Tag Archives: steak

The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Steak

August 17, 2016 Johnny Prime 7 Comments

Every food-oriented website out there, whether it’s Eater, Grub Street, Thrillist or what have you, has their own version of “The Ultimate Guide for Cooking a Steak,” or whatever it may be. Many of them do offer good information, but they’re almost all incomplete. They set you up with one method for one cut of meat. This piece will serve as a place where you can get instructions for cooking several different cuts of steak via several methods. Let’s get right to it.

GRILLING

This is probably the method that most people are familiar and comfortable with. Since it is actually my least favorite way to cook one of the four major cuts, I will discuss it first, up front, with the caveat that I do actually prefer grilled skirt steak to any other cut that’s done on the grill. That said, there are some significant pros and cons for grilling. Depending on what you want out of your steak eating experience, you should take these into consideration before deciding if this is the right method for you. What time of year is it? Summer, winter? Are you grilling over charcoal or propane?

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Grilling: Skirt, Flank, Hanger

Pros

Easily accessible
Familiar and comfortable to most home cooks
No smells or smoke indoors
Can easily cook many steaks at once

Cons

Fat, flavor and juices fall through the grill bars
Can be difficult to control heat levels
Lowered ability to sear evenly

Grilling is perfect for outdoor cooking in the warm months, and especially for large groups of people. You don’t get any lingering smells in your home, and you can enjoy the day like a good American, beer in hand as you cook. Since I like a good even sear across the entire cut of meat, I generally don’t like cooking the four major cuts of beef in this manner. Generally I go for skirt or flank, something that benefits from a good, fast blast of heat; something where I don’t mind if I lose a little fat or juice through the grill bars; and something cheap that can be sliced up and served family style. Charcoal is a tough medium to master. Some people are experts at creating and maintaining even heat levels for a cooking session. Others use propane. This is easier, cleaner, and more convenient, but you lose some of that desired charcoal and smoke flavor unless you’re adding soaked wood chips to the grill as you cook. If grilling is right for you, then read on below.

Instructions

Get your steak up to room temperature and pat it dry.
Crank up your grill to as high as it will possibly get.
Season the skirt/flank generously with salt and pepper.
Grill the meat with the grill top open. Do not poke, prod, press or move the meat once it is set down on the grill bars. Allow the bars to create nice markings on your meat.
After a few minutes, flip once and repeat the previous step.
Use a meat thermometer or the “hand test” to ensure that your steak is properly cooked to medium rare. Remove it from the grill at 125F.
Let the steak rest for a few minutes on an elevated and porous surface, like a metal baking rack. During this time the meat will continue to cook a bit more while off the flames, and it will retain more juices during the next step.
Slice against the grain of the meat, or “against the bias,” and serve.

PAN SEARING

This is probably my favorite method for cooking steak. I always try to use a cast iron skillet, as they just work better for creating that crusty sear that we have all come to know as steak lovers. If you can’t get your hands on one, then a standard pan will do.

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Searing: Filet Mignon, Strip, Rib Eye, Porterhouse

Pros

Even sear across entire steak
Juices stay put
Easy to execute

Cons

Smoke smell can permeate the home, set off smoke detectors
Pan cleanup can be annoying
Large pan needed for big or multiple cuts
Cast iron not ideal for glass electric cook tops

Instructions

Get your steak up to room temperature and pat it dry.
Crank up your burner to as high as it will possibly get, and heat up the pan with a small amount of butter.
Season the steak generously with salt and pepper.
Sear the shit out of your steak, and add a wad of butter to melt in the pan. Throw in some rosemary and garlic too, if you like. Do not poke, prod, press or move the meat once it is set down. Allow the meat to stick to the pan a bit, with as much of the bottom surface touching the pan as possible.
Spoon the melted butter over the top as the meat cooks, basting it in flavor.
After a few minutes, flip the cut with tongs and do the same thing of the other side of the steak.
Once both sides are seared, then you should also sear the edges if you are working with a thick-cut steak. Anything over an inch and a half should get a little side sear if possible.
Use a meat thermometer or the “hand test” to ensure that your steak is properly cooked to medium rare. Remove it from the pan at 125F.
Let the steak rest for a few minutes on an elevated and porous surface, like a metal baking rack. During this time the meat will continue to cook a bit more while out of the pan, and it will retain more juices.

Alternative Instructions From Step 8 Onward

This secondary step is helpful if you have a very thick cut of steak, and a good, hard sear is all you can really get from the pan without overcooking. You want your meat to be pink from top to bottom, with no “grey band” in sight. To achieve this on thick cuts, lots of people will put the steak into the oven at a low temperature, like 250-300F, to allow the internal temperature to come up to medium rare once the pan-searing steps (1-7) are complete. Here, a meat thermometer is key to ensure that your meat is cooked to the proper temperature inside.

REVERSE SEARING

This is very similar to searing with an oven finish, like above, only done in the reverse order.

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Reverse Searing: Thick Cuts of Filet Mignon, Strip, Porterhouse, Rib Eye

Pros

Even sear across entire steak
Juices stay put

Cons

Slightly more difficult to execute than a simple sear
Multiple cooking steps and waiting

Instructions

Here, the first step is to cook your steak in the oven at a low temperature, like 250-300F, to allow the internal temperature to come up to rare or medium rare. Again, use a meat thermometer to ensure accuracy. Once that step is done, the steak gets finished in the hot searing pan with butter. This will form the desired crust on your steak. You just have to be careful not to overcook your steak in the pan as you are trying to get that crust to form. I recommend allowing your steak to cool down to room temperature before searing it off, and/or getting that pan screaming hot before you put the steak in.

BROILING

Generally speaking, broiling means that the heat source is coming from above the meat and close to the meat. Contrast with baking, which means that the heat source is below and more diffused or distant from the meat. Broiling a steak gives you more direct exposure to the heat source than baking, whether it’s an open flame (gas oven) or the heating element (electric). While not as direct as, say, touching a hot pan, broiling is better for cooking traditional cuts of steaks than baking, because you can get a charred outer crust easier and still get the inside of the meat to the desired temperature. Baking is better suited for roasting meats, since the heat source is often diffused a bit by the oven bottom when baking.

