hyped, the worse they are, ruth's chris excepted. i
am convinced by the reviews i read – reviews which entice me to sample an
occasional restaurant - that most people would not know exceptionally good
food if by accident it did manage to find its way into their mouths.
i had high hopes for the capital grille at biltmore fashion park,
what with its being touted on line by tripadvisor.com as the third best
restaurant of some 2,692 places to eat in phoenix. yeah, really!
ambiance: refined; dark wood paneling; subdued lighting;
moderate noise level – certainly nothing so offensive as the deafening roar
over at morton’s.
service: excellent. but, i should define that. it was well
timed; i.e., i didn’t have to wait for anything for so long as to be annoyed;
and, the wait staff did not make a pest of itself by “over servicing.”
skipping appetizers, i went directly to soup; clam chowder to be
specific. it was delightfully creamy and tasty. the bread basket
contained five or so varieties. the two i sampled were as good as the
clam chowder.
that is where the praise ends.
i chose a $50.00 entre: seared tenderloin with butter poachedlobstertails, billed as “the ultimate steak and seafood
experience.”
for a side dish, i chose roasted brussels sprouts with smoked
bacon. fortunately, they make no highbrow claims about it.
the waitress and i had a brief discussion regarding how capital
grille defines “medium” cooked beef vs. “medium rare.” consequently, i
ordered mine medium rare. the discussion was a waste of breath,
however, as the kitchen apparently will cook beef to its liking, not yours.
which, in my case was “well done.” ugh! i hate dry, chewy beef. i
mopped up some of the tasty butter sauce with each fork full, trying to make it
less dry in the mouth.
the two tenderloin pieces were an inch thick, each topped
with the pink tail meat of some sort crustacean. make an ok sign
with your hand, and then separate your thumb and forefinger by an inch.
the open circle formed by your thumb and forefinger will give you an
accurate representation of the diameter of both the beef and curled
crustaceans. the two beef islands were surrounded by a shallow ocean of butter
sauce.
upon ordering the brussels sprouts, i was advised that the side
dish menu was currently being revamped, so the brussels sprouts might not be
available. as it turned out, they were – unfortunately! each sprout
was cut in two. no problem, that’s how i usually cook them so that they
are not overdone on the outside and raw in the center. and, the bacon was
in quarter inch cubes, like mini dice, interspersed among the sprouts.
the problem was that both were hard as rocks.
the tanqueray gin martini, bread and clam chowder were the best
parts of the meal, but they should not be the highlights of an $85.00
restaurant tab, just shy of $100, with gratuity." while i in no way consider it
even "good" food, i'd have been better served with a can of bud, a
monster burger and basket of shrimp and frys at pete's fish and chips.