Original Joe's Restaurant & Bar

Restaurant: Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar

Cuisine: American/Canadian/Pub food
Last visited: February 26, 2010
Area: Multiple locations - Richmond, BC (Ironwood)
1215 Davie Street
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4

Additional comments:

• Multiple locations (Canadian franchise)
• Offers traditional/classic bar food
• Made from scratch dishes
• Big portions
• Great for beer
• Lots of seating
• Daily drink/food specials
• Busy during game nights
• Very casual atmosphere
• Free parking
• Big screen tv’s
• Great for snacks/beer
• Wine available
• Small selection of desserts
• Mon-Sun 11am - midnight

**Recommendation: Joe’s Red Tractor Nachos, Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries

Original Joe’s is a really casual restaurant/bar/pub serving up traditional pub food made from scratch! I actually wouldn’t have guessed from the looks of it, but it is! They have multiple locations in Canada and in Vancouver and the lower mainland. This one I visited is the newest location – it’s the Richmond location that opened in January 2010.

I came to watch the Olympics Canada VS Slovak hockey game and we won…so my good spirits and enthusiastic atmosphere may influence my review to be higher than normal. Having said that I also don’t feel like I’ve tried enough to give a proper review, but I would definitely go back to try more things because I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed everything for the most part. The food was much better than expected and very affordable with big portions. It’s not pretentious and similar to places like Kelsey’s – definitely more bar/pub then contemporary restaurant like Earls which is also bar-ish.

They have daily specials at a bargain price – so there’s always something going on.

On the table:

Crantini

• Medium $9.50 Large $11.50
  
• It was on special for $4.75.
  
• It had 1 oz of Vodka but I could barely taste any…it was pretty much cranberry juice.

**Joe’s Red Tractor Nachos 6/6

• Crisp tortilla chips piled high; layered with melted cheddar and mozzarella, roma tomatoes, red and green onions, black olives and jalapenos. Served with fresh tomato salsa and sour cream. Full 15.99 – Half 12.99
• Add spicy beef, chicken or pulled pork 3.99 Guacamole 2.99
• I ordered a half order with chicken and they are seriously ENORMOUS. The really wonder if a full size is twice as big for $3 more…seriously the half order could feed 4 and looks like a full order.

• These were delicious! Lots of cheese, really fresh ingredients and big pieces of vegetables.
• You can’t really screw up nachos, unless you cheap out and don’t give enough toppings or cheese.
• I added chicken and it was nice big slices of grilled chicken breast.
• The salsa had corn in it, which was awesome.

**Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich 4.5/6

• Slow roasted pork shoulder, pulled, then “mopped” in your choice of sweet onion mustard, cider pepper, or southern style BBQ sauce. Topped with honey slaw and served on a fresh white bun. Served with your choice of 2 sides.10.99 (They serve all the sauces on the side)
  

• This was piled high and loaded with pulled pork and lots of honey cole slaw.
• The pork wasn’t too juicy, but still good, and with the BBQ sauce it was fine.
• I asked for all 3 sauces, however the server forgot 2 of them. I think the sauce I ended up getting was southern style BBQ sauce. It was a very tangy BBQ sauce with a big kick! It was almost like there was Frank’s hot sauce in it and tons of Worcestershire.

• I really liked the cole slaw. It was very lightly dressed, not a gloppy mess so the veggies weren’t soggy. It was a tangy dressing and mildly sweet with a touch of honey. Nice and crunchy.
• The bun was just a regular burger bun. Nice and soft though.
• 

Mango Pasta Salad – Side 1.5/6

• I didn’t like this side. It was a very simple pasta salad with dill like mayo dressing. The dressing was light but I thought it would be a sweet mango dressing.
• There was pretty much zero mango taste. The mango was little bits of fresh mango tossed in the salad. I found 2 pieces the size of bacon bits in the entire bowl.
• It didn’t necessarily taste bad but because they called it mango pasta salad, I was left very disappointed.
• It tasted like a very lightly dressed regular pasta salad with some black pepper, red onions, and red bell pepper. There wasn’t much bell pepper either.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy – Side 2/6

• This was the most traditional mashed potatoes I’ve had.
• The mashed potatoes are very smooth and quite creamy, and although they claim everything is made in house…the potatoes tasted like packaged mashed potatoes. No garlic or additional flavorings…it was just any old mashed potato.
• I’m pretty sure the gravy is packaged, it really tastes like it.
• They topped the mashed potatoes with fried onions or shallots – which were extremely soggy and not good.

