How can you go wrong at a place that claims supper club status. It just evokes ladies in pantsuits and “relish trays”. We were not disappointed. In fact, besides it’s far away location in far flung Eagan, MN. (Truthfully, it’s not that far from the center of Minneapolis but I start to feel uneasy any time I leave the city limits.)

After being ushered to our table by the teenage hostess, we were greeted by Judy, our waitress, who surely has worked at Jensen’s for most of her adult life. Judy provided us with the obligatory relish tray.

Jensen’s only got a C grade on the Big Beer Test–an A grade requires beer by the liter, a failing grade a dry restaurant. Jensen’s had only pints.

I chose the Filet Medallions–2 little filets, wrapped in bacon. They were $14 less than the real filet but I was poor that week. Here’s the menu.

True to supper club form, salad, choice of potato and “rolls” were included with the meal.

my medallions were superb–almost tender enough to cut with the fork, grilled to absolute perfection. Somebody in the kitchen knows how to make a tenderloin. Charlie got the New Your Strip and was extremely happy as well–he said the fat was succulent. I say that’s gross but each to their own.

The other thing to note: the roasted garlic mashed were amazing–served in a ramekin, they’d been toasted under the broiler before being served so they had that tasty little crust that makes any food item taste better.

As we were eating, the “band” started playing. The band gets quotes because they consisted of a dude on a guitar, a drummer with what looked to be a toy drum set and a keyboard player. They played mostly waltzes and polkas and even let a drunk lady from the bar sing along on one number. Oddly, no one danced while we were there.

We skipped dessert in favor of the ice cream shop near my house but, after paying the bill, I was treated to a classic supper club moment, when, outside in the parking lot, I was treated to the sight of a mint condition Trans Am with personalized plates: Itza 92. You couldn’t end the supper club vibe any better way.

blog.myspace.com/proudjagmom

I know it might not be fair, but it is on the internet.

We haven’t had the chance to do a fully-staffed review of a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse yet. I’ve never really thought of it as an important destination — more like in the same category as Stuart Anderson’s (Black Angus). Apparently though, it’s quite impressive!

Through the miracle of internet myspace homepage blogs, we get a peek inside what seems like a very fancy, high-class operation Ruth (or should I say “Mrs. Fertel“?) puts on in New York.

Please read about Joe and Ricky’s Bdays on Simply ~ Dee’s Myspace blog. It speaks for itself.

From @llie’s @ttic a really sweet review of Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse

I haven’t been to a Morton’s, but now at least I know it’ll cost me 3 C’s without wine. I think we have one in Seattle.

Not your father’s Surf and Turf …

So Saturday was my birthday, and the Fiancee is one million percent excellent so she took me out to dinner at a new favorite little Italian place in Lacey (98503) called Ricardo’s (I’m not sure if it’s ‘ristorante’ or ‘restaurant’, it depends on where you look). Her boss, Dr. Mike, had hosted their office Christmas party there, and it was really really good, so we chose to go back and do some free-choice dining, cause we were stuck with the ‘beef or chicken’ drill at the party.

So, after reading the PDF menu Ricardo’s put up on the internet, I really had my heart set on this bastard :

Big Momma’s Steak $29.95
Nebraska Beef at its best… ” USDA PRIME ” Thick cut rib-eye seasond & char broiled to perfection
(Medium Rare) then topped with a fresh mediterranean salsa & finished with roasted red potatoes,
( This will be the best Thrity bucks you’ve ever spent )

On the one hand, I was really disappointed because it wasn’t on Saturday’s menu. On the other hand, it gives us a needless excuse to go back to Ricardo’s for more steak. And on the third hand, I got to have the Surf And Turf from the specials menu. Our server said that the prime rib special was filling in for the Big Momma, and recommended it, but I’m not yet recovered from a really awful prime rib from years ago. We’d both had excellent little filets at the Christmas party, so I chose to extend that a bit with the S-n-T. My lovely companion chose some “do the truffle” ( or something? ) special of a 5oz filet with black truffled mashed potatoes. We was not disappoint! (Although, are truffles known for being, erm, gassy??)

