Put a steak....I mean stake.....I mean fork in it!

 

 Yeah, that's the ticket! I'm talking about some grilled cow. A steak. A big one or a small one. A medium rare one or a medium well one. (Others are really not steak anymore if they are raw or shoe leather). Filet, Strip, T-bone, Ribeye, Porterhouse and Prime Rib. One of life's simple pleasures is sitting down to a nicely cooked, sizzling steak brought out with some complementary sides and begging to be eaten.


Steak sauce? Not if the place is any good. Maybe some fresh horseradish for the Prime or even one of the other cuts but A1 and Heinz 57 do not belong on my steak. Steak Oscar? Ok, I guess I can allow that one as long as the seafood is right out of the Gulf fresh and does not overpower the red meat.

Favorite steak places? Oh, let me see, there are many. I will highlight just a few here in this column. Some will be from days past and some will be from my current culinary life. I will also try to hit across the spectrum from fine dining to casual eats and anything in between. I may have to do a follow up at some point as this is a broad category with myriad good choices.



From their website: My choice is the filet

 So, first I will extol the virtues and consistency of one, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. My adventures in eating have taken me to many locations of this fine chain. I began the RC journey in New Orleans, then Mobile, on to Atlanta, up to NY, a stop off in Denver and then to Tampa. Out of all these only one has not been up to par, the one in Denver, and it was something about ownership as I recall. Other than that the steaks are top choice, the atmosphere and service remarkably consistent and the menu everything a steak lover could imagine and maybe a little more. Usually a filet man but have ventured into other territory as well for some change of pace. Some meals consist of just an app, salad and a glass or two of vino. The sides are always enough for at least two and spinach and fries fresh from the oil are two faves. They have great stuffed mushrooms, BBQ Shrimp, Crab Cakes and Ahi Tuna, a mouth watering chopped salad and the desserts always look fab but I am always already satisfied so it goes unordered. The sizzling platter and the sumptious sides are enough for this meat lover. If I had to rank the locations I would have to say the NY location is #1, maybe purely based on it's location in the Marriott where I stayed on business all the time. It was hard to only eat there once per trip up but I did it. Always a great meal here. Always. Save the Denver location where I hosted a group dinner.

From their website: Florida Style Steakhouse

Staying local here in the area, Charley's Steakhouse is on our list of favorites. This one is also on the top end of the scale pricewise and we always start in the bar for a cocktail before heading to our table for dinner. This is a nice spot for business dinners and have had more than a couple here. This location has a nice Florida feel and is upscale and laid back all at the same time. Aged steaks are presented at the table for your choice before you order. I have had the filet here often but have moved into other cuts as well as Lobster depending on whether it is on the expense account or not. The service is usually great here as well. I have had a couple of instances where the cuts of meat were not quite as I would like and once some rubbery (frozen?) lobster tails but for the most part Charley's delivers.

Other good steak places I have had the pleasure of frequenting are Del Frisco's in Ft. Worth, Seegars at the Sandestin Hilton, Smith and Wollensky along with Gallagher's in NYC, Chops in Buckhead and I am sure I will come up with more as we go.......

Also, will report in on some of the more inexpensive steak places and chains in another story.

For now I need a nap after all that red meat talk.

It's in da hole......

Hunt's Oyster Bar, Panama City, Florida

As Carl, our friend from Caddyshack once screamed....."It's In Da Hole!"......the best seafood places are usually just that, in a hole...... in the wall.

We started over in New Orleans on our HITW Seafood journey and now we travel east a bit to Panama City, Florida to stop in at #2 on my list of seafood delights in a humble space. The place? Hunt's Oyster Bar!

Never knew about this place for years and years. My brother, who used to come in with his family for Christmas to Destin, would always take one afternoon and do a Hunt's Oyster bar trip. Now I know why.

The place I am talking about is NOT the original one downtown as it burned down a while back BUT it still is the hole in the wall type place that serves up some delish vittles in the form of fresh seafood, namely Oysters.