Steak & Prawns 4/6

• 6 ounce grilled steak and a skewer of prawns (your choice of garlic or Cajun) served with your choice of 2 sides. Friday special for $15.99
  
• I don’t expect a supreme quality of beef and you have to take into consideration it is pub food – so lower your expectations a bit.
• It was decent, it had a coating of course rub with sea salt on it and it was grilled really well. The meat was tender – not steakhouse quality obviously, but still very good.

• The prawns were not made in house – I think they’re the pre seasoned frozen ones from Sysco Food distributor. I can’t confirm, but from appearance and the fact that you can chose the flavours I’m pretty sure they are the pre-prepared kind. They are still good, but just not made in house.
• They’re a bit small and obviously fresh ones would be better, but for $15.99 – they do the job.

**Sweet Potato Fries – Side 5/6

• Cut thin, fried crisp and seasoned with a house made spice blend. Served with our signature dill dip or chipotle sauce.
• Extra 1.99 as a side, or 6.99 as appetizer
• I thought they did a great job with these!
• They’re very lightly seasoned and not that salty at all, but still flavourful. They are cut thin so they were actually very crispy.
• I think they served it with the dill dip because the sauce wasn’t spicy at all…however it was orange so I’m not sure. It basically tasted like a yogurt based dip with dill flavour – so it was almost like a mixture of dill dip and chipotle yogurt dip…but not spicy.

Caesar Salad – Side 2/6

• This was just a standard quickly thrown together Caesar salad. Not much else to say here. A few bacon bits and croutons on top.

Vita Bella Ristorante

Restaurant: Vita Bella Ristorante

Cuisine: Italian/West Coast
Last visited: February 4, 09
Area: Burnaby, BC
4544 Hastings Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5

Ambiance: 3.5

Overall: 4

Additional comments:

• Specializes in Italian cuisine with West Coast flare
• Italian husband and wife operation - Chef Leonardo Moschetti
  
• Local BC seafood
• Extensive wine list – Italian/BC wines
• Friendly, family owned service
• Attracts locals/neighbourhood/ages 45+
• Affordable/casual fine dining
• Spacious/comfortable
• Old Italian tradition music
• $9.98 Take-out pasta specials
• $25 3 course menu (Sun-Thurs)
• Vegetarian/Gluten free options
• Charges $1 for hot water
• Minimum $15/person
• May be surcharge for split orders
• Dinner only – from 5pm
• Closed Tuesday
• Dine in/Take out
• Cash/Visa/MC/Debit

**Recommendation: Linguine Fumante, Zampina (more so because you can’t get it anywhere else)

Vita Bella Italian Ristorante has been around for 4 years and they specialize in Italian cuisine with West Coast flare. However taking a look at their menu I thought the items were on the whole Italian with minor West Coast influences in a couple of their sauces such as orange cranberry compote and cranberry vinaigrette.

Chef Leonardo Moschetti (husband/owner/chef) is born and trained in Bari Italy (Southern Italy) and continued his training in Vancouver (hence the West Coast flare). For me the food was more Northern Italian with Southern influences. Everything was homemade but also quite hearty and rich which is not common of Southern Italian cooking. The food was really good however it left me quite thirsty because of the richness and saltiness.

It was actually really nice because near closing time he actually came out of the kitchen to meet and greet every table for that evening. It was such a nice touch and it made the experience so much warmer. Vita Bella Ristorante serve great food at reasonable portions and prices compared to downtown. It’s family owned affordable fine dining.

On this occasion I was joined by fashion blogger Nicole. We were supposed to come here a month ago, but realized it was closed on Tuesday so ended up at El Inka Deli instead. We ordered a whole crap load of food and ended up finishing everything. We shocked the staff and even ourselves…we were even contemplating another dessert but my tights were starting to dig…

On the table:

Complimentary Freshly Baked Foccacia 4/6

• With balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
• They serve it complimentary, but it's also an appetizer for $3
• The Foccacia was served warm and it was lightly toasted and quite fluffy with lots of flavour from fresh basil, black pepper, oregano and a little bit of melted butter. The bread is good.
• The olive oil they served it with was not good – 1/6. It looked rich and flavourful, but it wasn’t at all – they need a better quality/brand.

