Starting in early December, over a span of 30 days, my family celebrates my mom's birthday, Christmas, New Year's and my dad's birthday....that is a lot of celebrating! But even though the holiday season usually has all of our schedules packed, we always make time to celebrate together as a family. My mom's birthday was on a Thursday night, and when we asked her where she wanted to go, she immediately said The Greene House. Now for most people this wouldn't sound strange, but my mom is one who doesn't like to have a fuss made about her, and usually responds with an "I don't care" or "You choose," so I knew that The Greene House must be good if my mom actually chose to have her birthday dinner there. She and my dad had been there a handful of times and she declared that they had her favorite scallop dish, which is why she picked it, since neither my sister nor I had ever been there we were equally excited to check it out.
The Greene House is located in Scottsdale in the Scottsdale Kierland shopping center. If you have never been to Kierland, I suggest checking it out, especially at night, and during the holidays. In a city so spread out like Phoenix, it is a true gem; with shops and restaurants on the bottom floors, and condos above, it gives you that city living feeling that we don't really have here. We had a reservation for 6:30 and were seated promptly at a corner booth/table combination. My first impressions of the interior were this, crisp, clean, loud and the tables were too close together! I know that I said Kierland gives you that big city feel, and much like the restaurants that are found in New York and Chicago, The Greene House really packs in the tables to make the most of their space. I guess I am just spoiled as far as roomy seating goes, but I enjoy a good booth with high backs where I can't overhear the conversation of the people sitting next to me. But, we were here, and we were hungry, so I just ignored the noise and the extra conversations floating around and focused on the food.
We decided to get a few appetizers to start, first choosing the Herb Hummus that was topped with tomatoes, onions and feta cheese and served with warm flatbread. My first impression was that I loved the flatbread! It was definitely made fresh, which was evidenced by the grill marks, and was served warm which brought out a slight sweetness to it. The combination of the herbed hummus with the cool tomato, onion and cheese with the warm bread was just heavenly. The portion was quite generous, and could easily be a meal for a non-meater. I would order it again just for the flatbread alone!
We also decided to get the Tempura Calamari to start with, and we were in for a pleasant surprise when it arrived. Not only did the dish include delicious, tender pieces of lightly battered calamari sprinkled with sea salt, but there were thinly sliced pieces of zucchini mixed in with it as well! The zucchini slices were paper thin, giving them a nice cruch, almost like a potato chip, when you bit into them. We all loved this little bonus, and I may have liked them even more than the calamari! The dish was served with a sweet chili vinaigrette for dipping; it had just the right balance of heat and sweet that went well with both the zucchini and calamari. We almost didn't order this dish to begin with, but the empty plate that was left in front of us proved that it was a good last minute decision.
Soon after we finished our appetizers, our entrees arrived, with my mom's beloved scallops coming out first. The plate had four large scallops that were nicely seared and served with carmelized cauliflower, snap peas and bacon, with the sauce from the veggies drizzled on the plate. The first thing my mom did once she got her dish was hand the bacon to my dad! While my mom has nothing against bacon, she is not a huge fan, and knows how much my dad loves it....how sweet is that? After the bacon was gone, she started in on the scallops, she said they were cooked perfectly as usual, and loves the flavors in the sauce and with the cauliflower. I tried a bite of a scallop, and while they were cooked well, I wasn't as big of a fan of the flavorings, it tasted a bit blah to me, but I have had some amazing scallops lately so maybe that was part of my problem. Nonetheless, my mom loved her dish, and since it was her birthday, thats all that mattered!
My sister ordered the Harvest Chopped salad and added a grilled chicken breast on top. She loved the combination of the dark, leafy greens paired with the sweetness of the grapes, apples and strawberries and the tang of the goat cheese. The salad also was sprinkled with walnuts to give it some crunch, and was dressed in a light vinaigrette. My sister loves a good salad, and she really loves goat cheese, so she was very happy with her meal.
I had a hard time deciding what to order that night, but ended up going with the Grilled Mahi Tacos. The dish came with two large tacos loaded with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and sprinkled with cojita cheese. They also came with a side of seasoned white beans. I tried the beans first, and wow, they were good! They had a nice smokiness to them, with just a bit of heat; they too had been sprinkled with cojita cheese. I next tried my taco, it was pretty good, I liked the fresh tortillas and the toppings, but I felt that the fish was a bit overcooked, which made it dry. I also think the fish lacked some initial seasoning, because besides being dry, they were pretty blah. The lady at the table next to us had ordered the steak tacos, they looked to be really juicy, so I am thinking I just got some overcooked fish. But I think my heart still belongs to the fish tacos at Loco Patron...if you haven't tried them....they are a must!
My dad ordered the Twin Kobe Burgers as his entree, I guess he was in a red meat mood but didn't want to mess with a steak. The burgers were a bit larger than a traditional slider, so the made for a substantial meal. They were topped with fontina cheese and homemade pickles and served on brioche buns. My dad ordered his medium-rare, and was very happen to discover upon his first bite that they were cooked perfectly. As his side dish, he upgraded to the White Truffle Parmesan and Chive French Fires....and Oh My Goodness....they were AMAZING! Cooked to perfect golden brown and sprinkled with flavor, they were truly some magnificient french fries, and we were all very happy that my dad was in a sharing mood that night!
Since we were there celebrating a birthday, of course we had to get some dessert, and of course we let the birthday girl choose! I can't say that I wasn't secretly thrilled when she happened to choose the one that I had been eyeing on the menu, the Blueberry Crostata a la mode. It was basically like a mini blueberry pie minus the top crust and topped with vanilla ice cream. This was delicious! The crust was rich, buttery and flaky, and the blueberry filling was smooth and sweet. The crostata was served warm, so eating it with the cool vanilla ice cream was just divine.
Now that I have been to The Greene House, I would likely go back, because overall I felt that food was of superb quality and flavor. My mom told me that the best time to go there is when the weather is nice, because they do have a patio, and it is not nearly as noisy. So once the spring comes around again, I might just find myself venturing back to The Greene House for another delicious meal!
The Greene House
15024 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Suite 100
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
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