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Search Phoenix-Best.com database consisting of 500 businesses including over 200 restaurants tested and recommended
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Welcome to Phoenix-Best.comInternational Hotel & Restaurant Reviews
More reviews coming soon
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Hotel Jolly--
Bice--Our first stop on our trip was Milano. We looked forward to stopping at Bice, a restaurant that has presence in many US and international cities. It is one of our favorites in Montreal. On this visit we experienced both pleasant surprises as well as disappointment. I was looking forward to Osso Bucco Milanese, in Milano of course, but it was not on the menu except on weekends. How disappointing! In any case they had other options for us. The capprese salad was very good with all fresh ingredients including the homemade mozzarella, ripe tomatoes and freshly picked basil. The bread was quite good. The risotto Milanese was also very good with nice specks of saffron. The veal scaloppini with porcini mushrooms was tepid with a skimpy portion of potatoes, a disappointment after the good beginning. The Papprodelli pasta with spinach and light tomato sauce was too hot to eat and the pasta was not al dente. The wine was very reasonable priced. A very nice Barolo was only $40 about half or a third what it would be in USA. The tiramisu was very creamy, not enough cake for some, but I liked it. The dinning room was very crowded with tables and noisy, but located in the shopping district downtown that made the wife happy!
Vill Laguno-Lido--
Cafe Florian--When in Venice, a stop at the Cafe Florian is an absolute must visit. This coffee house / bar is a favorite place to watch the scene of St Marks square come to you while you have your favorite thirst quencher. The clientele is almost entirely tourists, but that doesn't prevent one from enjoying the pleasant surroundings and the people watching in the square. The tea service and the small sandwiches and snacks serve to refresh the weary traveller as they have for centuries.
Cafe Quadri--Directly across the square from Cafe Florian is Cafe Quadri, almost a mirror image of each other. Both cafes extend into the square, when the weather warrants, and crowd the area with small tables numbering nearly the same as the pigeons. A peaceful place to enjoy the afternoon and watch what is still the crossroads of the world go by as every nationality seems to find their way to Venice.
Harry's Bar--There are two differect experiences at the Venice tradition. Downstairs is the Bar-famous for the Belini- a peach and champagne concoction that seems to always be in season. Here you will find many of the well to do Europeans and Americans drinking Bilinis and eating toasted cheese sandwiches.
Upstairs is the restaurant, where we had our first meal in Venice. The salad of Jerusulem artichokes, avacado and parmesian cheese was very unusual but good. The miniestrone soup was luke warm and thus not to our satisfaction. The rissoto was nicely portioned with chicken and many vegetables. The tomato basil sauce on pasta was routine. A cheese course of regiano parmajano and gorgonzola was nice. They brought some parma ham for our small companion, Cleo, which was very nice
Not known as the culinary capital of Italy, we can agree this was not our best Italian meal ever, but for Venice it wasn't bad. The waiter made the meal better that the taste would have on its own, but still it is a must stop when in the area just to say you were there. Very crowded and noisy.
Osteria da Fiore--This is possibly the one restaurant inVenice that is worth the trouble of finding. We wandered for what seemed like eternity looking for this small restaurant on a side street in the bowels of Venice. We asked local policemen for directions, still no luck in finding the place. Finally we stopped due to weariness and looked up to find we were standing in front of the restaurant, what luck!!
The decore looks like an old canal boat with curved wood panelled ceiling and fabric padded walls to absorb sounds in this tiny dining room. This is one of the places you can go in Venice and have a conversation with your partner without having to shout above the noise echoing off the walls and ceilings of the ancient buildings. The wicker style chairs were very comfortable and the provide a small stool for the placing of hand bags, instead of placing them on the floor, a very sophisticated touch found in only the finest establishments.
The little things really made this meal enjoyable. While perusing the menu, the owner saw my wife pull out her Italian/English dictionary and rushed over to translate the menu for her. The fresh cut flowers and the spotless linens provided a sense of cleanliness that is difficult in a city that never dries out, and seems to have a layer of mildew on everything.
The cream of aspergus soup was piping hot with only the tips floating in the soup--no stalks to be found and thus to our liking. The Parmesian souffle with grilled white asperegus and parmasean cheese on top was fabulous. A tempura of zuccini with baby shrimp(with heads and shells still attached) on polentanwas a nice complementary starter.
The shrimp and baby artichokes with a gratan of mozzerella combined to make a lovely dish. The turbo with paper thin slices of potatoes as a crust and dusted with parmesean cheese was just what my wife enjoys. All in all, this was the finest meal we had in Venice!
Trattoria alla Madonna--Another back alley restaurant near the Rilalto Bridge, this place has been serving food for over 400 years. With family style seating, it is a chance to join the locals for a meal. The food is simple pasta and sauce and is a nice place to go for an informal setting. The tiramisu was the best in Venice. They were very generous in providing a nice slice of parma ham for Cleo, our small pet.
Hotel Helvetia--Charming botique style hotel located in the old city convenient to historic areas. Plush furnishings and excellent service.