My first time in was for a workday lunch alone and as I pulled in I had a feeling I was going to like this place immediately. I have this affinity for HITW's so I was already halfway there before even eating their food.

It did not take long before I was ALL IN and planning my next visit in as soon as possible and with my wife who I knew as going to go bonkers over this one as well.

Hole In The Wall Hall Of Fame

I sat at a table the first time in and had a seafood basket, scallops I believe and a 1/2 dozen raw. The oysters were divine: cold, large, juicy and salty. And cheap. Cheap. Cheap.

On subsequent trips with wife and without we ordered raw but also began to choose from the large variety of baked oysters as well and they were just as good as the raw ones. Sitting at the bar waiting on baked while someone shucks fresh raw ones and places them in front of you one shell at a time is something I miss.

People are friendly and sometimes colorful too here and it goes with the territory. If you leave here hungry or in a bad mood then I feel sorry for you. The bill will also keep you smiling too since they are reasonably priced.

This is one of those places I think about how to get to by making up a trip I "need" to take for some other reason. Any reason.

So, if you are near Panama City, Florida, I suggest you hunt for Hunt's and enjoy a memorable HITW Hall of Fame experience. Tell 'em Gulf Coast Guy sent you and save me a few dozen too!

Seafood served from a Hole In The Wall.....

Some of the best places in my memory for seafood, you know the kind, steamed, broiled, boiled and grilled, are those with very little to do with putting on airs. I can count on my left hand (yes we are in our right minds) the number of these little joints that make my "Best Of" list. Of course there will always be arguments for what is and is not a "hole in the wall" but to me these few are currently at the top of my Gulf Coast Guy Seafood Hole In The Wall Hall Of Fame. (Say that five times fast)

First let me define Hole In The Wall from my perspective. Usually you hear of this type place by word of  mouth first for some reason. Then you do your homework and make plans for that first visit. Usually the place is not much to look at from outside and even inside not much of an upscale type dining establishment. This means that they HAVE to be great at one thing.......THE FOOD. And usually price will be a factor as well, at least in my humble opinion. Now don't get me wrong, some places who qualify for HITW distinction can have added bonuses as I have found in my adventures all along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile to Destin to Panama City all the way down to Tampa.

My current list contains three places which are most recent in my memory and one is at the top currently due to multiple visits in the past two years. Of course, many places in New Orleans alone could qualify but for the sake of brevity here I will list only one from the Big Easy in this one. And it is not even in the Quarter or downtown as one might think. It is in Kenner and it is called Harbor Seafood. For years and years I came to New Orleans and never had heard of this place. You guessed it, I was told by a friend and business partner about it one trip in and made plans to visit with my wife immediately on our next trip into town.

Boy were we happy we did. This place is right off the main drag in Kenner and not much to look at outside or really inside BUT the menu is a seafood lovers dream and the food, the seafood, is fabulous.

First time in we tried Turtle Soup( with Sherry), Raw Oysters, Boiled Crawfish and Po-Boys. Along with cold cold Barqs Root Beer. The menu has so many choices it is hard to decide. EVERYTHING was good and fresh and tasty. Service was down home style friendly and the place feels like one big get together at someone's house.

The BONUS I was talking about? Receiving the check for one, it is so reasonable for what they deliver and right next door is their seafood market that ships or packs for take home, which I have done more than once.

I have now been back a dozen or so times and waited for a table only once or twice but still enjoy the seafood and have expanded my horizons to boiled blue crabs, seafood baskets, calamari and much much more.

So, Harbor Seafood in Kenner, La where you can eat like a King.......A King Neptune. And still have some green for a New Orleans Sno-Ball or Plate of Beignets later on. And ladies, there is a nice big mall right down the way. In fact, once I stopped to eat and asked the wife to pick me up AFTER her shopping trip.

Next stop, Panama City.......