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Broiling: Thick Cut Bone-In Porterhouse, Thick Cut Bone-In Rib Eye, Bone-In Tenderloin, Bone-In Strip, Large T-Bone

Why the bones, you ask? When cooking with “surrounding” heat, like roasting or broiling in an enclosed oven, bones are very effective at radiating heat into the center of the meat tissue. This method, therefore, also makes large/thick cuts easier to work with.

Pros

Cleaner, less smoke and permeating odors
Relatively easy to execute
Easier to get an evenly cooked center of your meat

Cons

Easy to overcook if not careful
Requires meat thermometer (puncturing meat is never good)
Harder to get the desired crust than other methods

Instructions

Get your steak up to room temperature and pat it dry.
Set your oven to broil.
Season the steak generously with salt and pepper.
Bring your oven rack close to the heat source (near the top) and place steak in the oven in a shallow roasting pan that can catch any drippings.
Once the top crisps up a bit, flip the meat in the roasting pan to get the crust on the other side as well.
Use a meat thermometer to ensure that your steak is properly cooked to medium rare. Remove it from the oven at 125F.
Let the steak rest for a few minutes in the roasting pan. During this time the meat will continue to cook a bit more, and it will retain more juices.
Slice the major muscles off the bone, slice the muscle against the bias, and arrange the meat on a platter for serving.

ROASTING

Roasting is synonymous with low and slow diffused heat from a bottom source, or all around the meat, from all sides. This method is best suited for large hunks of meat that take a long time to cook down to the center, generally for serving many people.

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Roasting: Standing Rib Rack Roast, Chateaubriand, Large Brisket

Pros

Great for large format dining
Easy to execute
Result is very juicy, tender and delicious

Cons

Takes a long time to finish
May require extensive carving
Generally lacks outer crust like a standard cut of steak

Instructions

Many people like to brine their meats before roasting. While this is generally more common with pork roasts or fowl, some steps can be taken with beef to increase flavors. You can crush up some garlic and stuff it into your roast (flavor injectors), or rub it on the outside of the meat; you can rub it with rosemary or roast it on a bed of herbs; and you should season it generously with a multitude of spices. You want all those flavors to permeate deep into the meat, so massaging, rubbing and pushing into the meat is all recommended. If you use a flavor injector, I suggest getting a lot into one or a few injections, that way you don’t pierce the meat too many times.
Set your oven to a low bake temperature, like 350F.
Place your meat on a roasting pan to catch any drippings, and set it in the center/middle rack of your oven.
Place your meat thermometer into the center of the roast.
As the meat cooks, use a turkey baster to suck up liquids from the bottom of the roasting pan, and squirt it over the top of the roast occasionally. This will add some flavor to the outside and help to create a flavorful edge to the roast.
Remove it from the oven at 125F. Let the meat rest for a few minutes in the roasting pan. During this time the meat will continue to cook a bit more, but the resting phase will help the meat retain more juices for the next step.
Slice and carve for serving. Sliced roast beef pairs perfectly with both hot gravy and cold horseradish sauces (either cream-based or tomato-based).

SOUS VIDE

Sous Vide means “under vacuum” in French. In this method of cooking, you are cooking your steaks in vacuum sealed bags by submerging them in a hot water bath to precisely the desired temperature, and then finishing them in a pan as a secondary step. This may sound like high tech restaurant science only kind of stuff, but there are items available in the consumer market to do this with great results at home.

Johnny’s Preferred Cuts for Sous Vide: Thick Cuts of Filet Mignon, Boneless Strip, Boneless Rib Eye, Bavette, Denver Cut/Blade Steak

Pros

Perfect internal temperature every time
No monitoring necessary
Easy to achieve success

Cons

Requires a special unit or item, a vacuum sealer and bags
Wait time can be lengthy
Still need to use a pan (or torch) to sear the outside

Instructions

Lucky for you all, I’ve got a nice discussion of the sous vide cooking method here, with pretty pics and everything. In any case, here is the gist of it:

Season the steak however the you want. I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, garlic oil and crushed red pepper.
Place steak into vacuum seal bag and seal it up with some butter and herbs inside (rosemary is always nice).
If you’re a poor bastard and can’t afford a vacuum sealer, you can use ziplock bags. Place your meat into the bag and begin to submerge the bag into the water bath. Once you are all the way close to the zipper, zip it shut. The water surrounding the outside of the bag will push out all the air from inside. This is the poor man’s vacuum sealer. If you do this, you may want to put a smooth, clean rock in there too, just for good measure, to keep the meat from floating.
Set your temperature to however you like your steak cooked. I put mine at 125F for a nice medium rare. I’m dealing with grocery store meat here, people. Don’t give me any shit about that being too well done.
Wait about an hour or two. Don’t panic! You can’t overcook your steak in a sous vide bath. That’s the whole point of it!
Remove your steak from the water bath and let it cool back down to room temperature.
Re-season it a bit, if so desired.
Sear it. I use a Searzall, because why not? But you can easily just toss this baby into a real hot cast iron pan with some more butter and herbs to get that brown and crispy coating.

DIRECT FROM FROZEN

Some food scientist people were messing around and cooking strip steaks in a test kitchen; some cuts were thawed in a fridge overnight, and others were still frozen. The results stunned them. The steaks were cooked more evenly, with less “grey band” when cooked direct from frozen, and those steaks retained more juices (they lost less moisture during the cooking process). While they took longer to cook, they still browned at nearly the same rate as a thawed steak.

I think a major issue that home cooks with have here is that it may be difficult to prevent ice crystals to form on the outside of the meat during the freezing process. When cooking, these ice crystals will melt into water or sublimate into water vapor. At that point you are either boiling or steaming the bottom of your steak in the pan, which is bad. When doing that, you won’t ever achieve the crust that we carnivores all desire.

