Shiraz

Went there this evening for a work holiday parrty. The server was nice and helpful, especially to the vegetarian members of our party, but we arrived early for drinks and she only came back one time to offer us refills. I had the 5oz filet with zip sauce and whipped potatoes. The filet was cooked perfectly and the zip sauce was awesome. My real complaint was at desert time. I love, love, love crème brûlée. I love going to restaurants like this because it’s the only time I get to have it (so not often). However, the crème brûlée came as a trio of vanilla, chocolate and pecan. I asked if I could substitute the chocolate and pecan for just vanilla due to severe food allergies, and the chef absolutely refused. He told the server to tell me it would «mess up his numbers» (even she didn’t know what that meant). He wouldn’t even serve it to me with just the one vanilla portion and nothing else on the plate. I could have taken a chance and just ate the vanilla and left the rest, but at that point I got the feeling he wouldn’t have served it to me at all — and I wasn’t being difficult about it. I guess he’d rather have a diner go into anaphylactic shock and die in his restaurant that «screw up his numbers». I should also note that my coworkers had their deserts and were eating and I had to waive the server down to find out that the chef wasn’t going to accommodate me. After telling me, she walked away without offering me any alternative suggestions. So no desert for me.
So if you have food allergies, my suggestion is to avoid Shiraz.

I’ve been to this resturant twice, once for a romantic anniversary dinner with my husband and the 2^nd time with 2 of my 4 children. Considering that many of the other patrons were over 50 years old, Some might be surpirsed that I indicated that this is a good resturant for kids, but I promise that if you have well behaved children, Shiraz is a good option for a family dinner. The chicken fingers my son ordered were AMAZING and the the maple-​mustard sauce just took the standard children’s menu fare over the top. They provided crayons and coloring pages to boot. My son is 2 and my daughter is 4 and the wait-​staff interacted with them so that I could enjoy my 5 course meal. My 2 yr old started getting sleepy and so we hurried to the dessert course so that we could get back on the road after being there 2 hours. Over-​all Shiraz is another great resturant from the Matt Prentice Group.

Our party of four had dinner at Shiraz last night. None of us had been there in quite some time, but had positive memories of past meals. Those fond memories will remain just that… memories. The food was marginal at best, from the fried zucchini strips appetizer that were over battered and thick (frozen?), to the entrees, braised shortribs with root vegetables (tasted like old pot roast, and tiny diced and dried up veggies could have been potatoes, or turnips, or parsnips? All tateless, but I’m assuming the orange ones were carrots), to my wife’s steak (delmonico, or porterhouse? Don’t remember and it doesn’t matter — it was thin and flavorless), to my friend’s mussels (bland and didn’t taste fresh), and my other friends salmon (dry as a bone). Have you ever tasted pomme frites that were battered (Panko?). Me either. Top off the mediocre dishes with a startingly subpar waiter and you have an evening you’d rather forget. Our waiter took 15 minutes to appear at the table, and another 20 minutes to bring us our drinks. Following that, he vanished and when I finally saw him leaning against a wall in the service entrance area, I gave him my best we’re– hungry wave… and he waved back… before he disappeared again. When we questioned him on some of the menu items he assured as the every single one of them was a «house specialty» and a «favorite,» as he read aloud the printed descriptions on the menu while looking over your shoulder. This was accompanied by a repetitive «Mmm, mmm, mmm!» to seal the deal. I can’t tell you anthing about dessert, because after we ordered New York Cheese Cake, it took our watier another 10 minutes to come back to the table to inform us «we’re out of it, but the crème brûlée is just as good, mmm, mmm, mmm.» Our bill for four people with one drink apiece and one appetizer was $ 180. We gave our watier two credit cards and asked him to divide the bill in two. For the first time all evening he was prompt, brought back our credit card receipts to sign, and then walked away so we could see that we had each been charged $ 180, so apparently our meal was actually $ 360! Because our watier had once again vanished into the night, I chased down a busboy who had to give the bill-​in-​error to another waiter, and eventually our waiter back and said everything was fixed. Not having received a void or credit receipt, my friend and I will be looking closely at our monthly AmEx bills. The perfect ending to a perfect evening was the young lady I gave our four coat check tickets to. She pulled out each coat with a rousing «Who has number 98? Who has number 99?» When I reminded her that I wouldn’t know the answer to that question since she possesed the tickets, she didn’t miss a beat. «Who has number 100?» And so it goes…

A beautiful little restaurant with delicious food! Traditional fare with a unique twist. The atmosphere is nice. It’s almost like a casual restaurant attempting a hip, more distinguished look. The restaurant has a very 1990’s feel with modern day fixtures.
Food was great! The bread was mediocre and the butter was ice cold, which I think is ridiculous. I attempted to take a small amount out of the ramekin and almost sent it flying accross the table. That’s where the negative comments end. We had the fried zucchini and shitake mushrooms to begin. The zucchini was great! I really enjoyed the sauce. The mushrooms were unique however tasty. We all had steak as our entrée. It was phenomenal! All of our meat was slightly undercooked however that is obviously better than over-​cooked. Be aware, like a traditional steakhouse, the steak comes with no sides. A few vegetables garnish the plate but that is it. We got potatoes on the side (the name slips me). They were ok. Nothing fabulous. Dessert was elegant and very tasty. We got the chocolate bombe. If you love chocolate this is the dessert for you! The cheesecake was horrible! We sent it back.
Service was pretty ok. Our waitress was a little slow, however the meal was paced well. The second time I went the waiter actually had a little attitude. I asked him an appropriate question and he actually told me to «wait» and that he would help me in a minute. All in all I would definitely return!

