Restaurant Review (Monterey Hill Restaurant)

I had a great dinner the other night with friends at the Monterey Hill Steakhouse in Monterey Park, California.

http://www.montereyhillrestaurant.com/montereyhill/

I've had the pleasure of dining here in the past but it has been some time.  I'm happy to report that the food is still terrific.

I had their signature 14 oz Roast Prime Rib of Beef. 

The cooking staff won't give up any recipe secrets but I'm thinking that it was dry aged with a rub of fennel, coriander, caraway, black peppercorns, sea salt, and garlic, then slow oven roasted.

For those of you who know me the more garlic the better, but in this case they keep it mild so it's not overwhelming. 

And, yes, it should have come with a side order of an aspirin and a defibrillator.  But I only indulge like this on rare occasion because I may be a few more Prime Rib dinners away from a major cardiac event. 

I didn't try to fit this dinner into my Weight Watchers app.  I'm just figuring it was all of my extra points for the next four to six weeks.

They serve it with a great mashed potato and market fresh sauteed vegetables, which happen to be green beans this time of year here in California.  There's also a very tasty au jus and a house made whipped horseradish that did not  overwhelm the flavor of the meat. 

I did restrain myself and not lick the plate when I was done, but the thought did come to mind.

They have a number of restaurants nationwide and I suggest you give them a try.

http://www.specialtyrestaurants.com/src/restaurants.aspx

Smoking Cigars

This is an excellent review of what you need to know about smoking cigars.

http://www.thesmokingjacket.com/lifestyle/cigar-facts-trivia-information

Restaurant Review (IN-N-OUT Burgers)

Once again, last night, I was in Baldwin Park, California and had the best hamburger in the world.

Okay, stop yelling.  I know you have a burger joint by your house that you love, but I'm telling you this beats them all.  As long as you're in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, or Texas.  If you're not... I feel for you.

I try not to eat very much fast food.  One reason is the calories.  The other is most of it tastes like shit.  And life is too short.

So last night the freeway was jammed so I exited and pulled out my iPhone to see what was in the vicinity.  Yes, I have food apps on my phone.  Shut up.

There it was just three blocks north.  I hit the walk up and ordered a 4X4 Animal Style, and Animal Fries.  Yes, that's really what I ordered (more about the menu later).

I know, it's not very pretty but it is amazing.  The 4X4 is four excellent quality, 100% beef  pure patties, four slices of real American cheese, lettuce, grilled onions, and a special sauce that got a thousand island flair to it.  The buns are fresh made using old-fashioned, slow rising sponge dough.  When I'm eating this you need to stand back or you might lose an arm.  The fries have melted cheese, grilled onions, and more of the special sauce.  Oh, baby!

When you drive through or walk up the menu looks pretty basic.  What's cool is they have a (not so) secret menu.  If you're in the know, it sort of makes you feel like your in a special club. 

Their claim to fame is the Double-Double burger (half of my 4X4). 

Need a little more?  You can order a 3X3.  Most of the time I order my burger "Protein Style" which comes wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun.  They were the first ones to do this.  Many others have now imitated it.

This can get messy so I eat it standing up and leaning over.  Okay, I inhale it.  If you need just a protein fix before going to the gym you can order a "Flying Dutchman".

That right.  Just two grilled patties and two slices of cheese.  About three bites and this is gone.

Don't want the meat, that's cool, just order a Grilled Cheese.  Two slices of melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato, sauce, with or without grilled onions, on a bun.  Outstanding.

They will cook up whatever you want, but be careful, a while back some guy, who thought he could call their bluff, ordered a 100X100.  They delivered.

All their ingredients are fresh.  Nothing is ever frozen and they have no microwaves or heat lamps.  I don't really call it fast food.  It's more quick food because they don't precook anything.  Everything is done to order.  It's all worth waiting for.

When I need my fix I will drive across town, in heavy traffic to get to an IN-N-OUT.

Restaurant Review (Cafe Bizou)

Dinner last night at Cafe Bizou in Pasadena, California.

The starter was a lobster and salmon ravioli and a lobster stuffed mushroom both in a lobster sauce. Nicely prepared. I could have easily had nine or ten of these. It was tasty enough to help me ignore the fact that they don't wipe the plates. But that's just me.



Then roasted lamb chops in a rosemary lamb sauce as an entrée. Done rare, just how I like it. The rosemary was not overpowering and the lamb just sort of melted in my mouth. I would order this again.



But the bad news was my wife's entrée. A Monkfish with saffron shrimp risotto and a white wine herb sauce. When I've had monkfish correctly prepared in the past I've usually found it to be sort of dense, sweet, and very similar to lobster tail meat in both flavor and texture. Not this time. There wasn't much flavor to it at all. And the fish meat seemed soggy. The only saving grace was the sweet potato curly fries. They were really good but hardly made up it.



For afters a mango and raspberry sorbet that was just right. So, overall a good dinner. I would return here if I was in the area but probably not worth going across town.

A Garlic Haiku

Garlic is our love.

Potent, flavorful, and true.

We cook it and smile.