The scientists attempt to solve this problem by freezing the steaks in a special way at first, uncovered and flat. Once they’re frozen, they are then wrapped and bagged for storage. If you’re going to attempt this you will want to be very careful to replicate the freezing technique that the scientists utilized, to avoid excessive ice crystals from forming on the outside of the meat.

This method involves cooking in a pan that contains a good amount of oil. This is done to ensure that the nooks and crannies of the steak surfaces all get cooked the same amount, and it helps to displace any water that may melt out of ice crystals. Second, it also retains more heat, so you can bring the steak surface up to browning point faster, without overcooking any of the interview (which should still remain pretty cold since it is frozen). The result is less grey banding, and a more end-to-end pink steak interior.

You will still need to finish the steak in the oven, however, since the interior will likely be too rare or still frozen if you only use the pan.

In any event, here is my analysis:

Scientists’ Preferred Cuts for Frozen Steak Cooking: Strip

Pros

No waiting for steak to thaw or come to room temperature
Less meal planning needed ahead of time
Nice, even cook temp throughout

Cons

Difficult to avoid ice crystals
Complicated freezing technique
Still requires second step in the oven

Instructions

Refer to this link and the embedded video below for proper steak preparation and cooking instructions.

DIRECT ON COALS

I haven’t tested this method out myself yet, so you’ll have to take this with a grain of salt, as above, with the “Direct from Frozen” method. My first exposure to this method was when I saw Alton Brown discuss it on his blog. I was intrigued enough to include it here, but since I no longer have the ability to cook often with real wood, I have never tested this out.

Alton’s Preferred Cut for Coal Cooking: Skirt

Pros

Fast
Natural flavors

Cons

Covering in foil step essentially steams the meat
Potential for soot contamination

Instructions

I think the best bet here is to just follow the directions from Master Alton, since he’s a culinary wizard, and I’m a mere apprentice. One thing I’m apprehensive about, which I noted in the “cons” section, is the part where Alton wraps the hot steak in foil. This means the meat will cook in steam. He then tosses it back into the juices. All of this makes me think “wet steak,” and that turns me off.

___

For more specific recipes, as opposed to these more general methods of cooking, check out my recipe page.

Filet Mignon, Flash Deals, NY Strip, Steakhouse Reviews

Uncle Jack’s (west side)

August 8, 2016 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

Uncle Jack’s (west side) overall score: 83

My wife and I came here to use a Groupon that we purchased, which gave us a five-course steak dinner for two for just $99.

Flavor: 7
We had the options to choose a filet and a strip as our entrees, so that’s how we rolled. Both came in at 7/10 for flavor. They were cooked properly to medium rare, they had a good crust and sear on the outside, and they were seasoned properly.

Filet:

Strip:

I think they just lacked flavor due to the fact that they were such lean cuts. As a steak man, I tend to always go with a rib eye, which generally has more marbling, more fat, and therefore more flavor. For this reason, when cooking cuts like tenderloin and strip loin, many steakhouses will be quite liberal in their use of butter. Butter adds fat flavor back into the beef, and it triggers all sorts of cum-inducing sensations that start at your taste buds and end at the tip of your rock-hard cock. I didn’t taste too much butter at all, so my dick remained pretty flaccid throughout the meal. I did taste soy, which was nice, but ultimately it competed with the steaks natural earthy and aged flavor qualities. As a result, the steaks were just a little flat, and lacked flavor depth. Most of the score here is for good execution on the cook temperature and sear.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10
Uncle Jack’s has a really great selection of USDA Prime and dry-aged beef. Top notch stuff. There’s an elephant’s shitload of variety in terms of sizing, bones, cuts and even some specialty stuff like wagyu and kobe. An elephant shits large loads. That’s why I used that analogy there.

Portion Size & Plating: 10
The filet comes in three styles: puss-bag 8oz, 12oz, or manly 20oz bone-in tenderloin. I must say, ordering the big tenderloin here is not a pussy move. A little kid had one next to us and I felt like a rimmed out gaping asshole for sharing two steaks between me and my wife that, when combined in weight, added up to his one cut. That kid is going to grow up to crush so much pussy that he will STILL be crushing pussy while he rests between bouts of crushing pussy. The ribeye is 24oz (bone-in), the strips are 12oz or 16oz boneless, and the porterhouses start at 44oz (22oz pp). They also offer a cote de boeuf 44oz rib eye for two. Everything is pretty much on the large side here, which is good, and similar to Lex Steele’s penis. They even offer some wagyu and kobe selections as well. TONS of variety.

Price: 9
Since we had that great Groupon, this was a bargain. While it wasn’t the best steak we’ve had, I still feel that we got a good bang for our buck here.

Bar: 8
The bar is perpendicular to the windows on the right as you walk in, but there are a few high tops along the windows for people watching. The location, 9th avenue and 34th/35th street, is not the best for hanging out, as it is close to what I call “the armpit of the city” (the Penn Station and Port Authority areas), but the bar does mix up some nice cocktails. Although the waiter or bartender got my martini order wrong (see service section below), it still tasted great.

Specials and Other Meats: 8
There were no specials read to us that I can recall (probably because they knew we were eating from the Groupon menu), but they do offer pork, lamb and chicken for people who have too much estrogen in their bodies to properly enjoy beef like real men with dicks between their legs.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We had baked clams and a crab cake to start.

I like that they give you eight clams per order (they split the clams up between us when they served them). The spicy butter and lemon breadcrumb stuffing was good, and the clams were whole, quality Little Necks, not chopped up cherrystones or bait clams that were then re-inserted into a clam shell that wasn’t its own. As for the crab cake, we loved the sauce in which it was served. It was like a reduced crab bisque soup mixed with vodka sauce. Very flavorful, and the top of the cake had a great crispy crust.

