Feast — Restaurant in Tucson

this was an absolutely terrible dining experience. i went with a friend. we got two glasses of red that were corked. the tuna tartare just tasted like tuna covered in kewpie mayo. i got the duck entree which was…. awful. the duck was tough and unseasoned. my friend got the lamb neck that was completely unseasoned with lumpy grits that were also… unseasoned. her dish had these pickled mushrooms that were soft slimy spongey and when you bit into it your mouth was filled with white vinegar.

we got a braised leek salad on the side that was completely over dressed and some of the leeks turned bitter from being over cooked, we were extremely hungry and ate some of that because overdressed is better than bland

when the server came over and i spoke to the person clearing our table about the food and they called the manager over. when the manager came i explained to her the food was not good and we didnt eat it. mind you, i havent done this at restaurants before. i usually dont complain, even if the food is bad. we didnt eat any of the entrees and I did not want to pay for entrees i didnt eat.

the manager was extremely rude, continually telling us “this is not how we do things” and that she “cant do anything now” she reiterated over and over that our timing for when we told her the food was bad was “not how things are done in restaurants” she said “everyone else enjoyed their food” which wasnt true, we overheard the people next to us talking about how they did not like the food and felt too bad about saying something.

at around $35 per entree and the food was inedible. we sent back full plates of food. if the food was just undersalted, overcooked or undercooked or had something fixable about it, it would have been something we could give note on. not one dish was enjoyable, not even the wine.

i deeply regret not getting up and leaving at that point. i should have NOT paid for the mayo tuna and the corked wine and bitter salad $70 down the drain. then being talked down to over and over about our timing for informing her about the food.

response to the owner: this was our first time trying your restaurant. the corked wine and tuna tartare were our starters, we ate it 1. because we were hungry and it was food in front of us 2. because we hoped that the rest of the meal would actually carry some weight.

i paid for the food i actually ate, regardless of it being good. this is a review and people have every right to talk about what they liked and didnt like. this is how reviews work. i dont have to post my drivers license or social security to post this review. i also dont have to spend my night eating more and more terrible food to recoup the fundamental lack of skill or taste in the kitchen. having two pieces of the duck doesnt count as eating the meal, and this implication of wanting to get out of paying for some meal i enjoyed is absolutely absurd. that meal was absolutely terrible. we didnt bother asking for anything else because every course at that point was awful, and between being lectured, we truly did not have faith that you knew how to prepare food that is enjoyable. we were offered another entree to replace it but after biting into a pickled mushroom that was soft slimey and filled your mouth with white vinegar, we decided to go to Tito and Pep up the street where we had an actually flavorful, memorable meal.

nobody demanded to see anyone. i politely told the person clearing our full plates that i didnt know how to go about this but since we did not eat the meal, we’d like to talk to someone about the food. i also mentioned i have never sent food back at a restaurant before, this was a first for me.

with it being a fine dining restaurant, i unfortunately expect the food to be edible and pleasurable. i expect the staff to not lecture me or argue with a google review, as it seems you do with anyone who has left a slightly negative review for you. going through all the reviews ive left is creepy and bizarre. please focus that energy on creating a menu and dishes that are not inedible. ...

Feast never fails to impress. Even dishes that you think you would never like, you may find that you love. The menu changes monthly, but there are often repeats. I have gotten take-out, ordered catering, as well as dined in with family and I highly recommend all three methods. They have an excellent wine selection and knowledgeable front-of-the-house. Feast is an excellent place for a special dinner for two, or just grabbing a sandwich for take-out. They have amazing desserts as well.

Our first time dining in (Dec2021), we celebrated my other half's birthday. Four of us got a reservation for 5pm and we were promptly seated. The dining area was clean and the lighting was adequate, but not mood-killing. We started the evening with a bottle of 2019 Turley Zin from Lodi which was excellent. We had the 2018 Turley Zin from Paso Robles with our meals which was a perfect pairing for what turned out to be very "hunter's feast-esque".

The Grilled Tenderloin of Venison stood out as one of the best game-meats I have ever had (I have had many). The truffled liver mousse was intimidating at first-glance, but was actually the perfect addition to the venison to make the perfect bite.

