Photos by Richard Maack whole red snapper

The classic lodge at the Tournament Players Club is swinging for the green with its new seafood-focused menu, but some dishes end up putting from the rough.

Some recent Valley resort restaurant conversions went down as smoothly as a foie gras terrine. But when The Fairmont Princess replaced The Marquesa with Bourbon Steak, it had to rethink Grill at the TPC. Thus, what had been their meat ’n’ potatoes purveyor morphed into a seafood concept – a stretch for a golf clubhouse. 

In the evening, women seem to happily chow down on the briny offerings while most of the guys’ plates are laden with filet, ribeye or pork osso buco ($36, $39, $28, respectively). Starter preferences appeal to all. Firm, meaty Kumamoto oysters ($14 for 6) mesh beautifully with a restrained, ginger-lime mignonette sauce. Three narrow slices of sweet, raw yellowtail under a shower of watermelon radish, avocado and arugula with basil vinaigrette are lovely, though $14 for (at most) three ounces of fish and raw veggies seems excessive.

An inventive charred grapefruit vinaigrette punches up a plate of greens, beets, goat cheese and pistachios ($9). No telling what chicken soup with Pennsylvania Dutch dumplings ($8) is doing here, but white shellfish chowder (red is also available) ($12) would be right at home in Boston.

One evening’s special of grilled bass was huge and a screaming bargain at $32 (brave diners should order it whole). The silky, sweet meat needed only a squirt of lemon to juice it up, but nothing could help the dry square of potato galette and overdone roasted asparagus served on the side. A chunk of perfectly done halibut ($29) with sweet corn sauce was equally as good as the bass, but tough, strongly flavored chunks of pork belly on mini-corncakes were inedible.

Lunch falters, and a bored, uninterested server didn’t help. But we tried some of the few seafood offerings, including good quality calamari ($14) with a terrific pesto aioli. Unfortunately, the batter fell off in big, greasy chunks, and the inexplicable spinach leaves strewn about were yellow and half dead. Surf-and-turf salad ($18) was merely a chunk of New York strip and a few grilled shrimp resting on limp greens. Overcooked pasta in bland, watery sauce did nothing to showcase mussels, shrimp, calamari and crab ($18), and the inclusion of peas made no culinary sense.

Desserts (all $9) aim for the offbeat, but PB&J crème brûlée is downright weird. A mini-pie quartet had overly sweet fillings and leaden crusts. Monkey bread sundae clearly had been microwaved before serving, as it was scalding hot and quickly stiffened up (it’s topped with killer banana ice cream, though).

Perhaps the honchos at the Grill at the TPC would be wise to ponder the proverb, “To thine own self be true.”

oysters on the half shell

DETAILS
Grill at the TPC at The Fairmont Princess
Cuisine: Seafood/Contemporary American
Address: 17020 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale
Phone: 480-585-4848
Website: fairmont.com/scottsdale
Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday
Highlights: Oysters (mp), Australian yellowtail ($13), organic greens salad ($9), whole bass ($32), Scottish halibut ($29), shellfish chowder ($12)