Top of the Rock Restaurant — Restaurant in Tempe

This was truly the worst upscale dine-in experience I've had since COVID-19. For me, a high-end restaurant experience should be divided into two aspects: the food experience and the dining experience.

However, this time's experience was a disaster. For the food we had this time, we chose one appetizer and two main courses, and the restaurant also provided a small snack platter with two biscuits, a small piece of cheese, and cornbread. The appetizer and platter tasted decent, with melted cheese on the cornbread that was a bit greasy, but it would have been enjoyable with a wine pairing. For the appetizer, we ordered 'chicken & doughnuts.' If you're Asian or have been to places like China, Singapore, etc., you might find this dish to have a cheap feeling, almost like a '肉夹馍.' This is especially true due to the texture provided by the shredded chicken. The sauce beneath the doughnuts was fresh, but because it was beneath the doughnuts, it was impossible to combine them well when eating together. Our main courses were a disaster. We received our appetizer at 5:35 PM, but we didn't see our main courses until 6:26 PM, with no server coming to check if we had received our food or needed anything during that time. By then, both neighboring tables had enjoyed their appetizers and main courses, paid their bills, and left. The miso seabass was excessively sweet, unlike any miso I've ever had, and for some reason, the original flavor of the seabass had been completely destroyed. When you take a bite, all you can taste is an expired fishy taste, with miso plus a heavy corn syrup-like flavor. The steak was average, but the plating was messy, with the steak being divided into three parts, although the toppings were the same, one had a ton of garnish, one had a little, and one had none at all. It seemed like a rushed result. Lastly, due to their mistake, they gave us a dessert to go, and it was particularly bad. I've never seen a high-end restaurant dessert with a random half strawberry, not as a garnish for another dessert but just thrown in, and the strawberry wasn't fresh, it was like a morning-sliced strawberry left indoors and eaten late at night, the texture was the same.

In terms of service, I made the reservation through OpenTable and had noted that it was my wife's 30th birthday and requested that they make appropriate arrangements. However, the host with a tattoo on her chest was extremely unprofessional and rude. When we arrived, she not only didn't welcome us but also seated us at the second-row table by the window, even though there were plenty of window seats available at that time. When I inquired about it, she not only refused to rearrange, but also made excuses, claiming it was a special reservation. However, when I was chatting with other guests when I went to the restroom, they mentioned that they hadn't made any special reservations and were puzzled as to why I was deliberately seated at the back. The only reason I made the reservation at this restaurant was because of its excellent window view. It wasn't until I spoke with a waiter that I was finally moved to a window seat. Then came the huge mistake in delivering our orders. I have worked in the hotel and restaurant industry, and it seemed to me that they had completely forgotten our table's order until 30 or 40 minutes after our appetizer, they hastily prepared our order. Otherwise, how could such a basic mistake occur? Here, I appreciate Sergio's service who deliver my message to the host manager and help us move the table, but I'm dissatisfied with our server, Chris, who didn't check our progress with our orders for an hour, and their manager, Adam's unreasonable explanation. Their explanation was that they serve whoever orders first, but this doesn't explain why both tables that came in after us had already enjoyed their main courses while we waited for another 10 minutes before seeing ours.

In summary, I wouldn't recommend anyone...

