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steak

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Oak Steakhouse

October 4, 2013

My final restaurant week visit was with my roommate, Regina, to Oak Steakhouse. I’ve been wanting to try Oak for a while now, curious to see if it could beat out my beloved Halls Chophouse (spoiler alert: it doesn’t).  I know that most people say that you shouldn’t judge a restaurant based on Restaurant Week, but I think that’s just BS. If they can’t produce quality food during RW, then they just shouldn’t participate.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

We started off with the spicy strawberry margarita, which definitely lived up to its name. So. Spicy. It was good, but we had to have them tone it down a little bit because we’re wimps. My mother would’ve loved it though.

More like StrawBURNy margarita.

More like StrawBURNy margarita.

After we placed our orders, we were brought some bread and butter. It was good bread, I have to say. Nice and warm, and salty, very similar to the benne seed rolls at Husk. And the butter tasted like butter..so there’s that.

Bread and butter are my bread and butter.

Bread and butter are my bread and butter.

For my starter, I got the wedge of Kurios Farms Bibb Lettuce Salad (local grape tomatoes, bacon lardons, creamy danish bleu dressing, regularly $10). Bibb wedge salads are not actually anything like your typical wedge salad (it’s just the nature of the beast), so I’ve learned not to be disappointed when I order a Bibb “wedge” salad and it comes out as basically just a bunch of lettuce leaves stacked on top of each other. But it tastes delicious!

Kind of like Lincoln Logs, but with lettuce and bacon.

Kind of like Lincoln Logs, but with lettuce and bacon and significantly less fiber.

Regina got the Vidalia onion bisque (lump crab, bacon crumble), which apparently was a special restaurant week thing. It was weird. Neither of us particularly cared for it. I get that vidalia onions are sweet, but this was ridiculous. It was overly sweet for a savory dish and I didn’t think that the flavors melded well together. Glad it’s not on the regular menu, because I would not order that again.

It seems like a lot of soup until you realize that the bowl is only like half an inch in depth.

It seems like a lot of soup until you realize that the bowl is only like half an inch in depth.

For entrees, I got the Certified Angus Beef Filet Mignon with whipped potatoes, spinach, petite carrots, and Oak’s housemade steak sauce. Being a renowned steakhouse, I was really looking forward to it. I even ordered it medium because everyone gets mad when I order it medium well (because apparently there’s some rule leftover from caveman days where your meat still has to be bleeding when you eat it, or you’re an uncultured swine). When it came out, I was upset to see that they’d precut my filet. Part of the satisfaction of ordering a steak is cutting it at the table and watching the juices ooze out onto your plate. Because they’d precut it, when I went to eat it, my steak was already cold, like it had been sitting out for a while, and not under a heat lamp. This was only emphasized by the fact that Regina’s food came out steaming for a good 5 minutes. I was also bothered by the “smear” of potatoes I got on my plate. I’m all about good plating, but this was ridiculous.

I think they really took that "Lincoln log" comment to heart with those carrots.

I think they really took that “Lincoln log” comment to heart with those carrots.

Regina got the pork shank served with sweet potato puree, braised greens, sweet apple and peach chutney. She replaced the sweet potato puree with roasted corn maque choux, by telling them she had an allergy, because they didn’t allow substitutions, which again, just bothers me. (I hate chefs that get so hoity toity about their food that they don’t let you substitute stuff. Yes, I get that some people like to make like 15 substitutions, and those people suck, but if you’re like me and you abhor mushrooms, AND you’re paying upwards of $40 dollars a plate, you shouldn’t be forced to eat them. I think this might have been another RW thing, where they already had everything premade and didn’t want to have to make real food for people who were only paying the RW price. Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox for real now, I promise.) The pork shank was awesome and fell right off the bone. The maque choux was super tasty and I’d definitely order this dish again. Basically, I was really jealous of Regina’s meal.

Plus, she got like 100% more food than I did.

Plus, she got like 100% more food than I did.

