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| - My husband and I checked the place out for the first time on a First Friday (http://www.artlinkphoenix.com/alp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27) and were really impressed by the setup - the house right on the corner has a huge circular bar in front of it and the house on the left is the actual restaurant (with 4-5 tables in front for outdoor dining). The outdoor area was filled with people sipping drinks and waiting to be seated and the vibe felt really hip and urban, just like the artwalk taking place in the surrounding streets.
There was a wait for a table, so we put our name down. As many reviewers have already mentioned, the hostess isn't particularly warm and is actually a bit snippy. I don't think it makes the place seem more desirable if the staff is aloof and plays hard to get, but hey, maybe some people fall for that. We then walked over to get a drink at the bar. I tried the Pad Thai martini (a mix of lemongrass and basil, I think it was). It was strong, for sure, but for $12, I expected a slightly larger portion. The flavor was also really strong (very herbal) and not particularly tasty.
We were seated inside after about 20 minutes of waiting, which wasn't too bad given how busy the area was for First Friday. Unfortunately, however, we were seated at this high, communal table - across from each other, but sandwiched (literally) between two other parties. We didn't necessarily have a problem with this arrangement, but what did piss us off was how *ridiculously* uncomfortable the bar stools were. They were made out of this hard metal criss-cross material and literally dug into the backs of our thighs. My husband commented that they should have sat on them before they decided they would make sense for seating during a meal. On a positive note, the inside was decorated in this really cool urban-loft style and being so close to the kitchen created a really homey feel (although on this 110-degree night, we couldn't "stand the heat" but couldn't really "get out of" or away from the kitchen).
Our server was friendly enough and the food was definitely decent. For our appetizer, we tried the Thai spring rolls - the rice paper was the right softness and the dipping sauce was awesome, but the rolls were literally stuffed with vermicelli and contained just one miniscule shrimp each. The entrees - the shrimp sesame salad and chicken Xa ho Fun noodles - were definitely good but nothing mindblowing. The veggie selection in the noodles seemed random and not necesarily well-thought-out. The sauce on the noodles was tasty and perfectly spicy, but there was too much of it, so the noodles got kind of soggy. The salad was also overdressed, and the dressing was too salty. However, the shrimp in the salad was amazing quality - we've had a lot of bad shrimp here in Phoenix, so this was a huge plus. To sum it up, for every positive we encountered in our food, there was a drawback.
Actually, now that I stop and think about it, the whole negative-for-every-positive thing kind of describes our whole experience at Fate. We loved the bar area but weren't big fans of the drinks. We appreciated the cool vibe of waiting outside a house to be seated but weren't thrilled with how inhospitable the hostess was. We thought the inside of the restaurant was well-presented but hated the imprints those horrible stools left on our thighs. We thought some aspects of the food were great but that others were sub-par. Didn't love all of it, but didn't hate all of it. Three stars.
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