I think anytime your heading to a steakhouse you need to assume two things: Your going to eat a lot of food and really enjoy it and you better bring a lot of money. I am the first to admit that I am not a "steak guy", generally preferring somewhat lighter more elegant food like fish, but my experience at Del Frisco's was very eye opening to me. The night started with a well made 7 & 7 at the bar where I managed to overhear the bartender talking about how the New York version of this nationwide "chain" started off so slowly that corporate had to convince people to stay on. This was followed by him mentioned that they are now the second to only Tavern on the Green in what they are making in New York on a yearly basis. A $12 cocktail probably helped their cause even further.
The restaurant, housed in the McGraw Hill building is immense and immaculate. It has a very old world feel to it with most things being made of wood, or huge wide open windows. We were lucky enough to be seated on the second floor in a room with not too many tables so the only noisemakers were ourselves. We later found out that the space is an old cigar club, which explained the labeled cigar lockers next to us, as well as the wood and airyness of the space. The service itself was almost impeccable, except for two things: Sometimes we couldn't get drinks fast enough (although that may have just been the bunch of alchies I was with) and we didn't get baseball score updates quick enough. The one over the top thing is when they bring you the steaks, they ask you to cut into it in the center, shine a small pen light into your steak and ask you if it is cooked right. I mean, this is one thing I could do without. If it isn't cooked right I will tell you and send it back.
Ok, I should probably get to the food by now huh? I had a Caesar salad to start, and apparently everything is bigger in Texas, including the croutons. I immediately took them off my plate and fed them to the table. You could probably feed a family of 4 with them, and do I really need that much toasted bread before I have my steak? Caesar salad is what it is, a solid salad, but I don't think anyone has ever waxed poetic about a caesar . We also got some crab cakes in a lobster sauce and some onion rings. The onion rings were again huge, but very nice crispy batter, with a pepper mixture that gave it a little kick. I would say it would have been even better with some sorta of Cajun remoulade dipping sauce. The crab cakes were good, but for something that the waitress described as a "specialty" I was a bit underwhelmed. The crab cake itself was meaty and moisthttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif, but the sauce was so strongly flavored that I could taste the crab.
I'm saving the steaks for last if you can't tell. We got a ton of sides, including mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, creamed spinach and some cheesy potatoes (I think?). The creamed spinach was the standout among these to me, although I as I've said before I am now biased towards mac and cheese. So steak....yeah mine was great. I had a huge porterhouse, that was cooked perfectly medium. I actually really like the dry rub that is seared onto the steak, but be warned it is very peppery and could turn some people off. It was on every cut of steak that was had at the table, from the double porter house to the strip. The filet mignon was the only cut that didn't get the rub, but hey, every steak house has their thing, and at least his add a nice accent and flavor to the meat.
I didn't even mess with desserts, but as a whole the meal was excellent, and I left with a very heavy stomach, and a very light wallet. Sometimes you wish the opposite of a meal, but in this case, I was pleased.
Cut That Meat!!!
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