The Pan-roasted Barramundi was a great skin-on fillet of Barramundi fish that was delicate and flakey, but still had a nice strong flavor. This was an ideal dish for someone looking to try a fish they have likely never seen before (I had only recently seen the Barra on some Australian Youtube).

The Braised Short Ribs might have been my favorite. It was very tender and flavorful and I had a hard time leaving it alone (I ordered the Barra). I had the chance to have it again for our company holiday luncheon that Feast catered and it was just as good (albeit a smaller portion).

My mother was not feeling super hungry so she opted for a lighter salad. She got a dinner salad with poached pear, candied pecans, and fresh mozzarella on butter lettuce.

For dessert we shared a Butterscotch pot de crème. It was amazing, but I only had a few bites as I wanted to let the birthday girl enjoy it. The chocolate truffle cookies are a must-have and you should order one (or more) for each person in your party.

Our most recent visit (Feb2022) was a take-out order of some sandwiches and a few sides. We called the order in at 5:00PM and it was ready by 5:45PM. The woman who took our order was new, but she did very well keeping up with my fast-paced ordering.

We started with the Lobster, corn, and scallion bread pudding with Parmesan cream sauce. This was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it was the right size. It was very rich and delicious with bits of corn and lobster mingling with the parmesan cream sauce.

My better half got the Feast Grilled Cheese, which was Halloumi cheese, honey-roasted eggplant, tomato and red onion on a French roll. I am usually not a fan of the classic grilled cheese sammie, but this was an amazing take on the classic. The honey-roasted eggplant with tomato really complimented the seared Halloumi cheese.

I could not decide between the Fried Bologna and the Fried Smelt sandwich so I ordered both. I ended up eating the Fried Smelt and really enjoyed it. The smelt were fried whole (bottom-jaw, gills, and guts removed) and piled on a brioche bun and topped with kimchi and fish sauce aioli. If you like the classic fried fish sammie with cole-slaw and mayo, this is a leveled up version of that. The kimchi was not spicy and was very tasty, albeit milder that I like my kimchi to be.

I saved the Fried bologna for lunch today and I am about to go eat it now. (It doesn't feel fair to review that one now as I am having it for leftovers)

Overall I am very happy with every interaction I have had with Feast. You can be adventurous and know that the chef will create a delicious dish that you may never have tried without trusting them. I will be having more off the February menu this month, and I look forward to what they have in store for...

My girlfriend suggested we discover a restaurant we’d never dined before. She mentioned Feast had duck on the menu — she knows I love all things duck or goose, be it foie gras, rillettes, confit, cassoulet, or especially “magret de canard” : duck breast. I already knew what I was going to order before we got to the restaurant.

Feast was busy, seemed to be a lot of regulars, many presumably retirees, probably a well-educated clientele. The place has a warm, inviting feel to it, the gentleman that greeted us kind and accommodating. They have a full bar and an impressive wine shop & list.

The “Duck, duck, goose” featured a meager, undercooked magret. Due to being undercooked, the skin was hard to cut and the meat was undercooked-chewy. There is really only one way to prepare a magret: score the skin in grid fashion (quadrillé – an important step they didn’t do), grill on the skin side until the outer skin is crispy caramelized, drain excess fat, then flip over to finish cooking the meat… but here’s the catch: you want the breast to be cooked until the muscle shows its grain, but is still pink (rosé, the French verb “roser” is used to describe the proper pink cuisson). If the meat has turned grayish, it’s been overcooked: dry + tough + bland = ruined. If it’s undercooked, the problem with “sending it back” is that it will almost certainly be overcooked when it returns to your table — it doesn’t reheat well. A duck breast is not the easiest meat to cook to perfection, so I cut them some slack there.

The second duck in the name referred to a paté of duck liver. Delicious, tasty, beautifully executed.

As for the goose, I thought it was going to be a confit of goose, but it turned out to be soup of goose effiloché (shredded or “pulled”). In reading the menu, I misunderstood the spätzle and leeks in broth were the sides. It was good, just not what I had expected.

I would have found it a reasonable price at $37 if it had been a full and properly cooked magret and with a confit d’oie instead of a soup. So… disappointed with the value for dollar ratio.

My girlfriend had the salmon salad. After we left, she confided the salmon was also quite undercooked. Doesn’t really look so in the photo — looks delicious, but oh, well, everyone — even the cook — has an off night...