Tag Archives: steak

Porterhouse Bistro – 6/10/10

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Porterhouse Bistro
8635 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

I’d been to Porterhouse Bistro a few years ago, and my lasting impression was generally “okay, good value.” My friend is getting his wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow, and he wanted a steak. Combine that with a Groupon, and I have my second visit.

Porterhouse Bistro doesn’t hide the fact that they serve USDA Choice grade steaks – they actually brag about serving some of the best Choice grade steaks, promising you won’t know the difference between Prime and Choice. They’re well known for offering these steaks as part of a 4-course prix fixe menu for a very reasonable price ($43 currently).

Instead of the prixe fixe, the two of us opted for a la carte. We wanted the extra flexibility, and didn’t want dessert – we would be saving room for Mozza afterwards.

Warm La Brea Bakery baguette served with a medley of accompaniments, including our house tapenade, tomato bruschetta, a whole roasted garlic flower, and butter
bread 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10

bread2 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10

This is actually the first “course” of the prix fixe menu as well, even though you get it free when you order a la carte. Kind of a cop-out course if you ask me. The bread was served warm, but it was reheated a little too long, as the exterior was a little chewy.  The accompaniments were okay though.

We went with two different appetizers.

Crab Cakes – House Cole Slaw and Tartar sauce
crabcakes 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10
These were fried a bit longer than ideal, but good. The crab flavor was evident, and the exterior had a nice crunch to it.

Ravioli of the Day – Mushroom ravioli in a rich cream sauce
ravioli 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10
The ravioli was pretty good. The pasta was al dente and had a good flavor. The sauce was pretty rich, but good in small amounts. I probably wouldn’t want an entree of this.

40 oz. Porterhouse

steak 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10
We went with the 40 ounce, as the 24 ounce wasn’t gonna be enough for us.  The steak comes out pre-sliced in a sizzling pan. I’m a pretty picky eater when it comes to steaks, and here are the issues I had with this one:

1. The steak wasn’t really cooked a medium rare. The cooking temperature was too high and, as a result, the exterior half of the meat was a greyish well done, and the interior half was fairly rare.

2. The steak lacked a really beefy flavor, and the strip portion wasn’t too tender. I wasn’t expecting the best steak I’ve ever had, but the quality of the strip loin was pretty unimpressive. It wouldn’t be too hard to beat this at home. The filet, on the other hand, was much better – it was a generous portion and very tender.

As an overall observation, it was kind of odd to notice that the steak had been cooked, at least partially, after cutting. The meat around the bone was well-done, and the slices were lightly cooked on the sliced ends as well. I’m not sure what they did or how this affected the meat, but I thought it was odd.

Porterhouse Fries

fries 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10

The fries were nicely thick cut. However, they add some sort of batter to these fries and overfried them. In addition, they were underseasoned.

Sautéed Spinach
spinach 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10
An additional side of spinach rounded out the meal and made us feel a little less guilty about what we were eating.

Having finished our meal at Porterhouse Bistro, we were ready for dessert. My friend had never been to Pizzeria Mozza, so what better way to cap off a meal than with a couple pizzas?

Ipswich clams, garlic, oregano, pecorino & parmigianoclam pizza 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10

The Ipswitch Clam pizza is one of my favorites. Not too salty and not at all fishy, the clams are a tender and flavorful topping to this pizza with just the right amount of garlic and oregano.

Bacon, salami, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato & mozzarella
meat pizza 500x335 Porterhouse Bistro 6/10/10

The all meat pizza. Yum. Also one of my favorites, it happens to be a greasy mess of meaty goodness. There was a little less cheese this time than I typically find, but the combination of meats is fantastic. There was also a nice smokiness with one of the meats.

I had ordered two pizzas in the hope of having some leftovers for lunch the next day. Unfortunately, we did eat both and I felt (still feel) like a fatass. Our meal at Mozza was far more satisfying than our meal at Porterhouse Bistro. Overall the meal was a bit of a letdown, but I still think it offers a great value, especially to someone not as picky about their steak.

BLT Steak – 4/10/10

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BLT Steak
8720 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069

At last year’s American Wine & Food Festival, my dad bid on a number of items in the silent auction. One of the items he won was a gift certificate to BLT Steak, which he gifted to me for Christmas.