Our salads were next. My wife went with the farmers mixed greens. Some of the greens were soggy, wilted and probably rotten, so that was a bummer. Otherwise the salad had great flavor from the cranberries and pine nuts, and it was well dressed, so that’s a plus. My caesar was pretty standard.

On the side we had creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.

That pic is just a combined plate that I was eating from, not the full size portions. These were both pretty good, but nothing too stand out. I liked the potatoes better, which is reverse from my usual preference when it comes to these sides.

Seafood Selection: 8
There’s tuna, salmon, “day boat fresh catch” and surf & turf (lobster tail, shrimp or crab oscar with either a filet or strip). That’s a decent amount of shit in addition to the standard shellfish on the app menu. But if you’re ordering seafood for your main course at a steakhouse, you better have tits and a vagina, otherwise you are pretty much an asshole. Go home.

Service: 7
Unfortunately we had some slow service here. The staff was all nice, pleasant and courteous, but we found ourselves waiting a while to get drinks and order food. It picked up a bit after that, but it was slow to start. This was a little odd since the place wasn’t too crowded when we went at 6pm. A few other things I found to be odd or a bit off: (1) The steak sauce doesn’t come out to the table with the steak. You have to ask for it. We didn’t get sauce (not a problem, but I always like to taste it), and I overheard another table asking for it since they didn’t get it either. (2) Also there was no bread basket. Finally, (3) this time I ordered my martini on the rocks instead of up. They made it up instead. Not that big of a deal, but figured I’d mention it. I didn’t send it back, and it still tasted great.

Ambiance: 8
This joint is old school, where waiters wear bow ties, tables are covered in white cloth, and the decor consists of wood paneling, large mirrors, exposed brick, ornate chandeliers and a patterned tin ceiling. It’s a warm and inviting atmosphere, yet classy and elegant, without being pretentious. It’s a classic steakhouse look and feel.

UNCLE JACK’S (WEST SIDE)
440 9th Ave
New York, NY 10001

Burgers, French, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurant Week, Upper West Side

Bar Boulud

August 5, 2016 Johnny Prime 4 Comments

Here’s another restaurant week review for your asses.

For $42, my wife had a three course meal. The first course? A fucking salmon rillette.

This was pretty good. I apologize in advance, though. My pictures don’t look too good this time around. I had competing light color values from outside along the windows (blue) and inside from the overhead lighting (yellow/orange/red, with dark shadows). As a result, my photos look like dog diarrhea smeared onto a piss and blood-ridden diaper/maxi pad, but only the kind of diaper/maxi pad you see in commercials that use blue colored liquid to simulate blood and piss for some ridiculous reason.

But anyway that salmon rillette had a nice base of hard rye, topped with minced salmon and pickle, and some frisee and sliced beets. It had a good flavor and texture.

The main course was a bavette steak. If you don’t know what the fuck a bavette is, click the link I just provided and read up on it, asshole. It’s a cut of beef.

This was roasted to a nice medium rare, but I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of char on the outside. It was buttery and garlicky, which was good for flavor. However, the slices that I had were slightly under seasoned. I think it still gets 8/10, so there’s some room for improvement. It was served on a bed of potato puree with a side of green beans.

For dessert, there was this blackberry financier with brown butter ice cream.

The cake itself was a bit dry, but all the toppings served well to moisten it the hell up. Corn? And popcorn? Interesting! But the brown butter ice cream blob way the fuck on the right was the real star of the dish. I would have preferred a bowl of that instead.

Overall this is a pretty good deal for restaurant week. Lunch is always the better buy ($29), but you aren’t getting raped here for a $42 three-course dinner.

The couple we were with let us try a bit of their dessert as well, a chocolate ganache pie of sorts:

This was very rich and tasty. If chocolate is your vice, then this dessert is nice. That was a rhyme.

For my meal, I went with the “Frenchie” burger. If you’re in the area for a burger, you can go with PJ Clarke’s for a standard style American burger, or pop in here for something unique and different… and French.

This mother fucker is topped with raclette cheese and a thick goddamn slab of soft, confit pork belly! Bitches know what’s up! I think. I don’t know, actually… Do they know what’s up?

That’s arugula underneath, incase you were wondering. The patty was perfectly seasoned, and the bun was soft yet pliable and strong. Toppings, as you can imagine, were on point. The confit pork was like having a fast food burger patty made of belly (in terms of size) right on top of your already-delicious burger. Good move. This burger was pretty damn good, but it doesn’t quite make it into my top 10.

For $23, the burger also came with fries, which were some crispy-ass, natural cut, shoestring mother fuckers. I liked them.

Honorable mention: bread selection. We had three styles of table bread. First were small cheese bread things that reminded me of pop-overs in muffin form. They were warm too, like the pair of underwear that you just peeled off your sweaty, NYC-in-the-summer ass cheeks and tossed into the laundry pile. The other bread basket had slices of a sunflower seed sourdough bread of some kind, and a few slices of standard French baguette. All good quality, just like the writing in this review.

That’s it. Now go fuck off.

BAR BOULUD
1900 Broadway
New York, NY 10023

Burgers, Flash Deals, Midtown East, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Restaurant Week, Steakhouse Reviews

American Cut (midtown)

August 1, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

American Cut (midtown) overall score: 89

My wife and I came here for a $29 restaurant week lunch. It happens to be one of the better deals for restaurant week, so we had to give it a try.

Flavor: 5 (updated to 7)
Unfortunately we were not that happy with the skirt steak on the price fix menu. While it was cooked to a perfect medium rare, it had an odd, rubbery texture and was under-seasoned (needed salt). I don’t mean rubbery like chewy. It was definitely tender, but it was an odd sort of tender that reminded me of some of the fake-tasting cuts my wife and I have had in Mexico while on vacation, which kind of grossed us out. Perhaps it was over tenderized? I’m not sure. I honestly don’t know what it is, but we know it when we taste it. On top of that, the chimichurri sauce added almost no flavor to the dish. It just tasted like “green” from the parsley. I didn’t get any salt content or even any garlic flavor from it. I was bummed. I didn’t even really want to finish it or continue eating, both because of the lack of flavor and the odd texture.