I also couldn’t resist ordering a side of the smokey bacon macaroni and cheese, $8.50. I mean, smoked bacon macaroni and cheese sounds delicious. I thought it was pretty good, but was a little disappointed in the cheese sauce. It was a little too creamy and not quite cheesy enough, but that didn’t stop me from devouring it. I’d probably still order that again. I like it better than Halls Chophouse’s mac & cheese and that’s about the only leg up that Oak got over Halls during this meal.

I'm really bad at Mac & Cheese photography. What's up with that.

I’m really bad at Mac & Cheese photography. What’s up with that.

The dessert that came with the RW menu was “S’mores” with dark chocolate mousse, graham crackers, taosted marshmallow, and salted caramel. It was weird, but I liked it. The graham cracker wasn’t like normal graham cracker, I’d say it was more like a nilla wafer (but like a rock hard version). I thought the combination was really interesting. Regina wasn’t a huge fan of the dessert, and although I can’t say it’s my new favorite thing, I thought it was pretty good.

Now this is pretty plating.

Now this is pretty plating.

Oak definitely didn’t live up to my expectations, but it had enough potential that I might be willing to give them another chance (on someone else’s dime, of course, that place is expensive).

Does anyone else think that tree looks more like a mushroom than an oak?

Does anyone else think that tree looks more like a mushroom than an oak? (photo: from Oak Steakhouse)

Oak Steakhouse
17 Broad St
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 722-4220
Oak Steakhouse Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

The Owl, Greenville, SC [CLOSED]

March 22, 2013

This review comes to you from my amazing mother, Tina. She’s beautiful and crazy and has relatively good taste (most of the time). Here goes!

...And this is one of her BETTER moments.

…And this is one of her BETTER moments.

Sydney posted a link on my Facebook wall the other day for a write-up from a Greenville food blogger about a new restaurant in called The Owl on Pleasantburg Road. The article made it look so good we decided to go there for dinner that same day.  After reading the reviews we thought it would be packed, but luckily for us, 5:30 on a Tuesday evening must be the calm before the storm, because we were their only customers for a while.

The Owl, Greenville, SC

The bar scene has definitely been kicked up a few notches. We had visited this building a number of years ago when it was a private club known as Gumby’s.  Though it’s a small place and sparsely decorated, this once shabby tavern has been transformed into a chic establishment. I really like the cool bar stools and open kitchen.

The Bar at The Owl

The atmosphere was pretty neat. I like that it was really simple in the way of decor. Each of the tables had different color candle holders and a nice cold bottle of water.

Decor at The Owl, Greenville, SC

I was really looking forward to trying some of the stuff mentioned in the blog post we read, but when we looked at the menu, none of the dishes we read about were actually on the menu. Apparently their menu changes seasonally, so what you see here might not actually be on the menu when you visit.

Screen Shot 2013-03-21 at 11.42.18 PM Menu at The Owl, Greenville, SC

The menu is made up of appetizers, “small plates,” and full-plated entrees. We started with the Fruit Plate and the Lamb Meatball Plate.  The Lamb Meatball plate wasn’t considered an appetizer, but it could have been and we were curious. The Lamb Meatballs were scrumptious. I loved the duck fat mashed potatoes.  Not sure on what the sauce was on top. Looked like a mustard or a cheese but was neither.  The pistachio pieces on top made the whole thing look pretty.  Tasted wonderful.  Interestingly, while eating it as I first bite into a pistachio piece I thought I was a seed or shell because I forgot there where nuts on it and that threw me off at first. You don’t think about nuts when chewing on a meatball.  But altogether it was fantastic.

Lamb Meatballs at The Owl in Greenville, SC

This is the Fruit Plate. Not what I pictured, but tasted amazing.  I could eat this all day long.  The pear and parsnip slices were warm, the nuts pieces were toasted and the ricotta was cool and creamy. It was simple, but the flavors came together really well. I’d go back for the fruit plate alone, it was that good.

