Filet Mignon, Florida, French, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews

Monsieur Paul

January 20, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Epcot Center in Disney World is famed for its “world walk,” highlighting about a dozen countries and offering some cuisine and culture from each. This place, in the French pavilion, is known to be one of the better places to eat in the park.

My wife scored us some reservations in advance of our trip, and I was looking forward to trying the steak selections.

First off, the bread at this place is amazing. You can choose from about four different kinds: mushroom onion bread, Swiss cheese bread, traditional baguette, poppy seed, etc.

My wife and I each had a price fix menu. For $89, we received the following:

The escargot was great. It had the texture of clams and a great truffle essence.

For my starter, I went with the oxtail soup. It was okay – not as robust in flavor as I hoped, but the use of truffle was generous, and the popover on top of the soup bowl was magnificent. French cuisine is great for shit like this.

My wife went with the lobster item, which came with a truffle broth, quail egg and some fancy foam.

For my entree, I went with the strip steak. It was cooked perfectly to medium rare. My only gripe is that I like my steak seared hard on the outside with a crust, whereas this was served almost like a sous vide style. It was still excellent though. I’d say an eight out of ten.

It came with some tomatoes, potatoes and asparagus:

And a nice truffle wine reduction sauce for the top:

My wife’s lamb rib chop was crusted with pistachio, and also cooked absolutely perfectly.

Some other guests at the table ordered the filet, which was equally delicious and nicely prepared. On top is a mushroom and bacon mash of some kind.

La Myrtille is a short bread base with a pistachio cake, topped with fresh blueberries and compote, vanilla cream, and creme fraiche ice cream. Not only was it beautiful, but it was the best dessert of the night, and we sampled a bunch from other plates. It was unique, and the right balance of sweet and savory for me. Perfect.

Here’s a look at the almond, mango yogurt and strawberry concoction that I also tried – pretty good!

And this was my wife’s dessert, L’ile Flottante, which was light meringue, vanilla creme Anglaise, rum raisons, toasted almonds and a vanilla tuile.

American, Burgers, Florida, Restaurant Reviews

The Whiskey

January 20, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

For our first meal down in Orlando, my wife and I tried this whiskey- and burger- centric place for lunch.

They had something like 200 types of whiskey, rye and scotch. Impressive.

The food turned out to be pretty good, so let’s get right into it.

We started with some cocktails and an order of whiskey sauce wings.

The wings were pretty good. Not QUITE as crisp as I like, but the flavor was tangy, garlicky and sweet from the sauce.

I ordered “the whiskey” burger, which has smoked gouda, bourbon bacon, whiskey onions and a dill aioli. Pretty solid burger!

It was cooked to about medium well, despite my order of medium, but the burger was good and juicy from all the toppings.

I had the regular fries with my burger, which were crispy and well seasoned.

My wife ordered “the royal,” which was similar to mine, only with wagyu beef and garlic aioli.

Her’s was cooked to medium rare, nice and pinkish red throughout a thick patty.

She also went with truffle parmesan fries, which were a nice touch.

Filet Mignon, Florida, NY Strip, Porterhouse, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Yachtsman Steakhouse

January 20, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Yachtsman Steakhouse overall score: 85

My wife and I went to Disney with her family for a short vacation. While there, we hit this steak joint.

Flavor: 8
We tried nearly every cut of steak, so I was able to get a good feel for the quality of the beef as well as the skill of the chef. This place can definitely hang with NYC’s greats. I wasn’t expecting much after my last experience at a Florida steakhouse, but my wife really did her research on the dining options for this trip.

First, the rib eye, which I didn’t order but I tried a good amount. It was perfectly cooked and remained tender and juicy, with a great crust on the outside as well as a creamy blue cheese butter. This was probably a nine, and it came with a beautiful, big serving of bone marrow!

My wife and I tried the porterhouse for two. This was an eight. It was cooked nicely but just fell a slight bit short on seasoning. Otherwise, top notch. Both sides were tender and juicy, with just a few areas where things got over cooked along the edges.

My brother in law had a chimichurri strip steak, which was ordered medium well (he’s not a good steak orderer), yet it still retained flavor and some juiciness despite the ruination. Eight.