I recommend sticking to the standard cuts and regular menu for steak here. If they are anything like the downtown American Cut location, then you’re in VERY good hands.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9 (updated to 10)
I took a point off here because the steak that I did try was sub-par, but I do know that the other cuts here should be okay, in theory. I hope to get back again soon and try a proper cut to get a better sense of both this category and the flavor category.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions vary here. For the steak, they are pretty good. All are large sized cuts for a fair price, and even though we didn’t like the skirt, there certainly was a lot of it. I thought the beef tartare was a bit small in terms of the amount of actual beef on the plate, but the salad that came with it, and the marrow as well, make up for that (see below). The tots and shrimp cocktail items we got with the restaurant week menu were a bit skimpy (three medium-sized shrimp and about 15 tots). There’s a strong possibility, however, that these items are cut back a bit in size simply because they are included with a discounted lunch promo like restaurant week. American Cut also runs a regular $28 lunch price fix menu. I’m not sure how that differs from the restaurant week menu that we tried for $29.

Price: 7 (updated to 9)
Our bill came to about $75 after tax and tip for one $29 restaurant week lunch with a glass of wine and an order of beef tartare. Not bad, but not awesome considering we weren’t too happy with the skirt steak. Even though the place is pricey, the best value you get is when you order steaks from the full dinner menu and stick to that. My sense is that this score will increase after a second trip with a better steak-eating experience.

Bar: 8 (updated to 9)
The bar here is great. It’s spacious, nicely art-deco in style, and seems like a really great place to hang out after work. I’m guessing that this isn’t the greatest place to be on weekends, but that doesn’t mean the bar isn’t gorgeous. The only down side is that the space is ground floor level, so no windows or natural light.

Specials and Other Meats: 10
Short rib, lamb, veal, chicken, and wagyu beef selections grace the menu here. I didn’t notice any pork, unfortunately. Perhaps the pig face from Marc Forgione could pop on as a special every so often, or a slab of pork belly served like a steak. That would be something worth adding to the menu. At the very least, I think an Italian style pork chop with cherry peppers and onions would work.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
Shrimp Cocktail: This was a bit small (three medium-sized shrimp), and there was something slightly bitter about the taste of the shrimp. They were nicely cooked, however, and I liked the fact that they were pre-dressed with a horseradish-based cocktail sauce. Presentation was interesting too.

Steak Tartare: This was great. While I think the plate could have had some more actual meat on it, the addition of marrow and a salad beneath was very good, and made up for the smaller portion. The salad was dressed just right, and included celery leaf, which added a great freshness to the dish. The grilled bread was soft inside yet crunchy on the outer edges.

Tots: These were pretty good, and had a good spice level to them, but they were lacking a touch of salt. The inside was soft like a mashed potato, and the outside was perfectly golden crisp.

Cookies To Go: These were tasty, and had a little bit of flake salt on top to make the chocolate flavors pop. They were soft and delicious.

Seafood Selection: 9
Similar to the downtown spot, there’s a lot of nice seafood to choose from here. Sole, halibut, tuna and salmon are on the entree menu, along with surf and turf lobster-based shit as well. And you can always hit the appetizer section for your cold shellfish, or the crabcakes, octopus, etc.

Service: 9
Service here is great, just like downtown. We did feel a bit rushed, however, which was odd because the restaurant had plenty of room for other diners to come in. It’s not like they needed the table to clear out. In any event, the people are friendly, and the table bread, as usual, is the delicious everything biscuit with herb butter.

Ambiance: 9
This place is gorgeous, large and spacious despite being a ground floor level joint. The only negative is that there are no windows, so it can feel a bit cavernous despite being grand and airy inside. The decor is awesome and it is similar in style to the downtown spot, very art deco.

UPDATE: 2/2/18

My wife picked up a flash deal from Blackboard Eats, which scored us 20% off our bill as well as two free cocktails. We started off at the bar for their $10 smoked old fashioned cocktails for happy hour.

Then, when we sat, we got our two free cocktails.

And of course those incredible everything biscuits with veggie and herb butter.

We shared the foie for our app. It was nice and soft. Not too rich, which I like. Just right.

We shared a porterhouse next, and I noticed that they revamped their menu with a lot more interesting and widely varying beef cut selections. Dry-aged, wet-aged, domestic wagyu and Miyazaki wagyu all grace the menu here. I was impressed.

This was their wet-aged for 28-days and then flambéed table side with marrow butter and some other deliciousness prior to slicing. 8/10.

We cleaned it off.

On the side we had their sun choke spinach, which I really loved. This might be my favorite version of creamed spinach.

For dessert we had the banana and Jameson donuts with chocolate chip ice cream. Very nice.

All in, we saved about $75 with the Blackboards Eats deal.

BURGERS

The “Big Mark” and the standard burger here are good, but as far as steakhouse burgers go, you can do better elsewhere for the same price point.

But that famous Pastrami Rib Eye is always good:

And so is the chili lobster.

AMERICAN CUT
109 E 56th St
New York, NY 10022

American, Long Island, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Restaurant Reviews

Harvest

August 1, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This is a throwback review that I’ve been meaning to write for a while. I haven’t been here in a few years, but the meat products are fantastic and worthy of my blog. Now that summer is here again, I figured it was a good time to post it.

Harvest is located out in Montauk, and has a great outdoor dining area that overlooks a picturesque lake with a dock.

First, I’ll talk about the lamb ribs. This is probably one of the few places you’ll ever see them offered. They are grilled up to a nice charcoal black and served with a delicious sauce. These things were the star of the show when I ate here. I think we even got a second order because they were so good, and the orders are very large to begin with.