Both (little tiny) steaks were perfectly medium, with a lovely outside — seared and carmelized — and practically fork-tender inside. ‘Course it’s a cliche , but the words “like buttah” were said at least twice.

The surf part of my dinner was way above average: crab cakes done absolutely correct with TONS of crab, and great flavor; and some wild Mexican white prawns that were slightly over cooked but had great flavor. All this was sauced nicely with a white truffle Bernaise sauce, and great big roasted red potato wedges, with some barely noticeable field greens or basil or something. Who cares? The truffle-bernaisey filet was heavenly. I didn’t miss having “the veg” at all.

We didn’t spend much time looking at the wine list, because it’s way over our heads (especially budget-wise). And we already knew from the office party that the house pours a great chianti for six bucks. I had a 6 buck primitivo, and it was great too.

Bottom line, GO HERE!!! Ricardo’s is a winner on every point except one: the decor. Which I won’t really pick on, because it’s adorable, and you know, A for effort and all that. But, who cares? You really can’t go wrong with this place. I haven’t had a better steak anywhere within about 300 miles of here, except that Argentine place in Seattle which I keep forgetting to write about.

What more can a girl ask for her birthday than to be taken out for a tasty steak dinner?

Nothing, I tell you.

Of course, me being me, my date was my mom.

I chose Kozy’s Steaks and Seafood mostly because mom’s on a budget and Kozy’s seemed to have decent food to dollar ratio.

Kozy’s is in The Galleria shopping center in Edina, MN. Malls are not normally my first choice for steak restaurants–something about all malls having the same stores and fastfood places doesn’t lend itself to my idea of where a steak place should be located. But, The Galleria isn’t a mall, mall. It’s a rich people’s mall. And, Kozy’s isn’t owned by mall steak people; it’s owned by the folks that own Kozlak’s Royal Oak–a Twin Cities dining fine dining flagship. So, I knew it would probably be pretty good.

My thought was proven out.

We both got filet mignon ($27) which included salad and garlic mashed potatoes. (I’d been warned by my brother that mom would think anything over $20 that didn’t include sides would be too expensive.)

The steak was probably the best I’ve had in that price range. It was cooked perfectly (medium) with a wonderful crust. It was tender, tender, tender! The potatoes were slightly lumpy (a good thing), with actual roasted garlic bits laced laced throughout.

The setting was very unmall-like and was done in classic steakhouse: dark wood, lush drapes etc. We were seated in a backish room which meant that the mall was hidden from view and that we had actual windows that faced the out of doors.

Overall, twas a fabulous, tasty birthday dinner.

Note: As it turns out, this post was meant to go up on the future anniversary of our wedding. So, instead of referring to her as “my companion” I will from here on out refer to her as “my fiancee”.

On to the post:

Every year, my fiancee and I spend at least four days vacationing on Oregon’s North Coast. In particular, in a heavenly little town called Manzanita.

As long as we’ve been going there, there hasn’t been a decent place for a steak in town, so we make more than one trip to Cannon Beach for dining. Since this isn’t a web site about seafood dining, I’ll just not even mention the place we dine most, which is called something like “The Manzanita Seafood Market and Chowder House.” (It’s fantastic.)

We certainly haven’t dined everywhere in Cannon Beach, because I hear it’s becoming somewhat of a hotspot for fancy cuisine. But, I can recommend, without reserve, that you try JP’s at Cannon Beach…. Where do I begin?

(more…)

So, this one time, my fiancee and I were supposed to meet with a representative of a Very Historical and Famous International Jewelry Icon to pick out a really expensive diamond engagement ring, right?