**Veal & Beef Sausage "Zampina" 4/6

• House made, grilled atop tomato caper Bruschetta $20
• The zampina sausage is supposed to be one of their specialties. It’s a homemade traditional Southern Italian sausage. This is the only Italian restaurant I’ve ever seen it serve at, so I would recommend trying it because it is authentic.
• The zampina is made with minced veal, beef and some chopped sun dried tomatoes and some dried herbs. I felt like there were some jarred pimento peppers or pecorino in there too. It’s very slightly spicy and tastes mainly like minced beef.
• It actually reminded us of those Chinese sausages – it was a bit dry in texture and the meats were really lean so it wasn’t a juicy type of sausage. I actually liked eating the sausage by itself rather than with the Bruschetta.
• The Bruschetta was loaded with toppings such as tomatoes, capers, red onion, basil and green onion. It ended up making the bread soggy and a crostini mght have been better.
• There was a strong smoked salmon taste and I think they put little pieces in it and it wasn’t necessary. There were too many flavours going on and the smoked salmon taste was a bit overpowering and it took over the sausage. It was a bit salty too because there were so many big capers in it.
• The focaccia was also burnt and I could taste the bitterness.
  
• I could have used more balsamic reduction, they used it for décor, but the sweetness and tang made the dish better.

Gnudi 3/6

• House made ricotta cheese gnudi tossed with roasted peppers, butter and fresh sage $20
• I asked to order it as an appetizer and it was $12 which is a bit steep for the 4 we got. I think $10 would have been more reasonable, but it was a special request so I didn’t really mind.

• As an appetizer 3/6 as a main 2/6 because it would be too rich and I’d get sick of it before I’d finish it.
• Gnudi is basically a big version of gnocchi. They’re very fresh, handmade and were almost like ricotta stuffed ravioli.
• It’s really soft, almost like pizza dough or very soft bread stick. It’s very creamy and there’s a lot of ricotta stuffing so it’s very rich, filling and hearty.
• They served it with a sage butter sauce but all I could taste was melted butter. They needed more sage, I couldn't see or taste any.
• They serve it with pepperonatta which are sweet red pimento peppers cooked in olive oil, garlic and butter. I needed way more of this though because there wasn’t enough for the 4 pieces. The tangy sweetness helped to break up the creamy gnudi and gave it more flavour.
• I’ve had something similar at Lupo Resaurant + Vinoteca: The Ricotta Gnocchi – they’re not really comparable though.

**Linguine Fumante 6/6

• House smoked duck breast, sun dried tomatoes, assorted mushrooms in Grand Marnier demi-glaze cream sauce, drizzled with truffle oil $18
• Ding! Ding! Ding! This is the one. This was the star of the night and this is the one I would recommend and come back for myself.
• The duck is a star anise hickory smoked locally grown Fraser Valley heritage duck. It almost tasted like ham or bacon! It looks like the only give you a little, but it’s actually a lot when you start eating it.
• The duck skin tastes like those skins on European wieners – they almost snap back. I liked it!
• Since it’s smoked it’s not as juicy or sweet as duck can be. It was still good though.
• The sauce was a rich duck demi-glaze and it was delicious! It tasted like duck gravy drippings with a red wine reduction and then cream. I couldn’t tell it was Grand Marnier. It was so creamy and rich in flavour I loved it. It was surprisingly thick and sticky, very well reduced, so it stuck to the pasta very well.
• The pasta was cooked perfectly – al dente! People may think it’s undercooked, but it’s not! If you go to Italy they cook their pastas for 6-7min not 8-9min.
• The dish was delicious overall. I could smell the truffle oil and they used more than I thought they would! It was delicious with lots of juicy strips of mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. The sun dried tomatoes should be cut a bit thinner though because at times they were overpowering and very salty and tangy. A little goes a long way…

BC Golden Trout 4.5/6

• Rolled in mascarpone cheese and toasted almonds, in lemon cream sauce $21
• All seafood entrées served with risotto and seasonal vegetables. All seafood is from local BC waters.
• This was another rich and hearty entrée. It was even richer than the ricotta gnudi and that says a lot! The richness came from the sauce and the mascarpone cheese stuffing.
• It was a big piece of boneless trout with the skin on so there was a lot of flavour. However the skin wasn’t crispy which really bothered me because it was a bit slimy and didn’t go with the texture of the creamy stuffing.

  

• There is so much stuffing in this trout and it was almost pure mascarpone cheese! It was so rich and thick and it was actually hard to swallow, but it was really good! It had a lemon flavour and was ultra creamy…it was almost like eating a fluffy lemony melted cream cheese with salmon.

