Tag Archives: rib eye

California, Other Cuts, Steakhouse Reviews

House of Prime Rib

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House of Prime Rib overall score: 86

I’ve been dying to try House of Prime Rib ever since I had an awesome experience at the similar style prime rib cart joint, Lawry’s, in Chicago. My stop over in San Francisco after to going to Belcampo Meat Camp afforded me the opportunity to finally try it.

Here’s the verdict: NEARLY as good as Lawry’s but not quite there. Read on to see why.

Flavor: 9

The beef here is delicious. A bit more crisp on the edges and a little more uniform cook on the eye, and this would have been a perfect 10/10. I was with a group of three total, so we tried the King Louis (with the bone), the English Cut, and the House of Prime Rib cut.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

Despite being focused primarily on prime rib, this place is pretty great in terms of size and style choices. Unlike Lawry’s, which also offers a rib eye steak and a filet, House of Prime Rib sticks to just prime rib. Makes sense. This is not a bad thing when the prime rib is so good.

Portion Size & Plating: 10

Portions here are big for the price, and for less than $50 you get a big slab of prime rib along with all your sides for the meal, nicely (although not always neatly) plated together.

Price: 10

Amazing meal for less than $50. You really can’t beat it for this level of quality unless you have a Lawry’s in your area. If you finish your prime rib, they’ll even offer you an additional slice on the house if you eat it there at the table (you can’t take it to go).

Bar: 8

This place has a nice fun stretch of bar and serves the full menu there as well.

They make a nice martini and leave the pint glass and shaker top there for you to drain every last ounce of booze from your pour as well. I like that. Perhaps a signature cocktail or a cocktail list would bring this up to Lawry’s level though.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

There are no specials or other meats, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. As I said with Lawry’s, the prime rib is the special. I can dig it.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7

The apps and sides here are a bit lacking in comparison to Lawry’s. The Yorshire pudding wedge was good but a bit flimsy and it had no crisp or texture to it. The creamed corn was delicious though, and I enjoyed the creamed spinach as well. The mashed potatoes are meh, but the baked potato is huge and comes with a shitload of bacon!

The spinning salad here is presented very similar to Lawry’s, similar salad overall, right down to the beets, eggs and house seasoning being used in it as well.

To be fair, I don’t know who did it first: Lawry’s or House of Prime Rib. Either way I love it.

For dessert we tried the English Trifle and the Fantasy Cake (chocolate mousse with cheesecake). Both were great!

Contrast this parfait style trifle with the more cake style trifle from Lawry’s. Both good. But I think I liked this one a little better actually.

Seafood Selection: 8

Another spot where House of Prime Rib beats out Lawry’s is the seafood realm. They have a whole fish item on the entree menu, which is nice for the ladies or the sprawled beta cucks in your dining party.

Service: 10

The people working here are true professionals. The waitresses aren’t 1950’s style actresses like Lawry’s, but they go out of their way to make your meal excellent. The chefs even allowed us to take their photo, and photos of the meat cart as well.

Our waitress overheard us saying that we’d like to try the creamed corn as well. We were trying to decide who would order it with their entree and she just offered it up on the house. Awesome.

Also worth mentioning here is the fact that the prime rib comes with way more varieties of horseradish and cream sauces that Lawry’s, in addition to extra au jus (and the entree slice after you finish). They had mild, medium, strong, tabasco, and pickled horseradish. I loved them all!

Table bread was this delicious warm loaf of sourdough:

Ambiance: 9

This place is great. It feels like you’re dining in someone’s huge mansion-like home. Very similar to Lawry’s in Chicago, only less “grand” in scope and ceiling height. I only dinged them a point here because the dining room was too warm. I was nearly sweating.

HOUSE OF PRIME RIB
1906 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94109

Burgers, Midtown East, Parms, Porterhouse, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Atto Prime

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Atto Prime overall score: 79

I tried this joint on their grand opening with a couple of food Instagram buddies of mine. This place is so new, they don’t even have a website or a menu online anywhere. Keep in mind that this place is not even really open yet, and this was served to us during their grand opening friends and family party. I have a feeling the experience will be much different and much better on a second visit.