Enoteca Ristorante Pinchiorri--Advertised and commented to us many times as the best restaurant in Italy, this promotion leads to anticippointment more than anything else. They have a 24 hour confirmation policy that cancels your reservation if you do not call to confirm, supposedly since it is booked weeks in advance. Since we travelled all day by train, we did not have a chance to reconfirm--one would think American Express Platinum Service would have been good enough for them but???? We arrive 1 minute past our reserved time due to traffic on the medival streets of Florence, to find a snooty matra d tell us our reservation no longer was valid. What a way to start, they had to see if a table was available--as if they couldn't just look at there reservation book and see no one had taken our place. This was our first taste of a restaurant who's reputation created a "french" atmosphere on the staff. This attitude wears thin very fast. About 5 minutes after telling us we had no reservation, they were able to find us a table-and as it turns out it was apparantly our original table since it was in the highest room of the restaurant where we could view the entire place over the balcony. Quite charming when finally seated.
The service started out as if the wait staff was doing us a favor by letting us sit at their table. Many of the other guests spent what looked like an hour going over the wine "book" provided. We selected a nice Tuscan red wine that cost over $150. This brought the staff to attention since we ordered such a "big" wine. Now all of a sudden we weren't the intruding Americans but a knowledgeable gastronome.
The chef provided a selection of small bites that were salmon configured to look like tiny cheese burgers. Quite cute. The also provided monk fish wrapped in parma ham. A couple of bites to start the stomach rumbling.
Louise started with an appetiser made up of many expensive ingredients like lobster, truffles and baby artichokes. A good idea, but when combined it left one totally dissatisfied. All this expense with no flavor. How did they remove it from the ingredients??? I had a tortellini stuffed with potato, parma and marscapone cheeses with a lamb ragu with broccoli, sage and walnuts. All combined into a very tasty dish. Simple ingredients won the opening course over the exotic.
The second course followed the same pattern. Louise had a homemade pasta with anchovies--one of her favorites. Unfortunately, there was less than one whole anchovie in the entire dish and it still had its skin on. A very dull main dish. I had the roast pork loin, a traditional Tuscan meal. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and the cracking surface was tasty. I did have to filet the serving though since I was having a cholesterol test upon my return to USA and the pork was still carrying its layer of fat.
The cheese tray was very impressive with more cheeses in one place than I have ever seen. We made a nice selection to finish off our wine. We passed on desert.
The service was not what one would expect at the best restaurant in Italy. The waiters seemed to want to rush us throught the meal. When they served the main course, they brought my meal and about 3 minutes later they came with Louise's. Not what one would expect. They had a over abundance of fresh flowers and a large display of lillies was next to our table creating an overpowering odor detracting from the delicate flavors of the food.
Cavalieri Hotel Roma--Large business style hotel. Very ordinary, just spent the night here before leaving via airport next day.
Le Parker Meridian--'Uptown-not uptight'--as they say, this is a very nice reasonably priced Manhattan hotel that allows pets! We travel with a small maltese, and Le Parker's pet policy make it more convenient when in the city. They even will find a sitter for you if you need. Cleo often accompanies us to the finest establishments disguised as a travel bag. She went to Italy in 2000 and with go to Europe again in 2001. She loves to travel and eat at all the best places.
Cipriani's--Food was very good. The capresse salad was fresh. The green bean, cherry tomato and parma cheese salad was to our liking. The Belini's were just like Venice and we smiled at the memories. The veal milanese was a snitzel style and the pasta was crepe like in delicacy. Unfortunately, the service couldn't keep up with the flavor. It was like we were in a diner with the salad plates being removed just in time for the entree. Ten or more plates of food hauled out of the kitchen stacked onto a big tray and dealt aroung to 3 or 4 tables like they were cards. The bus boy showed us the dessert tray. It appeared to be the first time he had done this and couldn't explain anything in english. The food was good, the service was not.
Le Cirque 2000--Fabulous decor but the marble ceiling reflects too much sound making the place very loud and noisy. We started with a white asperegus salad with a lovely vinegrete. I had a champagne rissoto with asperugus and zuccinni flowers. The first courses were both quite to our liking. The main course for Louise was the pompino--a fish she had not had since moving from Florida many years ago. The accompanying cannoeloni with spinach and riccotta with roasted pepper sauce was a nice side. I had the duck trio with the fois gras and confit in a pasta crepe and the breast sliced and fanned on the plate. Both meals were satisfactory, but not to die for. Ok but not inspiring. For desert I had creme carmel and we also ordered the chocolate souffle. The souffle was dry and the creme carmel was just custard. They also brought us a banane clown hat dessert as a 'birthday cake' after Louise reminded them of the reservation. I must say, just like I feel watching the desert chef on TV, looks nice but I wouldn't order it in a restaurant. Inspired by looks not taste. Also in a just redone establishment, it is odd to see worn and ripped upostry on the chairs.