The major construction on Telegraph Rd is the least of their problems.
From a first timer’s point of view the invisible signage is unacceptable; our only tipoff of it’s location was the Matt Prentice Catering truck parked in the parking lot.
Overall, the service was inept. Waited approx one minute at the check-​in station before someone came from the kitchen. Would have been a nice touch if the person walking us into the dining room and seating us had pulled out the chair for my wife, he stood while I paused and then I did the seating for my wife. Once seated we waited almost ten minutes before our beverage order was taken by the manager who at least had the courtesy of asking if the beverage order had been taken.
The crying, complaining toddler in another part of the dining area didn’t add many positive vibes to the atmosphere. The main dining room is kind of loud.
Ordered steak medium rare, it arrived almost well done. The portions are okay but not generous.
The pacing of the service was way off, too long of breaks between the different courses. Does a completed dirty dinner plate have to sit in front of me for ten minutes even after the bus boy refills my water glass?
Not a disaster but certainly not worth $ 140 for two people…

Shiraz of Bingham Farms reminds me of that nice restaurant your parents go to for their anniversary every year. Shiraz was alright when I went, I had the Caesar salad and Chicken Caesar wrap. The food was very good and I had a good time, except the restaurant it’s self. I don’t know how to describe the decorating but it looks like something you would expect in a ocean liner from the early 1900s. Very old and plain looking. I’ll stick to Northern Lakes Seafood and Coach Insignia.

What a huge disappointment. Does not live up to the other Matt Prentice restaurant particularly Novi Chop House one of our favorites. Best thing we had was the salad. My husband and I both ordered the seafood trio which had a small lobster tail, 3 small scallops and 2 shrimp. Both my husband and I tasted the lobster first — we both spit it out it was so bad and fishy tasting. It was absolutely inedible. We debated whether to tell our server but thought the chef would want to know that there might be something wrong. Our server related it to the manager who came to our table and related others had ordered it and not complained and she had tasted it and did not taste anything wrong. We related our only intent was to let the chef know there could possibly be something wrong not to debate it. For $ 138.00 this was a terrible meal — could have had a better meal at Red Lobster. Will still visit Novi Chop House but would absolutely not recommend this place. Also, most of the patrons were very elderly, not much for atmosphere.

I was lucky enought to go to Shiraz a couple months ago (unfortunately I am way behind on my reviews) and absolutely loved it.
I went of a business dinner that started at the bar. The bartender was friendly and outgoing and entertained myself and a few engineers by whipping up some fun martining (cucumber, jasmine) which were both stiff and delightful… my only requirements for a cocktail.
We were seated and we were a lot more «rowdy» than everyone else there, but management didn’t seem to mind, in fact they seemed to appreciate our livlieness on a dull Wednesday.
We ordered several bottles of wine, two of which were recommended by our waiter. Now here’s the part I hate. I for the life of me cannot remember our server’s name and he was AMAZING. Attentive, knowledgeable about the menu and wines and most importantly he had a quirky fun personality.
The wine was fantastic. I ordered the filet mignon medium and it was perfect. We had lobster mashed potatoes and asparagus for sides, family style, and nothing was left at the end of my dinner.
The pricing in my opinion was fair, even on the cheap side for a restaurant like this. The bottles of wine were completely reasonable as well and did not disapoint at all.
For all this I completely recommend Shiraz as a great place to take clients or a romantic evening.

I have recently become obsessed with steak, so I have made a point to eat at many of the steakhouses in the area. Shiraz makes the best steak I have had. It is owned by the Matt Prentice group (Coach Insignia, NoVI Chophouse), which seem to me to have similar menus and styles of food preparation, at least when it comes to their steaks. Shiraz tends to do things on a bit smaller scale than some of the others in the group. The space itself is much smaller than, say, Coach Insignia, which lends to a more intimate feel. The ambience more casual and laid-​back than I expected, thankfully.
The service was very good, without being overbearing or stuffy. The waiter was attentive, but in a casual way. I’ve been to nice restaurants where everything is formal, and that always seems so aritcifial. Shiraz isn’t like that.
The most important part: the food/​wine. Shiraz has an extensive wine list, which can be a bit overwhelming, but our waiter made a few suggestions and we had a fantastic shiraz that was around $ 35 – 40 (aren’t we creative?). This is definitely a good restaurant for those who like wine but can’t afford to spend $ 100 on a bottle. They also feature some really good beers, like Bells and Chimay. The appetizers and salads that I’ve had have all been good, but I think their entrees are more impressive. Persinally, I always get the filet, which is deliciously prepared: tender and juicy on the inside, crusty and peppery on the outside. I don’t know what they coat their steaks with before they cook them, but the flavor compliments the meat perfectly. The scallops are also fantastic. My boyfriend had a veal/​lobster surf-‘n-turf that he really enjoyed. Both desserts I’ve had, the chocolate lava cake and some peanut butter mousse concoction, were amazing. Everyone seems to be doing the chocolate lava cake the past few years, but the one at Shiraz is better than most.
Overall, this is a great restaurant if you like steaks and seafood, and you either don’t mind dropping $ 75 per person or you have something special to celebrate.
Addendum: If you like Zinfandel, I highly recommend the Elyse 2005. Amazing!