Flavor: 8

We tried both the porterhouse and the rib eye. I actually liked the strip side of the porterhouse the best, since it packed a lot of dry aged flavor. One friend liked the filet side, and another liked the rib eye the best. So we all had our differences. Overall, though, I gave both an 8/10. Both steaks were ever so slightly overcooked from medium rare to medium, but all is forgiven when the flavor is good.

This burger is a steal at just $18.

Fries are sold separately at $7, but all in $25 isn’t too bad at all for a half pound dry aged steakhouse burger with fries.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9

The beef here, I believe, is all from Strassburger Steaks, all dry-aged and USDA prime. They have all the basics and then some.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

Portions here are on par with all the midtown steak joints, as is the plating. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

Price: 9

With portions for one ranging in the mid to upper 40s, the prices here are under the norm by almost $10 a portion. That’s a good deal.

Bar: 7

There isn’t much of a bar to mention here, but the cocktails are good, they have a nice happy hour, and there’s lounge style seating and occasionally live music in the hotel lobby that’s connected and adjacent to the restaurant.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

There were no specials to speak of on this occasion (aside from the haps hour specials noted above), but we did get to try the chicken parm. I wasn’t impressed with it, but I do believe they’re still working on some items. In terms of other meats available, there is both veal and lamb. A pretty fair showing. On a second visit, they did read some specials off to us.

On a second visit I asked for the veal chop but they were out (they didn’t have it on the first visit either), but we did try these nice lamb chops. Three double bones.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We started with the sizzling Canadian bacon and the steak tartare. Both were very good, and worth getting again. We also tried the Caesar salad, and shared a bunch of sides: truffle creamed corn, steamed broccoli, creamless style creamed spinach, and a raw tuna dish served in a martini glass. For dessert we had a trio: a chocolate mousse type of cake, carrot cake (my favorite of the three) and cheesecake – with schlag of course (which was more like standard whipped cream than the thick, lightly sweetened stuff I’m used to).

On a second visit I tried the baked clams, which were great.

Here are those desserts:

Seafood Selection: 6

There’s a good deal of seafood on the menu here, but I was only able to try the tuna martini thing, which didn’t really make me very excited (though it was beautiful). Next time I’ll try a fish entree or some more of the raw shellfish and cold appetizer stuff. That’s really where I think they will shine as far as seafood. On a second visit I had another sushi item and was disappointed.

I imagine their proper sushi will be top notch too. They even have a sushi bar in the dining room with counter service.

Service: 9

The staff here is awesome. It took a bit to get our bill to us, but other than that, we were treated like royalty and all the servers and staff were attentive, friendly, and knew the menu inside and out. Table bread is a nice Italian style bread, but the butter could use a whipping or a warming. I also didn’t see a proprietary steak sauce on the table yet (which I don’t care about anyway, but it’s nice with bacon sometimes).

Ambiance: 8

The decor here is still in the process of coming together. They’re awaiting some wall art (and hopefully new chairs). The space is in the back, behind the hotel lobby, and sunken down a few steps into a grand dining room. Really beautiful spot, cozy yet elegant. There are even a few tables out front for dining outside.

I look forward to coming back to try some more dishes in a few weeks.

ATTO PRIME
120 East 39th St
New York, NY 10016

Midtown East, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Wolfgang’s Steakhouse

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Wolfgang’s overall score: 85

This place has been on my list of must-do steakhouses since the list began. I’m a little ashamed that I hadn’t gone until just last night. I don’t know what the fuck took me so long to get my ass over here, but, in any case, it finally happened. Here’s what I thought:

Flavor: 8

My wife and I tried two steaks. First, we shared the bone-in rib eye.

We both remarked that this was cooked perfectly the whole way through, with a great crust all around.

There was just a bit of seasoning missing. Perhaps just a little more salt would have bumped this up a bit. 7/10.

