Keens Steakhouse

For B's birthday, I did what any good girlfriend would do and took him to a steakhouse for dinner.  Mind you, I'm not really a steak kind of girl - I was a vegetarian for years and although I do eat meat now, I still don't really ever eat steak.  So this was a real experience for me.

The decor at Keens Steakhouse is exactly what you would imagine an old-school steakhouse to look like, even in the middle of Manhattan's Herald Square which is now just a bunch of cheap chain stores and of course, the home to Macy's flagship.  Dark wood, dim lighting and a huge collection of old pipes lining the low ceiling made for an intimate dinner.  Keens feels old timey, but in a good way.

I knew the steak would be more food than I could handle, so I skipped the appetizer and went straight for the "Legendary Mutton Chop".  B got his favorite...Aged Prime New York Sirloin.  On the side, we ordered the fine string beans and french fries.  Normally I would have gotten the baked potato but the couple next to us had the fries and they looked awesome!

A 2005 Frank Bruni review of Keens in the New York Times describes the mutton chop as "a 26-ounce saddle of lamb, skirted with fat and nearly two inches tall, can wear whatever label it pleases, because it provides about as much pleasure as a carnivore could want." and I have to agree.  This hunk of lamb (not sheep) was HUGE and DELICIOUS, perfectly cooked in the middle and slightly charred on the outside.  It didn't taste gamey at all, but there was distinct lamb flavor and the meat was juicy and tender.  For this big-hunk-of-red-meat-once-a-year girl, I made good work of it! 

B is definitely the steak expert in our house and he still talks about the steak he had at Peter Luger's more than 10 years ago, so I was curious to see how Keens stacked up.  He said the New York Sirloin was a tasty and memorable steak, but not the best he's ever had.  Now we need to go back to Lugers to compare. 

For birthday dessert we got the New York cheesecake and it was REAL cheesecake with REAL cheese.  Mmmm mmmm good. 

The wine list had varied options of mostly "big reds", but nice to see a steakhouse offer a wide price range to accommodate most budgets.  The service was efficient, gracious and friendly - not at all stuffy.  The crowd was surprisingly diverse.  I always picture these places to be full of older white men drinking scotch, but on this particular evening there was a mix of couples, families, and groups of friends - young and old - tourists and locals alike.