Next, we had a porterhouse. The meat was thick and tasty, and served with a fresh peppercorn sauce and rosemary. Absolutely awesome, especially with the roasted onions that come with it.

We tried some skirt steak too, which came on a bed of nicely dressed mixed greens.

This place is awesome because is has a really big meat selection for a non-steakhouse. I definitely recommend giving it a shot if you’re out in Montauk this summer. Be sure to try the garlic and herb fries too.

UPDATE JULY 2016

Okay so I came back to re-test the waters on all these delicious family style items. As I recalled, I am still extremely impressed with this place.

Lamb Ribs:

The flatter, less meaty ones are actually better, because the bark to meat ratio offers some really amazing texture and flavor. All around great though.

Garlic Fries:

Great herb and garlic flavor, crispy shoestring fast food style, which is just my cup of tea.

Seafood Bruscetta:

Don’t let the name fool you. This is a heaping bowl of shellfish (clams, mussels, shrimp and scallops) served in a delicious wine and garlic broth with grilled country bread. Amazing.

Skirt Steak:

Perfectly medium rare, this is 16oz of greatness. While the meat itself is not very salted, it comes with a spicy butter that is meant to be spread across each slice. 9/10.

Porterhouse:

filet side:

strip side:

Both the filet and strip sides of this baby were cooked to a perfect medium rare. The fresh green peppercorns add a great pop of spice and herbaceous flavor to this masterpiece. 9/10.

Lobster and Truffle Fettuccine with Vodka Sauce:

Although the truffles were not particularly flavorful, and they were a bit shy with the lobster for a $52 entree, the pasta itself was cooked very nicely and the sauce was delicious.

Frozen Key Lime Pie:

Tart, sweet and slightly bitter, this delivers everything you expect from a good key lime pie, but in a sorbet or ice cream forma. It even has the graham cracker crust underneath. Very nice.

Ice Cream Sandwich:

This thing is massive, even for two. Although I didn’t taste it, I am told it is amazing.

Cream Puffs:

Huge cream puffs are filled with ice cream and topped with whipped cream and chocolate. Simple and delicious.

Honorable Mention: Appetite Killing Table Bread.

Careful! This stuff will get you full. It is so delicious, and comes with olive oil and grated cheese.

THE HARVEST ON FORT POND
11 S. Emery St.
Montauk, NY 11954

Midtown East, NY Strip, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Restaurant Week, Steakhouse Reviews

Michael Jordan’s

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Michael Jordan’s overall score: 84

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

My wife and I grabbed a quick lunch here for NYC restaurant week, summer 2016. The menu was pretty good for three courses at $29. Here were the selections:

Flavor: 7 (now 8)
I went with the strip steak for $10 additional.

It had a nice peppery crust, but was missing something in the flavor department. I’d guess this was likely a prime cut, or at the very least high choice, but definitely not aged. It was cooked nicely to medium rare from end to end, and it was juicy as well.

The corn salsa that came with it was a bit too heavily dressed with red wine vinegar or something. I wasn’t a fan.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
They offer all four main cuts here. They also offer several selections with a bone, and without a bone. It would be good to see some aged selections, but they at least have some large format items. All of the beef is either prime or high choice, as far as I can tell.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are good here. My steak was probably around the 14oz mark, boneless. So this is a good amount of food for the money. Plating is basic, with a touch of elegance. Not too much, though, as the tables are all covered in white paper. It’s not overboard.

Price: 8
We did the restaurant week lunch special, which I thought was a good deal. However, the regular prices here are pretty fair as well. If the cuts served on the standard menu are superior, this might have a better score, as everything is under $50 per person, per cut.

Bar: 8
The bar seemed to be split away from the dining area. As this joint is situated in Grand Central, they are constrained by where they can set up and what they can do. But since this spot is across from Cipriani Dolci, it is definitely a nice place to drink.

Specials and Other Meats: 7
Chicken and veal are your only non-beef, non-fish options here, as far as I can tell. Our waiter didn’t read any special cuts for us.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7 (now 8)
We were limited here for what we could try on the restaurant week menu, but here’s a breakdown of what we had:

Caesar Salad: Nothing too amazing, and nothing bad. There was a generous amount of shredded cheese on this, which I liked.

Tomato & Mozzarella Salad: A bit skimpy on the mozzarella, but the balsamic on the tomatoes was excellent. I liked the addition of cucumbers to this salad, and the onions weren’t too potent in their raw form.

Cheesecake: Unfortunately, the strawberry shortcake listed on the menu above was replaced with cheesecake. However, the cheesecake wasn’t bad at all. It was creamy, without being overly sweet. It had a pop of lemon brightness to it as well.

Raspberry Sorbet: This was tasty and tart. I actually enjoyed it better when combined with a sliver of the cheesecake.

Seafood Selection: 7 (now 9)
There’s branzino, lobster, tuna, salmon and swordfish here. That’s a good showing. My wife picked the salmon from the restaurant week menu. She ordered it medium, but it came back more like medium well. It had a nice char-grilled flavor to it, but it was otherwise a bit dry. The flavor was nice, it just needed some moisture.

Service: 8 (now 10)
Our waiter spoke pretty fast and it was tough to hear him at times, but luckily it was formality kind of speak that we were missing out on. Waters were filled up often, and service wasn’t slow or poor in any way. The table breads were nice little miniature loaves that were warm, and went nicely with the flake salt and butter.

Ambiance: 10
Dining while overlooking the hustle and bustle of Grand Central is definitely an amazing experience. You’d be hard-pressed to find a place in NYC with a better view that is so readily accessible to people of all means, whether you’re out for a nice steak meal for a special occasion, or power-lunching with the bankers of midtown.

UPDATE 6/26/17

I had the porterhouse on my second visit. Very nice, and one of their only cuts that is actually dry-aged as opposed to wet-aged (the other is their prime rib). 8/10; this was good enough to move the flavor score up a point from the earlier review.

Good to the last bite.