The second steak we tried was the porterhouse.

This baby was good. The filet side was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the strip side was full of powerful dry-aged funk. The filet side had less character than the strip side, and the strip side had more tooth to each bite.

Served in the Luger style, the Wolfgang’s porterhouse comes out broiled on the top of the steak only, with the bottom being in contact with the sizzling hot plate. While they were judicious on the use of butter (not too much, thankfully), I do prefer my steaks broiled or seared on both sides. In any case, this was a really good rendition of that style, and it was cooked expertly to medium rare throughout. 8/10.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

You’ve got porterhouse, strip, filet and rib eye here. The basics. All of the beef comes from the midwest and is aged in-house, and it’s all USDA prime grade.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

Portions here are in line with what you might expect at all the major midtown steakhouses, and the plating is standard as well. Nothing fancy.

Price: 8

The prices here vary from the $50-$60 range per person, which has become pretty much standard for the area. Not bad when you consider that they are nailing the cook temps here, and putting out some good grub.

Bar: 10

This bar is iconic. The arched ceiling throughout the restaurant really gives you the feeling that you’ve stepped back in time, to the old days of dank, dimly lit taverns. I was actually shocked to learn that they only opened in 2004. I was almost expecting something like the 1920’s.

The cocktails are great too. We tried “The Black Manhattan” and a standard gin martini. Both expertly made.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

There were no specials read to us, but then again we were pretty much dead set on what we were going to order anyway. That may have signaled to the waiter that he didn’t need to get into it with us. In any case, the only other meat available here is lamb. Fuck that other nonsense anyway. I respect that. Unfortunately, though, for scoring purposes, that means I have to take some points.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We started with a round of littleneck clams and oysters on the half shell. Both were tasty and fresh, cleanly shucked and void of debris and odors. The clams come eight to an order, which is nice. The oysters, six.

We also had a slab of their bacon.

I’m happy to report that this blows away Luger’s bacon, which is always fucking burnt. This was nice and thick, rendered well, crisp and meaty.

On the side, we had two types of spinach: sautéed and creamed. The creamed spinach is my favorite style – “creamless” creamed spinach. So velvety and buttery. That was the better of the two, but both are definitely up to snuff.

For dessert, we shared a slice of pecan pie with schlag. Very nice. Hot and sweet. The schlag was a good balance to the pie. Without it, it would’ve been too sweet.

Seafood Selection: 8

There’s sea bass, salmon, tuna and lobster on the menu. These seem to be industry standard in the steakhouse world. Occasionally you see swordfish, or some shrimp scampi preparations from time to time.

Service: 10

The servers here are all awesome, and everyone – the bartenders, the hostesses, the managers – is really looking out for you. I loved it. Classic style on the wait staff, bowties and all.

Ambiance: 10

As I mentioned above in the bar area, this place is absolutely iconic. The arched ceilings can cause the room to get pretty loud when the place is crowded though, so make sure you expect that going in. I didn’t mind it at all. It felt welcoming.

WOLFGANG’S STEAKHOUSE
4 Park Ave
New York, NY 10016

Midtown West, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Robert’s Steakhouse

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Robert’s Steakhouse overall score: 84

YES! This is the steakhouse inside the gentlemen’s club called “The Executive Club,” formerly of Penthouse fame. For many years I had heard – all bullshitting aside – that this really was a great steak joint. Adam Perry Lang is rumored to have designed and built the aging room that’s there on site. So how did it fare under my intense scrutiny? Very well, actually. See below:

Flavor: 9

I tried both the porterhouse for two and rib eye for two. The porterhouse was a 9/10, and is probably in the running for one of the best porterhouses I’ve had for 2019.

The rib eye, 8/10.

Both had great aged flavor and were cooked almost perfectly, but the porterhouse just came out on top in terms of that aged goodness. Also, I felt like the rib eye was a bit small as being marketed “for two.”