  

• The toasted almonds were ground up in the mascarpone cheese stuffing but I couldn’t taste them at all. They were the size of rice so it came off as uncooked rice or even fish bones. I think they should crust the trout with slivered almonds, or instead of almonds use pine nuts in the stuffing. It would have been a better match as the nuttiness was masked by Mascarpone.
• The lemon cream sauce was almost like a béarnaise sauce or a hollandaise sauce. It was really thick and rich and I could definitely taste the fresh lemon in this as well. It was quite tangy, almost like it had sour cream. As good as it was, I think a lighter sauce might have been nice since the mascarpone stuffing was so thick and rich already. To put it into perspective, after the mascarpone stuffing the buttery lemon cream sauce comes off as light!
• The veggies were tender and grilled with a little olive oil. They actually had a smokey flavour to them as well.

Saffron Risotto 4/6

• It could have been creamier, but the flavour was there. This was a super cheesy risotto with lots of parmesan cheese. It was actually stringy instead of creamy and came off as sticky rice or even mac and cheese. It was still really good though. I like the texture of the saffron risotto at Lupo Resaurant + Vinoteca better, but the flavour of this one was stronger.

Dessert

House Special Tiramisu 2.5/6

• Traditional Italian cheesecake made with savoiardi biscuits soaked in our secret mixture of espresso and liqueurs, layered with creamy mascarpone filling and dusted with pure Dutch cocoa $8
• The piece was fair but for $8 I think it’s a bit steep. It was worth $6-7 for me.
• It was obviously premade and sitting in the fridge…which isn’t the part that bothers me. But if you’re going to do this then you have to dust the cocoa powder on last minute before serving otherwise it actually looks like it’s been sitting in the fridge! That bothers me.

  

• I couldn’t taste the Rum or the espresso. Real tiramisu should use espresso and not a mixture of espresso and liquors – it came across as sweet syrup, so it wasn’t a “sophisticated” Tiramisu – although not bad either.
• The Mascarpone was creamy but not thick enough and it came across as whipped cream almost. They also didn't use enough and the middle layer was too thin.
• The Savoiardi biscuits were soaked quite nicely and it was a very moist Tiramisu, but I really missed the richness of the Mascarpone – which is weird because they used so much of it for the BC Golden Trout.

Manhattan Restaurant

Restaurant: Manhattan Restaurant – Review

Cuisine: American/Regional/West Coast
Last visited: December 16, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Waterfront/Downtown)
550 West Hastings Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 1.5 (for a hotel)
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Serves traditional soups, sandwiches, pastas, entrees
• Ocean Wise fish
• Located on 2nd floor of Delta Inn Hotel
• Large windows, but not much view
• Good for business lunch meetings
• Old-fashioned hotel restaurant
• Cozy mom and pop type seating area
• Fresh sheet available (3 course dinner)
• All day dining: breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Dessert menu

**Recommendation: Local Mussels, Wild Salmon, Sterling Silver Steak, Pasta Pearls as a side, and the Chicken En-Sous-Vide (special)

So the restaurants at the Delta Inn Hotel & Suites really need an upgrade. It’s very old-fashioned and traditional and so are most of their menu items. It’s not the best for West Coast so as a tourist, whom you would likely be coming here, I would opt to try something else. This is pretty good if you stick to recommendations, but there is better.

I was served 3 menus at dinner:

1) The dinner menu (which is basically the all day lunch menu with a couple additional entrees)

2) The price fix menu (3 for $28)

3) The fresh sheet with the daily special (which is basically what the chef wishes he could serve on the regular menu…this menu showcases his talent the best)

Basically there were too many menus, which is interesting because they just revised their menus so this was relatively new. I could tell that the chef was passionate about cooking and it showed on his daily fresh sheet. I am pretty sure he is being limited to what he can create because the food needs to suite the image the Delta Inn carries. Their target market isn’t too upscale so the food is nothing gourmet or creative.

The service is a bit slow because it’s pretty quiet and there is always only a few tables to serve so they have a small staff. This could mean 2 things: 1) hot made upon order food OR 2) dinner from last night. Rest assure because I am pleased to say it’s #1 and I know this because they have an open kitchen so you can see them making everything AFTER you place your order.

If you’ve been following my reviews you’re probably thinking why is she eating here again?! To be honest, it wasn’t really my choice, however it gave me the opportunity to make a big dent in the menu and as a result give you the best recommendations for what to order. There’s always a positive to repeat dining! I came here for lunch twice and dinner once so I’m combining my review because it’s pretty much an all-day menu they offer.

I posted the review for Manhattan's appetizers yesterday.

