Primehouse – Restaurant Week

TT recently told me he was planning on taking his girlfriend, CT, to check out a few Restaurant Week restaurants, so of course, I asked him if he’d mind documenting the experience(s) for me.  He jumped at the opportunity to be immortalized here on Feisty Foodie – there’s no cred in him saying I had to “convince” him to do this 😉  Please welcome guest blogger TT!  🙂

After being a long time reader of many food blogs, Yvo finally convinced me to guest blog for her.  With the help of CT and her camera, here is my inaugural review.

Restaurant Week is always a great time to check out restaurants you would normally never go to.  Of course, with Restaurant Week being the deal it is ($35 for 3 courses for dinner, $24.07 for 3 courses for lunch) it’s understood that you won’t be getting the “full experience” as the food is generally prepared assembly line style to deal with the volume.

I live pretty close to Primehouse, but have never been before.  When it opened a few years ago, reviews said that it was just another overpriced steakhouse (yet part of the BR Guest empire).  I enjoy a good steak, but unless it’s a company dinner I usually stay away from the traditional steakhouses.  I find most steakhouses to be very expensive for what you get, especially considering side dishes usually are not included in the entree price.

Upon entering for Friday night dinner, we found ourselves in quite a large and busy bar area.  After checking in with the hostess, we were told to wait a couple of minutes.  Not too long after that, a host escorted us on the long walk to our table.  Not to say that we were seated in our own little corner in the back of the restaurant – the space is huge!  They could probably seat a couple hundred people at one time.  It was a very diverse crowd full of young and old couples and groups of friends out for a meal.  One interesting thing I noticed was that as we were sitting down Red Hot Chili Peppers was playing and later on Umphrey’s McGee was playing.  It was quite an eclectic playlist.  I don’t know too many hippies that frequent Primehouse, so I am guessing I was the only customer who knew the song.  Full disclosure:  I am a corporate hippie.

After sitting down, we were presented with a bread “tower” and some whipped butter.  The bread looked like bagel, but had the consistency of rolls.  There were 2 sourdough and 2 olive ciabatta.  Way too much bread for the two of us.

CT adds: As an avid olive-hater, I was surprised to find out that I had been happily munching on the olive-ciabatta-bagel-roll.  It wasn’t very olive-y, though it did seem to have tiny bites of olives in it, but had a delicious subtle flavor.

Upon perusing the very large wine line, I selected one of the few reasonably priced wines, a malbec.  After ordering, the waiter mentioned that the wine was “on sale.”  I never knew restaurants had “wine sales.”  My choice was apparently a popular one as we got the last bottle in the restaurant.  The wine turned out to be a great choice and a nice complement to the meal.

Appetizers:

A choice of Butternut Squash soup, Buffalo Mozzarella & Roasted Peppers, or Crispy Pork Belly.

Although we both partook in the Roast Pig gorgefest at Hing Won for lunch in order to say goodbye to Zach of Midtown lunch, we decided to try the pork belly and the soup.

The appetizer came out very soon after ordering (as expected from any solid RW assembly line).

The Butternut Squash soup came with a Vanilla Marscapone Crème Fraiche.  The crème fraiche was plated in the bowl as a nicely shaped quenelle with the soup poured over table side.  The soup was very smooth and light.  It definitely hit the spot on such a cold night.

CT adds: As a recent butternut-squash soup fan (I had it for the first time last Thanksgiving), and was happy to find that I still like it! The squash and vanilla flavors blended deliciously.

The Pork Belly was described as “Crispy Braised Pork Belly with Asian BBQ sauce and Pickled Napa Cabbage.”  Although we both had an unhealthy amount of pork earlier in the day, I would take this over buffalo mozzarella any day.  The pork could have been crispier, but the Asian BBQ sauce gave it a nice tang.  The Pickled Napa Cabbage turned out to be a lightly dressed salad of arugula and bok choy, but we’re not complaining.

CT adds:  I agree with all of the above, though it could have been a little crispier, the BBQ more than made up for it.  And if pork still tasted good after our lunch at Hing Won, it must be really good.

Entrees:

Since we were at a steakhouse, we had to “beef” it up.  Who orders salmon at a steak place?

The Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with Roasted Winter Vegetables and Natural Jus.  This was definitely the better of the two entrees.  The short ribs had a great flavor, but were not quite fork tender.  The “winter vegetables” were quite unidentifiable and mushy.

The 7 oz. double cut Sirloin 28 day aged, with Garlic-Parmesan Fries and House Made Steak Sauce.  Unfortunately the steak was tough and dry, although the steak sauce helped somewhat.  The fries were the star of the plate.  Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a nice coating of parmesan on top.

CT adds: Definitely the least notable dishes of the night. I was really enjoying the short-ribs until I decided to pop a few vegetables in an attempt to be “healthy.”  They had no flavor except strange and yet I kept eating them in my stubborn attempt to identify at least one – I failed. And so I went back to enjoying the fries – garlic, potatoes and cheese? Yum! 

Dessert:

There were only two options so we of course got both.

Cheesecake dome with Pistachio Crème Brulee Center and Candied Kumquats.  As I am my Father’s son, we are not huge into desserts.  Usually a bite or two is more than enough.  This cheesecake is one of the best I have ever had, I proceed to eat my half.  It was very, very light.  A nice contrast to the heavy meal we just had.

Chocolate napoleon with milk chocolate parfait and salted caramel sauce.  This was also a nice ending to the meal, but a little too rich for me.  Like Yvo, I am a fan of salted caramel, but it was not quite salty enough.  I think the chef used just enough salt to bring out the sweetness of the caramel more.

CT adds: Unlike my dining companion, I am a big fan of desserts and these desserts were amazing! The cheesecake was much lighter than most.  The candied kumquats were an unusual addition to the plate, but a pleasant surprise. I would have expected them to overpower the lightness of the cheesecake, but instead they added just a touch of sweetness.   And the chocolate cake was rich, decadent and a perfect ending to any chocolate-lover’s meal.

Overall, it was a nice meal, but nothing really wowed me enough to ensure a return visit.