Does anyone actually miss table service?

[rusnak]

ooh damn that steak looks good

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Cast iron pan really hot. Steak at cool temp. Pat dry both sides. Moisture is the enemy of the maillard effect. heavy salt and pepper both sides. Steak in the pan, let it sit there 3 minutes. Flip, 1 minute, in oven at 400F for 3 minutes. Take steak out and let it rest. Add butter, chopped shallots, fresh thyme & rosemary, soften shallots, steak back in pan, baste for a few seconds, steak on plate, pour butter sauce on top. Eat.

Thickness of steak and desired doneness changes times in oven, you will have to experiment...

Very nicely done...but I would "ruin" it by making it medium well. No red for me.

[GH85Carrera]

I almost never order a steak at a restaurant. I can cook one on our grill on the back porch at home for 1/4 of the cost, and usually have a much better steak than the high end steak places. Prime rib is the one thing I order at restaurants that is almost impossible to cook just right when there is just my wife and myself.

We enjoy eating out, and it rotates from family owned Italian to Mexican, South American, Chinese, and Cajun. We have a zillion restaurants in the area. I just plan to stick to the family owned, or at least locally owned places.

[vash]

I love a good chop house experience. Steak houses, the stuffy ones. So much fun.

It’s an every once in awhile things with my wife or friends. It isn’t just about the food. I wouldnt hit up a steakhouse solo. But with a couple of good friends, hell yes.

When I moved into this current house we were starved. We didn’t know the area and searched out dive joints to match our clothing and overall moving “funk”. A local steak house was open. A waiter was smoking outside and we asked about dive joints. He knew exactly what to read between our lines. He offered us a table in a closed off section. Haha. I had martini s and a great meal. My wife and I joked and laughed. We tipped him well and ducked out. Off to unpack the shower towels.

Eating out isn’t all about the food. It’s the people I’m eating with.

Solo, I could slug a protein shake or a food bar and move along in life.

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, eating with friends is more fun. One of our clients lives in Manhattan in an apartment below a book store. He came to OKC and he wanted some food than was different than he had in his neighborhood. So we took him to a local Cajun place. The have alligator on the menu. So we ordered some appetizers of gator. He thought gator was something endangered and we told hm is is a commercial product. He decided alligator was the "Filet mignon" of chicken.

He said he was going to find a Cajun restaurant in NYC. I have no doubt they have more than one. He loved the style of cooking.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by vash

Eating out isn’t all about the food. It’s the people I’m eating with.

Excellent sentiment, one I'll steal and claim as my own

[rusnak]

Depends on how good the food is. I'd put up with a lot of douchebaggery for some Ruth's Chris.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

^^^ come on over, only minimal douchebaggery and better than Ruth's Chris.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Very nicely done...but I would "ruin" it by making it medium well. No red for me.

You're not alone.
Rare bloody raw steak like pictured above is disgusting.
GAG.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

^^^ come on over, only minimal douchebaggery and better than Ruth's Chris.

Most everything is better than RC. Especially for the price.

I will order steak when out of town, because I like steak. Prime rib isn't too bad to make at home with the sous vide and smoker.

Most of the stuff we go for is stuff we normally can't or don't make at home. Pizza too. We sometimes make it from scratch, sometimes take-n-bake and sometimes delivered hot.

I can't imagine spending money on a filet and then overcooking it when there are so many better cuts out there. To each their own.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

^^^ come on over, only minimal douchebaggery and better than Ruth's Chris.

What you posted looked better than anything I’ve ever had at Ruth’s Chris. And I wasn’t even paying the bill.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I have almost never been happy with a steakhouse steak, even very high end places. My gf loves this place Mooo in Boston. Steaks are $50 to $180. I've had 2 $60 steaks there and will never order beef there again. Supposed to be Creekstone Prime. it's mediocre at best. Whole Foods at $12 to $18/lb is consistently far better.

I shouldn't post this but here's a TripAdvisor review of Ocean Prime I did a year ago. Everyone here knows I'm a dick at times, this review confirms it. Note that I'm one of the few people who writes glowing paragraphs directly to restaurant managers through their web sites when an evening is great (and they are read, interesting stories about managers coming over to the table knowing I'm there), but goes the other way too. When we're dropping $250+ for two, I'm expecting perfection. Pick of my "bone in ribeye" below, $70 steak. **** me.