Les Pennasse--At the St Regis Hotel. The menu consists only of course meals, so go there with an appetite!! A Complementary mussel in a curry sauce with wild rice was served with our Kir Royal. The first course: we tasted a beet salad with fennel, apples and 1 walnut sounded good, but turned out dull; and a small(about 1/2 cup) of aspergus rissotto. Second course: Lobster American(1/2 lobster) was a nice portion and tasty; the day boat cod was poached with a beet base and was served too tepid. The third course was a wonderful baby pig with a cassoule that was both tender and tasty. The cheese plate Louise had as her main course was served well after my main meal was served. This was 'off-the-menu' but you would think that they could piece together the cheese plate before they delivered my entree? Also, no bread was provided with the cheese. It seemed the service was off tonight and inappropriate for such a high end restaurant based on reputation and price! The wine was not brought until after the first course was already consumed. Maybe it was due to the chef 's frequent visits into the dining room talking to the table next to us instead of seeing to it that the rest of the customers were getting the attention in the kitchen they derserved!
Seppi's--Located adjacent to the Le Parker Meridian Hotel in Manhattan, this is a very french restaurant and pub. The Alsesian pizza with salmon, goat cheese, and creme fresh on a dough so thin that is resembled a won ton wraper making easy to eat the whole thing! The rissotto substituted shrimp for calamari but was still very pleasing. The rice was a perfect al dente with a champagne / lemon sauce providing it with a wonderful consistency. It was loaded with shrimp, possibly to make up for the lack of calamari--in any case it was quite appreciated.
The raisen nut and nutty grain breads were both to die for! The reasonbly priced wine list made this a very nice stop during our outing in New York.
Le Paris--My favorite local bistro in Montreal. All the classics with a daily specials list that include soup/salad, entree and dessert. Fresh fish, wonderful frites, and friendly neighborhood style service. Do not miss this one!
Chez la Mer Michel--Classic style French restaurant with tuxedoed waiters and all the classics on the menu. Never had a bad meal here. The table side preparation of flambé desserts tops off the evening. Also the house specialty strawberry napoleon is to die for.
Toque'--
Bice--Part of the international chain of fine Italian restaurants, the Bice in Montreal is one of the best, we have tried them in a number of countries. Extensive terrace available in the summer and makes for a pleasant surrounding for outdoor dining.
La Maree--Seafood is there specialty. Located in old Montreal, this older restaurant still provides the quality of service not found in many of today's newer establishments. The best lobster bisque in north America can be found here.
Andre's the Original--Located downtown away from the strip, this older established restaurant has the appearance of an old European restaurant. They even use timbales to present the supper rich butter. Absolutely wonderful Dover Sole followed an heirloom tomato salad with grilled vegetables. Wine list includes some reasonably prices selections that compliment to food. Extensive cheese course options, but it would be nice if some decent bread was served with it. Chef sends out both an amuse' and intermezzo for the guests.
Aqua @ Belagio--Exceptional service highlights the meal at Aqua. A nice big table is welcome when dining as a couple, too often the 2 top table is so small that it is uncomfortable, but not at Aqua where they provide you with plenty of room. The seafood menu includes three different tasting options or a la carte. The huge floral display would be nice in the lobby of a hotel, but the pungent aroma from the flowers overpowers some of the delicate flavors in the seafood menu. Fabulous deserts await you at the end of your meal. Good flavor combinations. Chef provides an amuse' but the intermezzo in only for the course meals. They charge $7.50 for a bottle of water? I can see the charge if that is all you order to drink, but when you plop a $75 bottle of wine on the bill, they should consider giving you the water!
Il Fornaio @ New York NY--This nice little restaurant in the casino plaza at New York NY is great for people watching. Combine the wonderful pizzas and an 'al fresco' style seating and settle bake for the show. Nice bread with quality olive oil and/or basalmic vinegar. They have real minestrone (it is made with vegetable stock), an important interest to those who choose not to eat meat or meat products. Reasonable prices confirm our experience here since it opened.
Pink Pony @ Circus Circus--Diner food, dirty old restaurant in dingy Circus Circus. Food average, definitely not for non smokers, the whole place smells of old cigarette smoke.
Prime @ Belagio--Wonderful room with plush decorations, very romantic unless you are seated next to the bus boy station. My steak ($42) had a gnarly piece that ran all the way through the strip side of the porterhouse. Not very appetizing or easy to eat. They serve the meals with many different sauces and it was if they brought them all to the table for us to try. Some are good, some are not. The frites were double fried wonders that went nicely with the steak. Too bad the lovely raisin bread was brought straight from a refrigerator instead of warm or at least room temperature? Decent wine list - same as all Belagio selections. The service here is not as polished as at Aqua also in the Belagio.
The Cafe @ Paris Resort--As we stood in line to get a table I mentioned that it must be either good or inexpensive. As it turned out, it was neither!
The Eiffel Tower Restaurant @ Paris Resort--Fantastic views of Belagio Fountain Shows! Be sure your reservation if for a window seat. Food is dominated with fresh fish from salmon to walleyed pike to arctic char. Food prepared with classical French techniques without any of the classic French dishes on the menu. No Dover Sole, no Coq a Vin, etc. Yet there is excellent flavor combinations in the meals. There is a very nice cheese course with nuts/dried fruit and onion marmalade that is not on the menu. This seems to be the only restaurant in town that does not charge extra for bottled water!
