Here’s another review from my secret restaurant reviewer,
Sherry. This time she’s reviewing The Christmas Tree restaurant in Pinetop,
Arizona.
Review of The
Christmas Tree Restaurant, January 28, 2011
The Christmas Tree restaurant is a venerable old favorite of
White Mountains diners. It’s been in Pinetop for many years and after closing
for a couple of them, it’s open again and being operated by the daughter of the
original owner (or so I’ve heard). After learning this, I expected nothing less
than the restaurant living up to my fond memories of visiting this restaurant
several times over the past decade. Unfortunately, that’s not how my dining
experience went.
For the uninitiated, The Christmas Tree is known for its
unique starter of pickled beets as well as serving warm, homemade cinnamon
rolls instead of dinner rolls with each entrée. The beets are slightly sweet,
slightly sour, slightly spicy and a perfect way to get your palate ready for a
delicious meal. Nothing has changed here; this starter is still as good as
ever. The cinnamon rolls, however, aren’t quite as good as what I remember.
Instead of being light, flaky and buttery sweet, they’re dense, heavy and not
particularly flavorful. They smelled better than they tasted.
Along with an entrée, diners are offered a choice of salad
or soup du jour. I opted for the salad, which was quite puny; the only
distinguishing ingredient was the addition of kidney beans (I believe I found 3
on my plate). My husband opted for the clam chowder, which was god but not
outstanding.
Now onto the main course. My husband chose “House Favorite”
beef stroganoff which, according to the menu, is made with beef filet. He
received a plate full of egg noodles and the server ladled sour cream sauce
with beef and mushrooms over the top (there were no vegetables with this entrée).
My husband didn’t finish his plate but didn’t bring home the leftovers, either,
because he said it really wasn’t all that good. In particular, the beef was tough.
Made us wonder if the menu is really correct in stating they use filet and not
a cheaper, tougher cut.
I ordered another House Favorite, duck with honey and
almonds. It’s not often I get the opportunity to eat duck so my mouth was
watering in anticipation. When it arrived, however, my anticipation quickly
turned to disappointment. The plate of whole duck, sliced into thirds (I’ve
never seen it arranged on a plate like a chicken…) and served with rice pilaf
and sautéed apple slices, had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The duck was
cooked so long it had not an ounce of moisture left. The honey glaze and
accompanying cup of sauce was so sweet it was like eating a spoonful of
straight honey (which I suspect it was). The rice was a tasteless brown blob on
my plate and the apples, which looked like Granny Smiths, weren’t peeled which
made it difficult to eat them. The flavor profiles were all wrong, the method
of preparation all wrong and the presentation all wrong; the sliced almonds on top were merely an afterthought and not part of its preparation. An entire plate of brown food certainly isn't appetizing, either.
As far as the service goes, it was good with one exception:
the busboy who poured our water was asked a question about the menu and his
reply was, “I don’t know; I guess so.” I asked him how long he’d worked at the
restaurant and he replied, “Not long enough, apparently.” There’s no excuse for
either his ignorance or his glib responses.
The only reason a diner might choose The Christmas Tree
restaurant is for its ambience. Although the building is comprised of various
rooms pieced together in a strange manner, the rooms are all cozy and each has
a Christmas tree in the corner, along with homey Christmas decorations.
Unfortunately, this White Mountains landmark has a long way
to go if it is ever to return to its former glory as one of the best
restaurants in the area. For the money (entrees average about $20 each), I
expected far more than just a nice room and good service. Without great food,
this venture is destined to fail.
The scores for The Christmas Tree are as follows (on a scale
from * to *****):
Food: *
Service: ***1/2
Ambience: ****
No comments:
Post a Comment