Marmalade on Wry

For lunch this afternoon I went to a shopping center at the corner of Scottsdale Road and East Mayo Blvd. in Phoenix, AZ. Considering the size of the complex, I knew there would be several eating options. Neither of us had breakfast, and we were famished. We drove past several eateries and finally decided on Frankie’s Little Italy. We pulled in to park and look at the menu posted outside, only to notice that this too was a Mancuso’s restaurant. Now we had to eat there, having just reviewed another Mancuso’s restaurant earlier this week.

We were excited to see several of the salad options repeated from the Bobby’s location we had visited. Instead of cozy and upscale, this location is more of a pizza joint nestled next to a busy movie theatre. The décor was casual, it looked like a nice pizza place. The menu included pizza and pasta entrees, calzone, a handful of sandwich selections, appetizers, and salads.

Salad
For kicks, we ordered the same Bufala Mozzarella Salad we had at Bobby’s. There was a slight difference in the artistic interpretation at this location, with considerably more lettuce beneath the tomatoes and cheese. The same lovely basil dressing was there, but again the tomatoes were pale and flavorless. Roma tomatoes would probably be a better option for this dish, pink tomatoes aren’t good for much.

Bread
Our server brought bread to the table without being asked, and we were quite excited to see if it would be on par with Bobby’s. The breadbasket consisted of several round rolls, the kind you might find in your grocery store bakery in a big bag of two dozen. My guest was the first to try the rolls and laughingly warned me that I should “put in my good teeth.” Good Lord! What does Mancuso’s do to its bread? I could barely tear it with my teeth, and trying to pull off a mouthful took effort using my hands. I nearly knocked my drink over trying to rip the roll in half. I was tired of chewing after some time and neither of us finished our little roll — too much effort.

Entrees
I tried two main dishes, the Vegetable Pizza and the Gnocchi. The Gnocchi was nearly flavorless: as soon as I swallowed I couldn’t remember if I ate. My lunch date thought he could detect garlic and tomato, but the marinara looked more like a broth. Around the edges of the dish the sauce was a clear light brown with oily droplets and the faintest hint of a pink tinge.

The pizza was sad. A 9″ individual pie, the two of us were unwilling to finish it — and we had skipped breakfast. The Vegetable Pizza featured artichoke hearts, green bell pepper, red onion, kalamata olives and mushrooms. My first impression was that this was really good—for hospital food.

Other Notes
The Iced Tea at this location was brewed and refilled adequately. There was a bar with two televisions tuned to different channels. The volume was a little loud, and I really don’t want to learn about celebrity pre-nups while I eat sad pizza. It makes me feel even more like I’m in a hospital. I would not eat here again.

Today for lunch I headed to Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, AZ. A year or so ago we enjoyed a nice Mexican meal there at a beautiful location and hoped to repeat the experience. Instead we found “Bobby’s A Mancuso’s Restaurant”, and lucky for us it was their first lunch service after a few weeks of dinner service only.

We were immediately struck by the decor, which one member of my party thought was reminiscent of a Bob Mackie dress. It was sparkly and stark and visually interesting. The upstairs bar area featured a textured wall with color-changing LED lights. The chrome and modern style tends to look a little disco and dated, but they did a pretty good job of implementing it tastefully.

The menu offered several selections of appetizers, soups & salads. Soups of the day were Chicken Tortilla and Carrot. Regular salads included a Mixed Grill, Buffala Mozzarella, a House Salad described as ‘field greens with a mustard vinegarette’, a Fresh Salmon Salad, and more. Entrees included Chicken or Eggplant Parmesean Sandwiches, Vegetarian or Traditional Paella, Cappellini Pomodoro, Oyster Po’ Boy, and a myriad of others — all with an Italian flair. Being the first day, we didn’t mind the service being slightly confused. It would be expected of any restaurant.

Salads
Our table shared two of the salads to start, a small portion of the House Greens and the Buffala Mozzarella. My first impression of the Buffala Mozzarella was the color of the tomatoes: they were pale and wan, and the taste was absent. The cheese, however, was smooth and tasty, striped with a pesto dressing. The pesto was so yummy, neither too strong nor too bland. I don’t know if they feature the pesto in any other dishes, but if so I would try them based on the salad alone.

The small House Salad also provided a surprise as it was covered in mushrooms (mentioned nowhere on the menu). A few tomato and English cucumbers slices were placed along the edges along with some tasty kalamata olives. This was topped by a small mass of stringy carrots on a bed of red onion slices. If you don’t like mushrooms, this salad would be an unwelcome surprise. Overall the House Salad was quite tasty, although if that was the small portion, I can’t imagine the larger portion. The four of us didn’t finish the small size–and we liked it.

We also ordered the Fresh Salmon Salad, although the menu didn’t specify wild-caught or farmed, which to my mind means it is farmed and inferior (not to mention a disgusting practice.) This salad was nearly identical to the House Salad, except this featured several large pieces of lightly pink salmon on top. There was an $11.00 price difference between the House & Salmon Salads, a little much considering they were nearly identical.

Entrees
The Vegetable Paella must go first as it was a complete disappointment. It was bland and boring, tasting like rice and sautéed veggies. I was so happy to see the option on the menu, and yet completely saddened by the poor execution. I could not detect the faintest hint of any spice or herb.

The Cappellini Pomodoro was nice, everyone liked it. The noodles were served hot and tasty, a very good simple dish.

The Eggplant Parmesan was a mixed bag. It was a sandwich only in theory — there was a piece of toasted bread under the eggplant, but I had to search for it. It was well cooked, not too oily. The marinara was nice, overall I would eat it again. The disturbing part to me was the side of–get this–Batter Dipped French Fries. To me, French Fries are an anathema to Italian food and did not belong on the plate. Or the table. If it had been on the menu, I would have asked for no fries. That being said, the fries were quite good. I only ate two because:
A. Fries NEVER belong with Eggplant Parm.
and
B. The person who ordered the Paella was starving for decent food.

Other Notes
The iced tea was constantly being refilled and was good, but not fantastic. It didn’t taste like instant, but didn’t pack a punch either. Water was refilled appropriately. I was craving some chocolate after my meal, but no dessert was offered. Service was nice, not to meddling. Our server was Sam: he was able to accommodate our request for a half portion on the pasta, and charged us accordingly. Bread was brought only by request, which he stated was the policy for lunch service. The bread, however, was inedible, crunchy to the point of discomfort, sort of like a giant crouton with a soft center. Some of us could barely get our teeth around it. Total was $54 before tax & tip. I checked the company website before writing this review to see if I could possibly glean any additional insight. Apparently it hasn’t been updated in a while since the Kierland Commons location was listed as opening soon. The website also gave no insight on the restaurant’s cumbersome — okay, downright weird — name.

All that being said, I would eat there again. You couldn’t pay me to eat the Paella mind you, but it was a fair meal in a nice location.