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10

I’ve heard that the beef here is from Master Purveyors in the Bronx, though they did not confirm. Those guys have been very consistent in terms of quality, from my experience. The dry-aging is done on site here in a proprietary aging room, but they did not reveal how long they age the meat. No matter, though, because that flavor was definitely present and pleasant. Next time I go, I’d like to do a tour of the aging room. Prime quality all the way here, and the basics are all covered in terms of the cuts.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

Portions are fair. As noted above I thought the rib eye for two was a little small, but otherwise they were fine. The plating is upgraded a bit from the standard basic steakhouse style, with some flare for the apps and sides.

Price: 8

My meal was free, as this was a press event, but the prices were pretty fair for steakhouse fare. I was expecting a heavy uncharge being in a strip club, but that was not the case at all. There may be some price holding as, from what I understand, this joint may be a members only kind of place. I have to check up on that though. Don’t hold me to it…

Bar: 7

I was only privy to the bar upstairs by the Robert’s dining area, which was a small seven or eight foot stretch without any actual bar stool seating. Mainly this seemed like a place to either stand and drink while waiting to be accosted by a dancer, or just a staging place where the bartenders can mix up drinks to later be distribute via waitresses to the various tables. In any case, they did mix a good martini, and if eye candy is what you’re after at a bar, then what better place is there to be than a strip club?

Specials and Other Meats: 8

There weren’t any specials that I was aware of, but then again this was a press meal with a somewhat set menu. As far as other meats go, they offer veal, chicken and lamb. One thing I did enjoy, oddly enough, was the rigatoni pasta with fresh ricotta and tomato sauce. Not sure if that’s a special or just another type of entree, but it was tasty and had a good level of spice to it.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We tried a bunch of items, some of which I didn’t shoot (like the creamed spinach, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes). First was the hamachi crudo. I liked this.

Next up, tuna tartare with quail egg. This was delicious as well.

The shrimp salad was bland and somewhat flavorless. Pass on this one.

However, the shrimp cocktail was incredible. These gigantic shrimp were meaty, perfectly cooked and robust with that great shellfish flavor. Get this.

The crab cake fell into the world of averages. Not bad, not great. It was crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside, however, which are two big and important characteristics of a crab cake.

We skipped dessert since we were full, so I can’t comment on that.

Seafood Selection: 8

There’s a bunch on the menu here (tuna, salmon, sea bass, lobster), and from what I tried of it in the appetizers section, I think they would do a good job with mains.

Service: 10

The service here is great. All of the staff is very attentive and they explained the menu and beef cuts correctly, even to the extent that they discussed the dry-aging processes. The chef is also really great and visited with us throughout the meal. He bounces back and forth between the NYC location and Atlantic City, however, so I hope he leaves the kitchen in trusted hands when he isn’t around.

Ambiance: 8

While the “surroundings” are indeed pleasing to any heterosexual male, the “restaurant” itself isn’t quite separated from the club other than the fact that it’s upstairs. There are still girls walking around looking to cash in with dances, and I suppose if you wanted you could see the main stage and pole from anywhere up there. That’s not a complaint – just an observation that this place is different than a standard steakhouse or restaurant due to the nature of it being literally inside and not separated from the strip club.

ROBERT’S STEAKHOUSE
The Executive Club
603 w. 45th Street
New York, NY 10036

American, Burgers, Midtown West, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Parms, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurant Week, Rib Eye

The Lambs Club

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UPDATE 6/2/23

First off, check out my Ride & Review of this place HERE:

I was invited in by the new management/ownership here to check out the menu offerings, in particular the steak. But there were so many items on the menu that were incredibly enticing, that I just had to try as much as I possibly could. I’ll drop in a photo slide show here, and then go over some of the highlights.

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The cocktails were spectacular. I really enjoyed the Gibson and the Gold Rush, pictured here:

In the starters arena, the tartare has been elevated with egg emulsion drops, caviar, and an overall superior cut/chop and flavor. Chef Jack Logue is truly taking this place to a better level than Michael WHite or Geoffrey Zacharian has done before.

The soft shell crab special was excellent, but the real star of the apps was this platter of hot and cold shellfish items. As delicious as it is beautiful.

