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| - My most recent trip to NOCA was probably my fifth or sixth time being there. You don't have talk restaurants or check Yelp reviews long in the Phoenix area to understand one simple fact: You are supposed to really like NOCA. When I go, I sometimes leave wondering whether I really liked it, or liked it because... Well... You have to, right?
This trip was supposed to clear the bad taste in my mouth from the last time we were here a couple of months ago. That trip, we waited pretty close to an hour between apps and entrees. I'm all for a nice break between courses, but it was a little ridiculous. Good news is, nothing takes the bad taste out like the corned beef appetizer at NOCA. The dish is awesome and the portion size borders on too big (borders, but doesn't cross into). My steak entree was good, though nothing to write home about (polenta was probably the best part). My wife's scallops were the winner in the entree department, perfectly cooked though a little bit salty. Desserts here are a little hit and miss, but they have great coffee.
NOCA does one thing better than any place I've been to in recent memory. They have the best vegetables I've ever had. If I made a list of the top 5 things I have eaten, on that list would be a small top of a beet that I ate at here last year picking it off my wife's plate. I can't describe it, and it sounds weird, but trust me. I always swear I will get the vegetable tasting when I come here and for the life of me can't understand why I didn't.
One more thing they do better than anyone else: music. It is like a playlist of music from the last 20 years which falls into that difficult to define category of not too mainstream and not so cool that nobody heard it except that one guy down the hall in your dorm who always lamented not being able to drink absinthe here in "The States."
I'll wrap this up. The service here is prompt and pleasant. The cotton candy and take home treat are a cool/nice touch. If you haven't been, give it a try. That said, I don't what it is, but I'm never really stoked when I leave, despite the fact that I know I'm supposed to be.
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