Sam O.
Yelp
If you want to celebrate an occasion downtown in a "classic" old school steakhouse with pretty views (ask for a window table), this is a good choice. I don't think it's the best steakhouse of its caliber, but it's good. We decided to celebrate our anniversary here. They used to do a beautiful table presentation with rose petals, but I guess they don't do that anymore. Several staff members wished us a happy anniversary, which was very nice. We did have a lovely table overlooking the courtyard. Just beautiful.
I don't know why people rave about the cream cheese with jalapeño jelly. It's tasty, sure, but I make it at home so it's not something I want from a high-end steakhouse.
We ordered the escargot to start. We love escargot and order it whenever we see it on a menu. Smothered in butter and Brie, it was very rich and one-dimensional. Great on the bread, just didn't do anything for the beautifully plump snails. They could serve that sauce alone bread alone, no snails, and it would be a big hit!
Bread rolls and butter were delivered separately to the table. Soooo dry and hard. Just by appearance it was obvious, even by my eyes they weren't fresh, so I'm not sure why any food service professional would send them out of the kitchen that way. We asked for a fresh basket and those rolls were delicious. Night and day!
Our first time ordering the chateaubriand for 2, requested a medium. It ranged from medium rare at one end to medium well at the other end. Averaged it out, maybe? Our waiter rolled it out on a cart and proceeded to hack at it with the dullest knife he could find. After struggling with it, even he mentioned the knife was too dull. We asked him to just split it in half but he insisted on sawing away at it because there's an expected presentation that can't be achieved with just two lumps of underseasoned meat.
The duchess potato towers looked beautiful but were dry to the point of crumbling when you put your fork in it. The carrots and asparagus were nice.
They didn't offer us anything anniversary-wise but, with the mediocrity of everything else, we decided to get dessert elsewhere anyway.
The scariest thing about the visit, and it's not even food related, was the valet parking. We don't usually valet here because we like to go early, park, stroll around and make our way over. It was too hot to stroll, so we went straight to valet. The young man asked if we would be paying cash or card. He said cash was easier, and he would park our car right out front. He gave us no ticket, said it wasn't necessary. He kept the keys, as is the normal way. I felt uneasy about it because I thought someone could easily tow the car without any proof that we've paid and have a claim ticket. When we finished and went to retrieve the car, the sign directly on the valet stand said cash payment is not accepted. We never noticed because he approached us at the curb. Luckily, the car was still there!
Overall, we would go back, especially for wagyu, which we've had there before and truly sets them apart. For everything else, it's OK, but service and ambiance are far better than their dining options. They'll make you feel special even when everything else makes you feel meh.