Review: Methode Bistro, Scottsdale
We finally visited Methode Bistro last weekend after reading the great reviews by ciaogal. My wife and I arrived early, and sat in the beautiful bar before meeting our friends. The general layout is the same as Restaurant Hapa, with the bar on one side and the dining room on the other. The room has been completely redesigned, and it is very well done. Very large, framed mirrors behind the bar and on another wall. The room is very warm, contemporary and inviting.
We sat at a high, rectangular table facing the bar. The wine by the glass list has about 15 choices, including several Spanish wines. We tried two the bartender recommended, and they were excellent.
Our friends arrived, and we were immediately seated. The room was 75% full, and decorated like the bar. There is an open kitchen at the front of the medium sized, rectangular room. There was a little music playing in the background, but conversation was easy. The tables are spaced very well, and I was almost unaware of other people in the dining room (I was mostly facing the kitchen, so they may be why).
The recently updated menu includes several different items not found on many restaurants in Phoenix. We started with the sea cucumber, which was new to me. Despite the name, sea cucumber is more similar to squid, and is not a vegetable. It came in 6 pieces, lightly fried with a great sauce on the plate. I can't remember more about the preparation, and the online menu has not yet been updated. It was very good, and it was nice to try something different.
We also shared the foie gras, which is served two ways: cold (which I am not normally a fan) and seared. The cold was excellent, the waiter said it was like a pate and it was, served with thin crostini. Delicious and rich, but not overwhelming. The seared foie gras was exceptional. No longer with the lavender gastrique, but it was really, very good. A nice start to our meal.
For entrees, I had the osso buco with soft polenta and farm vegetables ($24). I think this is the best osso buco I've ever had. Incredibly tender and flavorful, it was served with a small fork in the bone maro, which was incredible. The polenta was soft and warm, and the vegetables were perfectly prepared. Just a great dish. Wow.
The women both chose the sole in beurre noisette, braised lettuce, gratin potatoes and new caledonian prawns ($27). I thought it was delicious, and it was cooked just right. The flavors were very delicate, certainly not as much as the osso buco, and I think my wife wishes she tried something else. It was very good, though.
My friend ordered the mediterranean seabass "loup de mer" with provencal vegetables and fennel tea ($23). He said it was excellent, and did not offer me a bite (darn it). It looked very good.
We shared one dessert, and it was excellent as well, but I can't remember what it was for the life of me. (I really need to write these soon after dinner, not a week later).
We had a great time, everything we ate was very good, cooked perfectly, and the service was exceptional. Everyone was very friendly, but also very professional. From the men at the door to the bartender to our waiter, service was perfect. We sat down for dinner at 8pm and by 10pm we were the last table in the restaurant. I felt an internal pressure to let them go home (having been a waiter), but the staff was incredibly cordial and did not rush us at all. I can't recommend Methode Bistro more, especially if you want to see a menu you can't find anyone else in town.
Dinner for four, with two bottles of wine at dinner (again a Spanish red that was really great, about $55 a bottle) was $310 before tip. You could easily keep dinner under $100 a couple if you don't order wine, which is very reasonable for a restaurant of his caliber. We will definately be back, and Methode Bistro now joins my list of great restaurants in Phoenix. This is a rarely talked about gem in our midst.
Barry
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Methode Bistro
6204 N Scottsdale Rd Ste 107, Scottsdale, AZ 85253
By barry
on Sep 24, 2007 10:40 AM
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Barry,
Great review! The Osso Bucco is wondeful and a bargain @ $24. One of my favorite offerings @ Methode....though I wish it were a spoon instead of a fork in the marrow. To scoop out all the tasty bits.
I look forward to trying the new menu!
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Barry,
Thanks for the report. We have yet to go, but hope to rectify that soon. My poor wife has had a bad run of Osso Buco lately, so she deserves a great one.
I also appreciate the wine comments. I assume that you found the list complementary to the cuisine. Do you recall if they had half-bottles? When it is just the two of us, we usually go that route, where possible, to get 3 wines for all courses.
Gotta' get there, and soon!
Hunt
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Bill - to be honest, we were with another couple that really enjoys wine, so I let her have the list. I barely got a look at it. I could see she wanted to choose, and I thought it was a good opportunity to try something I might not otherwise pick. Her selections were excellent, but I did not get a chance to notice if they had half bottles. The list was varied, with several complementary to the menu. I have recently had Spanish wine at a couple of restaurants, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I know next to nothing about the region, so perhaps I need to read a bit and taste some wine!
Please let us know when you make it there.
Barry
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There are great things about dining with great company, especially if they do the "heavy lifting" with the wine list. I often take a night off, and let my guest, or the sommelier do the work. OTOH, great company does take time away from making notes, taking pictures, etc., with regards to the review, that comes later. I've had too many incidents, that the conversation just came between me, and the notes, that I feel I owe CH later. I usually ask for a copy of the menu, and scribble a few notes on it. If the wine list is a single page, or so, I'll do the same. However, when I hit the laptop, it's mostly from memory.
