prime steakhouse

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

Prime Steakhouse overall score: 68

My wife and I, along with three other couples, came here for a blowout steak meal while we were on vacation in Key West. I didn’t have high expectations since NYC is the steak capital of the world, but everything looked pretty good online in terms of menu and reviews. Check out the breakdown:

Flavor: 6
I had the 24oz bone-in rib eye. The chop itself was prime quality, but not aged. It was slightly thicker on the bone side than the fat cap side, which made me worry about the evenness of cooking.

To my surprise it was cooked nicely to medium rare, despite the cut.

It lacked ample seasoning, however, and, the outer crust had a spotty or uneven sear on it. Some parts were lightly seared, and other parts were over seared, which created a bitter, burnt flavor in some bites.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
The menu here covers all the bases with a strip, porterhouse, filet and rib eye. They offer a surf and turf option as well, but overall our table was not quite impressed with the quality. Perhaps some aging is needed to take these chops up a few notches.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are good here, with everything being a good size, and plating is basic but elegant.

Price: 6
At $62 for a rib eye I should be getting something that rivals NYC’s best. That was not the case. Most of the other items on the menu were NYC prices as well, so we left feeling a little over-spent.

Bar: 5
For this location, which is on the water and on the second floor of a pier, I was expecting a big bar that was either outside or facing the water. But instead it was a somewhat small bar that faces a wall. The drinks were pretty good, and the cocktail menu had some interesting selections, but drinks are a bit on the pricey side.

Specials and Other Meats: 7
There wasn’t anything of note on special aside from a pasta dish, but the place does offer a decent amount of alternative meats, like two cuts of pork, veal and chicken. No lamb, but that’s not a huge deal. My buddy’s wife ordered the veal:

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 6
We over-ordered on sides, which is often a problem when dining with a big group at a steak joint. There were some hits and some misses. I’ll start with the biggest hit – the carpaccio:

Though a bit salty, the hit of truffle oil complimented the capers and shaved cheese nicely. The meat itself was super thin and soft.

The oysters were crisp, clean and fresh, and extremely well priced at $16 for a dozen.

Another starter was this mozzarella and tomato stack with balsamic vinaigrette and basil. Decent, but nothing special.

On the side, we enjoyed the hash brown potatoes. They were fried crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

The creamed spinach was way too heavy on the cream while also being very light on flavor.

The truffle mac and smoked gouda had utterly no flavor or scent of truffle whatsoever, and it also lacked seasoning. It had a decent crunch on top at least.

Dessert was a star though, which was key lime pie that is made in house from fresh, local ingredients. Great way to end the meal.

Seafood Selection: 8
There’s a good amount to choose from here for seafood, as you might expect being in Key West. I mentioned the oysters above already, but my wife had the tuna tataki appetizer as her entree, which was pretty good.

She also had a she-crab soup, which had a nice flavor to it as well. Prime also has a few local fish and fresh catch items available for entrees in addition.

Service: 9
Chance was a great waiter, and we had no complaints on timing or anything like that. It was a big table, and he did a solid job tending to our needs. Bread was a bit lame, but the butter was a whipped sweet/honey style that I do enjoy from time to time.

Ambiance: 6
Perhaps this place is a bit nicer to dine in during the daytime, when you can see out over the water or hang out on the deck outside the restaurant. I just felt like this place could be anywhere, and being in Key West Florida, on the fucking water, they could have made more of the surroundings.