PHO #1 - TUCSON, AZ

i love this restaurant. Its located near the intersection of Grant and Stone. Its a large space with lots of tables and booths and the service has always been great. The room is decorated very nice; colorful with dragons and gold and red tassels and pictures and those Oriental cats with big round eyes. oh, and the bathroom is always spotless.

We shared a Bun dish which is vermicelli noodles on top of cucumber and lettuce and bean sprouts and then topped with a variety of stuff depending on what you order. Last night we had spicy lemon grass chicken (super tender) which also had crushed peanuts and hair follicle thin slices of carrots. We've had their spicy chicken twice before; once on a Bun dish and the other time with rice and it has never been really spicy so with casual disregard we ordered it this time and wow; it was SPICY.

I only could 'handle' 2 pcs. of chicken but it was ok with Bill so he gave me most of the egg rolls which we had also ordered. They were the best I've ever eaten   so the dinner was a success and we left happy and full and satisfied.

CAFE FRANCAIS - TUCSON, AZ

What a horrid experience!

The prices here are so expensive and the service sometimes friendly (which it was on our yesterday visit) and sometimes haughty and arrogant with an attitude of "i've really got a lot better things to do than serve you a meal" and the food not very good. and you might ask, why in the hell did you go back?  I'm asking myself that without a good answer.

My almond croissant  was almost $6. Every other bakery that makes croissants are #1 cheaper and #2 larger and #3 better. Even Trader Joe's frozen almond croissants (for  $1 each) put these to shame. I also ordered scrambled eggs (ok), hashed browns (tasted frozen and they were greasy) and bacon (ok.) My bill was $15 and change.

 my friend, Chris, ordered a spinach quiche and it resembled a compressed spinach garden; very unappealing. She couldn't eat it so asked the waitress if she could have the quiche Lorraine instead. Well, the next thing we knew was the owner, Nicole, telling the waitress (why she didn't have the courtesy to talk directly to Chris i don't know since she was only like 4 steps away from our table) that she would have to charge for a substitute meal. that "she ordered it and she must eat it." and if she allowed an exchange for Chris she'd have to do it for everyone.

Does this happen that often? and if it does, wouldn't a restaurant owner want to know that because it just might be a clue that food quality is lacking. I've never never been in a situation where i've heard  the equivalent of "you've made your bed and now you lay in it". Isn't it illegal to charge for something the customer didn't get?

The owner repeated all this scolding a second time too. The waitress was very very apologetic.

Very unpleasant experience. Maybe this is why their other restaurant La Delice on Tanque Verde closed. Off with her head, I say!!

THE JUDGE

I wasn't expecting a great movie but i certainly expected an entertaining one since it stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Robert Duvall. my expectations were dashed (though Duvall was pretty damn good).

Run of the mill story. Father (Duvall) is a judge and hates his son (why was never thoroughly explained). Son (Downey) is a big city attorney who hates his father. Mother dies. Son comes home for funeral and ends up representing his father who has been charged with murder for running over a man who he had once sentenced.

Nothing was new or unique or in fact, really believable.  The crumbling marriage of Downey (the opening scene) was so forced and surrealistic. The 7 year old daughter of Downey was so mis-cast because she was part Hawaiian or Asian and didn't match or even come close to the pure causasian-ness of Downey and his wife.

The music was a lot of caterwauling. Naturally, one of Downey's brothers was retarded but in a "charming" and "funny" way. The other brother had his baseball career crushed because of a car accident and it just so happened that Downey was driving the car.

There was a big screaming emotional cathartic psychodrama scene in the courtroom. The father was dying of cancer. There was a long lost high school flame who ran the local tavern. There was a plethora of home movies showing the "good ole days" when everyone got along.

Oh, i disliked immensely this movie. and Downey's rapid fire witty sarcastic patter was wearing thin by the end of the first hour. and at this point the film still had over another hour to run!!!!!!!!!!

I gave this movie a 5 (though now as i'm rethinking it, i am tempted to lower the number). Bill gave it a 7.

LE BUZZ CAFFE - TUCSON, AZ

I can't remember when  i last had an enjoyable, reasonably priced, and delicious restaurant breakfast. Le Buzz did not break this stalemate.

Carol and I sat outside in their fairly large patio area. The tables inside were pretty close together and it was noisy also. This place seems popular with  young  modern mothers with several  babies (the ones who hold down a fulltime corporate job, are on the board of directors for a local charity, bake and cook and also re- decorate their house and work on their husband's genealogy chart) and bikers coming down from Mt. Lemmon.

You order at the counter. I felt rushed. I got a frangipane pastry and an omelet with sourdough toast. Cost? $13.50. I had to return the pastry 3 times to the counter so that it would be adequately heated up in order for my multiple tablespoons of butter to melt and pool in the sweet dough crevices. and why do restaurants serve rock hard butter? tiny rectangles of yellow ice.

The pastry was large and filled with an almond and ricotta cheese mixture which was delicious. The ends of the pastry that had no filling were just ok; nothing special or light and fluffy going on.

The omelet was a joke; a small rubbery piece with shards of tomato, bacon and i forgot what else. also on the plate was 2 pieces of lukewarm toast served with cement butter and a tiny tiny oh so small and petite white dish of maybe 1 tsp. of raspberry jelly.

Oh my!!

I must add, however, that Carol really liked her breakfast; 2 slices of extra crispy bacon and a big slice of an apple crisp which she said tasted like a compressed apple pie.

I'll be buzzing elsewhere.

