Tag Archives: steak

Florida Noms: Stonewood Grill and Tavern (Wellington)

1 Jun

 

 

For a dinner with Mike’s family, we went to Stonewood Grill and Tavern in Wellington, Florida.  It’s a small chain across Florida with one location in North Carolina.

It reminded me of an Outback but without the Australian theme.  The salmon looked great and was enjoyed by all who ordered it.

 

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A few of us got steaks, and all were quite tasty with good char.

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Char is key in my opinion.  A good char can lift the quality of even a bad steak, and these were quite good.

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The baked potato came with a lovely set of fixins.

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The lamb chops were also artfully plated and delicious.

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Overall, I thought this was a very good dinner for a “chain”-type place.  I would prefer Outback, simply for the sweet potatoes, but this was still tasty and had a big enough menu for everyone to find something they liked.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

 

 

 

 

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Strip House

4 May

Every time I have had a NYC steakhouse discussion (which happens very often actually), Strip House comes up in the top of most lists.  I had not been, so when I was treating a colleague to dinner, I was excited when he chose Strip House.  

Strip House is on 12th Street just east of 5th Ave.  There are also locations in Las Vegas, Key West, Naples (Florida), Houston, and, impressively, Livingston, NJ (In the hood where I grew up… What What!)  

I failed to get a picture of the interior, but I can pretty much summarize in 2 words: Red + Leather.  I also seem to remember burlesque-esque photos on the walls and a room filled with men, pretty much exclusively.  Oh this was definitely a boys club.

You could smell the business transactions happening in the room.

It’s not quite my vibe (I prefer the “old style” New York feel of Keens with the old pipes hanging on the ceilings), but it was lovely to look at.

We started with the Strip House Roasted Bacon which came with baby arugula and russian dressing.  The bacon was good and bacony, though I preferred the one at BLT Steak. (And is it just me, or is it somewhat strange to have this with a salad? I mean it makes sense… who doesn’t like bacon on their salad? And it’s a nice balance to have greens with the fatty bacon… but it still seemed strange to me.)

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Next up we had a rib eye…

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And a New York Strip.

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We both preferred the Strip, and the roasted garlic on the side really made it.

The char was very good, though not the best, and I found myself wanting just a little more flavor from the meat (and using more of the roasted garlic to compensate).

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For sides we ordered the Crisp Duck Fat Potatoes.  I was very excited for this, but I found it VERY disappointing. It was a dome of bland potatoes with a slightly crisped outside.  I had to really try to taste the duck fat.  Bummer.

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The other side we had was truffled creamed spinach. THIS was sensational.  My favorite part of the meal.

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For dessert, we had to try their famous 24-layer chocolate cake.  It was good, and very rich, but it fell short simply because I’m not a big cake person.  Cake to me is boring when I can have a creamy mousse or a crispy brulee.  Perhaps it’s a texture thing.  But as far as cake goes, this was certainly a good one!

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Overall, I would say Strip House is good, but not great.  It’s definitely a top steakhouse in NYC, but across the board, I’ve had better steak experiences at places like Keens, Uncle Jacks, and BLT Steak.  If given the choice, I would pick any of those over Strip House.  Not to say I wouldn’t go back.  It just wasn’t as good as the buzz.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10


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Mercato

9 Feb

We are fortunate at work to have a boss who is Italian and loves good food.  This ensures that we eat well during team lunches with him. 

He scheduled a team lunch around the corner at a place I always just passed right by without a notice, Mercato (on 39th Street just before 9th Ave, right near Port Authority).

It was decorated in a way that made you feel like you were dining in someone’s eclectic home.

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I especially appreciated the mirror frame made out of corks and the wine vault made out of old wine crates.

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They did a nice job of making it look inviting and simple.

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And the food was QUITE good.  We started with some shared apps, including meat balls…

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Olives…

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And a trio of bruschetta.

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We all got our own dishes including linguini with seafood.

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And seafood soup.

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And grilled skirt steak with roasted potatoes, broccoli rabe, and balsamic vinegar.

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I went with the branzino, which included 2 perfectly prepared fillets with raisins, spinach, celery, and garlic mashed potatoes (which I traded out for the roasted potatoes).

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It was very well cooked and I really liked the mild sweet contrast from the raisins in the sauce.  I expected a bit more from the potatoes, however.

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We put 3 small desserts on the table for everyone to split (I always find it funny how no one ever wants dessert and then when something comes out with multiple spoons… it magically disappears). 

They had a special dessert that day which was like a pound cake drizzled in chocolate.  It was pretty good.

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We also got the pistachio and almonds ice cream cake served with chocolate and honey.  This was my favorite.

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And we tried the ricotta cheesecake with vanilla beans.  It was good, but, per usual with cheesecake, I like mine better. 🙂

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Overall, this place serves high quality, classic Italian food at reasonable prices for the area (all pastas were $10-$16 and all the main courses were $14-$22).  I still give a slight edge to Il Punto and Carbone for Italian in the Penn Station/Port Authority/Broadway/Javitz Center black hole of a neighborhood I live in.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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