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Adventures

SFGate tears Morton’s a new one

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Michael Bauer at SFGate gives Morton’s, long one of Steak Adventure’s favorites, one star.

He called the food “barely edible” while “the service was a comedy of errors.”

He also blasted the prices (certainly not cheap when we went, way back in 2005), citing, among other things, a martini for $14.50, a Jim Beam Manhattan for $12.50, and steaks in the $50 range—without sides.

(Seriously, a Jim Beam Manhattan for $12.50? What the hell?)

And this was before he even tasted the food:

The steak was burned and acrid, and the lobster tail was mushy, as if it had been frozen and thawed multiple times.

The Chicken Christopher ($33) consisted of three huge cutlets coated with what tasted like sweetened bread crumbs, swimming in beurre blanc with bits of raw garlic, decorated with a limp sprig of parsley and a wedge of lemon. It looked and tasted terrible.

Ouch.

When the bill arrived, it was adjusted by the manager to make up for some screwups, and Bauer figures it would have been “more than $200 for two cocktails and practically inedible food.”

Practically inedible food. Wow.

I can’t help but wonder if they just had a bad night, or if it’s really gone downhill since our first trip.

Read the whole sorry tale at SFGate.

Food Chatter

The Next Steak Adventure: Bob’s Steak and Chophouse (San Francisco)

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Yes, it’s true, the next Steak Adventure is here. Tonight it’s a return visit to Bob’s Steak and Chophouse in San Francisco. We first visited Bob’s way back in 2004, on our very first official Steak Adventure.

Word has it that their prices have gone way up. The Porterhouse is now $64, and the Onion Rings are $13. Good thing we’ve been saving our pennies.

We’ll have all three Original Adventurers tonight. Stay tuned for a report (and follow us on Twitter (SteakAdventures) for possible in-Adventure updates!)

Adventures

5A5 Steak Lounge

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I, Jason, haven’t been a very good steward of the Steak Adventures site, and have completely forgotten to do a writeup of our 5A5 Steak Adventure.

Fortunately, Cathy did, and so our official review of 5A5 is written by her. Your guides on this Adventure were Cathy, Ying and me, with the inaugural outing of Guest Adventurer Kevin.

Between poor cooking methods, strange preparations, and what appears to be just bad shopping, we’d begun to think we’d have to give up steak to have an amazing adventure. You’d have to go back to our Bob’s visit in 2004 to find another five star steak group rating. So it is with great delight that we report that the steaks at 5A5 are bordering on miraculous.

We set up our own not-very-blind tasting of dry aged T-Bone, dry aged bone-in New York, strip steak (the least expensive cut on the menu) and A5 Wagyu ($16 per ounce). While the differences were noticeable, all were excellent quality and perfectly prepared. The T-Bone had the two distinct cuts and flavors one would expect (but somehow Jason never gets) set off with delicious slightly greasy fried onions. The bone-in New York had a marvelous texture and finish boosted by truffle butter and morels. The strip steak had a slightly mealier texture, possibly from being cooked longer than the others, but was perked up by a combination of miso, pesto, and ginger. And the Wagyu had that distinct melt-away texture and a finish that lingered like fine wine.

Good thing, since fine wine was one of the things that was hard to find at 5A5. The wine list ranges from pedestrian to insanely over-priced. Cathy and Ying went through it line by line and consulted the waiter twice before settling on cocktails and a $40 half-bottle of bordeaux. One can only hope that the managers will invite some of our clever wine folks from the Santa Cruz mountains, Paso Robles, and Amador to pay a visit and make suggestions.

Another disappointment was the side dishes, although here we may be partly to blame. We did not order either of the seasonal options – fresh corn and mixed wild mushrooms – which might have been better choices. The asparagus were pathetic stringing specimens and judging by the thickness (or lack thereof) from extremely old plants. Two of us also liked the fingerlings, but they were dripping in lemon which isn’t to everyone’s taste. The truffle fries were delicious, although the garlic dipping sauce was strong enough to send everyone’s taste-buds into oblivion.

It’s hard to know how to rate the atmosphere. There is a difference between ‘bad’ and ‘not our thing’ and 5A5 definitely falls into the latter category. The setting would be appropriate for Judy Jetson’s date with pop singer Jet Screamer. But the low squishy couch matched with the round modern table was just uncomfortable for someone not 21. And the pink lighting may have set a great mood, but it made actually seeing anything more challenging than we like.

Our spirits were lifted by the wonderful waitstaff. Our captain made regular appearances and terrific suggestions, but didn’t act like he wanted to join our party. And the pacing of the meal was what one would hope for at that price.

5A5 Steak Lounge

244 Jackson Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 989-2539

Steak [rating:5/5]
Side Dishes [rating:3/5]
Service [rating:5/5]
Ambiance [rating:3/5]
Wine & Bar [rating:3/5]
Overall Experience [rating:4/5]
Price $90
Food Chatter

The next Steak Adventure is set!

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More than a year after the last big Steak Adventure, a new one is set. This time, we’re trying 5A5 Steakhouse. A friend of Original Adventurer Cathy recently attended an event at the brand new steakhouse and said the steaks were very good and the room had a “groovy vibe.” (Cathy’s first reaction to that was “I to want to take a nap”.)

SFGate’s food critic Michael Bauer has already reviewed the place, and calls the service as “unfocused as the space itself – a hybrid of white-tablecloth restaurant and lounge”, but suggests the food, particularly the beef, has some potential. The dry aged T-bone steak, which is likely be my choice, was “loaded with flavor”, he says.

(Before we even go for the first time, the menu already makes it clear we’ll have to go again; they have three cuts of Wagyu style beef, “World Wide Wagyu”, on there, 12 total ounces for $125. Clearly I’ll also need to save up for that return visit.)

Original Adventurers Cathy, Ying and Jason will be the guides for this Adventure. Tune in after August 15 for our recap.

Food Chatter

Spoilsports

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Oh man, there’s nothing worse than having your steak buzz killed by thinking about the health “issues” of eating a juicy slab, but the folks over at the The New York Times totally stomped on my food cravings.

Their headline—”Paying a Price for Loving Red Meat“—makes it clear that enjoying the charred flesh of the beast won’t be good for you. I mean, could that be any worse? Was “Red Meat: Eat it and Die!” too dramatic?

The study found that, other things being equal, the men and women who consumed the most red and processed meat were likely to die sooner, especially from one of our two leading killers, heart disease and cancer, than people who consumed much smaller amounts of these foods.

[…]

The increase in mortality risk tied to the higher levels of meat consumption was described as ‘modest,’ ranging from about 20 percent to nearly 40 percent.

Yikes!

What’s their recommendation? Fortunately, it’s not “stop eating yummy food”, it’s “eat in moderation, dude!”.

[P]eople should eat a hamburger only once or twice a week instead of every day, a small steak once a week instead of every other day, and a hot dog every month and a half instead of once a week.

Only a “small” steak a week, which I take means a giant T-Bone every few months is perfectly acceptable.

Of course, it’s not just eating red meat that’s the issue. Other bad habits and no exercise is bad too.

The subjects in the study who ate the most red meat had other less-than-healthful habits. They were more likely to smoke, weigh more for their height, and consume more calories and more total fat and saturated fat. They also ate less fruits, vegetables and fiber; took fewer vitamin supplements; and were less physically active.

So if you’re gonna enjoy a steak, make sure you’re taking a few strolls around the block or a couple of spins on your indoor cycle.