By Erin Forney, Guest Blogger, Foodies Like Us http://www.foodtrampdiaries.com

Top of the Rock is a beautiful fine dining restaurant located in Tempe at The Buttes resort by Marriot.  It is set high above everything else ground level, so the views are spectacular.  Top of the Rock will be a part of Restaurant Week 2010 this year and it would be the perfect place for a romantic three course dinner at a reasonable price.

Gorgeous view

Top of the Rock’s menu is as follows: one choice from each course for $39.00 per person.

Appetizer – Starter Options:

1. Sweet Potato Gnocchi with chorizo and wild mushrooms, smothered in a citrus buerre blanc

2. Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with pickled seaweed salad and a spicy wasabi cream sauce

3. Top of the Rock Signature Salad

Ahi Tuna appetizer

Entree Options:

1.  Certified Angus Beef Medallions ~ Two 3 oz. Filet medallions pan seared to perfection, served with diners choice of Dianne, au poivre, or Oscar style on Yukon Gold mashed Potatoes with Blistered Asparagus, Baby Carrots, and Cippolini Onions

2.  Domestic Lamb ~ Two Lamb Racks grilled with savory garlic, and shallots, atop a creamy Truffle Mac-N-Cheese, Carnival Cauliflower, Baby Carrots and Blistered Asparagus, and smothered in their own mint au-jus

3.  Fresh from the Sea ~ for every day during Restaurant week, Chef James will bring in a different fresh fish prepared uniquely

Domestic Lamb Racks

Dessert Options:

1.  Trio of luscious flavored Crème Brule

2.  Louisiana style Bread Pudding, with Roasted Banana Gelato

3.  Delightful Trendy Tasting Ice Cream or Sorbet

My husband and I went last weekend to preview the menu and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t even pick one highlight because so many parts of it were outstanding. The sweet potato gnocchi will not disappoint, with small chunks of salty chorizo and wild mushrooms with the perfect amount of citrus buerre blanc to highlight the dimensions of flavor. It was definitely my favorite starter.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

For the main course, I got the double rack of lamb and my husband got a grilled salmon filet from the “fresh from the sea” choice.  I always get my lamb cooked medium and it was perfectly cooked here.  The lamb comes with a mint au-jus which didn’t sound appetizing to me, so I asked for it on the side. The truffle mac n cheese that comes with the lamb is decadent and everything you would imagine truffle mac to be.  It was creamy and the truffle oil and truffle pieces just put it over the top…Delicious.  I had a bite of my husband’s fish and may have been even more excited to try the caramelized onion, bacon and potato hash that was lying underneath it.  I could not get over how perfect every single part of this meal was.

Grilled Salmon

The only tiny disappointment I had was my tri colored “carnival cauliflower”.  Cauliflower is on of my favorite vegetables, especially when I’m at a restaurant.  For some reason the cauliflower I got that night tasted like smoky meat.  I noticed it was grilled, so maybe it was placed on a grill area that a steak had just been on? Either way, it didn’t really matter because every other bite I took of this meal was perfection.

Dessert was incredible of course. I was in love with the bread pudding. It had the perfect consistency and tasted the way bread pudding should, not dry by any means.  It had a yummy hot caramel sauce and banana gelato that paired perfect with every bite.  My husband really loved the trio of crème brulees; my favorite was the chocolate, and it reminded me of nutella for some reason — just delicious.

Top of the Rock is the perfect choice for restaurant week for the simple point of a great value.  The portions you will get are not by any means the fine dining standard, they were very large.  I had to give my husband a rack of my lamb or else I wouldn’t have had room to try dessert.  Besides the tremendous value, the service at Top of the Rock is impeccable and Chef James Hildebrand does everything he can to make sure every single diner is pleased with their meal and experience.