Steak Frites

404 views

by Jessie on April 7, 2009

Janice, on spring break from Emory, finally came to visit New York City. My request for a dinner reunion was met by the condition that there had to be steak. There aren’t many places that serve a good steak without bending the wallet here in the city. But, I did remember Ling talking about how much she enjoyed Steak Frites and used restaurant.com’s discount. Usually, the gift certificates are always sold out for Steak Frites, but lo and behold, they weren’t this time! For anyone who doesn’t know, you can use the site to purchase discounted gift certificates at qualifying restaurants.

Of course, I got lost taking the three of us there. It was near NYU, but I managed to take this long looped detour. Janice was freezing and I was hungry. When we finally arrived, they seated us promptly and started us off with bread. Nothing special, but at least something to fill up the empty tummy.

Obviously, we knew what we were going to order. Steak frites! Basically, it’s just hanger steak (so it’s already cut into strips for you), thin cut frites, and a choice of either five peppercorn, chimichurri, or red wine demi sauce to go along with the steak. It also comes with a side salad- either the Cesaer or this salad with bleu cheese dressing and bacon. Steph and I ordered the latter. While the Cesaer was delicious, the salad with the bleu cheese dressing was divine! The bleu cheese dressing was absolutely amazing!

(Ah, an Aussie-mate reunion!)

The steak was also delicious. I ordered mine medium rare, which came out more on the rare end, but it was still good because the meat almost melts into your mouth. I ordered the peppercorn sauce instead of the chimichurri (chimichurri is Argentinean and is made of parsely, garlic, vegetable oil, and vinegar). I neither tasted or saw the peppercorns. I actually would have preferred Ketchup, but for those of you that know me, I’m a bit obsessed with the condiment.

And just some 411 on hanger steak- there is only one hanger steak per cow. The part of the steak comes from near the kidney, which is why it’s known to be more “flavorful,” whatever that means. It’s best served medium rare or else it becomes tough, so it looks like I made a good choice. It’s not as popular in the US as it is in Europe. In fact, they ground it up to make burger meat. Obviously, this is not the steak of choice for the ballin high rollers out there…

All in all, dinner was good. With the discount ($25 dollars off), it came out to about $23/person including tip. It’s not too bad, considering how there was a salad course and the main was well portioned. However, if you’re looking for traditional steak, your only other alternative on the menu is the New York Strip Steak. It’s a French bistro so the ambience is casual yet a bit on the high end of casual.