by Xani
As many of you know, I've been busy lately. Work has had me out on the road for the majority of the last few weeks! I try to do moblogs or actual posts from wherever I am, but its not always possible. The good news is, its not too late for me to share an old(er) food experience with you, dear Reader.
You might remember a couple weeks back I was in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In addition to great donuts and the discovery of kolaches, Lake Charles also had a very good steak restaurant. It was recommended by several people, including our point of contact for work and the bartender at the hotel lounge. Many recommendations usually equals good dinner so off we headed to Hunter's Harlequin Steak and Seafood.
We arrived at Hunter's and found the setting lovely-- it appeared to be in a old converted house, and had soft lighting and white tablecloths. It seemed like the kind of place that was going to have good steak.
We started with some wine (very decent Oregon Pinot Noir) and salads (Hunter's makes their own dressings, and I had their blue cheese, which was very good but not as good as Mom's!!).
Next came the steaks: My co-worker Mike and I both ordered the "Supreme" NY strips, and AJ ordered filet with a crab topping (the strip vs. filet debate rages on-- I will fiercely defend my choice, any potential guest bloggers want to step up and tell our reader's why filet is "superior"?? I see a no-holds-barred battle coming soon!). Look at these steaks:
Now that is a piece of meat (even if it is a bit on the rare side, even for me!). Along side is a massive loaded baked potato. This is what a steak place should be-- great steaks, massive carb-loaded sides, good red wine, and good company. I cant forget to mention our friendly and awesome waiter Jordan, whom AJ forced to be in a picture with me!
Finished up, we had FANTAAAHSTIC desserts: strawberry-topped NY style cheesecake, and some kind of a baked fudge thing that I SWEAR tasted like cereal. But in a good way.
When I'm on the road, I'm in a strange town, a strange hotel room (some stranger than others!), and I'm working hard all day long. At the end of the day, a good meal with good company makes me feel right at home.
X
I will definitely weigh in on this debate - strip totally wins. Although maybe not as tender as the filet, the strip has about 300% more flavor since it's a muscle the animal actually USES! Xani made the right choice, hands down (not that I'm biased or anything... ;)).
ReplyDeleteI order the filet, mainly because my dad always told me that meant "the best part". If he would give me a bite of anything of his, his fish, his cereal, his ice cream - he always called the bite he'd give me the "filet".
ReplyDelete- BS
I just think "best" is subjective. If all you care about is having the most tender piece of meat possible, then yes, filet is "best." But strip has more flavor. I don't mind chewing my food (as long as its not like shoe leather!) so for me, I'd rather have a slightly less tender, more flavorful piece of meat.
ReplyDeleteBS-- cute story about your Dad, he is/was in the meat business so by "best" I bet he means "most expensive"! :)
uh... seeing as I eat meat maybe once a year, I'm gonna have to leave this to the experts. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I have to throw in a third and fourth choice. I personally think that the rib eye is the best with a better texture to flavor balance, less toothsome than the strip but a lot more flavor than the fillet. I think people who go for fillet just have lazy mouths. Then I would throw in the Porterhouse which as a piece of both the fillet and the strip plus the benefit of a bone...and we all know that a bone adds tuns of flavor plus being the benefit of chewing off the bone (remember your grandmother looking like a caveman digging into a rare porterhouse bone)
ReplyDeleteunclem-nm: I concur on the porterhouse, the best of both worlds, and the bone, to boot!
ReplyDelete