My other brother in law had the filet, which was big and juicy. Also an eight.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
They have a lot of options here, and several variants within – like aged and prime. Take a look at the menu. All that’s missing, really, is an aged bone in rib eye. Arguably the most important cut, but I only took a point.

With a few tweaks in preparation, and some longer aging times, this place could be incredible. They even have an aging room on the premises, visible to diners, where they age the beef and hang the charcuterie:

Portion Size & Plating: 9
Portions here are large; plating is nice without being overly elegant. High marks on the charcuterie board, porterhouse and pork belly with clams plating in particular.

Price: 8
The prices here are pretty steep for Florida, but then again you are at a Disney resort, so a mark-up is expected. On the other hand, the food is well worth the money here. This is comparable to a NYC steakhouse, both in quality and price.

Bar: 10
This joint has a full separate-but-attached bar called the Crew’s Cup that adjoins the restaurant. It’s a great looking country club kind of place, and the drinks are pretty good and cheap as well ($8.25 for a Beefeater martini is very fair in my eyes, being used to NYC).

Specials and Other Meats: 7
There were no specials read to us, and the menu is pretty bare when it comes to other meats aside from beef: only chicken. I don’t mind much though, because I don’t go to a steakhouse to eat any other protein but beef, and the showing of beef here is pretty excellent; it even includes prime rib and bison (which I still consider to be beef, in a weird way).

My mother in law tried this vegeterian pasta dish, which was beautifully plated:

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
The first appetizer that we tried was a charcuterie board. Here’s what was on it:

I’m always a bit underwhelmed by the amount of stuff on charcuterie boards at restaurants these days, but I get that this stuff is expensive and difficult to make. Anyway, this was all very good:

We also tried this pork belly and clams appetizer, which was incredible, although a bit salty.

The hunk of pork belly in the center was generous, and perfectly braised yet crispy on the outside. The fried lotus root was an elegant touch, and the broth was great to soak up with bread.

The sides here were great. Our porterhouse came with beef fat roasted potatoes and a trio of sides: caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms and creamed spinach. I enjoyed them all. The creamed spinach was more creamy than I usually like, but it wasn’t overpowering. The beef fat potatoes were incredible – the beefy marrow flavor really took me by surprise. They were just a bit greasy, unfortunately.

The last side we tried was the truffle mac and cheese. This was made with orecchiette pasta and some fried onions. It was really delicious, and probably one of the better truffle macs that I’ve had.

Unfortunately we had to skip dessert. Too full!

Seafood Selection: 7
There’s red snapper and scallops on the menu here in the entree section. Other than that there’s just the usual shellfish apps. I was a bit surprised not to see any lobster on the menu.

Service: 10
This place is over the top and excellent. As you might expect, this kind of thing happens all over Disney. The people who work here are amazing, and they really, sincerely want you to enjoy your time there. Our waiter, Ricardo, was fantastic.

I guess I should mention the bread here. It comes with a really nice soft and salty butter, as well as a head of roasted garlic for spreading!!! You can choose onion pull-apart bread, or baguette style bread – or both.

Ambiance: 9
The building and all surrounding areas are amazing at this part of the resort. When you enter the yacht club area, you’re greeted with an amazing, huge old fashioned globe in the entryway.

The Yachtsman Steakhouse itself (which is within the club near some other restaurants) attempts to hit the mark with the country club / yacht club look. It ALMOST nails it, but not quite. Something was missing, and I can’t put my finger on it.

Brooklyn, Flash Deals, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

DeStefano’s Steakhouse

January 11, 2016 Johnny Prime 5 Comments

DeStefano’s overall score: 80

DeStefano’s seems to regularly offer Groupon deals in which you pay X number of dollars for Y amount of restaurant credit. Those are always the best kinds of deals. In our case, we had $90 credit for about $50. Our discount, however, was nearly voided completely when the lovely City of New York decided to shut down the L train in both directions due to police activity stemming from the infamous annual “pants off subway ride.” So after $25 in cab fare, we arrived to our destination about 30 minutes late.

