Steak Done Right

Longhorn Steakhouse

993 Plaza Boulevard

Lancaster, PA 17601

 www.longhornsteakhouse.com/

I had seen Longhorn around the ways for a long time, but I had never actually gotten around to trying it. While I was in Lancaster the lead partner on the job decided to take all of the guys that went with me for the week and the client out to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse after work one night. I was looking forward to trying it out because as I’ve said before, I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy. It was pretty late and I usually do not like eating a lot after 8 pm, so I decided to get the petite filet with crab and shrimp gratin and a Caesar salad. When I saw the shrimp and crab gratin on the menu I had to give it a try because it seemed extremely interesting.

The Caesar came out first, and it was a pretty delicious salad. The key to a good Caesar for me usually lies in the dressing. It has to be citrusy and creamy, but not too much towards either end of the spectrum. The dressing on the Caesar was pretty close to spot on and the fresh parmigianno on top was a great addition as well. The salt of the cheese adds balance and depth to the salad.

After the salad and a few Yuenglings, the steak that I had ordered finally came out. My filet came out to a perfect medium, just as I had ordered it, and it was seasoned to perfection. I added a bit of A-1 to it, but it really did not need it because it was seasoned so well. The shrimp and crab gratin was very disappointing though. The shrimp was not tender enough for me, and the cheese aspect of the gratin seemed to miss the mark. The cheese was not very flavorful and even though it was full of cheese, it really did not come out very well.

I would go back to Longhorn when in need of a good meal for a pretty favorable price. The steak is done very well, I would just have to be more careful about the side dishes I ordered. Add another place to your list via my recommendations!

P.S. Per the requests of some readers, I will begin posting pictures of dishes that I order. A few more entries will not contain pictures, but I will begin posting them soon. Cheers!

Everything including the Barn Door

The Barn Door

14 Blue Rock Road

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.lancmarketplace.com/marketplace/businesses/barn-door/

On the Tuesday that I was in Lancaster, for lunch, my coworkers and I went to a place called the Barn Door about 15 minutes away from the place that we were working for the week. It actually used to be a real barn and you can see that when you go inside. You can still see the rafters and the original wood that has been restored all around the place. The restaurant had a homey feel that you can only get in small town restaurant, and I find that very inviting.

When we walked in the front door, we saw the specials board and something immediately caught my eye. They had a stuffed pepper soup available, and I was so very intrigued to see what it was like. I regret very much that I did not order it, because one of my coworkers did and it looked amazing; all the ingredients of a stuffed pepper made into a soup form! I thought that it was a very cool and unique idea.

I had ordered a cheeseburger that came with a side of chips. The chips were housemade and they were very good. They were crunchy and salty; the perfect addition to the wonderful burger. The burger itself was very flavorful as well. I had ordered my usual burger toppings of onions and pickles, and I added ketchup and yellow mustard. The condiments added to the burger, but they did not mask the flavor in any way.

I think that the Barn Door was a very cool and interesting restaurant. The menu was very diverse, and I am sure that if the rest of the items on the menu are as well done as the burger that I indulged in, my recommendation to try the Barn Door would work out well for everyone that follows it. Cheers!

Steal From the Rich and Give to the Hungry

Loxley’s at the Heritage Hotel

500 Centerville Road

Lancaster, PA 17601

Last month after work on a Monday night we tried to go out to eat, but since it was Valentine’s Day, the wait time at all of the area restaurants was ridiculous, so eventually we decided to head back to the hotel and eat at the restaurant in the hotel called Loxley’s. It is themed after Robin Hood, which is cheesy but fun. We ate here every morning for breakfast, and the food was very good.

They only offered a limited menu of course because of Valentine’s Day, but they had a few very good options to choose from. I wound up choosing the 10 oz. strip steak that they were offering because they had run out of the prime rib that I wanted to order. In the mean time I ordered an Ommegang beer, which is really and truly delicious. It was a very delicious beer; it was full of flavor, and a perfect medium bodied beer that had a great shade of brown to it.

I was pretty satisfied with the meal. The only complaint that I had about it was that the steak was not cooked to medium well doneness like I had asked for. It was a bit too overcooked for my liking, but it was flavored well. I enjoyed the charred crust on the outside, but the inside was very tough. The mashed potatoes that were served with the steak were bomb! They were velvety and creamy and full of flavor. I am a steak and potatoes kind of guy, and these potatoes were very well done. The steak and potatoes were also served with broccolini and carrots on the side. The broccolini wasn’t cooked enough for me and it lacked some flavor, but the carrots were cooked to perfection.

The meal at Loxley’s was pretty good, but in all honesty the best part of the meal was the beer. If I could find it around here I would have it on tap in my house. It was really good, but if the food had lived up to the quality of the beer, I would have been a lot happier. Loxley’s is worth a visit for the décor alone, but the food is good enough for me to say to try it as well. Cheers!

 

Italian in Amish Country?

