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.
 A cool blogger reviews a new steak place in Atlanta GA. Let’s do the bullet points:
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From Metroblogging Atlanta:: Via :: Technorati.
From @llie’s @ttic a really sweet review of Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse
I haven’t been to a Morton’s, but now at least I know it’ll cost me 3 C’s without wine. I think we have one in Seattle.
So Saturday was my birthday, and the Fiancee is one million percent excellent so she took me out to dinner at a new favorite little Italian place in Lacey (98503) called Ricardo’s (I’m not sure if it’s ‘ristorante’ or ‘restaurant’, it depends on where you look). Her boss, Dr. Mike, had hosted their office Christmas party there, and it was really really good, so we chose to go back and do some free-choice dining, cause we were stuck with the ‘beef or chicken’ drill at the party.
So, after reading the PDF menu Ricardo’s put up on the internet, I really had my heart set on this bastard :
Big Momma’s Steak $29.95
Nebraska Beef at its best… ” USDA PRIME ” Thick cut rib-eye seasond & char broiled to perfection
(Medium Rare) then topped with a fresh mediterranean salsa & finished with roasted red potatoes,
( This will be the best Thrity bucks you’ve ever spent )
On the one hand, I was really disappointed because it wasn’t on Saturday’s menu. On the other hand, it gives us a needless excuse to go back to Ricardo’s for more steak. And on the third hand, I got to have the Surf And Turf from the specials menu. Our server said that the prime rib special was filling in for the Big Momma, and recommended it, but I’m not yet recovered from a really awful prime rib from years ago. We’d both had excellent little filets at the Christmas party, so I chose to extend that a bit with the S-n-T. My lovely companion chose some “do the truffle” ( or something? ) special of a 5oz filet with black truffled mashed potatoes. We was not disappoint! (Although, are truffles known for being, erm, gassy??)
Both (little tiny) steaks were perfectly medium, with a lovely outside — seared and carmelized — and practically fork-tender inside. ‘Course it’s a cliche , but the words “like buttah” were said at least twice.
The surf part of my dinner was way above average: crab cakes done absolutely correct with TONS of crab, and great flavor; and some wild Mexican white prawns that were slightly over cooked but had great flavor. All this was sauced nicely with a white truffle Bernaise sauce, and great big roasted red potato wedges, with some barely noticeable field greens or basil or something. Who cares? The truffle-bernaisey filet was heavenly. I didn’t miss having “the veg” at all.
We didn’t spend much time looking at the wine list, because it’s way over our heads (especially budget-wise). And we already knew from the office party that the house pours a great chianti for six bucks. I had a 6 buck primitivo, and it was great too.
Bottom line, GO HERE!!! Ricardo’s is a winner on every point except one: the decor. Which I won’t really pick on, because it’s adorable, and you know, A for effort and all that. But, who cares? You really can’t go wrong with this place. I haven’t had a better steak anywhere within about 300 miles of here, except that Argentine place in Seattle which I keep forgetting to write about.
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Note: As it turns out, this post was meant to go up on the future anniversary of our wedding. So, instead of referring to her as “my companion” I will from here on out refer to her as “my fiancee”.
On to the post:
Every year, my fiancee and I spend at least four days vacationing on Oregon’s North Coast. In particular, in a heavenly little town called Manzanita.
As long as we’ve been going there, there hasn’t been a decent place for a steak in town, so we make more than one trip to Cannon Beach for dining. Since this isn’t a web site about seafood dining, I’ll just not even mention the place we dine most, which is called something like “The Manzanita Seafood Market and Chowder House.” (It’s fantastic.)
We certainly haven’t dined everywhere in Cannon Beach, because I hear it’s becoming somewhat of a hotspot for fancy cuisine. But, I can recommend, without reserve, that you try JP’s at Cannon Beach…. Where do I begin?
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Jon: Murray’s was great, and very tacky and the crowd fit perfectly. Old money, tired money, unfashionable money.
SueZ: And our money . . . so don’t get all money snobby.
Jon: There’s really no point in ordering the sides at Murray’s. I’m sure the caesar salad was about the only really edible thing. Perhaps that’s not fair. Everything was edible — in a 1950’s out of the can, powdered au gratin, hyper-saliferous way. Actually even the steak was pretty damn salty.
SueZ: I’ve got nothing against salty steak, it should be noted. Though we didn’t try any of them, I suspect that there was probably a decent dessert option on the menu. How bad can you screw up cheesecake?
Jon: This whole sides problem was pretty damn funny too, and practically unacceptable.
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