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west seattle « absinthe and oranges
jak’s grill

December 5, 2008 in west seattle | Tags: jak’s grill, morton’s, steakhouse, west seattle | 1 comment

JAK's

It was a Saturday night, and somewhat incredulously, I found myself in West Seattle for the third time in as many months. Also beyond belief: I was having dinner at mothertrucking JaK’s Grill. Now I readily admit that my food writing is completely subjective and hopelessly incompetent, but this is only exacerbated by the fact that I’m nowhere near equipped to comment on a steakhouse. I know nothing about steak, and don’t much care to.

From the Minnesota State Fair “On-a-Stick” food vendor category:
Texas Steak Out

NEW this year: Texas Steak Dinner on-a-stick (cubed steak, potatoes, onion, peppers and a dinner roll) and Texas Tater Dogs (a spiral cut potato wrapped around a course ground sausage).

Pictures from a Saturday field visit are promised to me, and should appear in this space early next week.

UPDATE:
steak-on-a-stick
ACTUAL: the kindly diner who allowed this photo had the dinner roll removed for photographic purposes:

texas steak dinner on a stick

New: Cajun Steak On-A-Stick, from the Rajin’ Cajun booth

cajun steak on-a-stick

Thanks to Sue and the Gang out in the field in Minnesota. I’ll join you next year!

disneymike: Jocko’s Steak House

We were amazed how large the steak was. Our waitress told me the Filet Mignon is even larger than the New York Steak. I can’t wait to go back on our next trip to try that one.

If you find yourself traveling near Santa Maria on the 101 and are craving a great steak, please give Jocko’s a try. Just make sure you bring your family or friends to help you finish your meal or a very healthy appetite.

Car Counselor: Steak and service | West Seattle Herald
Auto repair is a lot like that steak. There are many choices in where to take your vehicles for service, and sometimes a wide range of prices for service. A shop that is properly equipped and employs well-trained and experienced technicians may seem more expensive at first, but before you choose the lower-priced options, examine what you get for your money.

Bend over Abigail May is the title of the blog post pointing out this insane steak rant by one of my most favorite awesome comedians, Patton Oswalt. It’s dirty and loud and you most definitely need headphones, especially if at work or with children or grandmothers around.

“Every time you eat a steak, a hippie’s hackey-sack goes down the sewer.” –P.O.

and one more time, let’s hear it for totally rad food scumbags at Grocery Eats

Items from various places [old but interesting]:

So, in Costa Rica, the primary (if not only) cattle raised is the Brahman, or crossbreeds of Brahman with European beef cattle. This is probably because:

Brahmans have a greater ability to withstand heat than European cattle. They have more sweat glands, and also an oily skin, thought to help repel pest insects. They are also more resistant to parasites and disease.

I’m trying to find research about the qualities of Brahman beef for steak, etc. because I felt differently about it than I do about the steak we prefer here in the States. It also tended to be prepared differently, especially in the Costa Rican Typical cuisine we had; also, when there were steaks prepared in the USian Steakhouse manner, I felt they did not taste as I expected them to.

I’m studying a WSJ Online article today about Wagyu beef. It’s quite interesting. I think it was way easier figuring out another very esoteric and expensive proposition: buiding diamonds. Get this:

…finding good Wagyu can be a complicated proposition. Cross-breeding among the cattle is common, and most products on the market are actually half-Wagyu, half-Angus, says American Wagyu Association spokesman Charles Gaskins. Some ranchers and retailers aim for a higher percentage — Morgan Ranch says its cows are mostly 75% to 80% Wagyu, while Lobel’s says it requires a minimum of 87.5%. There are no federal rating systems for Wagyu — unlike most steak sold in supermarkets, labeled by quality from “select” to “prime,” it’s not graded by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Finally, almost every ranch has a proprietary blend of grain and roughage for the cattle’s diet, and cows that are raised longer can yield more marbled steak

Apparently there is even some fair degree of deceptive marketing involved, with online retailers claiming to sell American-raised “Kobe beef” (you can only call it Kobe if it’s been raised, by hand most likely, in Kobe, Japan).

I doubt you’ll see us taste-testing them… until of course the paid sponsorships begin, and we can shell out for five hundred bucks worth of steaks.

Via: Moments of Clarity: Do you Wagyu?



Baseball Steak - inside - Pacific Dining Car

Originally uploaded by Marshall Astor / Life on the Edge

Wow. I really love this picture, and the brief capsule review he gives the baseball steak as well as the fabulous Pacific Dining Car in the LA area.

Marshall Astor, the author of this photo, and many others, seems to have a penchant for eating and photographing marvelous food. Check it out!

KevinA cool blogger reviews a new steak place in Atlanta GA. Let’s do the bullet points:

  • super-chef Kevin Rathbun’s new place
  • billed as ‘a steakhouse for the new millennium’
  • excited … being both a fan of steak and kevin rathbun.
  • skip to the chase … WOW. amazing, incredible,
  • but the butters? out of this world.
  • $110 before tip and neither of us drink

From Metroblogging Atlanta:: Via :: Technorati.