Rene's Restaurant review

Well last night as I mentioned we were off to try Rene's restaurant in Sedona. The Canyon Villa Inn had recommended this french restaurant since I wanted some familiar food for a change.

The restaurant overlooks a closed in courtyard and you have the choice to eat inside or out. Since the temperature in January is around 40 degrees we opted to eat inside. The dinning room is formal as it should be with quite an extensive menu and wine list. I found the cost of both comparable to what we would pay at home but would have liked to see a table d'hote menu as well as an a la carte menu.

Beginners were around 13$, salads and soups 10$ and main courses were 35$ to 45$ on average. The wild salmon was popular at our table and I took the rack of lamb which is a house specialty. It was carved at the table and I was surprised to see the size of the half rack. I have never seen one so big! I was afraid that perhaps I was eating mouton instead of lamb. anyhow I can assure you that this lamb was on it's way to being full grown.

It was very tender and the first bite was overpowering which led me to believe that perhaps I was right about eating mouton until I realised that it was the mashed potatoes with the blue cheese that had the strong taste. The lamb was actually very, very good and with the mango chutney it was quite delicious. The only complaint I would have would be that the vegetables had gone very cold by the time my plate was served. Otherwise they were cooked to perfection and since as a restaurateur I often eat my food cold because of many interruptions at the inn, I did not really mind it.

The waiter was very nice and efficient. He actually recommended a wine to us that was at least 10$ less than the wine I had chosen. It was Riesling from Oregon that I had never heard of. I chose a glass of Zinfandel with my lamb while the others had the fruity Riesling.

Ok, What did I learn from this experience? well to begin with, I love blue cheese but not in my potatoes when eating such a fine cut of meat that has a fairly mild taste. I would have gone with herbs instead. I also will make sure that when I visit a table in the dinning room that I visit all the tables. The chef came out and went to a few tables but avoided ours which is a shame since I had made the comment about the vegetables. Oh well at least I have first hand experience of seeing what it feels like to be overlooked in the dinning room.

Would I return to this restaurant? Absolutely! what we experienced on a Monday night must not represent the best that this restaurant has to offer. It is often a night to experience new menus, the Chef is often off and the staff is minimal. Overall I had a very nice evening.

well until next time!!!