We were in Tempe teaching a class. Decided to have dinner before going home. Checked out the Yelp and, damnnnnn, y'all did not disappoint. Used Open Table to set a reservation, the only spot available in the next hour was in 18 minutes - fortunately the directions said we were only 10 minutes away. So got out the door quick-like! Easy access to the hotel from 143 South (it's just beyond the end). Up the hill and you're suddenly in this hotel that you had no idea existed. Usually we like to park ourselves, but we didn't see parking signs at first so just let the valet take it (in case you don't want to valet, I believe there's parking to the right as you come up the hill, if I remember correctly the sign said 'conference center'). The view is spectacular. Because we were a spur-of-the-moment kind of booking we didn't get seated at the window, but that's okay it was still beautiful. And I'll be after the sun set it's a total stunner (we didn't wait that long). Our waiter, Kenny, was friendly and helpful and perfectly attentive. I started with a Blueberry Pineapple Martini (or was it Pineapple Blueberry?) - 5/5 stars. SOOOOO good, it was rimmed with blue sugar (only about 1/3rd of the rim had the sugar, so you could sugar up one sip and skip it for a couple). My husband told me that my lips and tongue even turned blue! (don't worry, it didn't last long - plus, I have blue hair, so what do I care?) I actually took a photo of this (I loathe taking photos of food, I try to leave that to the professionals) I can't remember seeing polenta on a menu before and was super excited to try it (I cannot eat eggs and can only eat wheat occasionally, so new things like this REALLY excite me). Because of the polenta, I was considering ordering the chicken but really wanted the Sea Bass. The waiter said that the Sea Bass is his favorite and offered to swap out the potatoes with the polenta. YAY, best of both worlds. Sea Bass with polenta (instead of mashed potatoes) 5/5 stars. This was as tasty as it could have possibly been. Their sauce was the perfect accompaniment (don't ask, I don't remember what it was). And I didn't miss the potatoes one single bit. The polenta was seriously my new favorite side dish! (my GF warned me that sometimes it's notso good, so if you've had some iffy stuff, this is obviously the place for it) The hubs ordered the Pork Chops and was NOT disappointed. They disappeared super fast, he said also 5/5 stars. Dessert for me was the Chocolate Raspberry Martini - 5/5. SO good and SO different than any chocolate martini I've ever had. I wouldn't have turned down a hair more chocolate but the Chambord was a perfect touch to a chocolate martini. The hubs had the rhubarb/apple Galette and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't eat that stuff, but it was freshly made for him. I could see the steam coming from it as he cut it open. It's served with ice cream (I think caramel chocolate chip?). Also a 5/5.

The service and food is fantastic. Drinks are creative and also yummy. And the view is terrific. I loved watching the planes come in!

Hit up Open Table and make yourself a reservation. This place is a 'do not miss'! Thanks for reading my review. Now - go - make that reservation....

tl;dr: There were rocks in my food that chipped my tooth. The food was bland, boring, unimpressive, and underwhelming. Go to Chanpen Thai down the road.

My husband and I had a long, hard week so decided to go on a well-deserved night out at a really "nice restaurant". Undoubtedly the atmosphere was amazing! Of course beautiful views, cool ambiance etc. I was put off by how empty it was on a Friday night at 6:30 though, that should've been my first red flag. The hosts were offputting and cold. I would have given zero stars if I could but here is one for the view. Also, our server was cool too.

Buuut anyway, this was the worst dining experience and food that we've had since moving to Phoenix which is such a bummer. I'd say the worst meal we've had in the last couple of years.

To start, we called twice to guarantee they could accommodate vegan options and we were assured "they could do any dish vegan subbing tofu", which was super cool! The one vegan dish they had, and the no others that I was promised, was awful. It was a small green lentil dish, which contained ROCKS. I ended up chipping a back tooth (discovered after I had gotten home). I found two small rocks in the dish, which occur when lentils are not washed beforehand. I presented these to our server who showed them to the chef. Nothing was comped, no bottle of wine offered etc. I would at least expect a meal containing rocks I bit into to be comped! That worried me knowing the lentils weren't properly washed. I've worked back of house my whole life as various roles from prep cook to sous chef - and I was just super let down. The corn in the dish was mild and tasted canned, the zucchini was teetering on raw, and the tofu was extremely bland, uncooked, and flimsy.

The rock in my meal and bleh vegan dish aside (yes I know this isn't a world-renowned place for vegans I get it, but calling ahead twice and checking made us feel it would've been way more chill for vegans):

My husband ordered the tortellini, which he labeled as underwhelming, and compared the dish to something he could've made from Trader Joe's tortellini we usually make at home. Bland, bordering on lukewarm, and just meh.

They did have a garbanzo bean soup (v) which came out in a small bowl, was a half-cup serving, and tasted like the many I've made at home or from a can.

Shoutout to the bread appetizer which comes out, that was the best part.

Save your money, time, and expectations and go down the street a little to a strip mall on your left in which Chanpen Thai resides, the BEST food I had in the state. Authentic FLAVORFUL food, accommodating, huge portions, good vibes, no teeth broken, sans rocks. We ended up going here to redeem...