Flavor: 8
This joint offers something a bit unique: a rib eye that is cooked with fennel. This highly Italian preparation doesn’t add much sweetness, as you might expect (Which is good), but the resulting “grilled fennel” that comes with the steak has a grilled onion quality, only less salty and more mild. I liked it. While the meat itself was aged (28 days) and prime, I felt that it could have benefited from a slight hit of more salt. The pepper usage was perfect, and the meat was cooked to a very nice medium rare. The only other down side was that the steak was sitting in a pool of butter and/or oil. I don’t mind that too much, but soaking in that will remove any good seared crust that may have developed on the outside of the steak during cooking.

Below is a closer look at the fennel. The steak comes served on a bed of sliced and grilled fennel (unless you request otherwise).

I should note here that the porterhouse cuts looked amazing. I saw two come out for other tables and my eyes lit up. You all know that I’m primarily a rib eye guy, so for me to get excited over a porterhouse is kind of a big deal. I’d definitely like to come back and try one of those big fuckers.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
You have all your basics here, but the quality is prime and the meats are aged to give the cuts a great flavor. My cut had a good amount of tasty beef jelly fat between the spinalis and the eye. I like that. It’s like marrow!

Portion Size & Plating: 9
My steak was a 24oz bone-in cut, served on a silver platter. Very nice. Sides can be ordered for one or for two, and the sizes are generous.

Price: 8
My rib eye was $58. That is midtown pricing. A bit high, in my opinion, for something that didn’t get full points for flavor, but balance that against the fact that DeStefano’s almost always has a Groupon deal available and it evens out. I also can’t complain too much here because the management generously comp’d our dessert.

Bar: 5
There is a small three-seat bar beside the host station when you walk into the restaurant. This is certainly not the kind of place you go for, say, a happy hour or to just hang out at the bar. They do, however, make a good martini. My wife’s old fashioned was just so-so, she reported.

Specials and Other Meats: 8
Our waiter David read off some special apps for us, so there are definitely some off-menu items to explore. For other meats, you have lamb, veal and chicken. Not a bad showing.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We tried two apps. First was the sweet and spicy bacon. This slab came in just under $5 and was nicely cooked to a soft yet crunchy texture.

Next up was DeStefano’s version of carpaccio; a shoulder cut of beef that is tenderized and seared on the outside before slicing thin and serving with arugula, lemon and shaved parmesan. This reminded me of my dad’s “steak salad.”

It went nicely with the sliced table bread as well.

On the side we tried an order of creamed spinach. This was okay. I’ve had better, and I’ve certainly had worse. The top had a nice crunchy texture from baked breadcrumbs, and the spinach itself was only lightly creamy, which, in general, I like.

For dessert we had tiramisu. This was creamy and soft, not too boozed up, and very light. I enjoyed it, and it was a good recommendation from our waiter.

Seafood Selection: 7
There’s grilled mahi mahi and a pair of seafood pasta items on the entree menu, otherwise you’re limited to the app and salad section for your seafood (crab cakes, BBQ shrimp, lump crab, etc). But you’re coming here for steak anyway, so don’t get all bent out of shape over this.

Service: 10
David was an excellent waiter, and all the staff was helpful and nice. Our water was always filled, we never had to wait long for anything, and the management was very generous for comping our dessert. I’d definitely eat here again – especially to try that porterhouse I mentioned above. The table bread is nice – basic, nothing too fancy – and served with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic.

Ambiance: 8
You’re actually entering someone’s former home when you eat here. You feel like the home owners have cleared out their living room and set up nice dining tables for you to eat their home cooked meal. It’s very charming, and all the walls are covered in family photos going back to the 50’s (perhaps even earlier) and coming up to present day.

DESTEFANO’S
89 Conselyea St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Recipes

White Mexican

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

You’ve all heard of the drink known as the “White Russian,” which was reincarnated by “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. Essentially it is vodka, Kahlua and milk/cream.

My twist on the drink swaps out the vodka and Kahlua for Patron Cafe, a coffee and dark chocolate flavored tequila (hence the Mexican element). You can still use the milk or cream for the “white” element, but if you want to add a nutty flavor you can go with almond milk and then hit it with a dash of sweetened condensed milk for thickness.

