| rev:text
| - Another 1.5 star review, hovering between dashed expectations and frankly alarming.
Be aware as your read reviews to take those without clear corroborative evidence with a grain of salt, especially the positive ones. Especially if there are a bunch of shriekingly positive reviews lacking any specificity.
Tryst has been on my restau-radar for awhile now. I saw the owner speak at a celiac disease foundation meeting and decided to make a trip - sigh - . Went mid-Sunday afternoon. There was only one table occupied; they soon left, leaving us alone.
Menu is ... eclectic, leaning heavily into casual and simple fare like salads and sandwiches. There are hunks of meat with sauces on them and an "around the world" menu that rarely touches upon the actual cuisines of the nations represented. Don't take my word for it, go look at the menus yourself. Ireland represents with an $11 Reuben sandwich, and France with $18 porkchops. You didn't know that Reubens and porkchops with red wine orange demi were Irish and French, respectively? Neither do they, I assure you.
[If you are one of those spelling-and-grammar-OCD types, be sure to take your meds before reviewing their online menu.]
There is a nod to local and organic in the hype of this place, but you can't tell from the menu. Provenance and organic-status aren't mentioned in most menu descriptions.
Breakfast is served until 2:30 only. Since that meal's menu has the majority of the gluten-free (GF) options, this was disheartening. My despair increased as I noticed that the majority of the lunch/dinner GF items were on the pricey side of the menu, things like $13 burgers and the even pricier dinner entrees. Many of the sides aren't GF. At the time I was there I was told the only available GF sides were fruit salad, tossed salad, coleslaw and black beans. Fruit, lettuce, cabbage and beans don't make me want to be a repeat customer. There are no GF items on the children's menu.
We arrived juste au fin du petit déjeuner and settled on burgers. My accomplice ordered his with sweet potato fries and a side salad. I ordered mine GF with slaw. They don't have GF buns for the $13 burgers. Note to somebody who might care: GF buns are widely available in Phoenix. Provide some for those paying $13 for an otherwise middling burger.
Accomplice's salad was obviously wilted from being stored in a cooler uncovered for a significant period. The carrots atop the salad had a touch of that white haze that carrots get as they loiter on veggie/dip trays. His fries were, as he put it, "plain." My coleslaw was underwhelming, vague crunch and creamy mouthfeel without any flavor or color, strikingly akin to premade deli slaw.
Our burgers were tasty but not exceptional; good but not very good. And we were hungry, which should have heightened the taste - "hunger is the best sauce," as they say. You could make burgers of equal or better quality at home without any special effort. Accomplice's "natural burger" was smaller than mine, didn't fill the bun. He found this a touch sad.
It's a smallish dining room, pleasant, a touch trendy, stained concrete floors and high ceilings. The design and decor do not stand out. Popular-ish music was playing a touch loud for the empty space. The hallway leading to the bathrooms and the bathroom itself had a strong odor of commingled sour yeast and dog funk. This odor increased inside the bathroom, which had fashionable fixtures including a Dyson Airblade hand-dryer.
It cost over $30 for two burgers and two soft drinks. When you are paying such a significant sum for a meal, your expectations are raised. You expect really good food and service. The service was acceptable, but again, nothing special. Mostly though, one is put off by the high prices and the mediocre fare. We did not try any bar drinks, appetizers or desserts.
[The establishment's "wine tastings" are comprised of things you could easily find at Costco (Louis Jadot) and Safeway (Fonseca Port). I recommend doing your drinking at home.]
I'm seeing a GF trend here: A restaurant with higher-than-average prices claims to have a GF menu, which is in reality a few stripped down, higher-priced choices from the regular menu. Often the GF options have a surcharge, even when the menu prices are already high. GF diners are pining for real options on a GF menu, things they can't get at most places or make easily at home, things like fries, breaded and crispy appetizers, satisfying sweets.
My non-GF-dining friends are becoming frankly annoyed at me for taking them to these dine-and-disappoint establishments. Any of a number of places are cheaper and better: True Food, Outback Steakhouse, In-N-Out Burger, Pei Wei. My summary is that this place has far better marketing than menu. I won't return.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)