The Rokerij

So Sunday afternoon I was really looking forward to attending a Celebrity Basketball game with some friends. I had gone last year and was able meet and have my picture taken with some really cool people including, Jordin Sparks, Larry Fitzgerald and my favorite Cardinal, Bertrand Berry. I was really looking forward to seeing who I was going to get to meet this year, but sadly, the venue had changed this year making it very difficult to get close to any of the participants....so alas....I didn't get to get up close and personal with anyone. :( There was a silent auction this year that had some autographed items, but nothing that I felt I absolutely had to have.

My friends Heather and Jason came to the game with me, and when it was over we decided to go grab an early dinner. I told them that I had been wanting to try The Rokerij, Heather looked at her watch and got really excited, because we were going to make it for Happy Hour! We headed up to the restaurant, grabbed some seats at the bar and started scanning the menu. The Rokerij has a great Happy Hour deal, they have a list of about 20 small plates which are normally $9.00 each, but during Happy Hour, they are just $5.00 each! When I go out to eat, I can never decide what I want to eat because I always want to try a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. So these small plates seemed like my ideal type of meal!

We placed our order then I started checking out the place. We were sitting at the bar on the main level, it was a brass topped bar that overlooked the kitchen area, which I loved! It was so neat to sit and watch them making all the different dishes, and the cooks were more than happy to answer our questions about what things were. There were a few televisions above the bar as well, so I went back and forth from checking out ESPN to watching a live cooking show...it was awesome!! The rest of the tables surrounded the bar and were a combination of plush booths and dark wood tables, the restaurant was dimly lit with votives throughout for an intimate atmosphere. It happened to be quite busy that night, with some sort of wine tasting party going on on one side of the restaurant, but it was not loud at all.

Pretty soon our dishes started rolling out of the kitchen, and it was good timing because we were hungry! The first thing out were the Beef Tenderloin Toasts. On the plate were five toasts each topped with a piece of filet and slice of French triple cream brie melted on top. Oh my, these were heavenly, the filet was tender, and the brie was like butter. Out of everything we had, these were probably my favorite. The picture below is of the first batch, but suddenly they brought us another plate of these because they said they thought the first one's sat too long, we didn't put up a fight and quickly scarfed down the second plate as well!
Next we tried the Asian Shortribs. These were boneless and served over a bed of rice. Heather had had these previously and really like them, but on this night, she concluded that they had changed the sauce a little bit and wasn't as big of a fan. I tried them and thought they were flavorful, they had a thick, brown barbecue type sauce on them, but I didn't quite pick up any Asian influence. The oddest part of the dish I thought was the bed of what seemed to be Spanish style rice that they were perched upon, I found it to be a really odd pairing.

The calamari was the next item we started to eat. It was lightly coated in what I believe were panko bread crumbs and fried until crispy. Calamari can be served with a variety of different dipping sauces, this one was served with a sweet red chile sauce, which happens to be my favorite one. The crispy calamari, and the sweet and spicy sauce are a perfect pair. I thought that the Calamari were really good, they were not overcooked so they were still tender and I didn't find them to be greasy at all. The only thing that I would change about the dish would be to add in some of the legs, instead of just the calamari steak part, I love the crispy crunch of the legs!

The Mini Veal Meatballs were the next item that we tried, this was one of the few dishes that we ordered that Heather and Jason had not tried before. They were served with what the menu described as San Marzano diablo sauce, which to us just tasted like a marinara sauce with some heat to it. Each meatball also had some mozzarella cheese melted on top. The meatballs were quite good, very tender we we enjoyed the kick in the sauce.

When I first saw the menu, I immediately knew that I wanted to order the Oysters Rokeij. I have always loved Oysters Rockefellar, even going so far as to one time attempt to make them at home, which I discovered is very dangerous, shucking oysters is hard....I ended up trying to get them open with an ice pick and a hammer! These oysters were The Rokerij's version, they had spinach, bacon, Dungeness crab and were topped with a jalapeno hollandaise sauce, my mouth was drooling at the description. They came out on a large metal plate with a mound of salt in the middle. I dove right in, but Heather and Jason were not as eager. Heather said no thank you, but Jason agreed to try one because they were cooked and not raw. I really liked these, the smoky bacon, sweet crab and the heat of the jalapeno hollandaise were perfect with the oyster. I would definitely come back for these, even Jason thought that they were good!

I was beginning to get full, but Heather said I needed to try one of the soft shell tacos. We were given a choice between, steak, chicken or carne adovada as a filling, and we went with the steak. These were in what I would describe as a street taco style, served in grilled corn tortillas with just fresh salsa and guacamole on top. I tried one and was pleasantly surprised, the simple toppings really accentuated the clean flavor of the meat, and it was nice and tender.

Jason had ordered the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, and since Heather does not like shrimp, I had to be the second taste tester. They presentation was beautiful, they were served over a medley of four different sauces that looked like a sunset. I tried one, and while they were good, I didn't find them to be anything special. I think they were basically just shrimp and bacon, with no seasoning except the sauces. I tried them with the different sauces, which were tasty, but still decided that they were not something that I would probably order again.

We were all reaching our capacity when the waitress came over and put down another plate in front of us. We hadn't ordered anything else so we were a bit confused, she just said that it was something she thought we would like. And like we did. The plate had 4 Beef Tenderloin Skewers that were cooked to perfection. They were pink in the middle, and so tender. They had to be some of the best beef I have ever had. They too were served over the same sauce medley as the shrimp, and I decided that I thought the sauces complimented the beef better than the shrimp. We couldn't even finish these, so I got to take 2 skewers home for later!

It was only 6:00 pm and we were all stuffed. I really loved my whole experience there, the food, the ambiance, and the service was excellent. I would definitely return, especially for Happy Hour, but at some point I would like to try the regular dinner menu because it looked to have some interesting dishes on it. Overall, it was a great end to a long weekend.

The Rokerij

6335 N. 16th St.

Phoenix, AZ 85016

www.burningembersphoenix.com