Service was much better this time around as well. Full points, moving up to a 10/10. And I love the basket of fried onions that comes with every steak.

The apps, sides and desserts score has improved by a point as well (8/10). In that lunch review I was pretty limited. This visit, I had the seafood tower, which is jammed with great quality stuff for $85. A whole lobster, a few king crab legs, six oysters, four shrimp, lump crab meat, and tuna tartare were on this baby. This also ended up bumping the seafood score to a 9/10 as well.

The bacon was okay. I’ve had better, but I thought it was cool that it came out with grilled Romaine, grape tomatoes and dressing. Essentially this is a salad.

Truffle cream spinach? Really flavorful. A bit heavy on the cream but I don’t mind.

Mac and cheese was delicious. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch in an hour.

Desserts were on point too. The chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream was slightly more cake-textured than brownie-textured, but the baked Alaska was awesome with the pecan and chocolate ice cream inside, with pistachios as garnish.

UPDATE 8/10/17 – PRIME RIB

I came back again once I learned that this joint serves roasted, dry-aged prime rib every Wednesday and Thursday. It’s limited quantity, so you really need to get there early and order quickly. I ate at 6pm, and by 7pm they were out.

Although it’s not quite on par with Burger & Barrel or Keens, it is a delicious meal. Bone in versions are thicker, for $52, while boneless versions are a little more slim, at $42.

Clearly I went with the big boy. 7/10.

MICHAEL JORDAN’S “THE STEAK HOUSE” NYC
Grand Central Terminal
23 Vanderbilt Ave
New York, NY 10017

Flash Deals, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews, West Village

STK (Meatpacking)

July 24, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

STK (Meatpacking) overall score: 87

My wife and I picked up a flash deal for this place that gave us a $150 credit to spend, which we purchased at a discounted price. Check out how the deal turned out:

Flavor: 9
We shared a 36oz bone-in rib eye.

This thing had a lot of nice flavor for a non-aged steak. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare from end to end, with the exception of the expected slight over-cooking that often happens to the fat cap portion of a large rib eye.

There were no scraps left on the plate when we were finished with it. We even cleaned off all the bits that were still clinging to the bone.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
All the steaks on the menu are prime quality beef, but they didn’t offer anything that was aged.

The good news is they have several sizes of steaks to suit whatever kind of pussy appetite you might have, and two people can share the large steaks.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are pretty good here. While two of the large cuts seemed a bit pricey, I felt the porterhouse was fair and that all the other cuts were correctly priced as well. Side items and apps were also good. Plating was basic but with a touch of attention to beauty.

Price: 9
With the flash deal in hand, this was a great experience. I might feel the prices were a bit steep otherwise, but we left completely happy.

Bar: 8
The bar here is quite different from the upstairs rooftop version of this restaurant. This bar is more spacious, with lounge seating and a fireplace right there.

They did a nice job mixing up our cocktails, and I can see this place getting pretty crowded on nights and weekends.

Specials and Other Meats: 10
There is chicken, lamb, duck and beef short rib for those who don’t want a real cut of steak. On special this time was a 16oz boneless rib eye from Niman Ranch. But they also have some wagyu selections available as well, for those with fatter wallets. I was glad to see that they changed up the specials from last time I was here, up on the rooftop. That means they’re constantly pushing the envelope.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
My wife and I tried two apps, one side and a dessert. All of them were fantastic. Here’s how it went down:

Beef Tartare: This was really delicious, and quite possibly one of the best in town. It was well dressed, nicely salted and chock full of nice, high quality beef.

Fois Gras: This was slightly on the small side, but the candied orange and mini pancakes made for a fun and different take on the dish.

Broccolini: Simple and well executed, these tasty stalk were sauteed with garlic, oil and seasonings. They came away with a really nice texture and tons of flavor.

Apple Crumble: This tart with ice cream was very tasty. The apple pie portion was warm and fresh, with lots of Autums flavors.

Seafood Selection: 8
There are at least three or four fish items on the entree menu to choose if you have a snatch and don’t eat meat, but we certainly didn’t try any. The appetizer fare is chock full of shellfish and other seafood items, however, and some of those are pretty good, based on my experience on the rooftop.

Service: 10
Jerome, our waiter, was great, and the manager came around to ask how everything was during the meal. They sent out complimentary glasses of Prosecco when we started the meal, too, because my wife told them we were celebrating our anniversary when she made the OpenTable reservation. In addition, we really enjoyed the table bread here, which was a sort of “monkey bread” with garlic butter on top and an herb butter dipping sauce on the side.

Ambiance: 8
This is really the only difference between the rooftop and down in the regular restaurant. Upstairs offers something really unique, and downstairs seems to match the decor and vibe of their other locations, like the one in midtown.

STK (MEATPACKING)
26 Little W 12th St
New York, NY 10014

Filet Mignon, Full Points for Flavor, Other Cuts, Steakhouse Reviews, West Village

STK Rooftop

July 11, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

STK Rooftop overall score: 87

I came here with a group of friends for a steak night. I have to be honest; I wasn’t expecting much from a scene-heavy location on a rooftop in the meat packing district, but this place delivered. Everyone seemed happy at the end of the meal, especially me, which is all that really fucking matters anyway.

Flavor: 10
I ordered their off-menu special cut, which was an 8-10oz spinalis (the fat cap of the rib eye). It was topped with pickled mushrooms, pickled jalapenos and chimichurri sauce.

This fucker was perfect. Unlike Bowery Meat Company, which ties together several slivers of trimmed cap to form one round cap steak, this seemed to be one full hunk of the same spinalis. I was impressed with the flavor and cook quality of the meat, and the pickled items added a nice pop of brightness and flavor to the meat. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare / medium temperature, it was juicy and I could taste the dry-aged flavors come though (this was the only dry-aged offering). 10/10. Also note that this is the only other place in the city aside from BMC that offers a version of this cut, so go get it.

