Carversteak overall score: 83
Carversteak just opened up here in NYC. The restaurant originally hails from Vegas. We gave it a good wallop. Watch this first, and then read on:
Flavor: 8
We had the Kansas City Strip. This was a 14oz piece of bone in meat that was dry-aged for 28 days. It was very slightly overcooked (medium instead of medium rare), but the flavor packed a good aged punch. I think we got a slightly sinewy end steak, and it could have used a little bit of salt.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
There’s a good selection of cuts here, showcasing everything from USDA prime, aged, domestic and Aussie wagyu cross breeds, and Japanese wagyu. The only down side here is that they had just two aged selections.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
The portions here match up nicely with most NYC steakhouses, with individual cuts being between 10-20oz, and shared steaks being around 40oz. Plating was basic and clean for the steak itself, but ither items were gussied up a bit.
Price: 7
I took some points here, because I thought that $89 for a 14oz steak was a bit over the top. Especially if it wasn’t a 10/10 for flavor. Other items that were expensive: the martinis and old fashioneds. See below.
Bar: 8
The bar here is a bit small and facing the back, where it splits the restaurant essentially in half, which isn’t ideal for entering, popping a squat, and enjoying a drink while people-watching. That said, the bartenders are excellent and so are the martinis and old fashioneds. The sheer number of selections is overwhelming. The price of $25ea is also a bit high.
Specials and Other Meats: 8
There were no real specials read to us, but we did get the French onion short rib and the wagyu burger. Both needed a touch of salt, just like the steak. The burger also suffers from two downfalls: the bottom of the bun was too hard, and the combo os shredded lettuce, mayo and tomato on top turns into a sort of coleslaw that you just want to scrape off (keeping just the cheese and the grilled onion). Otherwise very nice. Great crispy and well-seasoned fries came with the $32 burger.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We started with the uni shrimp toast and the steak tartare. Once again, the beef item (tartare) needed salt. Not sure what’s going on here. We both loved the uni toast though, we just wished there was more uni on each one.
The broccolini was nicely prepared, but several pieces were woody at the stem area and needed to be spit out, but the mac and cheese was absolutely perfect in every way (see the video linked above for an images of the broccolini and mac).
For dessert, we tried the lemon tart and a trio of sorbets and ice cream (yuzu, strawberry and vanilla bean). All great.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s standard steakhouse seafood fare here. We didn’t try any outside of the uni and shrimp toast, but that was one of our favorite items of the meal so it bodes well.
Service: 10
Service was excellent, from the bar (William) to the table (Sean), and the old fashioned cart in between. Management checked on us a few times throughout the meal, and everyone seemed to know their stuff inside and out. Table bread was a pair of very nice pretzel bread sticks with a delicious and soft flavored butter (see the video linked above for an image of the bread).
Ambiance: 9
This place is really nice inside. Behind the bar is an elevator bank and a beautiful, broad spiral staircase that takes you up to a rooftop bar. There is a more intimately lit dining room back behind the bar, and beautiful bathrooms downstairs. I would definitely go back to try more.
CARVERSTEAK
305 W 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