BLT Steak is a trendy spot on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. Opened by fame chef Laurent Tourondel, it’s known mostly for  its steaks (of course) as well as the complimentary bread (a popover). See menu here: BLT-dinner-menu

The server had recommended a number of dishes; surprisingly, a number of them were fish. There was no way we were ordering fish. Instead we went with some big meat options, the 40-ounce porterhouse for two and the 22-ounce bone-in ribeye. Pretty sizable for two people, but I was pretty sure we could do it.

One of the complimentary dishes is a chicken pate. Interesting. It’s served with a toasted ciabatta.

chicken pate1 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

The pate was just a little warm, and was delicious. There was definitely a very present liver flavor in the pate.

chicken pate2 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

The bread, which is a signature of BLT’s, is the popover. These are pretty large, though hollow on the inside. A nice crust is on the outside, with a subtle cheesy, moist interior. The flavor of the interior was not unlike CUT or French Laundry‘s cheese puffs. Unique and very good.

popover 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

Next came the steaks. Here, the 40-ounce porterhouse.porterhouse 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

And below, the 22-ounce bone-in ribeye. I thought it was a great idea to have roasted bone marrow come alongside. Both steaks came with a whole roasted garlic bulb as well.

rib eye 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

The meat, here the strip portion of the porterhouse, was cooked pretty well for the most part. The ribeye was cooked flawlessly, and the strip portion of the porterhouse was great too. A nice pink interior with minimal browning from the sear. However, the filet portion of the porterhouse was uneven, lending to about one third of it being well-done (the thinner side).

cut steak 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

To accompany the steaks, we had smashed fingerling potatoes and grilled asparagus. The smashed fingerlings were a little disappointing. There needed to be more “smash,” more salt, and maybe some herbs. The grilled asparagus, however, was perfect.

potatoes asparagus 500x335 BLT Steak 4/10/10

We passed on dessert, as the food was a bit more filling than expected. My overall impression was very positive. The only major misstep was the cooking of the filet portion of the porterhouse, and maybe the fingerlings (though they weren’t bad, just unspectacular). The quality of the beef was clearly very good, and the popover was very memorable.

Steak – 3/14/2010

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To me, there aren’t many things better than a good steak. A couple of months ago, a new butcher shop opened up in the Los Feliz area called McCall’s Meat and Fish Co. Owned by a husband-and-wife team with experience at restaurants such as Sona in LA and Daniel in NYC, it appeared to be a very promising place to get some gourmet meat and fish. I finally went, and was not disappointed. They offer a pretty good selection of meats (dry aged steaks and roasts, quail, kurobuta pork cuts, and anything else they find that’s good) and a vast selection of  fish. I came away with a 21-ounce dry-aged Angus ribeye. The whole roast is shown in the display, and it’s cut and trimmed for you upon order.

steak raw Steak 3/14/2010

As usual for a steak, I kept the seasoning simple, with salt, pepper, garlic powder, a little rosemary, and olive oil.

steak seasoned Steak 3/14/2010

I got my cast iron pan as hot as possible, and seared the meat.

steak sear Steak 3/14/2010

On both sides, in order to develop a nice crust.

steak sear2 Steak 3/14/2010

I finished the steak in the oven to an internal temperature of 130 and let it rest. Beautifully browned, the steak really developed a nice crust.

steak Steak 3/14/2010

While it rested, I blanched some broccoli and finished it in the cast iron pan in the meat drippings. As the pan was still really hot, I was able to get some good caramelization quickly.

broccoli Steak 3/14/2010

Time to eat! I was happy to see I got a very nice juicy pink with the steak, and a crusty, seared exterior.

steak cut Steak 3/14/2010

The steak was very tender, as I expected. Even better, it had a nice beefy flavor, no doubt enhanced by the dry-aging process, which draws moisture out, and condenses the flavor of the beef.  This process had the effect of a noticeably more-developed flavor to the steak. At $27 per pound (bone-in), it wasn’t cheap – but I do think I got what I paid for. The quality of the meat, including the dry-aged process, really separated this steak apart from the common supermarket variety, and was also better than what many steakhouses serve.

steak cut2 Steak 3/14/2010

In all, I was very pleased with my buy. Likely the best steak I’ve ever cooked, I can’t wait to get back to McCall’s to try out more of what they have to offer!