If we want good steaks, that's EXACTLY what we do...

Step 1 - Go to Willowside Meat Market out on Guerneville Rd.
Step 2 - Purchase a slab of grass-fed, dry aged Ribeye or other tasty cut.
Step 3 - Take home, rub with peanut oil, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Step 4 - Grill at 400 degrees - making sure to turn, not burn the meat
Step 5 - *MOST IMPORTANT STEP* - Let the meat sit for around 10 minutes AFTER coming off the grill.
Step 6 - slice up and enjoy!!

 

This!!! I'm gonna have to go do this

 

Ruth Chris or grill your own.

 

if you decide on House or Prime Rib, you may want to call and make sure it's possible to be seated. heard they are usually very busy.

i haven't been to HOPR but i have been to Broadway Prime. from people that has been to both, all of them agree that HOPR is a bit better than Broadway Prime.

 

I went to Morton's in San Jose last week and was unimpressed. I got the single prime cut. For the cost, I was expecting the best steak I ever ate. I would have rather gone to Scott's next door.

I also like prime rib more than fillet, so HOPR > Morton's.

...and make reservations. The HOPR is packed. Morton's was maybe 50% full on a Friday night (strange).

 

You're not the first person to have complained about the Morton's in SJ not being that great. My friend said the same thing. So maybe that location just isn't up to snuff?

I've eaten at the Morton's in SF and Vegas and have never been disappointed with the food at either one. I usually order the Cajun Ribeye and it is GREAT.

 

Damn, they have a 16oz fillet mignon?! That's a huge steak considering it's lean and you can eat every bite of it (unlike other steaks where you have to waste a bunch of it because of fat and Grissel )


I recently had a 12oz fillet mignon at Original Joe's in San Jose... It's cooked on an open fire (burning ceder I believe)... It's an aged steak and they only season it lightly with salt and pepper which allows you to really taste the quality of the meat. I was really surprised at how good the steak was because the rest of their menu is pretty "meh". It was cooked PERFECTLY which def added to the goodness of the steak. It could have just been that particular day since they are pretty fickle/inconsistent with their food... Sometimes stuff is really good and other times its ok.


Regarding Ruth's Chris... You haven't had a fillet until you've had one of their large fillet (bigger than 12oz I believe, but not 16oz!). Aged and cooked sooooo perfectly with the PERFECT seasonings... By far the best fillet Ive ever had. I have food poisoning right now and am sick to my stomach, but thinking about how good their steak is actually kind of making me hungry (KIND OF).

 

I dunno, if you go to a great steakhouse it's kind of a shame to get a steak that is highly seasoned like a cajun steak... If you go to Ruth's Chris and get the fillet Mignon... It's a PERFECT cut of some of the best beef you can find, aged so that it's so tender that you can actually cut it with a spoon... Not over seasoned so you can actually taste that prime cut of meat.

It's like going to a good steak house and using steak sauce! You should only use seasonings and sauce on cuts that don't taste that great on their own. If you have an epic cut that is cooked perfectly, all you need is a little salt and pepper, NOTHING ELSE. Some Chefs will get insulted if you ask for sauce because they pride themselves on the way the steak is cooked. I believe Ruth's Chris cooks their fillet on the stove with butter which brings out the taste of the beef.

I'm a steak **** though and the most seasoning I ever use on my steaks is a pinch of garlic salt with a pinch of paprika, that's it! If it's some crappy cut of steak of course you have to season the hell out of it in order for it to taste good.

It's sort of like Sushi... Some of the best Sushi is so fresh and tastes so good that you don't need sauces or even rice, just the fish itself (sashimi). All those fancy rolls and stuff that most places have are for low quality fish that needs to be masked by other ingredients.

Ruth's Chris is like 50x better than Mortons.

 

I've never had it but you just made my stomach growl... sounds so good.

 

Yeah, most people don't wait for the steak to "mature" (as we call it) before they cut into it and ruin the steak by letting all the juices escape... Ive seen it happen so many times, it makes me sad!

What's worse is someone who spends $$$ on some REALLY great cuts of meat and then cuts it open in the center to see if it's done!!! OMG, what a waste!!! What people don't understand is that steak is a science, you cook it for an exact time at an exact temp to get the desired style (rare, med rare, med, etc). For me, it's 4 mins on each side of a 3.5" thick fillet @ 400 degrees for medium, or if you want medium rare, do 3:30seconds on each side. Let sit for 10mins after you take it off so that the juices stay in the steak.

The 400 degrees on my grill might be different from the 400 on your grill, so you'll have to practice a bit, but I know my grill like the back of my hand and the 400 degrees on my grill for 3:30 makes the PERFECT fillet. Thickness and size of the steak def add a variable to the equation so make sure you take all that into account.

(it still bothers me that my best friend likes his steak WELL DONE!!! He'll buy a $50 fillet Mignon from some nice restaurant and get it well done!!! WTF!!!)

 

Ditto...its pretty hard to beat.

 

Izzies San Carlos right off the 101 it's drenching great!

 

And its even more important for larger cuts as well (tri-tips, brisket, pork shoulder, etc). This is almost as important as how you cook it. When I do a brisket or pork shoulder, I let the meat sit for a hour in foil no matter what. You have people saying "is it done? Im hungry" but you can't rush this step.

 

you are not a lone on your mediocre experience at Morton's.

handful of others also as can be seen on yelp, has lower rating than the others mentioned.

HOPR, still love that place. Anthony Bourdain was up in there, it must be good!

 

top of the mark!!!