To see my Manhattan appetizer review

To see my Manhattan dessert review

On the table:

Complimentary bread: served with house made tomato chutney (tasted like freshly chopped marinara sauce), butter, and olive oil and vinegar. This was followed by a series of appetizers.

• Spinach and Butter Lettuce Salad 2.5/6 (Fresh sheet item)
• Roasted beets, candied walnuts, goat cheese snow, lemon dressing $8
  Added salmon for $5

• This was offered on their fresh sheet as the starter and I ordered it as my starter for lunch.
• I ordered it with salmon and I felt pretty ripped off because it was a pretty small filet. The picture makes it look dry, but it wasn’t as all. They actually do a really good job grilling salmon here. It’s really flavourful and they season it well before grilling it.
• It was very lightly dressed in this lemon dressing that I bet was made with yogurt as a binder. It was slightly creamy, but not thick and still a vinaigrette. It had a little honey or sugar to sweeten things up. I wish he had used some lemon zest in it as well.
• The walnuts were pieces rather than whole and they were candied, sweet and crunchy. It was almost like eating granola though so it didn’t make it as elegant.
• I think it was about 2 whole beets cut into chunks instead of slices. They were nice and tender, but not seasoned.
• The goat cheese didn't taste like strong goat cheese, which I liked. It was really soft, creamy and buttery. It was almost like a marscapone or cream cheese; it was so smooth and decadent. I loved it. I just which they gave more. There wasn't much at all. A crumbled goat’s feta may have worked better because you couldn’t evenly distribute the soft goat’s cheese.
• **Pasta Pearls 4/6
• Israeli Couscous, wild mushrooms, Parmesan cream, truffle oil $15
• Add chicken, prawns, or salmon $8 Add beef $15

• This was a vegetarian dish and I treated it as a shareable appetizer for lunch. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about t he entrée…I was really hungry that day :)
• I’m glad I ordered this. It works much better as a shareable side dish. It’s really hearty and filling for one person because they give you a lot. It tastes like gourmet mac and cheese. I loved it! It’s creamy, cheesy, stingy and it was mainly Portobello mushrooms and a few button mushrooms. They were nice and juicy and went well with the Parmesan cream sauce.

  

• Israeli cous cous are little round balls that taste like pasta, it's similar to orzo. It’s not the first time I’ve tried it, but it’s hard to come across and I really like it.
• I ordered it with grilled prawns and they weren’t that big so I thought an additional $8 was a bit steep. It came with 3 lightly seasoned grilled prawns that were slightly overcooked. I think the dish would be best with grilled chicken.

• Sablefish 1.5/6
• Honey smoked, squash fritters, creamed leeks $20

• Regional, Ocean Wise
• I couldn't taste the honey or any smoked flavour. It wasn’t sweet at all and was pan-fried in butter. I think they forgot to season it because there was no salt or pepper.
• Sablefish is cod-like so it doesn’t absorb flavours like salmon would so I found it quite bland. I prefer fish with the skin, but this one didn’t have it and I also found one bone in it.
• The sauce was too thin for what I think was supposed to be a cream sauce. It was very buttery and they drizzle it with basil oil as well. It tasted like a clam chowder cream base sauce...a bit soupy and too oily, but not flavouful.
• Squash fritters were 1/6 - I thought it was frozen deep fried fish sticks. It was dry and tasted like bread crumbs and it didn't look appetizing at all. It had some curry and fresh ginger seasoning and was crumbly from being over fried. The presentation was really poor too. The side to this dish should be those creamy leek and potato won tons. The creamed leeks is part of the filling for the won tons - they should permanently be on the menu.
• The best part of the fish was the leeks hands down. They were very caramelized, sweet and held on to the sauce very well. I’m pretty sure they use the same leeks or recipe for the creamy leek and potato won tons.
• Wild Salmon 5/6
• Warm apple salad, burnt butter sauce $21.00

• Regional, Ocean Wise
• The warm apple salad was not really a salad, but more like poached apple wedges. They apples were poached in apple cider with red onions and maybe some balsamic vinegar. I could definitely taste the sweetness and cinnamon from the cider. They were very caramelized with the red onions and so tender that you barely had to bite into t hem. The sauce wasn’t a sticky thick glaze, but it was actually quite oily from the butter. The ‘salad’ part was more or less a garnish thrown on top.
• The salmon was nice, moist, and well seasoned, but again with no skin. It’s so much more flavourful with skin. However with the apples, I guess you didn’t really need it.
• The round white melon balls are Yukon gold potatoes which were soft, but not cooked to the point where they lost their shape. These were really unique and I liked the presentation.
• The dish could be too sweet for some, but I love sweet with savoury. I think the combination of apples, salmon and apple cider worked really well.
• Chicken En-Sous-Vide 3/6 (Fresh sheet item)
• Chicken wrapped in prosciutto served with leek and potato won tons $22