I also had a taste of a bone-in tenderloin that a friend ate, and it was very tasty as well (9/10). To clarify, he actually ordered a rib eye but they delivered a filet. He was a little bummed about it but decided to keep his filet. In the end I think he was happy with the steak.

I noticed that all the steaks had a good charred crust on them, and they all seemed to be seasoned generously. I snapped a few photos to demonstrate:

I didn’t get to try the rib eye this time, but here’s a shot of it:

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
All the steaks on the menu are prime quality beef, but they didn’t offer anything that was aged aside from the special that I got (which was not on their menu).

The good news is they have several sizes of steaks to suit whatever kind of pussy appetite you might have, and two people can probably share the large steaks.

Price: 9
We were eating with nine people and the bill came to $187 per person, with tax and tip included and two of the diners not paying (they won credit card roulette). There were lots of cocktails and wine involved too, so I thought this was pretty fair, though we did skip dessert. For the quality you get, this is a good deal.

Bar: 8
The main bar here is a bit small, but you’re up on a rooftop that looks out across the Hudson. It’s a nice spot, and there is also a lounge on the other side of the dining room if the bar area is too crowded. I think it just would have been better planning to have the bar and the lounge adjacent to each other rather than split by the dining room. In any case, the drinks were made well, and the cocktail menu was pretty interesting.

Specials and Other Meats: 9
There is chicken, lamb, duck and beef short rib for those who don’t want a real cut of steak. As I mentioned above, they had a great spinalis special. But they also have some wagyu selections available as well, for those with fatter wallets.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We started with some oysters for the table. They were small, which I don’t mind, but some people do. They were west coast fuckers too, so a bit more fish and brine flavors involved.

I had the octopus appetizer, which is done two ways; grilled and braised. They’re served together on the plate with nice purple potatoes and roasted, skinless grape tomatoes. While some bites had a bit more snap to them than others, overall this was a tasty dish and the octopus was tender.

I also tried two other sides that we ordered for the table: truffle fries, and mac and cheese. The truffle fries had a good truffle flavor but they weren’t crispy enough. That was a bummer, and it made me think that the truffle flavor was just an oil-based add-on that was poured on top before serving, which could have been why they weren’t crispy. But the mac and cheese was awesome. It was topped with a nice baked bread crumb crust, and the cheese was top notch quality. Apologies for not getting a pic of either.

Service: 10
Our waitress, Sue Ann, was great. Not only did she properly explain each cut of steak on the menu, but she was forthcoming with her opinions on which steaks were better than others. She was also looking out for us, because when we first arrived, three of us were not yet there. They wouldn’t seat us at our table for nine until all guests arrived. The table for six, at which we were originally sitting while waiting for the final three, was really just comfortable enough for four people. There’s no way we could have eaten there, even if the last three didn’t make it. She told us to start ordering and when the others arrived, it’d be timed right as another large group would be finishing up their meal, so we would swap tables. It worked out nicely.

Ambiance: 9
The rooftop is beautiful. I’m only taking a point off because I thought the space could have been laid out and organized a bit better. I think it’s great that they have cover in the event of rain. Also some areas are still uncovered so if the day is nice, you can get some sunlight. They even have temperature control, at least near the bar. It was a muggy night but we were still very comfortable while eating dinner up there. Nicely done.

STK ROOFTOP
26 Little W 12th St
New York, NY 10014

Flash Deals, Greek, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

Kefi

July 6, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

UPDATE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

One of the very first flash deals my wife and I ever tried was here at Kefi, many years ago. We seem to recall liking it. Occasionally they still offer the same deal: one appetizer, two entrees, a side and a dessert. So we picked up the deal and went there this past weekend.

I sampled a pair of Greek brews over the course of the meal. Both were good. The first was a lager and the second was an unfiltered wheat beer. The wheat beer, $3 more at $10, was the better of the two in my opinion, but the Keo was refreshing, like a Yuengling.

We started the meal with a classic Mediterranean and Greek staple: grilled octopus on a bed of beans (chic peas and black eyed peas).

This was fantastic. The char added a great crisp for texture and a lightly ashed flavor to the outer edges of the ‘pus. The meat was tender with no chewiness to it. Coated with a generous to borderline over-the-top amount of lemon juice, parsley and scallions, it was bright with flavor.

My entree was a complete let down, unfortunately. I went with the hanger steak.

It looks good enough, but the meat was so fucking tough that I had to actually spit several bites out onto the plate. Gnawing at steak is not cool. On top of that, the steak actually had a bitter flavor, from the copious amounts of lemon and the soaking contact with the broccoli rabe beneath.

I managed to get a good amount of the steak down my gullet by sawing at the hard grain across the bias, furiously shaking the table in the process, and focusing mostly on the overcooked bits that were on either end of the steak (they were easier to cut). Very disappointing. In sum, it was under-seasoned, bitter, over-cooked in some parts, under-cooked in other parts, and tough as fuck. This was actually the worst steak I’ve eaten in all my years of dining in NYC, and I’ve even had steaks at Tad’s! I’m giving it 3/10.

On the plus side, the steak did come with a split and grilled sausage, which was pretty decent, and sort of fulfilled my desire for meat.

My wife had the better entree: braised lamb shank with orzo.

The meat was super tender and had a rich stew-like flavor to it. Luckily, she wasn’t able to finish, so I had a good amount of this to tide me over from that lame steak.

On the side, we shared this order of roasted cauliflower. Nothing to get too excited about, and nothing to complain about either.

For dessert we shared this chocolate mousse with sesame ice cream.

Eventually, the chocolate flavors overpowered the light sesame flavors in the ice cream, which was unfortunate because I really enjoyed that sesame ice cream. The first few bites, when combined, reminded me of halvah. This dessert could be a huge hit if they pump up the sesame flavors or tone down the chocolate flavors to strike a better balance.

So, in conclusion, I suggest sticking with the staple Greek proteins – octopus and lamb – if you dine here. Those two dishes were great.

KEFI
505 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024