text: Being a (closet) fan of Jaimee Rose's  Azcentral blog, I had heard about Noca a few weeks ago. I always enjoy trying out new restaurants and admit to still being very unfamiliar with many of the well known establishments here in the Valley.Trusting her taste and the pictures and descriptions of the items, I was keen on going and what better a time than my birthday. We were a party of 5 and had the following:\nParents: Kampachi and a suggestion from the waiter not on the menu but very tasty (linguini with shrimp).\nGirlfriend: Pappardelle\nSister: Duck\nMyself: Spinach mezzaluna\n\nI have to commend our waiter. Very friendly but not overbearing. She was very familiar with the menu and was able to recommend some wines, which is usually something I don't do but felt comfortable doing with her. She was able to answer all our questions regarding some of the dishes we were unfamiliar with as well.\n\nPositives: \nVery class cozy ambiance. Restaurant was smaller and not exactly what I thought it would be with the \"bigger is better\" mentality I'm used to in the US but that takes nothing away from it on the contrary.\n\nService is excellent for the most part. Never had to ask for water and the bussers and waiters always seem to have the right timing to refill your water or assist you. \n\nThe quality of the food was exceptional, though the 1 star penalty goes towards the portions or \"bang for your buck\". I'd have wished for a few more mezzaluna's and other than my girlfriend's reasonable portion they did seem to be a bit too \"european\" even for my taste.\n\nThe desserts really were the cherry on the cake. Perfect portions, very creative and tasty. You actually receive cotton candy at the end of your meal (regardless of a dessert or not I'm can't be sure). I really enjoyed the milk and cookies (excellent chocolate chip cookies provided with a cup of delicious vanilla milkshake). We also enjoyed the cheesecake dessert which consisted of rolled balls of cheesecake with a strawberry coulis and the small doughnuts with jelly were delicious as well. The best part was not footing the bill!\n\nNegatives (few but could use some improving):\n\nThe delay between our order and receiving our food was probably 10-15 minutes. I'm used to having some bread in restaurants that I would consider \"classy\" or expensive and that was lacking here. They did provide an \"amuse bouche\" that was original but for some could be considered a bit odd. It consisted of a spoon of mint,melon and pop rocks, quite the party in your mouth and refreshing but not very filling for the wait.\n\nI definitely look forward to returning and trying out some of their other dishes. The desserts were exceptional and I'm quite certain a few clients came in just for those, similar to what I do with out of town visitors at Oregano's. All in all a pleasant and welcome surprise to the dining scene here in the valley.