Totally out of character for us, we ate three times in the last two weeks in hotel dining rooms. This would never have happened were it not for our Restaurant.com coupons.
Our first lunch was at Lafitte’s Real New Orleans Food in the Embassy Suites Phoenix North on Greenway at Route 17. On entering the cavernous, frigid, white lobby (which reminds me of a huge igloo) you bear left toward what looks like food court kiosks and you’ll find some tablecloth covered tables. The only New Orleans touch is a photograph of mask-wearing, presumably Mardi Gras partying, people. The place generally is deserted (at least on our previous visits) but a server will eventually find you. The menu is pretty large and has some interesting items on it, having been developed by John Folse, current President of the American Culinary Institute, and a “renowned” Louisiana chef. By the way, there are 8 Lafitte’s scattered around the country, all in hotels, so expect some corporate compromises in seasoning levels.
Ken started with a cup of gumbo ($3.95) made with a dark roux. It was quite tasty, and loaded with chicken and sausage, but it wasn’t lip-tingling hot. His entree was crawfish etouffee ($11.95) for a huge bowl with a mound of white rice, topped with a crawfish, in the middle. I was wondering if the crawfish was made of plastic and reused for each bowl of etouffee, but Ken cracked it open, and there was meat inside. There was lots of seafood (shrimp or crawfish?) in the cream sauce and it was nicely seasoned. One of the best things on the menu is sweet potato souffle ($3.95) which is listed as a side, but is sweet enough for dessert. There’s jambalaya, and red beans and rice. You can get a steak, or ribs (which are quite good), or burgers and sandwiches. I guess if you’re a hotel restaurant you have to try to please everybody. To sum up - if you want a nice, quiet place for lunch, with unchallenging New Orleans food, which is reasonably priced even if you don’t have a coupon, this is the place for you. Ladies, don’t forget to bring a sweater.
Lunch #2 was at Fire and Spice Grill in The Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel in Tempe. The ambience in this lobby restaurant is a lot a more pleasant than Lafitte’s. It’s done up in Southwest colors, with better quality, more attractive furniture, Unfortunately there is a Starbucks kiosk attached, like a sore thumb, to the bar - more about this later. Again, we were the only people in the place for much of our meal. We were joined by foodie friends Leon and Sena. The reason I chose Fire and Spice is because Sena is a carb-watcher, and the menu had plenty of options for her. Ken and I started with The Inferno Queso, a table side presentation of flaming cheese with guacamole, Pico, and black corn tortilla chips.($9). The woman who came to light our fire didn’t have too much experience with this dish - we gathered this because she came to the table with a cigarette lighter. She poured some tequila into the skillet, and also onto the wooden tray in which it rested. This gave me pause. When it failed to ignite, she poured on a lot more. I expected her Bic to explode, but again nothing happened. More tequila, and success, but not much flame considering the amount of tequila she had used. I wonder if cheap tequila has less alcohol content than the good stuff. At any rate, our petite Inferno was delicious, Ken and Sena ordered grilled N.Y. steak, a Black Angus Strip with ancho rub and chipotle compound butter. It was served with roasted asparagus and an “Arizona croquette”, which turned out to be nicely prepared mashed potatoes which had been formed into a patty, coated with bread crumbs and sauteed in butter. Yummy. I got the same sides with my half rack of ribs ($14), nicely cooked and coated, a little too heavily, with a hickory BBQ sauce. Leon was not so happy with his steak salad, which rated just an “OK”. Sena abstained from dessert. I don’t know how she resisted because the Chocolate Toffee Kahlua Mousse Cake the three of us shared was outstanding. Ken ordered an espresso, and it was served to him in a tiny paper Starbucks cup that reminded me of the cup into which dentists put mouthwash. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! With our Restaurant.com coupon which took $25 off our bill, the total including tax and tip was $80 (including a glass of wine). I thought this was reasonable, but I would have been unhappy paying the full amount.
Lunch #3 was the winner, but not because of the food. The Millennium Resort’s Pinon Grill has one of the nicest patios we’ve dined at. It overlooks a man-made pond which has it’s own little sand beach and peddle boats. The golf course stretches beyond that. The patio is covered, so there’s shade for all, and a cool breeze blows through. Heavenly!! Again, we had the restaurant to ourselves. We were served crackers with a deliciously spicy cheese spread as we perused the menu which turned out to be uninspiring. I ordered an ahi tuna burger ($13), and Ken had fajitas ($15). Both were merely adequate - although the tuna burger was much better cold the next day. The dessert menu was not very interesting either, but the piece of banana cream pie we shared was nicely prepared. Really, the food was irrelevant. We sat for a long time after our meal just looking out over the water and talking to the ducks who would occasionally visit our table. The resort itself has seen better days, and the indoor dining room is depressing, so my advice is to only come here for the patio.
And be sure to bring your Restaurant.com coupons with you!!!
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