“This is the best god damn steak I have ever had!” was ringing through my ears on the way to Grill23. The choices were Poste390, Abes and something else. Doing some Zagat-based homework it had to be Grill23 with a beefy score of 91 %.
I was expecting a really stuffy appearance that would turn up its nose at you if you rocked up with anything less than a Harvard degree, but the clientele looked very ordinary (I suppose this is America...)
The menu was quite extensive but I had already decided that if I am going to break my federal reserve I might as well go beefy and get the Kobe Cap Steak (rare of course) at 59 greens. Mr. Phan got the 20 oz Bone-In Delmonico steak (medium rare) - oh my goodness.
After some head scratching and pontificating over the rather large numbers on the menu, the beef finally arrived. First impressions: My Kobe was just like Kobe himself - a big lump of revered dark beef. My first incision was not scalpel-like as I expected but the sight of rare Kobe was gastronomic porn. As I worked my mandible around Kobe I could taste the slightly charred salty exterior, followed by a delicate layer of fat finally backed up by soft delicate massaged protein. Some very attractive amino acids were about to join the party in the house that Ho built. Unlike other steaks, there was not a really beefy taste. It was more subtle. If Vien’s Delmonico steak was rugged like Ray Mears, mine was more like David Ginola. I could tell that my Kobe had spent time with Gavin Henson in a spa with its delicate texture and sleazy taste; on the other hand I could imagine the Bone-In Delmonico steak had been running around in the jungle with nothing but a pocket penknife and a John McClane vest.
The sides were surprisingly good too. The pomme frites were the real deal French things and the asparagus was innocent like a schoolboy before his first day as an altar boy. The only slight criticism I had was that there was a pinch too much salt on Kobe. The chef must have had larger than average hands.
What does the Ho Down say? All in all, it was almost the best god damn steak I have ever had.
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