Seeking: Best NY Strip Steak

[cidonie]

Hi. Would you please let me know where to find the best NY Strip Steak in Boston (surrounding areas like Dedham, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Brookline or JP okay also).

Thanks so much.
L

[tamerlanenj]

That sounds like the biggest sucker item in restaurant history. Pass.

[MC Slim JB]

What, you haven't seen Tremont 647's $50 omelet? That one really got some old-time South Enders in a tizzy: http://thesouthendisover.blogspot.com...

[MC Slim JB]

So, is that KO Prime beef flown in from Japan? Is it aged in any way? Can I order it well-done? (Kidding.)

[seano]

Texas road house in Everett has an awsome N.Y. strip

[xxx]

I second Texas Road House. They'll handcut to any thickness. Great deal!!

[ShelT54]

If money is no object, go to the Oak Room, Abe & Louis or Ruth's Chris. If it is, head to Metro 9 Steakhouse in Framingham. If it's even more than an object, consider Frank's in Cambridge, or just don't have steak. Smith & Wollensky doesn't impress, Capital Grill in Boston isn't bad (though decibel levels are like eating on the Expressway) and Fleming's is Outback without the faux Aussie artifacts on the wall.

[bosox]

i second the abe & louie's rec. their food is fabulous - you can't go wrong with any of their steaks. or side dishes, for that matter!

[tamerlanenj]

Abe and Louie's might be the worst steakhouse in Boston. I hate to say it but even a faceless chain like Morton's kills it. A&L also might have the worst creamed spinach I've ever tasted.

[MC Slim JB]

I guess I'm in agreement that Abe & Louie's is pretty terrible, but I have a hard time working up more loathing for it than any of the other luxury steakhouse chain outlets in town (I know there's only one A&L, but it's a Back Bay Restaurant Group outlet. Same difference, in my book.)

As I've said before, my problem with chain outlets (including but not limited to Fleming's, Ruth's, The Palm, Bonfire, Capital Grill, Morton's, Smith and Wollensky) is their participation in a continuum of mediocrity. It's not that you can't get a properly-cooked, prime-grade sirloin, some decent creamed spinach, and a steroidal baked potato at any of them. Sometimes you even get decent service. But the overall experience has an artificiality, a sameness, a tired middlebrow idea of what constitutes luxury dining. It's exactly what I find exhausting about casual-dining chains, just slightly pumped up with a thin veneer of fanciness at four times the cost. I just find them dispiriting.

[Bostonbob3]

Steakhouses, by their very nature, usually mutate into a chain. Even the great, great Peter Luger. Although I must say, the original Brooklyn outpost may just be my favorite place on earth.

Maybe that's the secret. Much like the original Regina's in the North End is really the only Regina's to visit, perhaps the first-in-the-steakhouse-chain makes a difference.

But that brings us full circle to A&Ls. Argument defeated.

[tamerlanenj]

I've heard similarly good things about the original Morton's in Chicago.

But, yes, there is nothing quite like Luger's in Brooklyn. I have no shame about gnawing on the porterhouse bone in front of the whole table at the end.

[Bostonbob3]

Heh. Me either. In fact I take the already-gnawed-upon bones home. To gnaw upon a second time.

[MC Slim JB]

Well, I'm not really presenting an argument, just an opinion, which is that A&L is no better or worse than most of the chain outlets; it's technically an original, but feels like a chain to me, the way all BBRG places do. And I'm constitutionally against the chainification of the restaurant business.

If I have to choose a steakhouse, which I don't often do, A&L is not on my list. Maybe KO Prime or Boston Public Meat will bring something fresh to the table, though I confess I'm a little skeptical.

[Bostonbob3]

Misunderstanding I think. I was saying MY argument (that first-in-chain steakhouses are better) was defeated by the A&L's example.

Your argument (or opinion) is perfectly valid. And correct.

[MC Slim JB]

Ah! Light dawns, etc. Regina is a great example of "first and only"; their chain outlets are heinous.

Brand extension is always perilous. I'm not a raver about Hamersley's, but I certainly give Gordon and Co. props for sticking to their knitting in one location, resisting the urge to open Hamersley's II in Newton or Wellesley.

I've seen much better success with second, complimentary (usually cheaper) restaurants, where you're not professing to replicate the original's experience, e.g., Icarus/Ashmont Grill, Olives/Figs (if only they'd stopped with the two originals!), Mistral/Teatro, Biba/Pignoli, L'Espalier/Sel. These aren't perfect examples (e.g., I imagine McClelland's day-to-day involvement with Sel is somewhat limited), but you get the idea.

[MC Slim JB]

I'm a fan of dry-aged strip steaks (though I often order a Porterhouse if it's available). Factoring in service and atmosphere, I'd give the nod the Grill 23 & Bar and the Oak Room. Most of the national chain outlets don't measure up, in my book, and some, like Ruth's Chris, wet-age.

Oddly enough, I went in to try the flank steak at Pops not too long ago, as it had been getting some criticism here (e.g., "It was chewy"). Pops had substituted a strip steak that night! A steal at $20, but I was a bit disappointed: I often prefer those chewier, more flavorful, gamier steak-frites cuts (hanger, flank, skirt).

[tamerlanenj]

Why not just get a ribeye, superior in every way?

Anyway, the best I've had is the bone-in ny strip at Flemings. Tuh DIE for. Most of the other prime steakhouses really excel at the ribeye/delmonico instead.