A very average, if that, upscale restaurant

My friend who has frequented OP quite a lot suggested we go as she loves the clam chowder and thought I would appreciate the experience as someone who is passionate about food. We were seated quickly and courteously and almost immediate received salads which it turns out were for another table. This happened again during our dinner.

We ordered drinks, a glass of Caymus for her, a Blanton's Old Fashioned for me. My Blanton's arrived swimming in a glass full of crushed ice that could have come from a Taco Bell soda fountain. The entire glass was filled with crushed ice. We probably should have left then as that incompetence framed the entire dinner. They were happy to take it back and replace it with one very large cube, as it should be.

Bread and butter on the table. Bland, uninspired bread. Butter was from (I’m guessing here) Target. Everyone who has eaten at this level of restaurant has had great bread and butter, more so the butter. Both were subpar. At this level, details are important for the entire experience.

Our clam chowders arrived and they were every bit as good as my friend had said. Perhaps the best clam chowder in all of Boston. Sweet, creamy and the best part being the clams were tender and succulent. I would go back to Ocean Prime for a bowl of clam chowder.

For dinner, my friend ordered the double lamb chops and I ordered a special bone-in ribeye. My friend asked the server for direction on temperature for the lamb chops, she replied that the chef suggests medium. You read that correctly, the chef suggests double lamb chops done to medium. Forget the Blanton’s full of ice or the butter from Target, that should have been the tip-off to leave having enjoyed our bowls of clam chowder and gone off to explore somewhere else for dinner that night.

I ordered the special bone-in ribeye “rare with a very hot sear” because there is little better on this Earth than a caramelized crust encasing perfectly cooked prime beef with ribbons of fat running through it. I will be honest and say that for $70, I had very high expectations and was looking forward to them being met or even exceeded. I also ordered a glass of Brunello to enjoy with the steak.

My friend received her lamb chops and I was presented with something that I can only describe as an average choice grade ribeye that had been thrown on the flattop at the diner down the street. The warm hued pic is what I received; the other pics are what I was expecting, a ribeye I had made a few weeks earlier. It had no caramelization whatsoever. It was rare but whoever butchered the roast left the silverskin in between the cap and the eye. Yes, they did. I’ve had $25 ribeyes far superior to this steak in quality of grade, cut, and preparation. I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed with a piece of meat in my entire life.

The staff was courteous, I declined another steak and simply ordered a Caesar salad which was good. A little more anchovy and lemon would have been nice but it was a decent salad.

Based on mediocre butter (details are so important to experience at this level), lamb chops served medium and an absolute failure of a bone-in ribeye, my conclusion is that Ocean Prime is probably considered good food for people who aren’t passionate about food but rather appreciate the setting, the generally good service and what is probably good food for 90% of restaurant goers. But it is not a restaurant for anyone with a discriminating palate. Except for the clam chowder. The person making that should start their own restaurant because they are clearly passionate about food.

[KFC911]

^^^^ LOL...Yer just too damn picky !

[Eric 951]

Favorite steakhouse was Drais in Vegas. awesome old school service/ambiance and excellent food. Too bad its now Wild Bills I think, not nearly as good.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Shocked at how many people here waste their time and money eating out so often. Can't stand overpaid waiters who get paid to carry a plate of food. I don't like paying $75 for $10 worth of food. Don't like wasting 2 hours when I can actually eat in 10 minutes. Must be a bored retired boomer thing, as my peer group is far to busy to waste time and money sitting around waiting for food. The only thing I miss is getting food delivery, which I do about twice a week, where I tip heavily for actual real service.

you sound like a barrel of laughs


retired boomer thing? nope. born in 72 here. with i guess, a lot of money and time to waste

[vash]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

you sound like a barrel of laughs


retired boomer thing? nope. born in 72 here. with i guess, a lot of money and time to waste

Haha. I’m with you. I enjoy time away from my own kitchen. We all die alone. Living alone is just unacceptable to me.

[fintstone]

Yep...a boomer thing. Not a restaurant (even McDonalds) within 30 miles of where I grew up. Even if there were, I could not have afforded a happy meal.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

retired boomer thing? nope. born in 72 here. with i guess, a lot of money and time to waste

I'm assuming you don't have kids?
Gen X'ers your age have 2-3 kids and have not been to a restaurant in a decade or more.

[Eric 951]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Gen X'ers your age have 2-3 kids and have not been to a restaurant in a decade or more.

Did you conduct a poll?

[RWebb]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK3C9IytrLI