Grill 23

Bryan recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal that talked about how steak houses age their steaks. Ever since then, he's had a craving for really good steak. Well, we went to Grill 23 as part of his 30th birthday weekend celebration in Boston in past weekend.

I'm not much of a steak eater, so unfortunately I cannot offer as good of a review as someone who knows a lot more about steak. However, I'll try to give the opinions of everyone at the table.

Bryan ordered the kobe cap steak, one of the most expensive items on the menu ($59 for 10 oz steak without sides). One friend ordered the "Berkeley" which is a 16oz Dry-Aged Ribeye and comes with a twice baked potato and creamed spinach with bacon and cheese. Another friend ordered the Steak au poivre, and I ordered the filet mignon.

In fact, the restaurant was very accommodating to my needs. I told the waiter that I did not eat a lot of meat, and asked whether he had any recommendations. He told me he would sell me half of the "twin filet mignon" dish, which typically has two 4-oz filet mignons. I was very pleased. Doesn't the USDA or someone say we should only be eating 4 oz of meat with each meal?

We also ordered some sides - truffled "tater tots" and mushroom ragout. Although I don't love steak houses, I had this great memory of incredible side dishes that I'd ordered at Craftsteak in Las Vegas (MGM Grand). We had ordered this deliciously flavorful mushroom side dish (an assortment of roasted wild, exotic mushrooms - including hen-of-the-woods) and also the most incredible sweet corn side dish. I was anticipating something just as yummy here.

In general, all agreed that the steak was very high quality - well aged with good, solid flavor. The kobe cap steak was well marbled, and according to Bryan, it was really good. I thought my filet mignon was a bit flavorless, but then people say that filet mignon isn't that tasty. My friend's steak au poivre was flavorful, and the Berkeley was quite good as well.

Over all, the steak was good, but we were disappointed in other ways. Two people (in our party of four) had ordered medium rare steaks and had received medium to medium-well steaks. Half of Bryan's kobe capsteak was well done. The restaurant happily offered to re-cook the steaks, and both people who had returned the steaks thought that the second properly cooked batch tasted much better.

I was a bit disappointed with the sides. The tater tots were OK, but honestly, I think the tater tots and the truffle French Fries at Garden at the Cellar are so much better (and about half the price). The mushroom ragout was nothing more than sauteed button mushrooms with a bit of oil and salt. My visions of exotic mushrooms from Craftsteak quickly disappeared when the stir fried white mushrooms appeared on the table. Both sides tasted pretty ordinary.

People say this is probably the best steak place in Boston. If that's true, then Boston has a long way to go before catching up with the quality of steakhouses in bigger cities.