I think I’ve heard of this before. Before I went to Vegas with My Fiancee last year, I was looking into where best to have steaks there, and ran across some who were disappointed in Ellis Island Casino and Brewery.

But, it would seem that from me with lots n love: foodie review, ellis island steak special counter-indicates those impressions somewhat. Here:

since eating there i’ve actually dreamed about it several times.

… to summarize, we asked for the off-the-menu steak special and got (with excellent service) a delicious 10 ounce steak, the size and shape almost like a softball, a really good baked potato (i even ate the skin it was that good) with butter and sour cream, a lot of green beans which were so-so, and a green salad.

… nothing can beat a steak dinner for less than $5.

The emphasis there is mine, which is my way of trying really hard to remember “order the off-the-menu steak special at Ellis Island in Vegas!!”

Steak House on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

MyFiancee and I have been trying to get HerMom out to dinner for a really long time, because we believe that everyone needs to try our Favorite Little Italian Place Down the Street. So, it was her birthday on Friday, and she consented to join us for what we like to call “the best” Italian (in town). They had lovely crab + asparagus + five cheeses handmade ravioli.

I had a NY Strip with port wine sauce, topped with gorgonzola, sauteed shallots.

I new there was going to be a problem as soon as Franco took more than 20 minutes to visit our table to recite the speciales. He was very distracted, and kept looking over his shoulder, watching the service staff, and the kitchen. Franco, a real Italian guy with tons of energy looked weary. We were to learn soon that this was the first night of service with doubled seating capacity. The worst possible night maybe, to bring HerMom for her first time.

The raviolis were lovely, the ladies said. The service was, although agonizingly drawn out, basically accurate. When we asked Franco politely if we could pay and leave, we’d been there almost three hours. Thank god the chianti was kept filled.

I think I’m going to have to go down there, or call down there or something though, because what I was served as a NY Strip was almost unrecognizable as that cut of beef. I have no idea what was going on in that kitchen, but it must have been difficult enough that the kid at the grill wasn’t able to see my steak. There’s no way this thing would have passed a visual “is this a New York” test. It came apart in three weird sections with barely any meat between great tangles of other tissue. It was almost like chuck steak, cut 3/4 inch thick. Oh, and there weren’t any shallots, anywhere.

The thing is, with all their difficulty that night, it would have taken an additional forty-five minutes for me to try and get a better cut of New York. If I’d had the heart to mention it… If I wasn’t a Minnesota-no-send-back’er.

I hate to think I’m not able to order a good steak at my favorite Italian joint. I’m left puzzled. What happened to the real NY Strip that night?

Sorry Mom.

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.

Boulder Report- Reviews on everything Boulder » The Boulder ChopHouse Serves the Best Steak in Boulder

Steak Frites

Originally uploaded by jamesjyu.

Grr. I looked at this tiny preview picture from flickr guy jamesjyu and it made me a little bit angry. I knew instantly that this was that same plate of steak frites that so bummed me out from my July trip to Bouchon in Vegas.

I don’t know how I knew, but I knew. But it reminds me of another bistro style steak I made recently that I still need to tell you about.

I wonder how these guys enjoyed their Bouchon Steak Frites at the Napa Bouchon?

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?

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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.

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We travelled to Las Vegas at the end of June, and one of the things I really wanted to do was experience a “fine dining” steak dinner. I’d done a bit of research, and came to the conclusion that we should try to get some steak at Emeril’s old-school updated steakhouse Delmonico, and then a more casual bistro trip at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. Both joints were conveniently located in our hotel.

What I learned, and what I experienced, sort of came to stand for my overall feeling about Vegas (this was my first time).

First of all, I hadn’t really prepared myself for how expensive this would be. Key point here: the “casual bistro trip” ended up costing the two of us nearly two hundred bucks, and jeopardizing the Big Deal Dining at Delmonico. I wish it weren’t so …
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