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| - Phoenix has very few decent seafood restaurants and years ago, we found Taylor's Chowder House. The place was packed with seniors and families at almost any time we landed there. The owner was from Rochester and Boston and knew seafood as well as anyone. The New England Clam Chowder was made from scratch, full of clams with potatoes in a sea of white sauce. The Best in Phoenix for years. They also had specials every day based on what came in fresh that day, whether Tilapia, Mahi-mahi, halibut and haddock or fresh Maine lobsters all prepared well at great value. Yesterday, we went back to Taylor's and what a difference. The old owner turned the restaurant to his cook who sold it and took it back. When the current owner was a cook, he prepared the food meticulously; nothing fancy but very good meals made from scratch. This visit that night was so different. I am on a restricted diet, so I often share a meal with my wife. We had a hankerin' for fried haddock and recalled the long, fresh filets coated in batter and fried to a golden brown. The meal came with waffle fries and cole slaw. So, we ordered the fried haddock dinner split with a bowl of their hearty New England Clam Chowda. The waitress brought a loaf of bread that looked like it had been served over and over. Needless to say, it just sat there. Next, she brought our drinks, a glass of decent house Pinot Grigio and an Arnold Palmer. The lemonade mixed in with the ice tea had a metallic taste and was horrid. The waitress did notice it sitting there and offered to replace it but likely no different from the first, Next, she brought the bowl of the famed chowder that gave the restaurant it's name and reputation. What I remembered was nothing like that. It was awful. The broth was too thick with a flour taste, few clams and heavily over salted; what a disappointment to start. A few minutes later the waitress brought us the two plates that she had split the meal already so each of us had a smallish piece of haddock, some steak fries and dish of cole slaw. It looked inviting, to be honest until we tasted the haddock. Replacing the large fresh piece of haddock were two smaller pieces of frozen haddock. We had hoped for a light flaky fish and what we got was clumps of fish meat in fried batter that was too long in the freezer, possibly not even haddock. I had a small portion of the haddock but it was so awful, I could not eat any more. I thought I would try the slaw instead but again, not up to standards. The dressing was very bland that no amount of salt and pepper could improve upon it, The steak fries, however, were cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside. The fries were the only thing I ate. This was such a disappointment that it is a shame of how far off our original visit it had come. The highlights were the wine and steak fries,, plus the friendly sociable waitress. We noticed how small the dining crowd was on a Friday night and most were very elderly. I felt we were in God's waiting room.
This is another case of a cook with little restaurant management experience, in my humble opinion trying to make it work. When the customers dropped off, he decided to lower his costs and cut corners. Not much changed inside in 20 years except for the food. We probably will never come back because of the disappointment of this experience.
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