Another Great Steakhouse Down The Drain ...

[luudee]

This place is located on Theppraya road and named after a New York Island. The previous owner Dave, took great care of it and the steaks where reasonably priced, tender and delicious. Tonight was my second time back since the new owners took over. Same disaster as the first time. The Steaks where dry and burned on the outside (I like my well done). For 1000+ baht just for the steak, one would assume they would have a chef who know how to make a steak. My friends Lamb Chops where bloody inside (Ordered well done) and totally tasteless just like my steak.

3 out of 4 in our party where totally dissatisfied, the 4 person had thai food.

I guess now there are only two worth while steak places left:

- Bruno's

- Royal Cliff

Any other that can measure up the above two ?

Cheers,

rudi

[mark45y]

Oh my. A well done steak. Cook puts a weight on it. Cook crushes it to get the blood out so it won't look medium. Then cook throws it in the fryer just to make sure it is well done enough.

It is hard enough getting a well done steak at a quality steak house in the West let alone in Pattaya.

My condolences. People who eat out at steak houses don't order well done steaks. A cook at a good steak house maybe gets one order for a well done steak a year. They just don't have the experience to know how to cook one.

Cooking a good lamb chop more than medium rare must be against some kind of law. If not it should be.

[Jingthing]

I like em bloody but I don't agree that well done orders are that rare. A real chef should be able to handle it. Another point, at a real fine dining restaurant (at their prices) you should also be able to send back a botched up order, but yeah, we know, TIT.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Jingthing

[mightyharriss]

People who eat out at steak houses don't order well done steaks

What he said. Kind of defeats the point

[Jingthing]

People who eat out at steak houses don't order well done steaks

What he said. Kind of defeats the point

It's not your taste or my taste, but if they don't like the order, they should have declined it and said the chef only goes as far as medium, sorry. Remember the prices there.

[thrilled]

It's hard to get A quality steak in thailand.

[smokie36]

It's hard to get A quality steak in thailand.

Well I can think of two places on Samui offering top class steak for around 700 Baht (fillet/rib eye).

I've yet to experience the same in Pattaya or Bangkok but these places show me it can be done.....your restaurants just aint trying hard enough!

[manarak]

Best steak is done at home.

Buy a nice piece of T-bone or great rib, leave it in the fridge for about a week, then half a day outside, add herbs and throw on the fire, roast it both sides until medium.

Done!

[clip]

8 day old steak ??/ pass thankyou

[timekeeper]

8 day old steak ??/ pass thankyou

you know that someone is going to come here and tell us exactly how long it actually takes to get from slaughterhouse to our table and put us off eating steak forever........

[Naam]

for the record: anybody who mentions "steak" in context with "bloody" has no idea about meat/steaks. red meat juice/liquid is NOT blood. a steak or a piece of meat which is bloody can only be obtained from a freshly slaughtered animal (cannibals prefer humans) for a period of not more than 45 minutes (if not chilled or frozen). after that blood coagulates and is not liquid anymore.

repeat: there's no such thing like a bloody steak/piece of meat after exposure to heat preparation whether rare, medium or well done.

:jap:

[Naam]

8 day old steak ??/ pass thankyou

you pass because you are not a connoisseur! true steak lovers like their steak being "hung" in a low temperature area (+5 - +8ºC) for a minimum of 7 days before it is put on the grill.

[sunshinegirl]

If it was so bad Why not send it back.? I had a beautiful steak there not long ago and a lovely xmas lunch there as well.

Im sure the owner would have liked the feedback as well.

[mark45y]

Dry aged or wet aged. Sides of beef are hung in climate controlled refrigerators for 29 days, the mold is cut off the outside of the beef and then the side of beef is cut into steaks. The primal cuts of beef shrink 5 to 10% because of moisture loss.

Wet aged, cryovac. The side of beef is sealed in a heavy duty plastic wrap and left in a refrigerator for 29 days. There is no or little shrinkage and then the beef is cut into steaks.