Screen Shot 2013-03-21 at 11.44.57 PM

For my entree, I ordered the steak well done. I know I’m “not supposed to do that” but that’s how I like it, and I’m the one who has to eat it, so just deal with it. Lots of places have problems cooking steaks well done, but The Owl cooked my steak just the way I like it. It came with Fried Brussels Sprouts which were the bomb.  I should cook my Brussell Sprouts like this forever. The pile of cheese and mound of butter tied everything together.  This can only be described as a mouthful of yummy flavor.

The Steak at The Owl in Greenville, SC

Russ got  the Pasta Pomodoro, with something called “parmesan foam,” whatever that is. I have to say that The Pasta Pomodoro was my least favorite thing.  I tried it once, went about eating my steak, then tried it again and I have to say–it did not get any better.  I wanted it to be yummy.  It looked yummy.  It wasn’t so yummy.  I don’t know if it was the Hazelnut, or “basil chip” or something in the spice department but the taste wasn’t where it could/should have been. Maybe this for someone else’s palate but not mine.

Pasta Pomodoro at The Owl in Greenville, SC

 The service was wonderful.  Everyone was very welcoming.  The Chef even came out to thank us for stopping by…And stopping by is what we will do again and again.  Can’t wait for the new menu change to try new and exciting entrees and revisit a few favorites.  A very enjoyable dining experience.

The Owl in Greenville, SC

The Owl
728 Wade Hampton Blvd
Greenville, SC  29609
(864) 252-7015

The Owl on Urbanspoon

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 7/2/12

July 2, 2012

This weekend, I drove to Atlanta to see Sean and Christine…. you know, because I haven’t done enough traveling this summer. July is going to be a month of sitting on my couch in Charleston. I’m so looking forward to it. This weekend was really fun, although I wasn’t crazy about the drive (5 hours by yourself is a lot). I just need for all of my friends to live closer to me, thankyouverymuch.

I didn’t get to Atlanta til almost 9 Friday night, thanks to crazy traffic and a couple accidents. Sean made tacos for dinner with homemade tortillas, grilled chicken, steak, and chorizo. I wasn’t a huge fan of the chorizo, but everything else was delicious. Christine passed out early so Sean and I watched the season 2 finale of Game of Thrones and he spoiled a bunch of stuff for me since he’s ahead in the books (to be fair, I asked).

On Saturday we went to this cool brewery in Marietta called Red Hare. I liked their beer ok, but it kind of bugged me that you got 6 drink tickets and they only had 4 beers on tap. Plus one of them was an IPA, and I don’t drink IPAs, so that was a bummer. The cool thing was they had this local ice cream shop, High Road Craft Ice Cream & Sorbet come by and serve two of their flavors which are actually made with Red Hare beers, “Watership Brown Butter Caramel” and “Ginger-Lime IPA Sorbet.” The brown butter caramel ice cream was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten. So delicious.

Saturday night, Sean & Christine’s upstairs neighbors threw a party down in the clubhouse area, which was really fun. There was a bunch of Russian food which was cool. I really wanted it to be more delicious than it was. The one thing all the Russian people told me to try was this salad with chunks of ham, eggs, potato, mayonnaise, dill, and currants. Definitely not my favorite. But it was a fun time nonetheless.

On Sunday, we had a Greek feast that Sean prepared. Greek rotisserie chicken, crustless spinach pie, and spanikopita. We then saw Brave with Christine’s mom, which I really liked. I did get about 6 text messages/comments from people being like “I just saw a movie about you!” or “You were really good in that Pixar movie!” haha, I’m a great actress, what can I say.

This week’s quote is in honor of Independence Day. And what’s more patriotic than eating a bunch of meat and then setting off bombs in the sky? I really can’t think of a single thing.

“I usually don’t have a burger, a brat, and a steak…but, it is 4th of July. And I need the energy if I’m gonna start blowin crap up. It’s what the founding fathers would want.”
–Jim Gaffigan

Also, alcohol.