My guests, and their entertainment are #1, so I completely understand. If I can just fit Methode Bistro into my schedule, I'll then know.
I appreciate the review and the response. If they have half-bottles, I'll compliment them. If not, I'll suggest that they look into them. Unless a restaurant has a great b-t-g selection, halfs are a great adjunct to a good wine list for the couple, dining without guests that night.
Thanks,
Hunt
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We had dinner there last night, for the second time, and I thought I'd post something quick with my thoughts. My wife and I were there with her mother and aunt..both from the east coast. We love the restaurant and think it has a great feel and an interesting menu. However, we were both rather dismayed when our server told us that they were out of 1.) mussels appetizer and the 2.) steak entree. And, then, when I ordered my Osso Bucco I was told that - oops - they were out of that also. Our server said "it's really tough to get good food in stock the first week of January." Huh? Can someone in the restaurant biz tell me if that's true?
The menu is fairly limited, so it made for some tougher choices when two of the entrees were 86'd. After ordering, we were then told that they made a prime rib instead of the steak. So we had to rethink our order AGAIN and we ended up with two people getting a grilled shrimp with paella entree, one person getting an "open faced pork shoulder ravioli" and one person getting the prime rib roulette. We started with a saucisson pizza and camembert appetizers.
Most of the food was excellent, although I thought that the pizza was no better than frozen, quite honestly. Our Domino's pizza at my son's birthday party today had more flavor. Everything else was enjoyable, the service was smooth, competent and friendly and the wine delicious....especially the rioja that I had.
Our server did say at the end of the meal that she was very embarrassed that they were out of so much.
My wife summed it up the best: had this been our first visit we would have been pretty turned-off, but we know it to be better than it was last night and I think they just didn't quite have it together. We'll definitely be back and I hope that all the entrees are available when I am. I still think that Methode Bistro is a hidden gem that's worth discovering. I do think the menu has gone a bit more mainstream since our first visit - no more duck hearts and other interesting offal - but it still offers an experience which I'm not sure one can find anywhere else in town. Not coincidentally (since they're practically neighbors), I would describe it as "Rancho Pinot does Mediterranean Bistro fare."
Bill - the BTG wine list is somehwat limited, but it does have some interesting selections....with a nice bias towards old world wines and a refreshing lack of predictable varietals. If it works with what I'm ordering, I almost always lean towards a nice Cote d'Rhone, Chateauneuf, or Rioja and there were BTG choices of all three. I did not notice any half bottles and I didn't take a close look at the full bottle list, since one of us had a cocktail, one is a BTG drinker and and my wife is pregnant.
Sorry for my rather incoherent thoughts on this one....it was a very good meal but didn't leave me "wow'ed" like it did the first time. I have a feeling that I'll be wowed again next time I go.
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We actually had a very similar experience last night. My first visit there shortly before Christmas. I absolutely loved it! I've been chomping at the bit to go back there since.
I said to my sister on the way home that last night's experience dropped it from a 9.5 to about a 7. She said it dropped it for her from a 9.5 to a 5! She was exaggerating but it definitely seems different.
The food was good but it didn't seem to be as exciting as before. I had a hard time picking something. All 4 of us, having been at both meals felt pretty much the same.
I totally agree with ejs in that it has definitely gone more mainstream. Looking at the menu that is still up on their website, I miss many of those selections! No foie gras at all. And I thought that was one of their signature dishes!
Like ejs wrote, we will try again & hopefully we will once again be wow'ed on the next visit.
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I'm bummed for you. Methode Bistro is a place that I really want to love. I liked that the menu challenged me a bit, but didn't feel that way the last time. I wonder if they have lost the touch. Your review doesn't leave me feeling inspired or in a hurry to re-visit. I hope they get it together; we need more restaurants like this.
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I totally agree. My meal before Christmas shot it right to the near top of my favorite places in the valley. Hopefully it's just a hiccup.
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Sounds like maybe a hiccup???
My sister & brother-in-law had reservations for Rancho Pinot the other night & they got there early & the bar was packed. Headed over to Methode for a drink (which they'd vetoed for that night because of our last experience).
They said that looking at the menu, they were kicking themselves for not going to Methode & that it again looked totally exciting again. They had Kumomoto oysters in a cucumber consume with lavender oil while at the bar & loved them!
Now I'm itching to go back again. I so wish they had their current menu posted on their website!
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I just spoke w/ My ex-hubby... he took his parents (food snobs from the East Coast) to Methode....they said it was fabulous. They had the oysters, Sweet breads, Torneados of beef, and an Ahi Dish...they haven't stopped talking about how amazing it was.....oh and the Pot au Creme dessert was a hit too!
I look forward to my next visit!
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