I still have a few to go for RW, but believe it or not, this one might be my favorite so far…or a close tie with Devi (stay tuned for that one). I mean it's steak and fries. What's not to like?
Considering my dinner date (Jess) was a little tardy to the party, I asked the hostess if it would be possible to hold our table, and she said she would just move the reservation up a half-hour. Considering it was a Friday night and the bar was pretty packed, I thought that was a nice thing for them to do. Inside it has that Pastis-come-lately look. Shock. The waiters are thin, semi-aloof, and are from the South of France, naturally. Where do they find these guys? I always wonder. I guess the South of France…
I always tend to order shrimp cocktail when I'm having a nice steak for dinner – not only because these shrimp have the heads chopped off (yes I'm still not over that), but because it's a fairly light appetizer and leaves room for all the heavy red meat. Mmm carniverous. Jess got the frisee salad with bacon lardons and Roquefort cheese, which sounds heavier, but frisee is such a light lettuce and the cubes of bacon were small. My shrimp were delicious; marinated in garlic, lemon, herbs, and something else. "This tastes different than usual", I thought to myself, "what is it?" And of course, it's BUTTER. Herbed garlic-butter all over the meaty shrimp. Gotta love the French and the mounds of butter they throw around with wreckless abandon. A+.
"Don't forget the butter"
Considering we were in Steak Frites, I thought that was like a giant, blinking arrow pointing to the "steak frites" on the menu. I mean, you named your restaurant after it, so it had to be the best thing to order, right? Well…maybe not. Jess got the Filet "Oscar", which is a petit filet (obviously), topped with crab meat, asparagus and Bearnaise sauce. It's the French take on Surf and Turf. It was so tender and the crab was great. WAY better than the steak frites. Don't get me wrong, mine was good, but the fries were more exciting than the steak which was a little tough and just didn't have a lot of flavor – I asked the waiter for more Bearnaise on the side to dip. Womp womp.
Looks better than it tastes, unfortunately.
Petit filet…nums
Two desserts again! I love R-Dubbs. Chocolate mocha pot de creme? Apple tart? Don't mind if WE do. I don't know how to describe pot de creme really, but imagine a tiny pot of deliciousness. Chocolatey, coffee-infused deliciousness with a pudding/custard consistency. That help? The term translated means "pot of cream", but it's got a little more to it than that. The apple tart didn't photograph well and didn't really strike me as a tart. It was more of a big pastry puff filled with apples; not that I mind that but it just wasn't what I expected. I love the warm, cinnamon apples topped with flaky pastry and ice cream as much as the next guy, but I liked my pot de creme best. A++.
Poh-duh-creme
Doesn't that look like a crab? I feel like it looks like a crab…
Be advised that the service was a little spotty here and it gets loud, so flagging down your Frenchy might be a challenge. Or they're just going for that laid-back, Parisian-bistro feel. Again…shock.
Steak Frites
9 East 16th St
212-675-4700
Opentable Link: Steak Frites
TO TO TO TO……I WANT IT THAT WAY….NO MATTER THE DISTANCE……
“It is no use saying, ‘We are managing our best.’ You have got to do well in managing what is necessary.”
All good things are cheap, all bad things are very dear.(H. D. Thoreau)