Florentino’s Italian Restaurant and Bar

1411 Columbia Avenue

Lancaster, PA 17603

My blog is going to take a different angle for the next few posts because last month I had to go to Lancaster, PA for work for the week, so I ate out for every meal from Monday to Thursday. I will always review restaurants and bars I go to, even if they are not near my hometown. I hope all you loyal readers still find it helpful and entertaining!

Lancaster was cool from what little bit I got to see; (we were working 8 am to 8 pm, so there was not much time to see things other than the restaurants we are at each night. There were some really good places that we went to, and I will try to keep the entries short and sweet. I know most of you will probably not go to Lancaster any time soon, but just in case you have to be out there for something or are driving through and looking for something to eat, you can check out a few of my entries for some good meals.

The first day we hit Florentino’s in downtown Lancaster for lunch. The food was very good, and the service was very attentive. There were not a lot of people eating lunch at the time that we went, so it was nice to pretty much have the back dining room to ourselves.

I ordered a chicken and pesto panini for my meal, and I also decided to order the soup de jour because it was pasta e fagiole and I had never had it before. The pasta e fagioli came out first. It was a very good soup. The broth was full of tomato flavor and the vegetables, beans, and pasta were tender and cooked to perfection. I cannot wait to try pasta e fagioli at other places now that I have tried Florentino’s, which has set the bar very high. It is definitely one of the better soups that I have tried in my life.

The chicken pesto pannini was a perfect sandwich as well. It was on Italian flatbread with grilled chicken breast, provolone cheese, lettuce, onions, and it was covered in a basil pesto. The bread was super crunchy, as a great pannini should be, and the chicken was cooked to perfection. The cheese added the perfect touch of saltiness and texture to the sandwich, but the pesto was the real kicker. It rounded out the flavor of the sandwich perfectly. Pesto is quickly becoming a must have sauce for me when I go to restaurants. It adds a depth of flavor that I do not usually get from marinara or alfredo sauces.

Give Florentino’s a try if you are ever passing through the area because it is good food at a fair price. I would definitely recommend it to people looking for a spot to eat in the Lancaster area. Cheers!

Red, Red Wine....

Tinto Wine Bar

114 South 20^th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

By now I am sure that you can tell that I am a huge fan of Chef Jose Garces. My girlfriend was out of town for about 2 months around Christmas time, so when she came back I wanted to take her out for a nice dinner to a place that both of us had been looking forward to going to for a very long time. I had been given a gift card to Garces Restaurant Group for my birthday, so we decided to head to Tinto Wine Bar in

Rittenhouse Square

.

We got there a little early, but they took us for our reservation exactly at 7:30. The restaurant was full as all of Jose Garces’ restaurants seem to be. The bar had a great selection of Spanish wines, so my girlfriend ordered the Bobal and I ordered the Garnatxa Tintorrera. Both were very good, mild flavored wines, which I thoroughly enjoyed with every bite of my meal.

When we decided on what we were ordering, which took some time because the menu is so wonderful, we had chosen 6 small plates to have brought to us. We tried to order one of every category on the menu so that we got a full feel for everything. First we ordered the Saucisson Sec, which was a thinly sliced cured meat that resembled a spicy salami. It was very good, and the spice was magnificently different. It was served with pieces of toast that added a nice contrast of texture to the dish.

Next we ordered a goats milk cheese plate called Leonara. I did not really enjoy this dish because the cheese was a bit too strong for me, and in my honest opinion only tasted like mold. My girlfriend raved about it, which is not surprising because she loves goats milk anything.

The next dish that came out was the Sopa de Castano. This dish was a truffled chestnut soup, with a duck and mushroom hash and it was topped with a fried quail egg. The soup was amazing. It was rich and creamy, and the texture made it that much better. It was silky and flavorful and getting to the hash at the bottom of the soup was a nice bit of texture change because the duck was salty

We also ordered the Bacalao a la Viscaina, which was a piece of black cod with Serrano ham and an olive escabeche. The fish was cooked to perfection, and the piece of skin that was left on the fish was so incredibly crispy that you could have cracked it simply by touching it with your fork. The escabeche underneath the cod was very tasty as well. It was full of tomato flavor and the seasonings and herbs in it added the perfect depth of flavor.

Next we had what was to me the highlight of the night. I had read some reviews about Tinto before we went, and almost all of them mentioned the Lamb Brochettes as one of their favorite parts of the meal. I had high hopes for this lamb because I have become a huge fan of lamb since traveling to India, and I take advantage of ordering it every chance that I get. This lamb was to die for! It was a piece of lamb, wrapped in bacon, and served in a shot glass with a sherry lamb jus at the bottom of the glass. The lamb was cooked perfectly, the bacon brought it to the perfect level of saltiness, and the lamb jus brought a change of pace with a smooth, creamy, lusciousness that would make even the creamiest sauces taste bland.

After the lamb experience I did not think that anything else would taste nearly as good, but the Butifarra that we had ordered came out and it was spot on. The sausage was garlicky, and full of flavor. The snap of the casing on the outside was delightful.

