I finally made it to Red the Steakhouse

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I think everyone's got a list of restaurants they've wanted to go to but for one reason or other haven't been able to make it there. For me, Red The Steakhouse is one of those spots. My wife and I have always loved Moxie. I've heard nothing but great things about Red (Moxie's next door cousin), so I was pretty excited to finally go there.

The one thing you have to remember about steakhouses is that things are portioned a little differently than your average restaurant. My problem is that my eyes are bigger than my stomach. So I went in with a game plan. "Restrain yourself. You're limited to one side dish.", I told myself. I knew the desserts were going to be good so, I had to make sure there'd be some stomach room left.

We ordered the cheese plate for an appetizer. The plate came with five different cheeses. What I liked was that each cheese was labeled. Most of the time you order cheese plates and the server rattles off the names so quickly you forget all of the names except the last cheese. Worse yet, they simply don't know. I thought they were a little chintzy on the accompaniments, and there were no nuts. Even so, our favorite was "Moonglo" raw goat cheese.

As we considered options for entrees we wanted to make sure we wouldn't over order. Regina knew she was never going to finish an entree so she opted for the Shrimp and White Wine appetizer. I went with the Pork Scallopini special. We also ordered the Green Beans with Pine Nuts. She said that her dish was good but a little oily from the sauce. My pork was nothing that great. It wasn't bad; but wasn't anything I'd order again. The beans weren't bad, but they had an unexpected spice to them that I really didn't care for.

To be honest I think Kate O'Donnell is one of the finest pastry chefs in the city. I've never had a bad or even okay dessert at Moxie. They're always original, sizable, and a good value. Tonight was no exception. I got the Fresh-N-Hot Doughnut Holes which came with carmel, chocolate, and rasberry dipping sauce. Easily could have been shared. It comes with 6 doughnut holes each about the size of a golf ball. Regina got the Trio of Ice Cream Bars. Hers was massive. Essentially ice cream on a stick (honey pecan, chocolate, and banana) individually dipped in chocolate. To say that dessert was the highlight is an understatement.

I'll start by saying that steak just isn't my thing. I actually had it last night when we went over a friend's for dinner. Needless to say I didn't want it two nights in a row. I often times eat at steakhouses for work and its always more food than I can ever hope to eat. There are certainly those more people qualified than me that can attest to the quality of Red's steak. I'll say that I probably won't be back, unless it's dessert at the bar. Moxie is more our style. However, if steakhouses are your thing, I think it's a good bet that this one will not disappoint.