Peter Luger Steakhouse lives up to the hype

Those of you that know me, know I'm a beef man. So I loves me a a good steak. Peter Luger in the South Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, NY has been hyped by many to have one of the best steaks in the United States. I would have to agree. The ambiance is very manly, wooden tables, big sharp knifes, waiters that give you shit. Its a fun fun scene. I celebrated the finish of an amazing triatholon with some buddies at this palace o' meat (i know, i know).


I started out with their thick cut bacon. This is not yo momma's bacon, its like a meal in itself. Crispy outside, chewy center, salty and porky. A must-have if you come here.

At Luger's there is only one type of steak you can get; It's the porterhouse for 2, 80 bucks, period. It's well worth it. The piping out steak comes out pre-cut sizzling on the plate. The masterful waiter carefully takes 2 pieces and places them on each person's plate, spooned over with the greasy juice left over by the mighty beast.

Be sure to order your steak properly. NEVER order well-done, you might as well ask them to throw your steak on the ground and stomp on it. I usually go for medium-rare everywhere else, but since they really know what's going on, I go with medium here and it comes out a proper pink in the middle (ohh yeaaaa). This steak is unreal, it just melts in your mouth. It has a slight char on the outside with the proper amount of salt crust. But the middle is what makes this steak probably the best I have ever had. Its soft, flavorful, pure pure beef at its finest.

In addition to great steaks, the sides here are nothing to laugh about. We went with the German potatoes (think hash, but with more onions and butter...really really good), the onion rings, and the star, creamed spinach. I'm more of a fresh vegetable guy, but this creamed spinach really is something special. Once again, the best I have ever had.

I know there might be better steak in the US, or even New York for that matter, but this place really just does it for me. It just makes you feel like a real man; STEAK, STEAK STEAK!!!

-J

Utter Gluttony - Miami Style

Where to begin? I have had plenty of gluttonous meals in my life, but this one is definitely in the top 10. In a recent trip to Miami, a gang of friends and I headed to Prime 112 in fancy pants South Beach. Prime 112 is a modern take on an American steakhouse with a flair for seafood.

Had I known what was in store for I probably wouldn't have spent the day drinking 46 oz Margaritas and pre-partying while we waited for a table. The good thing about eating in a large group is that you can try a bunch of different dishes, the bad thing is...you can try a bunch of different dishes...some that weren't meant to be consumed together. I have a saying these days; if the animals you are about to eat don't get along on earth, they probably wont get along in your stomach. Anyways...without further ado, the meal!

We started with barrage of "appetizers", the first one being lobster mac and cheese. This was good stuff, cheesy, creamy with big luscious chunks of lobster meat. We didn't let an inch of this go to waste. Bravo lobster mac, bravo.


Next were a pair of salads, the one on the left was poor man's Waldorf, apples, walnuts, you know the deal. It was legit but not spectacular. To the right was the prize, crusted balls of goat cheese, bright beets, slightly bitter arugula and a ridiculously tart and delicious balsamic drizzle. Top notch.


Yet another appetizer, this was a kobe beef meatball. Yea, that's right, kobe, that's how I roll. How you like that money shot picture of the parmesan flakes falling? Pretty sweet. I tell you what, this was a good meatball, really good, but I still think it would have been good with pork or turkey, or straight up usda beef. Kobe beef is grand and deserves to be enjoyed in its purest form, slightly charred in a beautiful fillet, not smothered in tomato sauce and cheese.


OK people, get ready for it....just look below...embrace her for all her beauty....now look away, she is a little shy. Wow, what can I say about this 4.5 pound pretty lady? She was sweet, succulent, buttery, 100% satisfying and left me wanting more....wait, we are talking about lobster right? Even though this was a steak house, the lobster was by far the star of the meal. All 4.5 pounds of meat were present and accompanied by a stuffing made up of scallops, crab meat and other stuffing goodness.


Next...bone-in rib eye for deuce. This was a good steak, not Peter Luger good, but damn good. Nice char on the outside and mostly pink on the inside. I think I would have enjoyed it more if that pretty lady above wasn't on the table...bitch.


It's kinda hard to tell what the dish below is...its a nice melody of roasted brussel sprouts and pancetta (although I think they ran out of pancetta and just throw some plain ol' bacon on top). I could have done without the bacon in this dish, but the b sprouts with very tasty. Roasted and toasted to perfection.

Geeeeeez, it's not over. Almost there people. Its ok, take my hand, I'll walk you through it. What we have here is plump fried prawns, lobster coleslaw and seedless watermelon. Funny thing is, the order in which I enjoyed these items was the reverse of what I just described. The watermelon was juicy and sweet. The lobster came back for round 3 with a vengeance and the shrimps were...eh.

So what are these little balls of goodness you ask? I don't think you would believe me unless you saw them live. Deep Fried Oreos. I will repeat. Deep Fried Oreos. I really really didn't think I was going to like these. I would have never ordered them myself, but I tell you something...they were just re-dunk-ously good. I took a spoon full of that melting vanilla ice cream, topped the surprisingly light batter and just enjoyed that cool cream cut the hot gooey chocolaty center. I ate half of one and was done.

We made it people. I'm proud of you. Are you proud of me? Fuuunk, that was a tremendous journey. That was truly a gluttonous meal in the purest form, but I will cherish it for all the wonderful food and the fabulous friends I shared it with.

-J

NYC Restaurant Week

This year NYC Restaurant Week brought me to a few lovely places (for those of you who don't know what restaurant week is: its a week or 2 where select places have 3 course meals for $24 at lunch and $35 for dinner, a great deal for NYC standards). One of which was Steak Frites, I ate some decent Frenchy steak and fries while enduring horrible service, unfortunately no photos are available from that meal (and even if they were, I wouldn't deem it as grub worthy).

So the other place I went this season was the River Cafe in Dumbo, Brooklyn. A fancy pants New American spot that sits right under the Brooklyn Bridge and faces the Manhattan skyline. It just so happens to be a few blocks away from my work so this meal made for a very convenient and lavish lunch. Lets start with course numero uno, lamb meatballs with cognac sauce:



Course #2 was a Scottish salmon fillet on a bed of creamy lentils paired with a fennel-apple salad. This was the best part of the meal for sure, the salmon was cooked perfectly, a nice medium rare.



Dessert really did me in; it was a duo of warm lemon pound cake with Meyer lemon curd on top and a miniature baked Alaska with caramelized bananas.



Needless to say, I didn't get much work done for the rest of the day after that meal.

-J