Oak Steakhouse
Steak Frites
When you’re in the mood for a steak… where do you go? A steakhouse. Why? Because you expect them to cook steak better than any other restaurant. The thing is… it’s not always the case.
Glowing reviews
Oak Steakhouse has glowing reviews for the service, ambiance, and food. So, when I couldn’t get a reservation or seat at the bar at my favorite spot (Steak48), I remembered Oak Steakhouse was just down the street. I decided to give it a try. Seating was limited due to COVID, so we sat at the bar. The service was slow, but the staff was very friendly.
Drinks and apps to start
Every steak dinner needs a precursor to the beef, amiright? Martinis and oysters were called for.
Dirty Martini: Good, briny flavor. My issue is that it was super icy as I drank it.
Oysters Rockefeller: Unfortunately, the oysters were bland. They were creamy and loaded with cheese, but dairy is pretty much the only thing I could taste. There was a little bacon in the after-taste, and they weren’t very garlicky — I wanted them to have that flavor!
Steak Tartare: All I could taste was mayonnaise, capers, and pepper. Again, it was overly creamy (not in a good way), which transitioned into a salt bite. It hit the back of my throat with a harsh black pepper.
Steak Frites: At this point, I was hungry for something hearty, but disappointingly, the steak portion was tiny. The meat was better quality than I expected, but I expected more of it. It was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and had good flavor — what didn't taste good was the bearnaise sauce. Typically, I'd expect the sauce to be served on the side. Nope. It was served directly on the steak, and it was SOUR. Something was definitely "off." At first, I thought it was the amount of tarragon, but it wasn't… I'll get to that later… In the end, I ended up scraping off the sauce and eating the steak underneath. Crispy, cheap truffle fries accompanied the meal. They were reminiscent of what you'd get at a chain restaurant — Gordon Biersch or Ruby Tuesdays.
Mac and Cheese: My friend ordered it, took a bite, and ended up sending it away. It was incredibly watery, and even after letting it cool, the sauce wouldn’t stick to the noodles. It looked so bad I didn’t even try it.
Was it an “off” night for the restaurant?
I’m not sure if the restaurant was having an “off” night or what, but Oak Steakhouse did not stand up to the reviews I read. The ingredients tasted fresh, but the chef could not pull everything together in harmony. The high-quality ingredients were hidden behind dairy fat and overpowering herbs. We weren’t the only ones with this opinion… we saw at least four other dishes go back while we were there.
Funny tummies
Circling back to that bearnaise sauce…
We knew it tasted funky but talked ourselves into believing the sour taste came from the tarragon. In retrospect, we think the sauce had curdled. We both ended up with a very upset stomach that evening, and I got ill that night.
No rating
I can’t give this restaurant, Oak Steakhouse, a rating. It’s worth noting that I wouldn’t go back. Not just because I got sick, but because it’s very expensive for something so lackluster.
