I have been a bad blogger. Its not that I haven't been cooking-I have- but all items being prepared over the last week will be put together into a surprise this weekend. But don't worry-I have been taking photos of it all so it will be well journaled!
In the meantime, last night was a much anticipated date night. J has either been on the road or working his crazy hours for the last three weeks, last night was the first opportunity we had to have a night out. He was craving a steak, and so we decided to continue our tour of steakhouses in Boston, and settled on Morton's in the seaport district for the evening.
Half of the reason for this decision was a plan to stop for a bit at the Boston Harbor Hotel to listen to one of their Summer Concert series artists. Each Summer, the Harbor Hotel brings in a variety of bands each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday who perform different selections of Soul, Blues and "Timeless tunes" outside under the stars. Friday night is movie night. This is one of my favorite Summer activities in the city- being outside in the warm night air, listening to great music, and enjoying a cocktail or two. Unfortunately, when we arrived last night- there was no music playing. It appeared that the concert had been canceled for the evening. (More information on the Summer Series can be found here.) Though I was sad to have missed it- we carried on to Morton's.
As the first pre season game for the New England Patriots was on last night, we opted to sit in the bar area to enjoy the start of what will hopefully be a great season for the team. After all of my raves over the Blue Cheese Fries at Morton's that I had last year during a quick trip to the Boylston St location, we decided to start the evening with an order of those. Once again-they were served piping hot, and the fries had a really nice crunch to them. The cheese had melted over the top of them, I think even more so than my first batch, and had created a gooey mass of tangy goodness. One of the things that I had really loved about this dish the first time I had it was the heat that crushed red pepper flakes had added to it- unfortunately I don't think that last night's order had as many used because it was missing a bit of that spice burn, but over all- these are a delicious treat- and one I'm glad that I got to experience again.
We then moved on to actual dinner. To our surprise- Morton's was participating in Restaurant Week-so although the rest of the menu was being served, we opted for the Restaurant Week offerings- because honestly you cant beat a Filet Mignon with two other courses for just $33.09. The options for the appetizer course were both salads-one Caesar, and the other was the Morton's salad- explained as a mix of salad, blue cheese dressing, chopped eggs and anchovies. I selected the latter, though swapped out the blue cheese for a lighter vinaigrette dressing. The salad was tasty- iceberg lettuce that I haven't had in forever which provides a nice refreshing crunch, the vinaigrette appeared to be a pretty basic Italian dressing-which was good- again especially when you haven't had it in a while, and the egg was a nice creamy counter to the crunchy lettuce. I have to say- I didn't detect any anchovies. Granted- I'm not a huge fan of them so I wasn't over upset about their absence- but it is worth noting. On the other hand though, I tasted J's Caesar salad, and the flavor of the anchovies in the dressing was almost over powering. Maybe they put mine in his?
We had both elected to have the Filet Mignon's for our main's, the other choices being a chicken dish, or a salmon one. We had a choice of sides with our steaks- between mashed potatoes, french fries, garlic green beans, or broccoli. J chose the green beans, I chose the steamed broccoli. My steak was served a perfect medium rare- a beautiful "cooked" ring leading into a large center of pink rare. Its honestly a little sad how much I love steak- and this had wonderful flavor to it. They served it with a little dish of Bearnaise sauce, but aside from a quick dip with one piece of my steak to experience the differing flavors, it sat basically untouched next to my plate. I can never understand why people want to detract from the flavor of a great steak.
The broccoli was perfect steamed, and served in a very large portion. They did bring a side of Hollandaise for it, though again, aside from one quick dab to check out the benefits of it-if any- it was not used. From the quick taste I did have though- I have to say it was one of the better Hollandaise sauces I've had, deliciously creamy, with a perfect consistency that didn't get that terrible congealed look as it sat on the table. The green beans had been sauteed in oil and garlic, and while delicious- were rather greasy.
Dessert for me was a chocolate mousse, topped with whipped cream and a fresh raspberry, J chose their New York style cheesecake. The mousse was tasty- made with a milk chocolate base, it had a similar flavor to instant pudding which is definitely "tasty" though I was hoping for something a bit more...The whipped cream was also not the fresh whipped cream I had imagined, so a bit of sadness there. The cheesecake that I stole a bite of was very rich, as cheesecake tends to be. It had a nice graham cracker crust to it, though it could have been a bit thicker to off set that steady cream cheese flavor.
As we continue our exploration of Boston steakhouses, I think that that rounds out the well known chains. I enjoyed Morton's, though I think that Flemming's has a slight edge to them with a better variety of sides etc. Even so- I feel as though I'm splitting hairs, Morton's provided a delicious steak last evening, and for that I am quite happy.
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2 comments:
I think you just sealed the deal on our doing a show a Morton's. I've never been but Jeff Cutler, my co-host, has been suggesting it for awhile now.
How does the filet compare to Grill 23's?
Hi Mike! I hope you guys enjoy your experience at Morton's! Grill 23 is next on our list of Boston area Steak houses so sadly I cannot give a good comparison....yet... :-)
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