KILL THE MESSENGER

Jeremy Renner has never been better; great job playing Gary Webb, an investigative reporter for the San Jose Mercury-News who researches a story on the connection between the government and crack cocaine. This is based on a true story. the story of the Reagan administration wanting to oust the Freedom Fighters in Nicaragua but not being able to get Congress to ok the money to do this. So Reagan goes for off-the-book financing which involves the CIA buying massive amounts of cocaine and importing it into this country; mostly in the South Central L.A. area.

The money made from the drugs were used to buy guns for the Contra's with a little help from Ollie (oliver) North. Remember him? He's now a political commentator and author of thriller's.

Anyway, these printed revelations make the government very nervous so naturally, there is pressure put on the San Jose paper as well as the LA times and Washington Post to discredit Webb and his findings as unsubstantiated. Also there is a character assassination  campaign waged against Webb.

When it was revealed many years later  that everything and more was true about this conspiracy, there was already a huge Wag the Dog production going on in the government as the whole world was focused on Clinton's blow jobs and not the documents backing up the newspaper story Webb wrote.

Excellent movie; fast paced; easy to understand and once again, Jeremy
Renner was mesmerizingly wonderful. I rated the movie a 9.6; Bill gave it a 9.

GREAT AMERICAN STEAKBURGER - TUCSON, AZ

We ate here after coming down from a hike on Mt. Lemmon. Its located at the intersection of Tanque Verde and Catalina Highway; where Chuy's (RIP) used to be.

Its a really large place with a separate bar area; lots of tables and booths. We got a great out of the way booth; not near the noisy large family tables right by the front door. The menu is huge; in addition to burgers, they have steaks and salads and sandwiches and ribs.

We shared a blue cheese burger with grilled onions. It was a delicious 1/3rd of a pound hamburger. Very tasty and the bun was good and fresh and warm. We also ordered a side of steak fries which were hot and well seasoned and crispy and California veggies with butter sauce. The veggies were carrots and cauliflower and broccoli; however, there was only 1 broccoli floret; the rest was all stems. The portion was fairly small too; unlike the brimming basket of fries.


The burgers are all around $10 but sharing one and then ordering the sides kept the meal tab down with tip to $17. SCORE.

RELISH - TUCSON, AZ

 This is the second and last time we will eat at this restaurant located on the corner of Camp Lowell and Swan. When we ate here before it was newly opened and we could understand the lack of patrons. Now 3 or 4 years later, being about the only diners, we know the answer. the food is not very good and the customer service is lacking.

I had pulled pork which i didn't want but there was absolutely nothing else on the menu which interested me; the menu is not big and i remembered having this same decision problem the first time we were here. at that time,  i ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and was duly unimpressed; same gustatory result this time.

Bill ordered the Chef's special which was a New York strip steak mounded on a a pillow of blue cheese infused mashed potatoes surrounded by a pale green sauce. The steak was so tough he could not even cut into it. So he told the waitress and asked for the pulled pork which she brought piled on top of the same mashed potatoes moated with the green sauce.

We were charged for the steak though which was double the price of the pork. The very rare times we have returned an entree; the manager has always come over, apologized and either gave a discount on the meal ticket or offered a free dessert.

We will not be coming here again if they are even open much longer. There was never more than 1 other table of diners in the large  with patio restaurant. and this was over an almost 2 hour span of time on a Saturday night.

WINGS AND RICE - TUCSON., AZ

I love this restaurant. Everything we've ordered here has been really good. and i like the atmosphere; casual; never very noisy, nice outdoor sitting area and reasonable prices.

I got my usual (though i have tried their chicken katsu - excellent - and the Philly cheese steak; also very good.) shrimp combo. 5 gigantic shrimp grilled and basted with the glaze of my choice (sesame teriyaki; honey sticky sweet with a hint of spice) and a salad with miso dressing and a logger and long distance trucker size pile of shrimp fried rice with hibachi sauce. This is sort of like a thousand island dressing. I always order an extra sauce.


The rice has lots of veggies in it plus the tiny shrimp and there is always enough for me to share with Bill plus have a lunch the next day.

Oh, i have also had their steamed veggies which are delicious; carrots, cabbage, onions and broccoli in a light butter sesame sauce.

The restaurant is open 7 days a week and is on the corner of Pima and Craycroft.

THE EQUALIZER

We both rated this movie an 8. It was a well-acted action flick but knowing Denzel Washington was the lead already tells you its going to be well-acted.

A simple plot with several "holes" and inconsistencies through-out but then again, for me, Denzel cancels out all those minor cinematic details.

He is a retired CIA operative, living austerely in his OCD fashion, and working at a Home Depot and going for tea every night to the same diner. Its funny to see all his compulsive rigid actions from lining up silverware to when he drops his tea bag in the cup. At the diner he gets casually acquainted with a prostitute who gets beaten up by her Russian pimp. Well, that's all Denzel needs to know. He wreaks revenge.

But in a deliberate, almost choreographed, highly efficient, unusual methods way: complete with gore and lots of blood and inside body parts.

I'm glad we saw this movie because it was very entertaining. We debated in a similar OCD way about seeing Gone Girl instead but having been celluloid-ish smited the last 2 times we went to the show, we didn't want to have that experience repeated. I have read reviews of Gone Girl which were sterlingly wonderful and other reviews saying what a disappointment it was and predictable.

And because we love Denzel and hadn't ever seen him in a movie we didn't enjoy, we picked The Equalizer. and didn't regret it.