The restaurant and lounge is closed and out of business. I will continue to type to make sure I use my minimum of 100 characters Pros: Looks nice Cons: The fact that it is closed

The restaurant and lounge is closed and out of business. I will continue to type to make sure I use my minimum of 100 characters Pros: Looks nice Cons: The fact that it is closed
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Unfortunately, Fhima's is no longer open, so if you are looking for a bite in downtown Saint Paul, you'll be best off looking somewhere else. If you are interested in a menu from David Fhima, he is... More

Unfortunately, Fhima's is no longer open, so if you are looking for a bite in downtown Saint Paul, you'll be best off looking somewhere else. If you are interested in a menu from David Fhima, he is still the head chef at LoTo last time I checked, which is in lowertown St. P in the bottom of Galtier Plaza. Pros: Good food Cons: Closed...
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I've been to this restaurant a couple of times since it opened and was definately concerned this last year with all the bad media coverage Fhima's recieved as it has been one of my favorites...So, I... More

I've been to this restaurant a couple of times since it opened and was definately concerned this last year with all the bad media coverage Fhima's recieved as it has been one of my favorites...So, I stopped by for the first time in a while last Saturday and was pleasently surprised to see it fairly busy despite the bitter cold. My friend and I started with a drink at the bar, unsure if we were going to stay for dinner. We ordered two of their signature infused Martini - the Fantini - which is always good and chatted for a bit. While we were chatting the bartender mentioned that they had just made a change to their menu and offered to show us. We took a look and were interested in some of the new items so we decided to stay for dinner, The bartender arranged for a nice table by the window - a nice touch and we sat down to get started with our meal. On our servers reccomendation (she took us through the menu even though we had been there before but since it there were a number of new items we didn't mind) we started with the Wedge Salad (me) and a bowl of the Harira (my friend). The wedge sald was excellent with a nice combination of blue cheese and candied walnuts - definately my kind of thing. My friend thought the Harira was a little different from the soups he usually liked but found in interesting and I tasted abit and really liked the spices in it. For the main course I tried the new duck and my friend went with the Pesto Halibut. Now it was time for wine and unfortunately the list was a little thin - the server told me that they are changing the list - but we found a decent red at a good price that went well with our dinners. I loved the duck! Really cool presentation with a halved duck breast in some sort of plum sauce and a layered phyllo and duck pastry on the side. My Friend also enjoyed the Halibut - only complaint is that the menu is now ala carte and he missed the potatoes from the old halibut! Oh well! Glad to see Fhima's doing well again. Pros: Like the new menu; great bartenders Cons: heat had trouble keeping up with the cold
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A group of five of us dined here Friday 5 January. The entrees (bouillabaise, seafood risotto, chicken rigatoni, lamb tagine) were fine, although two other items overshadowed them: the addictive... More

A group of five of us dined here Friday 5 January. The entrees (bouillabaise, seafood risotto, chicken rigatoni, lamb tagine) were fine, although two other items overshadowed them: the addictive pita-like bread and a chicken leg appetizer (don't recall the name), both reaching the excellent category. A spinach salad was very good, with a dressing that I couldn't identify (or remember), but which I wish I could duplicate at home. The ambience was quite nice, with a "hard" metal and glass decor, and an open kitchen for those seated at the back of the restaurant. Tables were nicely spaced, and decibel levels were at an acceptable level in spite of the hard surfaces. There were some negatives, though: Our server, a blonde woman, was not exactly unfriendly, but she was certainly not friendly. Perhaps she was having a bad day - divorce, eviction, a death-sentence disease prognosis, upset about Bush's "troop surge" in Iraq, etc. I'm not sure a smile was detected during the entire meal. No small talk at all. Others said she wasn't particularly attentive, either, although I didn't notice that. I see other reviewers have criticized the service here, so notwithstanding the non-scientific, non-random survey aspect of such reviews, it seems to me there may be a persistent service problem at this restaurant. Back to the food: A first course/appetizer of bay scallop seviche was tasty but overpriced at $12. The lamb in my tagine was very good but with too much fat and connective tissue. These aren't major criticisms; we don't expect every restaurant offering to be perfect. Overall, very good food - but many other restaurants in the Twin Cities have very good food, too. In other words, it wasn't so good that we'll make Fhima's a regular stop. And, admittedly, this was only one person, but the risk of getting the same server again is a disincentive to our return. Pros: Food Cons: Service (at least this time)
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Stopped in here just for drinks before meeting friends at a different place. We sat at the bar. The bartender did make some great drinks but the service was slow. Apparently they had a DJ coming in... More

Stopped in here just for drinks before meeting friends at a different place. We sat at the bar. The bartender did make some great drinks but the service was slow. Apparently they had a DJ coming in too, because he was setting up while we were drinking. The place still has it's ambience and some of the trendy crowd still seems to be there, but it's lost some of it's lustre. I don't know that this can be attributed just to Fhima's though. For a while there St. Paul was the scene when all the places clustered around Lawson were new. They drew some of the Minneapolis crowd away and some of the 9 to 5'ers stuck around to check out the new places, but I think on the whole for the trendy scene St. Paul is played out. It seems with the new bars and clubs opening, once again Minneapolis is the late night destination. Pros: Still the same Fhima's Cons: *STILL* the same Fhima's
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My husband and I both had our first experience at Fhima's this past Saturday for my birthday dinner. I was incredibly dissappointed with the service and the food. There was no hostess whenw e... More

