"Best steak anywhere + runners up?" thread
 

Saw a thread on airliners.net that was interesting, so I thought I would bring it here.

What's your "best damn steak anywhere" with any runners up? How do you like it cooked? What's on it or with it?

For me, the winner has to be Peter Luger's, done medium rare. Not a huge fan of their steak sauce, so just season it with salt and pepper and grill it. Any other sauce, on the side, would be bernaise or a mushroom bordelaise. I can do without commercial sauces. Best sides anywhere are the truffle mac and cheese and truffled (sensing a pattern here?) creamed spinach at Strip House.

Runners up in no particular order are The Palm, Del Friscos, Gallagher's, Strip House, and Wolfgang's.
Dig in.

The best steaks ive had were ribeye (“chuleton”) in various places in Spain, from dedicated steakhouses to sit-down restaurants to tapas/pintxos “bars”.

They all looked very rare, but actually very tender and easy to chew. The commonality being high quality Spanish cattle that is grass-fed, which you can tell by the yellow-colored fat (grain-fed tends to be white).

A close second is Argentine steak, from La Cabrera in Buenos Aires. It’s tied with Kobe from various places in Japan. Both are delicate and tender and delicious, but the Spanish stuff has a beefier flavor.

Third tier is Peter Luger, Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s, and other popular US franchises or independents. The quality varies from location to location and visit by visit….or maybe it’s just my mood that’s changed.

Notably absent from this is the famed Bistecca Fiorentina. I find them overrated whether from Florence or elsewhere in Italy. Angus cattle is overrated as Ive never had a memorable steak in Scotland, UK, or elsewhere - comparable to those in 3 tiers above.

The best “restaurant” steak I ever ate was 40+ years ago at a place that no longer exists at Natchez Under the Hill.

These days, on the rare occasions that I want to eat steak, I buy filet mignon and cook it myself - seared in a hot heavy skillet and finished to rare/medium rare in the oven.

I like Bistecca fiorentina a lot. Also like any steak medium rare. I’m satisfied with grilling the Trader Joe’s Tritip “Santa maria” style to medium rare although must be more medium for the family so I eat the center. I’ll only sometimes order beef at a restaurant in steak / burger format. I’m pretty sure that I can grill a Costco prime ribeye with excellent results. I haven’t actually bought or grilled a steak since 2021 because during pandemic I probably grilled steak once a week.

Easy. Some years ago I had to drive from Philly to Seattle with a cargo of my late father's personal effects - too much to fly or ship. My brother in law and I flew to EWR (had to use AS which didn't fly to PHL at the time) and got a rental Ford Escape to take back across the country. My brother-in-law brought a copy of Roadfood, a book listing fun, weird and characterful places to eat close to the major highways. We loaded the car and took off. My BIL was on spring break from his teaching duties, so we had to make it snappy; the cross-country drive took 4 1/2 days. Here's the route: https://goo.gl/maps/DENP5SuRULBSQQWC9

Among the Roadfood recommendations were a place called Henry's Diner in a small town in central Ohio - famous for pies (now gone) and Shapiro's deli in downtown Indianapolis, which is fabulous and still going, as it has for most of a century. After crossing the great bagel-free zone between Indianapolis and the west coast (we provisioned ourselves adequately at Shapiro's) one of the last listings on our Roadfood target list was the Land of Magic steakhouse, located in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it hamlet of Logan, Montana, off I-90 around 40 miles west of Bozeman and 40 miles east of Butte. The middle of nowhere is within the range of the 30-30 that was used to subdue those varmint speed limit signs. We planned to make it a steak-and-whisky night, but the absence of any lodging beyond a vacant church made the whisky option moot. But the steak...

Enter under the elk and moose racks, turn left past the ballcap-and-Bud-Light bar, to the dining room where a waitress (who calls everybody "hon") takes your order. Relish tray, chicken soup, mini loaf of bread, shrimp cocktail, 16 ounce ribeye, twice baked potato, ice cream. $25 all in, now around $60. Beyond delicious, coma-inducing, the best steak I've ever had, including the likes of P. Lugar and the big chains. What a place. Land of Magic Steakhouse | Manhattan, MT | Local Restaurant & Steakhouse

Henry's Diner, RIP

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b2ccb46e3.jpg

Shapiro's

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9e6b274053.jpg

Our chariot at the Land of Magic

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5d2fd50317.jpg

Bring yer appetite and yer dawg.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...87d7cb4a50.jpg

The only high end steak place I've been to is Ruth's Chris. It was delicious but I'm sure there's better out there.

OP, where do you rank Bern's in your list?

The best steak I ever had was 30 years ago at a bar in Bird City, Kansas.

Now that I've (sort of) learned to cook, I find restaurant steaks less enjoyable.

I don't go out to eat as much as I did before Covid but when I do, I'd rather enjoy complex preparations of things I could never (or would never want to) cook at home - think wild game, fish and seafood, exotic things with lots of different ingredients or unique sauces. A steak is easy to do properly at home so I don't need to pay an expensive chef to cook one for me while I pay a 3X markup on readily available wines.

I'm a big believer in the reverse sear - cook in oven for a long time under the lowest temperature your oven will hold, then remove from the oven once desired internal temperature reached; sear for about 50-60 seconds per side in hot olive oil with a hint of chopped garlic thrown in.

Some people rave about sous vide cooking for steaks. I've never tried it but your method is probably close.

For those who like steak au poivre, I highly recommend the filet au poivre at Brasserie 8 1/2, at 9 West 57th Street in Manhattan. (And I've been to Luger's, The Palm, Palm Too, and even -- back in the day -- Christ Cella's, which I thought was the best of that bunch.)

Edited to add: In the words of Emily Litella, "Nevermind." It seems that Brasserie 8 1/2 has transformed into Cucina 8 1/2, which specializes in "rustic Italian cuisine." No filet au poivre on the menu.
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Christ Cella's! There is a blast from the past. I think that and Spark's were my two favorite NY steakhouses...even better than Peter Luger. I think Sparks is still around but moved.

The AA Steakhouse and Bar here in Eureka makes as good of a steak as I've had anywhere in the US, with one exception. Shaw's steakhouse in Santa Maria.. I'm not into the fat content as much as the tenderness and smoke/char flavor. I rarely order steak when eating out, as I can easily best it at home. My preference for "steak" in a restaurant would be a churrascaria.

Best ever was hands down was in the Puerto Market in Montevideo, Uruguay. Cooked right in front of me over a wood fire. Started with a "grilled cheese" which was literally a hunk of provolone grilled until it melted then tossed on a plate and seasoned with some oregano. Easily a top 3 meal in my life.

In the US my favorite steak has to be Murray's in Minneapolis. Recommend by my father from a meal he ate there 20+ years ago. Have gone twice in 2020 and 2021 it really is that good.

If you are in New York City and want a totally different steak house experience I would recommend trying Skirt Steak on 29th and 6th. Interesting concept and very good value for what you are getting.