The Dish Bistro, Tucson, Arizona, Family Style Restaurant Details

Food:

Ordered a steak for 36 dollars rare. I got a thin small overcooked piece of meat from Fry's. the bill was 176 dollars for plain crap food. Girlfriend ordered ahi tuna for another 34 bucks, came with Rice A Roni and 4 small overcooked pieces of old tuna! Don't waste your time.

Food:

yum!!! What a great little find. artichoke hearts and the duck were to die for. Truly enjoyed our meal..great service. Will be back!!

Food:

Without a doubt, the best restaurant in Tucson. Tucked away and private, at the back of the best wine and alcohol shop in town (their selection of cheeses is unparalleled as well) - the Dish is perfect in all respects. Beware though, the restaurant area is quite small so get there early to avoid the sometimes overwhelming perfume wars played out there... (Such glorious, fragrant food should not have to compete with the petrochemical excesses of a few, but alas, it does.)

Food:

some hits, some misses. seems to be trying too hard to have too many ingredients that might not meld

Food:

Since we don’t get to Tucson all that often, I like to make sure we find interesting places to eat when we’re there. I did my research and came up with a restaurant called The Dish Bistro, which is located inside The Rum Runner Wine Shop. The wine store is big, the restaurant is tiny, seating only 26, so reservations are a must. The decor is classy and the food is upscale fusion-y American, as cooked by an Australian. A lot of thought has gone into the pairing of dishes with the accompanying sides. For instance, there’s an appetizer of Buttermilk Fried Sweetbreads with Marcona almond crumble / heirloom tomato confit / black olive rusks ($9.50). Or Long Stemmed Artichoke Hearts with shitake duxelles / parmesan polenta / truffle oil / almond basil pesto ($11.50). We shared a bowl of Cream of Parsnip Soup ($8.75) garnished with bacon, raisins and apples - it was heavenly. The delicious bread from The Village Bakeshop was served with a spread consisting of four kinds of onions which had been grilled, chopped and then mixed with both browned and regular butter. I’ve got to try making some at home.

We ordered two entrees to share. The first was sesame crusted ahi tuna, pan seared rare (as requested), served on a mash of garbanzo beans along with sauteed green beans, fried spears of eggplant, and a feta cream sauce ($28). I thought the garbanzo mash was a brilliant idea that went beautifully with the fish. The green beans were perfectly cooked. Unfortunately the sauce, while tasty on its own, was overpowered by the fish. The eggplant, again perfectly cooked, was really overkill. Ken felt like it was a dish from Top Chef, trying too hard to stand out. The portion was quite large and I was stuffed and almost dreading the arrival of our second entree, veal cheek ravioli. If you’ve never had cheek, it’s probably the most tender, succulent part of the animal; sadly, it almost never appears on a menu. So I was conflicted when our waiter said there was a misunderstanding and he hadn’t put in the order for it. Although it could have been quickly prepared we decided to try dessert instead. There were many fascinating selections, but of course I went with the chocolate cake. Unfortunately it was brought to the table at refrigerator temperature so the flavor of the chocolate didn’t shine. Our server said that they had tried serving it a room temperature but the texture of the cake suffered.

By the way, our waiter was personable and knowledgeable about both the food and the wine. After telling him what we planned to eat, we asked him to choose our wine (a shared glass), and he picked a delicious pinot noir. If you choose to get a bottle from the vast selection in the store, you’ll pay retail plus a $12 corkage fee, which I’m told is a good deal. Because of the mix up with our entrees, we were not charged for dessert. Despite the few small glitches, we were taken with so many aspects of the food and setting that we’ll happily go back during our next visit.