My husband and I both had our first experience at Fhima's this past Saturday for my birthday dinner. I was incredibly dissappointed with the service and the food. There was no hostess whenw e arrived so, after standing at the front for a minute or two, our actual waiter seated us. Our waiter, similar to the last review, came back 10-15 minutes after we ordered and asked us to repeat our order (we had no special requests so it should not have been confusing). They did not have the bottle of wine we ordered which was fine I guess - they brought us a decent substitute. The service was slow considering there were only 5 other tables occupied in the entire place (at 7:30 p.m.) And the food was mediocre - my husband's chicken and couscous dish and my seafood stew left something to be desired. At a different pricepoint the service and food may have been acceptable but for a dinner over $100 we would definitely take my business elsewhere.
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The only person who was polite to us was the Host. Our server was beyond rude. 30 minutes after we had order our entrees he came up to the table and asked what we had ordered. We repeated our... More

The only person who was polite to us was the Host. Our server was beyond rude. 30 minutes after we had order our entrees he came up to the table and asked what we had ordered. We repeated our orders and then he told me that they were out of the Salmon Wellington, which I had ordered. "What else do you want? I can get it out very quick, I'll put it on the fly." It seems to me that "very quick" would have been telling me that they were out of my dish before the half hour mark. He brought me a menu and left. 5 minutes later he returned and said that they actually did have the Salmon Wellington. 20 minutes after this, with empty wine glasses and our server nowhere to be found, our food finally comes out. I found it very odd that food orders that take almost an hour could be undercooked. I would have understood if they had been busy, but it was a Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m., there were 4 other tables in the restaurant. The worst part was that no one seemed to even care that this had happened. We weren't even offered so much as an apology from anyone in the restaurant. I was very disappointed with the food and the service and I will never go back.
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I have to admit that the last two times I visited Fhima's I found it to be stale and old,I gave it a try on Sat night ,it was amazing to see Mr Fhima in the kitchen work his magic the food was great... More

I have to admit that the last two times I visited Fhima's I found it to be stale and old,I gave it a try on Sat night ,it was amazing to see Mr Fhima in the kitchen work his magic the food was great ,service could have been better but the original feel of this St Paul gem is definetly back.
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First, a confession: I was once a habitue of this pretty little downtown gem. My husband and I took many out-of-town guests here to enjoy the fab decor, the outstanding wine list, and the delicious... More

First, a confession: I was once a habitue of this pretty little downtown gem. My husband and I took many out-of-town guests here to enjoy the fab decor, the outstanding wine list, and the delicious Moroccan-French cuisine. However, we hadn't made it back for a few years until last night... and, simply stated, the entire experience was cringe inducing. Clearly, the spark has been snuffed out. Due either to owner David Fhima's monetary problems or an achingly bad attempt to satisfy the palates of the lowest of all possible common denominators, the menu was tired, hackneyed, and about ten years past its prime. The wine room -- once so beautiful and awe-inspiring -- was decimated and desolate. And don't get me started on the service, particularly in light of its past glory of attentive and sophisticated staff. My heart breaks for what this once was, what it truly tried to become, and the dismal place into which it evolved. Pros: good location, easy parking Cons: menu, wine list, rude service
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I've not eaten a full meal at Fhima's, and had wanted to. After our experience this past Friday it's questinable if we'd ever go back. Met friends for drinks on a Friday at 6 -- the place was a... More

I've not eaten a full meal at Fhima's, and had wanted to. After our experience this past Friday it's questinable if we'd ever go back. Met friends for drinks on a Friday at 6 -- the place was a ghost town in terms of customers... one table eating dinner and our group of 8 outside along with one other couple. A bartender and at least four servers were working. On two different occasions the server either forgot a drink (beer), or delivered the wrong beverage. That is, when he finally showed up again after we ordered. It was taking 10-12 minutes for him to deliver drinks, all this while the restaurant was DEAD. I shudder to think what a busy night would be like. The most shocking experience is when we looked to order appetizers... it was Lobster appetizer. I asked him to describe it... he said they used crawfish. Crawfish?? Are you sure, it says lobster here (at $16 mind you)... yes, crawfish he insisted. No thanks... if Fhima's is misleading customers about crawfish posing as lobster (to cut food cost and improve the margin on something that sounds yummy... ) what ELSE are they skimping on? Am I really getting that aged scotch or some substitute? Is that really big eye tuna or some cheaper cousin... Although the service was terrible given the high staff to customer ratio... at least the server was either a) smart enough to warn us or b) too dumb to know not to say anything. Caveat emptor. Pros: Swanky, cool setting... a menu that appears promising Cons: Horrid service, lies about ingredients.
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