May 25, 2008
Morton's of Chicago
There's so much great food out here in Asia, but the one thing that's missing is a good steak. Sure, there's the fancy Japanese beef, which is tasty and all, but they always cut it up on the teppanyaki or slice it thin for the shabu-shabu, which only distances one from the full-grown bovine. Nobody does the big-slab-of-beef thing better than the classic American steakhouse, and The Venetian Macau chose wisely to bring in the high-end American chain.
After a terrible time at the gambling tables, it seemed much wiser to piss away money on a fancy meal instead of on a game of chance. The interior was almost cliche in its dim, dark-wood-paneled interior. No high-powered halogen-spots here. Thankfully they put us at a relatively bright table near some table lamps. The restaurant was about half-full at best, which was fine with us after a day amongst the bustling Macau streets. The waiter rolled out a cart showing off the different cuts of beef available and rattled off a well-coached spiel about all the offerings on the menu.
Sure, the salmon and lobster and fancy starters sounded interesting and tasty and all, but KISS is the way to go here, especially since all the side-dishes are a la carte and the bill adds up fast. Bone-in rib-eye, medium rare for me. Petit Filet Diane, mushroom sauce on the side for her. Skip the side dishes, and leave more room for red meat. At least the huge loaf of garlic-onion bread came for free.
And boy was it a fine piece of meat. Perfectly seared on the outside and medium-rare pink in the middle, simply flavored with salt and pepper. Asked for steak sauce out of habit but there was no need. The SO's Filet Diane mushroom sauce made for a tasty little side dish, and a big glass of robust Cabernet was a no-brainer pairing.
Nothing like 16 ounces of animal protein to fill the belly up good, but there's always room for dessert. Too full for the heavy cakes and pies, but the creme brulee seemed like just the ticket, a classic dessert for a classic meal. Plenty big enough for us two to share.
Thankfully it was all costed in an unfamiliar currency so I charged it all without worrying about the total bill. Probably wasn't worth the money, by some objective measure, but it was exactly what I wanted right then and I'm thankful we can afford such luxuries once in a while. We did take away loaf of bread, which seemed to be the common practice, with them having a bag for it and all. So we had breakfast taken care of for the next couple of days, too, to bring down the cost-per-meal a little, kinda.
Morton's, The Steakhouse
Shop 1016
The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel
Macau
+853 8117 5000