But on the way to the big city to meet with him, my phone rang. It turned out that there was a freak mishap with the secret underground vault where the Jewelry Icon keeps its more expensive items overnight: they couldn’t open it in the morning. So the Representative, a very very nice man named Jim, was calling to let us know his grave disappointment with the circumstances, and would we accept his apologies for the inconvenience.

So, since we were already halfway there for the meeting, and we wanted to talk with the Representative anyway, we just agreed to meet with him at the Jewelry Icon store and talk. He apologized more, and suggested maybe we’d like to have some nice lunch on his tab to make up for it. We blushed a little bit, and accepted a free lunch at Il Fornaio. Of course, I had to have steak.

(more…)

M and S Grill is McCormick and Schmick’s new “casual” dining option. As best I could tell, that means that you can see over the backs of the booths and you can see out the windows. At least that’s the translation between the Minneapolis offerings.

We were there through amazing luck of me having a PO box in M and S Grill’s neighborhood. I got a “Dear Resident” coupon for them announcing they’d just moved into my neighborhood—apparently, their neighborhood is all of downtown Minneapolis. But, I shouldn’t nitpick–the coupon was worth $20 off a meal.

The decor is steakhouse woody, with big velvet drapes. The bar was only about half full, the dining room less so. They’re on steak house row but off the beaten path of the younger afterwork happy hour crowd.

We went with a bottle of wine–it was cheaper that way, we decided ($28). Wine isn’t cheap but it never is in that sort of place.

For appetizers, we had the tempura asparagus. It was good for about 3 spears worth–the breading was too heavy to eat much more than that. The asparagus was amazingly tender, considering that it’s not even remotely asparagus season in MN.

Dinner was, of course, a filet mignon and mashed ($29). I got the big filet, though I would have been full after the little one.

The steak had a nice char–something I probably appreciate more than most. The steak was cooked perfectly medium, a nice change for a thick filet.

The mashed were pretty normal. I made them amazing by stealing bacon bits Kim’s baked potato condiment tray. What doesn’t taste better with bacon on it?

The service was amazing. I’m guessing the wait staff was just trying to stay busy but it was true “plates whisked away as soon as they’re empty” service. I normally hate overly attentive wait staff but these guys were so low key–they just seemed to appear exactly at the right moment and vanish with the blink of an eye.

Kim gave M and S a 7.5. Not sure if she’s eaten less bad steak than me or if being from Iowa gives her a different standard but I’d give them at least an 8.5, maybe a 9 since it was nice without being stuff. We didn’t have beer so I can’t give it perfect marks.

I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for a coupon, especially when it involves red meat.

The September special at the Poodle Club in Minneapolis was a New York Strip dinner for $9.95. As I’ve said before, cheap steak is judged in an entirely different category than expensive steak. For it’s cost, the Poodle was a winner. But, you need to remember how much you’re paying.

My dinner included the steak, a salad (iceburg with carrot shreds, grocery store cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices) and potato (I had baked). We were also able to get big mugs of beer, which is always a plus on cheap steak night. The same meal would normally cost $12–still a bargain.

The Poodle is a south Minneapolis classic. It’s also taken a bit of a hit because of the smoking ban in Minneapolis. Almost all of the clientele was outside on the patio when we arrived so they could dine and smoke at the same time.

My only complaint would have to be the live band that started up around 30 minutes after we arrived. It was loud to the point that we couldn’t have a conversation while they were playing. Eh, for $9.95, who can complain.

If this were a small, obscure theater company blog, I’d go into detail about our 2nd stop of the evening–at the Bedlam Theater’s 10 minute Original Play Festival. Imagine young “avant garde” playwrights, trying to make a deep lasting point in 10 minutes. Yeah, it was interesting to say the least. Thankfully, this isn’t a small obscure theater company blog so you’re spared the details.

This is yummy if you’re in a world with out a proper grill or even a proper grill pan.
Of course, I’m a sucker for balsamic on pretty much anything.

Rib-Eye Steak au Poivre with Balsamic Reduction