Aileen B.'s Profile

12/15/10

Came here to meet w/ a Yelper friend to check out the Phoenix Public Market fare at night- all of my previous visits had been in the mornings.  Most of the vendors and food trucks were the same as those I've seen before, but there were a few new (to me!) and notable, too.  One in particular offered ultra-thin sweet Dutch stroopwafels (cookies) I was tempted to take home, but the $9 sticker for about 7 or 8 pieces kept me at bay.  That, and the calories that they promised to bring w/ them, as well!  Hehe.  But I am getting ahead of myself...

Friend hadn't arrived, yet, but I went inside the market to order the BBQ pork sandwich, which I'd been eyeing for a couple of visits, and a black cuppa at the Coffee at the Royale.  All the tables had been taken, save for one, which I soon found out had wobbly legs, so I asked the man w/ a laptop nearby if he could share his table w/ me.  He generously obliged, and I sat down thinking I'd be able to write a few reviews while waiting for my friend and sandwich to arrive.  As it turned out, I didn't write any reviews that evening, for soon we were talking about our food adventures in the valley-- funny how effective an icebreaker the love of discussing good food is, eh?  After a few minutes, I went to check on my sandwich and arrived at the table w/ it, plus a chocolate-dipped almond cookie.  Since the cookie was an impulse-buy, I decided I'd share my sandwich w/ my new acquaintance, so that I may save some room for the tasty cookie!  Loved the pretzel bun and all of the veggies that came w/ the sandwich (red bell pepper, caramelized onions, and even green beans!), the shredded pork was OK-- I would've enjoyed it more had it been less shredded, and more chunky in texture.  The cookie, a little chewy on the inside and a bit crumbly on the outside, was absolutely delightful, especially when paired w/ my cup of black coffee.

Friend finally arrived, so we said our long goodbye to our new acquaintance, and headed outside to see what's new... Truckin' Good Food was out there selling homemade cocoa for $2- it tasted fantastic, and perfect for a cool evening in December...

Now that I've thought about it, I should've bought some of those stroopwafels!

4/6/12

My first visit, and it's been a long time coming!  According to my bookmarks page, I've wanted to try Chez Vous since 4/25/2011!  Funny that it took almost a year to do make it over here...

Liked the interior, which is a mish-mash of dark brown leather seats and tables near a playable piano (I know, bec. I played "Long Long Ago" on it!) and regular wooden chairs and tables across the display cases.  It is intimate and very cozy, yet not too claustrophobic.  I met Romain, the affable young son of the owners of CV, who informed me that he'd just arrived from France less than two months ago.  I also enjoyed the music selections playing that morning and mentioned this to Romain, who replied that the music was from his iPod.  It was easy to like Romain, whose enthusiasm for music was clearly evident when he'd sing along as he did his tasks.  Ah, how do I love the French accent... too bad Romain's a bit too young for me-- perhaps he has an older brother?  ;)  

For my fist visit, I ordered a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant to start http://www.yelp.c..., and a Chef's Choice savory crepe for my main http://www.yelp.c....  The cappuccino was beautiful to look at, and delicious to taste- the foam in it was perfect!  The chocolate croissant, I was told, was fresh from the oven, although mine wasn't warm to the touch.  However, it tasted marvelous, and the crisp layers of the croissant revealed the freshness of the pastry.  (I did order another croissant to go, which had just come out of the oven.)  It was all I could do to eat only half of the pastry, since I still had the savory crepe to look forward to.  

The buckwheat crepe was filled with warmed cubes of green apple and chevre, and drizzled with honey and chives, and it came with a side salad (it automatically came with a brown sugar mustard dressing, something I cannot have, and which Romain replaced with fresh salad and Caesar dressing for me).  http://www.yelp.c...  It was dee-lish!  Sweet enough to satisfy my sweet breakfast cravings, yet not too sweet that the back of my lower jaw, where it meets my ears, hurts.  It felt a bit weird to have salad that early in the day, but I tried it anyway, in case it wilted before I had a chance to try it for lunch.  The dressing tasted very fresh, and I asked if it had eggs in it, to which Romain replied that it didn't, but didn't it taste like it did?  "Yes, it does."  

I truly enjoyed breakfast here, and, as you can see, it wouldn't be too long until my next visit...

02/07/12

As V. mentioned in her review, we decided to take a rather nice walk from Tommy V's after having happy hour there to have a cuppa here.  Last time I visited this spot, it was called Solo.  While the skeleton of the cafe hasn't changed, I do like Cartel's version a tad bit more than the previous one.  I think the half-off pastries during happy hour had something to do with this...  :)  

A shout-out to James and Ryan for being so nice and such sports for answering my questions.  Thanks for the awesome cup of cappucino, no sugar, btw.  Loved the coffee art!  I'm definitely a fan.

