The Strip House

By Munch Master

So after a long day of great weather and beer, albeit warm beer. My friend John DeGiglio suggested we try one of his favorite places. It is called The Strip House . Now let me get this out of the way right now. I didn't know it was a chain when we agreed to go. As most of you know I am not a fan of chain restaurants. So maybe this review fared better because of my ignorance...lol...
The 6 of us hop in 2 cabs and go from Chelsea piers to 12th street at this point we have picked up a 6th person. A good friend, fellow foodie and proprietor of www.theuncommonkitchen.com Susie Tully (for the rest of the attendees see the previous post.) We arrive at the location a non descript white door with a red awing covering the sidewalk with the letters SH on it. But what is not said on the outside the interior decor makes up for. You enter, only to be overwhelmed with what can only be called a decor of "French Brothel Red". Not to say this is a bad thing it was very tastefully done, in fact I rather took a liking to it. There are hundreds maybe thousands of seductive black and white photos from the 1900's littering the walls as well as a few era nic nacks, the combination of which seem to almost transport you back to the speak-easy days. One could easily spend hours just looking at all the pictures, but we don't have time because I am hungry it's time to eat!!! After checking my coat we proceed to be seated at our table. Once seated Mr.D picks out a lovely red wine for the table to enjoy. The name of which escapes me at the moment. Mr.D please feel free to comment and reveal to everyone the mystery name of the bottle. :)
They also serve us onion soup shooters. Yes, I said onion soup shooters. It was a very flavorful thick onion soup (think really thick french onion soup) served in a shot glass. This soup although served in a shot glass should not be shot, instead sipped and savored. Besides who would shoot a defenseless soup anyway.
For the first course most of us order a mixed baby greens salad. Not much different than what you might receive elsewhere except for the cool little fried cheese bowl the salad comes perched in. It was great just salty enough to cut the greens and not have a need to add salt to the salad. Besides, who doesn't love fried cheese!!! It is like well... cheese porn....lol.. Carla had the lobster bisque with 1 ravioli which is all you need considering how rich, flavorful and filling this almost quart of soup was.
Ahhh, now for my favorite part THE MEAT otherwise know as the main course. Teresa and Carla decide to split a seafood special which consisted of a large plateau of seafood and contained a range of items from 3 types of raw oysters, steamed Maine lobster and King Crab legs, to a spicy scallop ceviche. All of it very fresh and was enough to feed 4 folks, although it was suppose to be for 2. JD, Simon and I order what the Strip House is famous for steak. Simon and I order the 22oz rib eye medium rare. And in case your wondering yes, I ate it all in one sitting. It comes bone in lightly seasoned and was very flavorful. Or so I thought until I tried John's NY Strip. It made our rib eye seem almost boring. Tender, juicy and damn tasty. If you find yourself peering at their menu and are having a hard time deciding might I suggest the Strip. It's what I would order.
As for sides, it is like all high end steak houses family style ala carte. We order a few to share the potatoes romanoff, crisp goose fat potatoes, and black truffle creamed spinach. I can't provide an opinion on the potatoes romanoff, I was unable to eat them because they contained "pork love" better known as bacon. As for the goose fat potatoes, they were like a ball of mashed potatoes seasoned and deep fried in goose fat until crisp on the outside. YUMMY. But as much as I love the goose fat the creamed black truffle spinach was the shining star of the 3. It was creamed spinach seasoned with S&P, cheese and a touch of black truffle which totally changes the flavor from just OK to "WHOA". Not your run of the mill Popeye verity... It was a lovely main course.
Now as we all sit in a slightly lackadaisical state the waiter asks if we would like dessert. John promptly orders the creme brulee. For anyone who doesn't know, this is one of my 2 favorite desserts. So please forgive the berating this one is about to take because, I am hard on a restaurant when it comes to brulee. I know what it takes to make one. It is not to awfully hard to make a brulee that is descent. Add some time, caring and and a good pastry chef and its easy to make a great one. But, I will jump off my soap box for the moment and get back to the brulee. So I had high hopes when John ordered the dessert. The rest of the meal was awesome. There was no reason to think the dessert would be any different. I hate it when I am wrong. This creme brulee was well uninspired. The top didn't really crack when the spoon was placed into it. It seamed a bit watery just below the crust and the filling was not as thick and creamy as it should have been. But the biggest travesty of all, and as anyone who loves creme brulee knows. There was no vanilla bean to be found. Not in the custard or at the bottom where it usually is. No none, zip, zilch, nada.
Ok ok, I know it was a bit harsh what can I say, I love my brulee. But in the Strip House's defense that is not their signature dessert. Their signature dessert is a 24 layer chocolate cake. Next time, this is the route I will take.
Would I go back, sure I would it was great. Great steak, sides and an ambiance makes "Ruth's Chris" look like "Steak and Shake". Just don't order the creme brulee.

Munch Master