• Apparently the chef was actually inspired to make this dish because Rob Feenie had made one in a recent competition. (This info was from the server). En-Sous-Vide is a French method of cooking where meats are cooked in a vacuum sealed bag and slowly poached in water at a low temperature until fully cooked. This process helps the meat retain flavour and cook in its own juices.
• This was dark meat chicken (the thigh) which made it even more juicy. It was pounded flat, seasoned with freshly minced parsley and simple seasonings and maybe some lemon. It is then rolled, wrapped with a layer or prosciutto, tied and put into a vacuum sealed bag. It basically cooks in the marinade and it's own juices. It was so juicy and moist that it had a very slippery and smooth texture. If you like dark meat, which I don’t prefer (I know! I can hear the gasps already)…but if you like dark meat you will love this dish. This method of cooking really locks in the flavour and I could even taste the fresh herbs throughout the chicken.
  

  

• It came with 2 sauces for dipping. There was a beef gravy and chicken gravy that was very reduced and sweet and sticky. The beef gravy was a bit random and over powering for the chicken. It was the same sauce that they serve with their steaks, but it isn't as rich or as bold. The make really good gravies here because they take the time to reduce it. Still not as reduced as So.cial at Le Magasin…which is the most reduced I have ever had. I didn't even need the additional sauces. It's already quite salty from the prosciutto and additional seasonings.

  

  

• The prosciutto wasn't crispy and when I cut into in it the prosciutto just slipped off from the chicken. There was also a thin layer of fat between the prosciutto and chicken...it was almost like chicken fat...I really didn't like that part, because it made it oily and I don't like the texture of fat. I found myself eating around a lot of it...but that may just be me.

• The creamy leek and potato won tons were bite sized pockets of perfection. I reviewed these in my appetizer review for Manhattan I posted yesterday.
  
• This dish also came with sautéed whole mini romaine lettuce leaves

• Sterling Silver Steak 6/6
• 7 ounce Centre cut tenderloin with truffle mashed potatoes and broccolini $36
• At Manhattan this is deserving of a 6/6, but overall it’s a 5/6. I still think Gotham’s is a notch better.
• I am a filet mignon girl. If I’m ordering steak I’ll pretty much always order this cut and always order it medium rare.
• Sterling Silver steaks are premium steaks from grain-fed cattle. They are hand-cut and represent the top 12% of all beef. It’s pretty damn good.
• The first right step was starting with a quality ingredient. The second right step was making it right upon order. The chef didn’t start cooking my steak until I was done with my appetizers. There weren’t many people there so he really took the time to make this.
• I asked for it medium rare and it was perfect. It was lightly seasoned with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, had beautiful grill marks and the inside was perfectly pink and warm.

  

• I cut into it with ease and it was like eating soft cheese. It was so buttery and smooth and the fat was so marbleized it cooked throughout the steak and made it super juicy and tender.
• The sauce was a rich thick red wine reduction with maybe some balsamic vinegar to give it a tang. It was actually very reduced, thick, and sticky. Almost as reduced as So.cial at Le Magasin, but till this day So.cial still takes the lead. A minor complaint is that they served too much gravy with it. I can’t really complain because the sauce was SO good, however my steak and potatoes were swimming in it

• 

• The mashed potatoes were 6/6 too! It looks super plain and bland, but it was full of flavour. It’s one of the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had . They were super creamy almost like the texture of a creamy yogurt. It was completely pureed and tasted like there was pureed roasted garlic in them. I was definitely in awe because I have no idea how they could get potatoes so flavourful with them still being completely white. The truffle oil was also very apparent and it brought such a delicate sweetness yet distinct flavour to the potatoes. The potatoes I could eat by themselves easily...a whole bowl of it too, but with the gravy – that just put them over the top!

Added note: From here on any menu item deserving of 6/6 I’m creating a separate post for. This way you will be able to click on my “Food 6” label and easily find the best food.

Sometimes the restaurant isn’t a 6/6, but an item I order could be a 6/6. When I have time I’m going to go back to my old posts and create separate posts for all other items I have given 6/6.

• To see my review for Manhattan's Desserts: Big Apple Split and Chocolate Cake