I had such a nice first visit on the 7th that I returned here last night (Feb. 15th) to do a bit of work on my speech.  Two and a half hours flew by, and I most certainly would've hung out longer had I not received a call to pick someone up from work!  One thing I didn't enjoy so much, though, were the heavy, space-consuming metal "nesting" round tables I chose to set my laptop on.  I guess it wouldn't have been such a hindrance if I was doing anything else BUT typing away on my laptop, but I really didn't have a choice.  At least my tushy enjoyed the comfy cushions.  Guess everything balanced out. :)

Next time, I'll have to go for another cappucino!

p.s.  A huge thanks to The Cure fan who decided to play a long playlist!  I had a lot of fun last night!

Great for kids due to the interactive qualities of the exhibits.  My niece and nephew really enjoyed the Gross Human Body exhibit (or something like that).  As an adult, I really liked the IMAX movie regarding the rivers of the Grand Canyon.  I tried watching 3-D once when I was younger, and I was not able to experience the depth perception then.  Guess the new toric contact lenses have greatly improved my eyesight!

I recently received a calendar of upcoming events, and while I was not able to partake in the center's previous events due to the child-friendliness of said events, I am looking forward to the Adults' Night Out and Science Cafe features.

Yelp Eats Week 2011 (50% off!), Take 3:

07/14/11

My first visit and I already love this place!  It's got everything:  great location in Heritage Square; easy access to nearby parking (w/ validation- sweet!); classy, understated elegance; amiable and demure staff; and the gorgeous and terrific food!  What makes Nobuo stand out from all the downtown eats I've had the pleasure to try, though, is the low-noise level-- one would think that in such a historic building such as this, with wooden floors, wooden furnishings, and many small rooms that can easily fill up fast w/ lively diners, that it could get very noisy indoors, but in the two hours our group spent there, not once did I find it too noisy.  

On to the food! Still satiated from my late lunch, I decided to skip the apps and ordered the soft-shell crab sandwich, since I also wanted to have the Dark chocolate tofu mousse for dessert later. From the adorable beverage booklet, the iced teas begged to be tried, so I ordered a Lychee red iced tea, which came unsweetened. [Other selections were Hibiscus oolong iced tea, several varieties of green tea, Ramunes (Japanese flavored sodas, three varieties), sakes, red and white wines, beers, and $11 cocktails.] Several others had ordered apps and were gracious enough to share-- the Teeter Tots app was a HUGE hit! So much so, that two Yelpers ordered two servings, and another had three or more! (The third one was dessert, someone remarked. LOL) These fried tofu cubes w/ miso sauce surprised me w/ their delicate crunchy exteriors that then revealed juicy tofu inside, and the spicy miso sauce that they were tossed in was impeccable! I'm not sure if the twelve Yellow-tail sashimi spoons were house freebies, or if three Yelpers ordered them (four spoons per order), but I really enjoyed the two I had tried. (I'd initially turned down invitations to try them since they contained avocado, which I love, but the fruit unfortunately does not love me; However, they looked so beautiful and so enticing that I eventually broke down and tried one, minus the avocado. The first spoonful was exquisite- tangy, garlicky, and clean-tasting, and I had to have another!) My sandwich was, just as Lindsey wrote, perfectly crafted-- two magnificently-toaste d focaccia "buns" housing golden-brown battered small soft-shell crabs, with greens, red onions, and a pepper aioli (I asked that the cucumber be omitted). I'd definitely order this entree again!http://www.yelp.c...  Last, but certainly not least, the deep, silky Dark chocolate tofu mousse, w/ green tea ice cream and candied orange peel was divine! http://www.yelp.c...  (Notice a pattern here?)  The Orange-almond fritters were fantastic, too, but you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't try the mousse!  

I'll be back very soon, Nobuo!

1/21/10
Ordered the duck club http://www.yelp.c... minus the red wine tomato jam and instead had pesto on the side, along w/ the roasted garlic aioli and the side of fries that come with the entree.  Looked great- the fries were perfect (!), but, and perhaps the absence of the red wine tomato jam had something to do with it, I didn't find the sandwich to be anything to write home about.  The delicious and crispy apple-smoked bacon and roasted garlic aioli were big pluses and helped to round out this review to three stars.  The tiramisu I had for dessert was very good! http://www.yelp.c...  Your usual espresso-soaked ladyfingers layered w/ sweet mascarpone and cocoa, BUT w/ the added toffee-crunch of pine nut brittle!  Oh... I could use a few bites of that pastry right now :)

Service was a little lacking- I had noticed a woman busily jotting down the night's specials and had asked my server what else were being served (if anything struck my fancy, I'd have added more to my tab), but he would not and DID NOT go to any lengths to get the info.  Lo, and behold, as I was walking out the door, I looked at the board and, sure enough, there were at least three items that I would've gladly ordered for take-out had my server relayed the info.  Hey, it was his and The Parlor's loss in tips and sales!

I wanted to sit at the bar area this time, to get a different perspective of the place, but I didn't care for the austere metal chairs that contrasted w/ the rest of the wooden furniture.  Found it jarring, especially since I felt that the rest of the venue to be cozy and inviting!