Beef is never aged or left out at room temperature after it has been cut into a steak. That is illegal in most countries.

Beef is aged under refrigeration as a side or primal cut of beef never after it has been cut into steak.

The smallest cut that is usually aged is a top round or prime rib, both at least 10 pounds.

Aging a small piece of beef or a steak one has bought at the store is silly, perhaps dangerous and never done in a restaurant.

After training hundreds of broiler chefs to cook steaks I have discovered it is only essential to train them to cook steak medium rare. Why? Customers don't get upset if they order a steak rare and it comes MR. 80% of steak house customers order MR. If a customer orders it medium and it comes MR customers are not upset because it is close and if need be can be re cooked to medium. Few customers order MW or Well done and those people normally don't go out to eat much.

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks. It is like putting ketchup on a steak or asking a go go dancer to put on her shirt while she is dancing. Or putting ice in a red wine from Bordeaux. Ordering a steak well done is to a cook in a steak house as putting ice in a glass of draft Guinness is to a bartender in Dublin.

Edited January 22, 2011 by mark45y

[timekeeper]

Dry aged or wet aged. Sides of beef are hung in climate controlled refrigerators for 29 days, the mold is cut off the outside of the beef and then the side of beef is cut into steaks. The primal cuts of beef shrink 5 to 10% because of moisture loss.

Wet aged, cryovac. The side of beef is sealed in a heavy duty plastic wrap and left in a refrigerator for 29 days. There is no or little shrinkage and then the beef is cut into steaks.

Beef is never aged or left out at room temperature after it has been cut into a steak. That is illegal in most countries.

Beef is aged under refrigeration as a side or primal cut of beef never after it has been cut into steak.

The smallest cut that is usually aged is a top round or prime rib, both at least 10 pounds.

Aging a small piece of beef or a steak one has bought at the store is silly, perhaps dangerous and never done in a restaurant.

After training hundreds of broiler chefs to cook steaks I have discovered it is only essential to train them to cook steak medium rare. Why? Customers don't get upset if they order a steak rare and it comes MR. 80% of steak house customers order MR. If a customer orders it medium and it comes MR customers are not upset because it is close and if need be can be re cooked to medium. Few customers order MW or Well done and those people normally don't go out to eat much.

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks. It is like putting ketchup on a steak or asking a go go dancer to put on her shirt while she is dancing. Or putting ice in a red wine from Bordeaux. Ordering a steak well done is to a cook in a steak house as putting ice in a glass of draft Guinness is to a bartender in Dublin.

knew it would happen.....

[FarangBuddha]

Did anybody ever actually eat at that island named place...B1000-1500 for a steak in Patters...give me a break. For that, I'll take the NY Steakhouse at the Marriott in Bangkok any day over some pretentious pretender in Pattaya.

[Nawtier]

It's hard to get A quality steak in thailand.

Really ??

I bought all the steak in a shop a few years ago because it looked so good and at 300b per kilo, if it was no good, it would be fine for Thai dishes, or mince, or stews.

It was one of the best pieces of meat I have ever had, very tasty, very tender.....it was Thai.

I recently bought 4 kilo sirloin steak as one whole piece, cut it myself an inch or so thick....again, very decent steak, not the best....but tasty and tender.....at 450b per kilo.

There ya go.

[Naam]

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks.

it's none of a cook's fàcking business how a guest wants his steak to be prepared. he is paid to do it according to the guest's desire. if it upsets him he is free to jump from a balcony or cut his pecker of with a steak knife.

[gamini]

A well done steak is never tender and lamb should be pink.But I guess you must be a Brit.

[PhilHarries]

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks.

it's none of a cook's fàcking business how a guest wants his steak to be prepared. he is paid to do it according to the guest's desire. if it upsets him he is free to jump from a balcony or cut his pecker of with a steak knife.

Abso-<deleted>'-lutley. It is the simple concept of the customer is paying, the customer orders and the establishment, whatever it may be, delivers the goods exactly to specification or offers a replacement or cost reduction if it don't.

