Friday night, Alan and I went to a new restaurant that's opened near us, Arizona Steakhouse. I'm not sure about this place; it was an odd mixture of better and worse.
The steaks themselves were fabulous; Alan had the flat-iron steak, I had the Kansas City strip and we exchanged small portions so each of us tried both. These steaks were far-and-away beyond better than anything I've had in recent memory. They were tender, flavorful and generous. Each was served au jus with a distinct, savory blend that complemented the various cuts perfectly.
The accompaniments, however, were a different story. We ordered an appetizer to split, spicy hand-battered sweet onion rings with a dipping sauce. The rings were okay, nothing particularly extraordinary and as for the sauce, I was expecting a chipotle or roumelade sauce as these are trendy right now. It was Thousand Island dressing. Not even particularly good Thousand Island, for those of you who like it (I don't) but kinda icky Thousand Island.
The salads were similarly disappointing. I had a Caesar and the dressing was very, very mayonnaise-y (sorry, Nancy!), not tasty at all. Alan had balsamic vinaigrette and was unimpressed. Dessert was Key Lime Pie (Alan) and Bananas Foster Creme Brulee (me), neither of which were bad but neither particularly memorable, either. It was the type of dessert where you could tell more emphasis was placed on presentation than taste: his had a fancy design of strawberry and lime sauce in criss-crossing patterns while mine was served with the (pretty small) dish of brulee at one end of this long, china canoe covered in artistic caramel.
But those steaks were so fabulous!
Price is another consideration. I have no problem paying more for something (food, wine, clothes, cars, whatever), as long as I can tell where that extra money went. I have a big problem, however, paying more for something that's not palpably better. For example, I don't like paying $50 for a bottle of wine that's completely indistinguishable from the $15 - $18 brands like Kendall-Jackson, but I'm fine with $150 for Opus One because with every sip (to paraphrase Lance in Pulp Fiction), I can tell where that extra hundred dollars went.
How this relates to Arizona's is that the restaurant is, while not intimidatingly expensive, substantially more than steak houses of the Longhorn/Outback/Bugaboo Creek genre. Was it that much better? I'm still unsure. The steaks certainly were, no question, but the overall dining experience was diminished by the less-than-ordinary sides/courses. We will probably try Arizona's again, just for the steak, but in terms of a favorite, I'm prepared to have a steak a notch or two less fabulous in exchange for a better overall experience, as (for example) Bugaboo Creek's fabulously garlicky Caesar dressing or Outback's blooming onion with roumelade sauce.
In all fairness, I will add that for one member of our family, Arizona's is the new favorite and the ONLY place to go. Right there on the menu, just below "Aged Prime Rib" you will find the entry "Bone for your dog - no charge". I ordered one for Sprocket and our waitress returned with not one but TWO giant prime rib bones that together outweighed my dog. There was so much prime rib on that bone, it was unbelievable. He has been given one while one remains refrigerated. You can witness his enjoyment here.
MONTOYA DELENDA EST!
The steaks themselves were fabulous; Alan had the flat-iron steak, I had the Kansas City strip and we exchanged small portions so each of us tried both. These steaks were far-and-away beyond better than anything I've had in recent memory. They were tender, flavorful and generous. Each was served au jus with a distinct, savory blend that complemented the various cuts perfectly.
The accompaniments, however, were a different story. We ordered an appetizer to split, spicy hand-battered sweet onion rings with a dipping sauce. The rings were okay, nothing particularly extraordinary and as for the sauce, I was expecting a chipotle or roumelade sauce as these are trendy right now. It was Thousand Island dressing. Not even particularly good Thousand Island, for those of you who like it (I don't) but kinda icky Thousand Island.
The salads were similarly disappointing. I had a Caesar and the dressing was very, very mayonnaise-y (sorry, Nancy!), not tasty at all. Alan had balsamic vinaigrette and was unimpressed. Dessert was Key Lime Pie (Alan) and Bananas Foster Creme Brulee (me), neither of which were bad but neither particularly memorable, either. It was the type of dessert where you could tell more emphasis was placed on presentation than taste: his had a fancy design of strawberry and lime sauce in criss-crossing patterns while mine was served with the (pretty small) dish of brulee at one end of this long, china canoe covered in artistic caramel.
But those steaks were so fabulous!
Price is another consideration. I have no problem paying more for something (food, wine, clothes, cars, whatever), as long as I can tell where that extra money went. I have a big problem, however, paying more for something that's not palpably better. For example, I don't like paying $50 for a bottle of wine that's completely indistinguishable from the $15 - $18 brands like Kendall-Jackson, but I'm fine with $150 for Opus One because with every sip (to paraphrase Lance in Pulp Fiction), I can tell where that extra hundred dollars went.
How this relates to Arizona's is that the restaurant is, while not intimidatingly expensive, substantially more than steak houses of the Longhorn/Outback/Bugaboo Creek genre. Was it that much better? I'm still unsure. The steaks certainly were, no question, but the overall dining experience was diminished by the less-than-ordinary sides/courses. We will probably try Arizona's again, just for the steak, but in terms of a favorite, I'm prepared to have a steak a notch or two less fabulous in exchange for a better overall experience, as (for example) Bugaboo Creek's fabulously garlicky Caesar dressing or Outback's blooming onion with roumelade sauce.
In all fairness, I will add that for one member of our family, Arizona's is the new favorite and the ONLY place to go. Right there on the menu, just below "Aged Prime Rib" you will find the entry "Bone for your dog - no charge". I ordered one for Sprocket and our waitress returned with not one but TWO giant prime rib bones that together outweighed my dog. There was so much prime rib on that bone, it was unbelievable. He has been given one while one remains refrigerated. You can witness his enjoyment here.
MONTOYA DELENDA EST!
1 Comments:
Sprocket appears to be in DOG HEAVEN! What a great think for a restaurant to do..on the menu! I had seen some TV ads for AZ but didn't realized there was one near you. I too am willing to spend more (if I have the $$) for better quality but really have problems paying more when 'better quality' is not easily discerned.
Sounds like a good weekend, all in all.
MONTOYA DELENDA EST!
mom
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