Product Reviews

Vincenza Truffle Salami

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Whole Foods sells a reasonably priced black truffle salami at their cheese counter. The brand name is Vincenza. It’s not a bad item, and at about $6 for a chub, it comes in much cheaper than some of the high end truffle salami guys I’ve come across.

The flavor has a bit more of a spicy kick than other truffle salami brands I’ve tasted, but it still has a decent earthy, funky truffle essence. It’s not just truffle oil for the flavoring either – I can see the little black bits of truffle in the mix (it is also listed in the ingredients). That’s a good sign.

While it’s not my favorite truffle salami, it’s definitely good for when I’m looking to save a few bucks. And it’s seemingly always available in abundant quantities at the cheese counter.

It turns out this company makes some other decent salamis as well. I tried two more the following week and liked them both, though neither had the same earthy character as the truffle salami.

Venice style – similar to the truffle salami about, but without the truffle notes.

Cacciatorini style – slightly more garlicky and sweet.

Product Reviews

Boccalone Salami

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife’s cousin, who is a chef in the DC area, gave her a “salami of the month” club subscription. Our first selection was this Boccalone brown sugar and fennel salami:

As you can tell by the white mold that envelopes the meat, this is a dry, aged salami.

The flavor is rich and intense, but not overpowering. It has sweetness and vibrance, but retains a solidly savory profile. I almost expected something like a breakfast sausage when I first read the flavor description, but this is a perfect meat snack for any time of day. Excellent selection!

Product Reviews

Trader Joe’s Chianti Salami

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This round of tubed meat comes from Trader Joe’s again – this time a Chianti salami.

This “wet” salami has a lightly sweet flavor due to the wine infusion, but comes heavy with garlic and fattiness.

This stuff melts in your mouth when sliced thin and peeled off the outer skin casing. I am actually considering frying some up with broccolini, asparagus or brussels sprouts. It would even make a nice gourmet pizza topping as well. But it is a solid standalone snack cold from the fridge as well.

Recipes

Devil Tacos

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Devil Tacos is a recipe I concocted for usage of Saint Lucifer Spice during my review of their product. If you can’t get your hands on their delicious shit, then substitute for some other pepper like cayenne powder. But I highly recommend their habanero garlic blend. It just works better. Or use some actual habanero peppers to season the meat (just be careful with those fuckers).

What do you need and how do you make them?

1) Coat some skirt or flank steak with Saint Lucifer Spice.
2) Grill for two to three minutes per side, depending on thickness.
3) While the meat rests, warm up some soft tortillas.
4) Also while the meat rests, prep some cilantro, onions, sour cream and jack cheese for a cooling taco filling.
5) After resting, slice the steak into thin strips for taco filling (cut on the bias for tenderness).
6) Slice up an orange (or any sweet citrus element, really).
7) Fill your tortillas, and squeeze some orange juice on before eating.

Note: That sweet tartness from the orange will pair perfectly with the habanero of the Saint Lucifer spice and cut it ever so slightly. Trust me. Your taste buds will thank you. I swear that shit is fucking good. Orange + habanero is fucking amazing. I used to soak fresh habaneros in my cartons of orange juice to give the juice a nice kick.

If you have hairy balls, and you’re drinking a Bloody Mary with your Devil Tacos, you can even add a few shakes of Saint Lucifer into that shit as well.

Recipes

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Candy

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This one is pretty simple, and it’s something my wife and I make on occasion as a snack for holiday meals.

Get a pack of pre-cooked bacon and sprinkle some brown sugar, cayenne pepper and chocolate powder all over the slices. Bake in the oven to crisp up the bacon and to melt the chocolate and sugar. EAT!

You CAN make the bacon from scratch and skip the pre-cooked aspect, but I like shortcuts. You can find some very good pre-cooked bacon out there these days.

Johnny Prime

Monthly Archives: January 2016

Monsieur Paul

The Whiskey

Yachtsman Steakhouse

Yachtsman Steakhouse overall score: 85

DeStefano’s Steakhouse

DeStefano’s overall score: 80

White Mexican

Vincenza Truffle Salami

Boccalone Salami

Trader Joe’s Chianti Salami

Devil Tacos

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Candy

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Yachtsman Steakhouse overall score: 85

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DeStefano’s overall score: 80

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