It's called service. It's one of the things that many people like about Thailand, it has retained that concept while the west has, largely, trashed it for the sake of quick profit. Seems Thailand is importing another dubious western "quality".

Our construction manager a couple of years back ordered a hamburger well done, v-e-r-y w-e-l-l d-o-n-e. It turned up "bleeding" all over the plate so he sent it back. It returned in virtually the same state. So he stomped over to the kitchen, shoved it under the chefs nose and bellowed "Without looking at your watch how long have you been a chef?" before deposiing the whole meal, plate and all, in the bin.

Next visit he got what he ordered.

[Phil Conners]

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks.

it's none of a cook's fàcking business how a guest wants his steak to be prepared. he is paid to do it according to the guest's desire. if it upsets him he is free to jump from a balcony or cut his pecker of with a steak knife.

Abso-<deleted>'-lutley. It is the simple concept of the customer is paying, the customer orders and the establishment, whatever it may be, delivers the goods exactly to specification or offers a replacement or cost reduction if it don't.

It's called service. It's one of the things that many people like about Thailand, it has retained that concept while the west has, largely, trashed it for the sake of quick profit. Seems Thailand is importing another dubious western "quality".

Our construction manager a couple of years back ordered a hamburger well done, v-e-r-y w-e-l-l d-o-n-e. It turned up "bleeding" all over the plate so he sent it back. It returned in virtually the same state. So he stomped over to the kitchen, shoved it under the chefs nose and bellowed "Without looking at your watch how long have you been a chef?" before deposiing the whole meal, plate and all, in the bin.

Next visit he got what he ordered.

Sure. And then some, probably. Spit on the food or something worse! Always behave nice in a restaurant you intend to return to.

Edited January 22, 2011 by Phil Conners

[willyumcr]

Oh my. A well done steak. Cook puts a weight on it. Cook crushes it to get the blood out so it won't look medium. Then cook throws it in the fryer just to make sure it is well done enough.

It is hard enough getting a well done steak at a quality steak house in the West let alone in Pattaya.

My condolences. People who eat out at steak houses don't order well done steaks. A cook at a good steak house maybe gets one order for a well done steak a year. They just don't have the experience to know how to cook one.

Cooking a good lamb chop more than medium rare must be against some kind of law. If not it should be.

I agree 100%. Probably the reason many good steak houses won't cook a well done steak is because they know it will come out tough and tasteless and then the customer will go complain on Thai Visa he got a bad steak.

[Wallaby]

<deleted>, a steak and a lamb are cooked to how the customer orders it, not how someone else decides it should be cooked.

If a chef is only going to cook it how he/she wants to do it then why ask the customer in the first place. If they ask how I want it done then I expect it done that way, not how someone else thinks I should have it.

[mark45y]

Ordering a steak well done upsets cooks.

it's none of a cook's fàcking business how a guest wants his steak to be prepared. he is paid to do it according to the guest's desire. if it upsets him he is free to jump from a balcony or cut his pecker of with a steak knife.

Every trade and business has rules. Sailors have superstitions as do people who work in mines.

Restaurants be they Chinese or African or Thai have more things in common than they have differences.

You are of course correct when you say that it is the cooks job to cook the steak the way it was ordered.

In the States a medium rare in NYC is not the same as a medium rare in South Texas. Ask an illiterate farm boy from Arkansas how he wants his eggs cooked and you get a blank stare.

Steak houses go out of business mainly because cooks don't know how to cook a medium rare steak. Steak houses prosper because they know how to cook a medium rare steak.

Managers of steak houses are obsessed with a cook knowing how to cook a medium rare steak.

A well done steak in a steak house is a mortal sin. It is like a go go dancer wearing flannel pajamas or Jing thing dating Miss Thailand. Steaks are expensive, not like chicken or noodles. If you have to throw out a steak it is a big deal. If you under cook a steak it is a small mistake because you can always cook it a bit more. If you over cook a steak it is a lost cause, it gets thrown out.

