72 West 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
(212) 947-3636
Reservations Recommended (though unnecessary on a Tuesday night at 6 pm)
Cuisine: Steak/American
Menu, reservations, history
I’d heard a lot about this place from friends who were serious about steak. I mean, I love steak too, but I haven’t been to a lot of the top rated places since making the transition from “I love food” to “Serious Foodie.” I was pretty excited about trying some yummy steak, since from even a year ago, I’ve now got a favorite cut of steak (rib eye/prime rib)
Like most steakhouses in NYC, this one had been around for ages (since 1885) and had the dark leather, dark wood “good ol’ boys club” feel to it. Most of the patrons were men, though there was at least one table of just women, and other tables that were mixed. However, the atmosphere was casual and relaxed, and I didn’t feel out of place, especially when our super fabulously gay waiter came to take our order.
**I must note here that the glass of wine is a sauvignon blanc. I’m not sure if he did this on purpose, but I did not order it: I asked him if they had any Rieslings by the glass, and he said no, but we have this sauvignon blanc that is very similar. I asked him if I could have a minute, and he said okay, and returned 2 minutes later with a glass that I didn’t want to tell him I really wanted a soda because I had a headache. The wine was similar to Riesling but not close enough that I couldn’t tell the difference.
My companion adores crabcakes and tries them wherever we go that they are available, and so of course we started with that. These were really good, presented nicely, and different from your standard flat, round crabcakes. Crispy on the outside, dressed with something akin to thousand island dressing (which is tartar sauce with ketchup, really), and almost entirely lump crabmeat. My companion went so far as to say that they were dungeness crab meat, which he vastly prefers when it comes to crabcakes. Yummy.
For our main courses, my dining pal chose the filet mignon, a deviation from his normal choice of porterhouse. He explained that he was feeling lazy and didn’t want to have to cut or chew too much. I warily accepted this although I half wanted to tell him to just get what he normally gets, because you can’t rate a place against other places if you don’t get what you normally get! He did enjoy his steak, though he said it was “okay” instead of “fantastic.” I sampled a piece and it was good, though nothing standout, but that’s how I feel about filet mignon in general- there really isn’t much room for shining since it’s a lean cut. Although we did both note that it was rather cut on the large side for filet mignon, nothing wimpy about the size at all. As for his side- he surprised me here by getting the carrots with brown butter (he’s usually a mashed potato kind of guy- not vegetables), which he said were really good. (I tried some. They were sweet, and good, and bad for you, and too mushy for me, but I’m Asian and I like my vegetables barely cooked.)
I stuck to my normal prime rib- on the menu, they listed it as the “king’s cut”, which if you look at the picture, it certainly was! This massive steak was 3 inches thick, and perfect. It was cooked just the way I’d requested (medium rare) and was so tender. I liked the fact that- although this may turn some of you off- they left the fat on, to keep the meat extra moist. My knife sliced right through the fat like BUTTAH, and the meat itself was tender and oh-so-tasty. Just remembering it right now is making me cry tears of joy and want it bad right now. Even though I’m having something else yummy tonight. My creamed spinach was good, too, although a bit soupy, and I was disappointed that they’d used chopped spinach instead of regular spinach, it changes the texture quite a bit.
Dinner took a long time, I’m not sure why exactly, normally this wouldn’t be a problem only we were in a hurry to get to the Spamalot theater across town by 8. In any case, we opted to get dessert anyway, and informed our waiter that we were in a hurry, which prompted our desserts to appear quickly, along with the check. I have to say, he got a larger tip because as soon as he knew we were on a tight time schedule, he was very prompt and attentive. (*ahem* I asked my companion to inform him that we had tickets for an 8 pm show, but he said we’d definitely have enough time- we were seated at 6:10- so he didn’t until it was clear that we were running out of time.)
The top of the creme brulee was a bit burned/over torched, which my companion noted, and he also complained about the fact that it was in a deep dish, not a brulee dish, since he enjoys most about creme brulee the crunchy top. However, once he began eating it, he decided that the creme part itself- the custard- was so good, it didn’t matter, and he was glad it was so big, so he could eat more of the custard. I tried some, and I thought it was really freaking good, too. You could see the flecks of vanilla, and it was strongly flavored but not overly sweet.
To my surprise and delight, there was a dessert on the menu, “Dark Chocolate Mousse.” As I’ve gotten older, my taste buds have become more finely tuned and I enjoy dark chocolate more than I did as a child. Milk chocolate gets a bit too sweet eventually, so I opted for this dessert.
Can I tell you that this picture does not do it justice? It was heaven in a cup. At first I thought it was too big, but the thick layer of homemade whipped cream with the slightly bitter chocolate was fantastic. It was perfectly sized, as I dipped my spoon in it again and again. It wasn’t too sweet at all, and rounded off the meal perfectly.
All in all, a fantastic experience, and I would love to go again. The food was great and the atmosphere, casual enough. The price were normal top steakhouse prices; dinner for 2, with a generous tip for his expedience at the end of the meal, came out to $200. Bear in mind, however, that’s with an appetizer, two steaks, two sides, three glasses of wine, and two desserts. I don’t think it was exorbitant.
Yvo says: If steakhouse prices don’t bother you, definitely, definitely, definitely go here. It was fantastic and I strongly recommend this to any steak lover. For a special occasion or just for the hell of it, the steak was really freaking yummy. *cries* I want steak now.
Leave a Reply