Text 24297, 75 rader
Skriven 2015-02-22 11:23:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: make that 6 259
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Tower Oaks Lodge - I rather enjoy the Clyde's restaurants that
I've eaten in: these range from the formerly clubby and now
yuppie-pickup-barish Old Ebbitt Grill in the center of the
federal district and a block or two from the White House to the
various Clyde's (never clubby, always pickup-barish) to this
place, which is decorated in a kitchy fake hunting lodge style.
The food is pretty much the same at all of these, index card
cookery at its best, the ingredients no doubt coming in frozen
from a central commissary. The sirloin came rare as ordered,
nicely textured and tasty. There was a small bone and a sizable
edge gristle (not a big problem for me) in the supposedly
boneless cut, which had clearly been sawn with an electric saw.
There was a modest bit of salty crust and a splash of dreadful
so-called bordelaise, increasing the sodium content by several
notches. On the side, roast swiss chard (nasty stuff), cooked to
death, and cheesy potatoes, which were as rare as the steak and
crunchier than the gristle, but I didn't need them anyhow.
There's a Clyde's at Friendship Heights, at the end of our bus
line, but its atmosphere is consciously engineered as cheap
diner, which I find slightly offputting, plus even though you
can reserve through OpenTable, they don't give you points, and
Tower Oaks does.
--
A control steak - 12 oz sirloin strip from McQuade's, the
grocery store a few blocks from Rosemary's. A Certified Angus
guaranteed USDA Choice or higher product, marked down to a
semi-reasonable $6 (50c an ounce as opposed to the $2-3 that your
average steakhouse now charges). As it was from the green meat
bin, I expected a mild unintentionally aged taste, and I got a
modest whiff of it. Cooked rare as desired (the chef here is
fairly competent) it had just the faintest cheesy stinkiness;
recooking to medium and application of a bit of garlic actually
improved it - good beef flavor set off nicely with the garlic.
Decent caramelization, which didn't improve much on second
cooking. Pretty tender - though less so on recooking. I did
this on the wok burner of Rosemary's new stove. It heats pretty
hot, which I like. The odd thing is that none of the burners
goes low enough for a bare simmer, so you still need flame
tamers and such, even for this high-tech appliance.
--
Duclaw Brewing Co. (BWI airport) - I know this shouldn't
count, as it's really, really not a steakhouse, but I wanted
another steak, and this is about as close as you get at this
airport. I ordered a strip steak rare, along with a glass of
stout, and it came medium plus, hot pink center, but I had a
plane to catch and was in no position to fuss. The meat had
at one time been decent but was overaged, overtrimmed,
overcooked. On the side, the signature Misfit Chips, which I
like, once I get past the fact that they're made of potatoes
- house-cooked thick-cut very crunchy chips. The stout was
stout enough.
--
Capital Grille, Friendship Heights - right by the end of the
bus line so very convenient, but sad to say, one of the major
disappointments of my young life. I've had decent meat at
the chain before, even at this rather poorly run outlet. The
"dry-aged 14 oz bone-in sirloin strip" came rare as ordered,
with the middle still quite jiggly and cold, but other than a
bit of putrefactive taste (from the dry aging, I presume) had
no flavor at all - it was exceedingly tender but could just as
well have been stiff Jell-O. It had a light coating of steak
seasoning (a really good steak doesn't need any such, just a
rub with a cut side of garlic if that and a touch of salt and
pepper) and sat in a puddle of demi that must have come from a
barrel marked "second." No fat to speak of, but of course dry-
aged fat doesn't taste as good anyhow. You get parmesan truffle
fries or a house salad with this. I opted for no side at all
(no discount at all, of course). There's a Clyde's a couple
hundred yards away, where the steaks cost $5 less, and even
though it's not my favorite Clyde's, and Clyde's is a decent
but not favorite brand, I'll gravitate to it in the future.

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