RD M.
Yelp
The quick and dirty review: The flavor of the dishes here are truly spectacular. It is clear that the restaurant is attempting to set itself apart from the fast casual steakhouse chains that are popular in the area (think Outback and Longhorn). The food itself does this for the most part. But other touches, like removing free bread and steak preparation, does miss the mark a bit. The quality of dishes match the price point of this restaurant. Based on flavor and creativity in this menu, I imagine I will visit again soon.
I am not rating the waiting staff of this establishment and it did not impact my score at all. People have good days and bad days, and honestly, I don't eat out to make friends. I am there to have a good meal. This also means I don't care about "vibe" either. The rating is only focused on the food - its presentation, preparation, and flavor.
With that, I will say, this staff was very friendly. The ambiance is also cool. I sat on the patio and I will say it felt a little disconnected from the restaurant because the patio furniture didn't share the same upscale look as the inside.
Now, the star of this restaurant is clearly its flavor. My rating of 4 stars is based on a few things that made the experience less enjoyable. But the food and the flavor combinations here were so good.
The presentation of the crab cake and it's shape annoyed me deeply. I would prefer a flatter cake, it's easier to eat and the sauce being off to the side didn't make it easy to have all the flavors in one bite. After taking several bites, I understand the decision. The sauce is off to the side because the crab cake with the napa slaw on its own is fantastic. The bite with the aioli will earn this chef a place in heaven.
The duck pastrami is served with a grain mustard, jalapeño apricot jam, and crostinis. Now, I think the use of crostini is very generous in this case. It looked more like roasted white bread and honestly it didn't matter one bit. The mustard itself strikes a perfect balance of pungent and spicy. The heat sneaks in and lingers just long to make you want another bite.
The sweet of the jam was delicately balanced with the subtle hint of jalapeño. The combination of jam, mustard and pastrami on the crostini, was actually perfect. You get the sweet, the spicy, the smoky, and the crunchy. It was an exquisite bite. I'll be thinking about it for awhile. I may have also just ate the a spoonful of jam and mustard by itself.
The filet itself comes with some sauce on the plate. And you get to order an additional "sauce." I ordered the bacon marmalade butter. The flavor combination of the sauce and butter was divine. I was so thankful for my second helping of mashed potatoes because I was able to enjoy the sauces and the juices with forkfuls of perfectly garlicky mashed potatoes.
Those mashed potatoes also stood out on their own. The choice to use roasted garlic proved to be a very smart one. Roasted garlic as layer of complexity to a simple dish and played very well with the butter in the potatoes. The potatoes were creamy with small lumps which is my favorite preparation if done right which these were.
I did send my steak back. The first I thought I was the wrong temp. However, after the second steak, I realized they must prep their meat to have a fast turn out time but it left the meat inside very dull. Honestly, this is the biggest reason I didn't give five stars.
Speaking of the reasons why I didn't give five stars, steakhouse should have bread on the house. The fact that there's no rolls or loaves of any kind just makes me a little angry.
For dessert I ordered the chocolate bourbon ice cream. It typically comes with a cookie but I don't like oatmeal reason cookies so I opted to just have ice cream. It was a solid chocolate that had a very subtle hint of bourbon. And I mean this as the highest compliment. Striking a complimentary balance between dairy and alcohol is difficult. While I believe the ice cream is excellent, I probably wouldn't order again. I love ice cream (look at my profile pic) but chocolate and chocolate-based ice creams are the worst version of the best thing.* So I got the ice cream really hoping for a heavier bourbon influence. I love bourbon, even in its worst version. The flavor was a chocolate ice cream with clear bourbon influence whereas I wanted an old fashioned with a chocolate influence in ice cream form.
I didn't talk much about the drink I ordered. It was the gold rush. Honestly nothing to write home about. It tasted like a mix was used. I could be wrong, I don't care too much. It did what it needed to do.
*I don't recognize non-dairy ice "creams" as the real thing, if I did, they would be the worst version.