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| - Downtown Phoenix's restaurant culture is certainly vibrant, but also not for the faint of heart. Summer time in particular is a tricky time to run a restaurant down here. Lots of people are on vacation, the downtown college campuses are ghost towns, and the brutal weather means lots of patio spaces go unused. But with thousands of new apartment units coming into neighborhood as of when I write this, you're starting to see more and more restauranteurs get bullish about the area's swelling permanent residents. NCounter is just the latest example of this confidence. NCounter's flagship location in Tempe has been on my breakfast radar for quite awhile, but I hadn't yet made my way out there. As it turned out, NCounter decided to open a second location here in Downtown as the first ground floor restaurant at the new Union @ Roosevelt apartment complex. With a day off from work on a Tuesday, I made my way here for breakfast.
The location can be easy to pass by if you don't know where to look. On the southwest corner of Roosevelt and 1st Avenue, you'll find the Union @ Roosevelt apartment complex. On the east side of the building (a few steps south of Roosevelt) stands NCounter. 1st Avenue south of Roosevelt is a southbound only street so just look for it on your right side. As its just walking distance for me, I didn't have to worry about parking. However per my server it sounds like they don't yet have an agreement with the Union complex for parking, so you'll need to find your own parking somewhere in the neighborhood. My advice would be to try either (1) the public parking garage next to Fez on Central & Portland, or (2) find a street parking spot on the north side of the Union complex or (3) see if there's an open spot at the KZON/KMLE radio station lot across the street.
NCounter's new location is a solid urban style restaurant setup, with plenty of space but all in close proximity to the hustle and bustle of 1st Avenue. There's room for probably 50-60 inside with another 40 or so seating on the patio outside. We're still in the middle of summer as of my writing this so I just walked inside and grabbed a spot at the bar. The menu is identical to their Tempe location with choices of omelettes, benedicts, sandwiches, and other (mostly) traditional breakfast fare. One item that jumped out at me from the get go however was the Croque Monsieur. On the bottom is a thick cut of sourdough bread from MJ Bread (owned and run by local valley chef Tammie Coe). On top of that are two fried eggs, gruyere cheese, ham, tomato, and a creamy mustard sauce. I'd had a dish similar to this at Fame Caffe in central Phoenix, so I was eager to see how this stacked up. I also ordered one of their strawberry-banana smoothies with strawberry, banana, orange juice, and yogurt. Total cost for the food including tax and tip came to about $21.
The Monsieur was extraordinary. A rich, creamy, savory dish and the bread does a great job supporting and absorbing the flavors. I particularly liked the cuts of ham and the mustard sauce. The smoothie was also delicious with a taste that was slightly sweet, but not tart thanks to the mellowing effects of the yogurt and bananas. A good hearty breakfast to get my day underway. The service I received was excellent, the food came out quickly, and the aesthetic layout made dining here a very pleasant experience indeed.
We'll see how it goes for NCounter down here. There's no shortage of other breakfast spots in the neighborhood (Matt's, Fair Trade Cafe, Lola, DeSoto Market, and Be Coffee just to name a few) and NCounter's lack of street visibility and parking access will present some early challenges. But hopefully word of mouth and their distinguished reputation in Tempe will keep them around Downtown for a good long while. Great to have NCounter down here and a great first impression from my new neighbor.
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