To finish off the savory part of our meal, we ordered the crab canapés, which is like a cold crab salad on top of a crisp piece of bread. I really enjoyed the fresh crab flavor of the salad, the slight spice of the chili, and the crunchiness of the bread to round it all out.

We of course had to order dessert because we both love something sweet after a savory meal, so we wound up ordering the Chocolate y Café. It was a chocolate and coffee layered dessert that had a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of coffee cake, a chocolate ganache, and was topped with a hazelnut ice cream.  The dessert was the second best part of the meal behind the lamb brochettes. The cake was rich, the balance of textures was there, and it was the perfect size for the two of us to split after a nice meal together.

Tinto was really a hit for me. Now having been to the 4 crown jewels of the Garces’ empire, I can see exactly why he is so successful. Distrito, Chifa, Amada, and Tinto are the cornerstones of the Philadelphia food scene, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone…ever. Cheers!

Wit or Witout

Geno’s Steaks

1219 South 9th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

As I said in my last post, I am sorry it has been sporadic posting for the past month or so. My first tax season has been very busy, and I have had a lot less time to do the things that I normally do than I thought I would, but be on the lookout for posts more often now that the corporate tax deadline has passed.

A few Saturday evenings ago I left work and I went to the Flyer’s game with a few of my friends to unwind after a busy 75 hour work week. I hadn’t had a cheesesteak in a few months previous to going to this Flyer’s game. We decided on going to one of my favorite places, Geno’s Steaks in south Philadelphia. For those of you that have been reading along, you know that I had mentioned that my love for food began with the cheesesteak search that I embarked on when I was about fourteen.

When we made our way to Geno’s, I knew exactly what I was going to get. To me a true Philadelphia cheesesteak is one that has cheese whiz and onions on it. I grew up in the area, and any other kind of cheesesteak may be good, but this is the model for what the Philly cheesesteak should be. I usually choose to add ketchup to my cheesesteak, but Geno’s offers something most Philly cheesesteak stands do not… the mouth sizzling hot sauce that is so incredibly hot that it will make you sweat even in the 20 degree February weather.

The cheesesteak that I had was as good as I have ever had. The roll is always baked fresh the morning of and delivered to Geno’s that day. The whiz was creamy and salty. It added the perfect depth of flavor to the meat and the bread. The onions always add the perfect pairing of flavor with any type of steak, and the rib eye used in Geno’s steaks is tender and delicious. The hot sauce that I slathered on the roll added a lot of spice and life to the cheesesteak, and it is the x factor that keeps me coming back to Geno’s for more and more.

If you are not from Philadelphia, but you happen to get a chance to visit, go to Geno’s steaks and order a “Wiz Wit” and thank me later. If you have already been to Philly and stopped by for a cheesesteak, then you already know what I am talking about!

Easily Forgotten...

Kaminskis

1424 Brace Road

Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

I know that it has been a very long time since I last posted, and I really do apologize for that. I will be much better from here on out about staying on top of my reviews, and if you read this blog regularly...stay tuned. I will be posting quite a few posts over the next few weeks and I will also be adding pictures do to the few comments that I have gotten about ways to improve my blog. I can only hope that you all will still find this as good a read as you did before. Cheers!

A few Saturdays ago, I went out to lunch with some co-workers because I needed to get out of the office for a bit. Working Saturdays is a drag when you are used to not having to, but luckily I only have to work about 9 Saturdays a year. We ventured out to Kaminskis bar and grill for lunch which is right around the corner from where I work.

The bar is a cross between a sports bar and a popular local hang out. There was a few people sitting at the bar, but we were one of the few tables that were in there eating lunch. They had a deal for $8.95 that included a cup of soup and a sandwich, so I ordered a cup of New England clam chowder and a pastrami sandwich.

Our service was very good, but I cannot really say that the food was as good as the service. The clam chowder came out first, and it wasn’t anything to write home about. The broth was pretty good, a little thin for my liking, but the taste was there. There weren’t enough clams in the chowder, and the potatoes that are usually perfect in clam chowder were not quite so perfect this time around. They were huge chunks of potatoes, which would have been fine if they were not boiling hot and so bland in flavor. They took up most of the room in the bowl, and they left me wanting much more.

I did not have very high hopes for the pastrami sandwich that I had ordered after the experience that I had with the clam chowder, and the sandwich did nothing to change my thoughts. The pastrami itself was pretty good, but the bread was soaked in butter which made it soft instead of crunchy like it should have been since it was toasted. The fries were pretty good, but the sandwich really missed the mark.

I usually give a restaurant another chance before I completely write it off, and I will do that with Kaminskis. This experience was not good, but I know that even the best restaurants have bad days. For now I will not give an opinion, and if I change my mind, I will let you all know through another post.

I can add a little addition to this post now since it has been so long since I wrote it. I have returned to Kaminskis twice since I wrote this post originally, once for lunch, and another time for a post corporate tax return deadline celebration. My recommendation remains the same. No food that i have had there is worth remembering, although the wings were pretty good, and the service is amazingly bad. I had a good time when I went just for beers, but definitely avoid it for a meal.