So pity a bit the poor cook who has had it drummed into his head that the holy grail of cooking is a perfectly cooked medium rare piece of meat when an order comes in for a well done steak. He sees people who order well done steaks as devils in his dreams at night. A well done steak is a no win situation. Sure it is going to be tougher than a medium rare steak. If he is going to get a complaint it will be from a table that orders meat well done. The cook wants the people who order well done steaks to never come back. It is his worst nightmare. It takes too long to cook, messes up his grill and the sequence of all his other orders and chances are will be rejected anyway.

Of course you are correct the customer is always right. But it would be better for everyone if people who ordered well done steaks didn't go out to eat. The small amount of money earned is not worth the trouble.

[mark45y]

<deleted>, a steak and a lamb are cooked to how the customer orders it, not how someone else decides it should be cooked.

If a chef is only going to cook it how he/she wants to do it then why ask the customer in the first place. If they ask how I want it done then I expect it done that way, not how someone else thinks I should have it.

When I go to a real Chinese restaurant I let the Chinese guy do the ordering. The best meals I have ever had have been ordered and the production supervised by the owner of the place.

Restaurant tip #1. Get to know the owner of the place and let him order for you.

You know what happens if I as the owner of a steakhouse and place your order? 1. I'll pick out your steak, believe me I know a good steak from a mediocre steak by looking at it raw. 2. I'll give that steak to the best cook and he knows he better not mess up. 3. I'll make sure everything else you order is perfect. It's my business. I may try to do everything good all the time but for a friend I will make sure it is perfect.

I go to a pub in the town where I live. I made a point of getting to know the owner and complimented him whenever a meal was particularly good. I also went into the kitchen on occasion and tipped the cook. “Who cooked the beef stew today? It was great, here's 200 baht.” Now when I go into the pub to eat I let the publican order for me. You think it is possible for me to get a bad meal in that pub? No way. The place could be on fire and that manager and cook would make sure I got my food before the place burned down.

If the food is good compliment if it is bad keep your mouth shut. I guarantee you if I don't tell them the meal was good they go to the kitchen and check the product.

I almost never eat at a restaurant that I don't know the owner or the person I am with does not know the owner. That just makes sense. Word of mouth is what drives restaurant advertising.

[yermanee]

Of course you are correct the customer is always right. But it would be better for everyone if people who ordered well done steaks didn't go out to eat. The small amount of money earned is not worth the trouble.

Hi Mark,

Although I (almost) completely agree with you, it would be very easy for the person who takes the order to mention : Sorry Sir, we don't do well done steaks here.

That I would consider the appropriate course of action for any restaurant that is proud of its reputation.

But that's just me.

Yermanee

[Wallaby]

I like my steak medium. However, if I am asked how I want my steak cooked then I would be most happy if everyone else minded their own business and cooked it that way. No questions, just do it. That's what I was asked and that's what I'm paying for. If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question.

If I want the steak with the most fat on it, the least fat on it, waved over a flame for 10 seconds or charcoaled, that is my choice and I would rather you kept your idea of a perfect steak to yourself and cooked it the way I want it.

And I don't really care if the chef has a hissy fit about other orders being out of sequence, I am asked what I want and I order, that's what I expect to receive. We all have things in our work that we don't like, live with it.

I'm sure you have good intentions and ensure it is cooked to perfection, but that is YOUR perfection. I would rather you kept out of it and cooked it to MY liking.

I'm not one to complain if I don't like the food, I just never return.

[laban]

You may want to try Enjoy Andre which is also on Thappraya Road. He has been there for years and his steaks are excellent. It's not Bruno's but the steaks are better. (opposite Naris Art Hotel).

[Ulysses G.]

it would be very easy for the person who takes the order to mention : Sorry Sir, we don't do well done steaks here.

I was surprised to hear that some Chefs will do exactly that.

[Wallaby]

Yes that surprises me too. I would think they would lose quite a bit of custom not doing something like cooking a steak how the customer likes it. But I suppose if it goes well then they must be doing something right.