PHOENIX PHOOD

We picked up the old man @ the 51 & Camelback to go to dinner. We went to a local hole in the wall (not yet reviewed on here) & it had a 30-45 minute wait for our party. We were not in the mood to wait so we drove 10 feet north on 16th st & pulled into "THE VIG UPTOWN" & handed off the car to their free valet. The Vig is a very interesting, dental office building look alike, on the NE corner of Beth.Home & 16th st. It was packed because the Sun's game & had about a 15 minute wait. Rather than wait we went in the back, played some botche ball, & ordered some PHood @ their "Hang Out Area".
We decided to get the guacamole appetizer w/ the roasted tomato salsa $8.00. The chips are fresh, thin, & salty; all a good thing! The salsa is thin, spicy, dense in flavor, & lite. The guac had tomato's, onions, & some other spices that made it very delicious; it was also very refreshing on a 90 degree day & hit the spot as an appetizer.
The old man went with the Love Me Tenderloin. It's a bistro tenderloin, grilled to your order, sliced and served with red onion marmalade, cheesy dauphinoise potatoes, asparagus and wild mushroom sauce $16.00. The potatoes were heaven! The meat was cooked medium rare & delicious with the mushroom sauce soaked into it. Very nice plate here!
The wife went with the Good Korma cauli ower, carrots, green beans, peas, potatoes, red peppers, onions, paneer cheese and cashews in a creamy coconut-curry sauce with basmati rice and grilled naan bread $12.00. I was put off by this myself but it just wasn't for me. The wife loved it, ate 1/2 of it because of the amount of PHood, & said it was fantastic! PHor the price it was top grade she says. I did have a taste of the curry sauce to see how it tasted, it had a very deep curry taste, many layers of curry & well done.
I went with the Carne Asada on a Potato Pancake sliced carne asada on a potato pancake with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, cotija cheese and roasted tomato-garlic sauce $15.00. I was very intrigued by this on the menu but once it was served I was a bit perplexed. The sauce is overwhelming & having just eaten a guacamole appetizer I was "GUAC'D OUT". The potato pancake was different, somewhat cool when served, & had interesting texture and taste. The carne asada was tasty but served somewhat cool. I wouldn't get this plate again personally but apparently it's a popular re-order by people who frequent The Vig.

VENUE & LOCATION: 10 out of 10. The building is awesome! The boche ball was a fun babysitter for our 3yr old while we waited for our PHood & design is better than most any place in PHOENIX! Location is tough to beat being just 1/2 mile off the 51 & just north of Bethany Home.

VALUE & SERVICE: 7 out of 10. The service wasn't bad but wasn't exactly superb. 3 adults ate w/ 2 drinks & 1 appetizer for $70. It's better than some regarding the price but for what we received & the quality of PHood I'd give it a C-.

COMFORT: 8 out of 10. For being a busy night it was fine. We had to settle with a couch & coffee table in their lounge area. It was fairly relaxing since we didn't need a formal table & chairs. The rest of the venue looked very comfortable & I'd look to get a booth if you're trying to watch a game in the main dining room.

OVER ALL: B+ The Vig has good PHood, medium prices, cool feel to the venue & a relaxed wait staff that makes you feel unrushed & comfortable. I'll go back again but would order what the old man got, stick with a burger, or one of their interesting sandwiches. Give it a try, go on a date there sometime, or catch a game @ their bar.

Labels: biltmore , dinner , lunch