Wednesday, 03 December 2008

• Ben & Jack's Steak House

  219 East 44th Street
  (between 2nd & 3rd Ave.)
  New York, NY
  212-682-5678

  I was in Manhattan for a Nokia N-Gage gaming platform get together with some fellow bloggers and Nokia employees one evening at a hotel.  After chit chatting and testing out some concept games we went out for food.  A suggestion from Yelp was a nearby steak restaurant called Ben & Jack's:

  

  A quiet well decorated interior:

  

  The interior is very old steak house style.  Just like the ones you'll see in a mafia movie.  There were only 2 other parties in the restaurant so I was thinking this was going to be a high priced bad food place.  Our waiter had little to no recommendations and had a problem understanding we wanted 2 salmons and 2 orders of Steak for 4.  That definitely lowered my expectations.

  Complimentary bread:

  

  Bread wasn't fresh but it was soft.  We were hungry so we ate most of it.

  Grilled Norwegian Wild Salmon:

  

  My expectations were very low after the waiter had a hard time getting our order so I was thinking this salmon was overcooked and dry.  But, boy, was I wrong.  This was a smooth, tender, moist piece of fish with a crispy exterior.  It was grilled perfectly with no burns and no dryness.  I definitely recommend this dish.

  Porterhouse Steak for Four:

  

  The menu had this listed as steak for 4.  It didn't list what type of beef we were getting so I was expecting sirloin or some poor quality meat.  I'm use to names like New York strip of filet.  Moveover, people in my party asked for well done or medium so I was expecting something dry.  It arrived like how you see in the picture with a charred exterior.  I didn't have high expectations but gave it a try because the salmon surprised me.  Once again, I was surprised by how crispy the outside was but didn't have a burnt carbon taste to it.  It was a moist inside but I didn't notice much of a difference between well done and medium.  It was really juicy and tasty.  A really good steak.

  This restaurant surprised me with the quality of the food.  The steak and salmon were so well done, juicy, and moist that I would definitely consider coming here again and recommend it.  The service, however, isn't so great but I'm willing to look past that for the food.  Some people in my party ordered the seafood platter appetizer, I didn't take a photo of it but had a tiger prawn, and it was definitely worth the menu price with one full lobster for 2 people.  It's a bit on the pricey side but the quality is there so I'd definitely recommend.

  Eric Tummy Points: 4 out of 5

  

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