Here’s that softshell crab – cornmeal crusted for extra crisp!

As a mid course we ate the nduja carbonara, which was a really innovative and spicy take on a traditional carbonara. My only criticism here is to swap out the flat pasta for a thicker chitarra or bucatini type pasta. But this preparation lent it self very nicely to a lighter mid course.

We also took down the veal milanese, which was thick, tender, crispy and well seasoned. Great execution and beautiful presentation with the bone and everything.

The Cote de Boeuf was a shade overcooked in parts, but the dry aged flavor on it carried it the Valhalla of my stomach on golden chariots. It was a delicious 8/10.

Great array of sauces to go with it.

The highlights in the side dish realm were the spinach, mushrooms and this ox cheek mac and cheese that was listed as a starter, but could easily be either an entree or the perfect mac and cheese side dish. Get it!

Our favorite dessert was the NY Apple, a layered cheesecake of sorts in apply lollipop form. Watch the video to see what it looked like before we destroyed it. I also enjoyed the crackerjack sundae. Simple and delicious.

UPDATE 5/15/18

On a second visit, my wife and I sat downstairs, which had a very different atmosphere from the more mid-century modern upstairs decor. Downstairs, it’s a bit more cozy and steakhouse-esque.

We tried the beef tartare and the scallop crudo to start.

Both were really nice. The tartare had a good flavor because they use dry aged beef.

For a mid-course, we had the gnocchetti scampi.

This was served in a white wine and butter style sauce with nice juicy chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp, lemon herb breadcrumbs and a walnut and arugula pesto. This was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve had in years. It was well balanced in both texture and flavor, and the unique cavatelli size/shape gnocchi pasta was absolutely perfect.

I had the 12oz dry aged strip steak for my entree.

It came with a shitake mushroom cap that was stuffed with short rib, and it was accompanied by a truffle sauce. Perfectly cooked, with a good dry aged flavor. 8/10.

My wife had the lamb.

This was a great dish. It was really three parts of the lamb: thick cut belly, t-bone, and rib chop.

Really great middle eastern flavors happening on this too.

For dessert we had the pistachio parfait and the vanilla cheesecake. Both were really flavorful and unique. I preferred the pistachio parfait, but my wife liked the cheesecake better. Can’t go wrong with either, though.

This was a really great meal. I highly recommend this place. They mix some really great cocktails:

…And even the table bread is excellent:

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

This joint is owned by Geoffrey Zakarian, famous celebrity chef. My wife and I came through this place for restaurant week during lunch hours in the upstairs bar room.

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We started with an Arnold Palmer, made with unsweetened iced tea an slightly sweetened natural lemonade. The interesting part about this is that the ice cubes are also made of Arnold Palmer mix, so you never get a watered down drink when the ice melts:

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Starting bread was nice, warm and buttery:

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For the apps, we shared bur rata and zucchini, barley and avocado soup. The soup was a nice, light tomato and veggie broth that packed a lot of flavor for such a light dish.

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The burrata was nice and soft. I sort of wish that they served some roasted tomatoes with it, but the greens and pickled onions were good as well.

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My wife had a crispy skin duck rilette. Portions of the skin weren’t crispy, but this dish was otherwise a really nice item. The such was pulled or shredded style, and mixed with light mustard, capers, and other goodies that made it pop.

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I had the sirloin burger with aged, sharp cheddar. This was nice. The meat was a little soft and crumbly, but the bun was top quality challah bread.

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The lunch menu charges $24 for this, with the fries, but the restaurant week menu included an app and dessert for just a buck more. Not sure I’d think this was worth it for $24. The fires were pretty good though. Nice and crispy, golden brown.

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For dessert, we tried the chocolate mousse with ice cream and the passion fruit semifreddo. Both were nice. I liked the chocolate mousse better, but the semifreddo did have a nice mango sorbet that cut the tang of the passion fruit.

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THE LAMB’S CLUB
132 W. 44th St.
New York, NY 10036