Peter Luger Steakhouse (2001-2003)

[Schneier]

I order steak, but make the table share the bacon as an appetizer.

[picaman]

The fare for my next Peter Luger's visit has been inspired by one of the most memorable sentences I've read in recent memory. It's from Mister Cutlet's piece on Luger's; for some reason it just struck a chord with me.

"Few people today have the constitution to order the lamb chops as their appetizer, as Mr. Cutlet's sainted father used to."

Now is that a gauntlet thrown down, or what?

Jamie

Edit: spelling

Edited December 6, 2003 by picaman (log)

[tan319]

My favorite day for Lugar's was Sunday afternoon.

Lot's of natural light, a damn good Citron & Tonic with lemon to whet the appetite, tomatoes and onions AND Shrimp cocktail to start.

Steak for however many of us there were, creamed spinach, german potatos, A bottle of 92 Far Niente or a St. Emillion and to finish off, a slab of that pecan pie with Schlag.

We would spend the rest of the day in a 'Food Coma'.

Ahhhhhhhh.......

[TrishCT]

Steakas... On my visit there the medium rare had more char than the rare and I was blaming myself for not ordering black and blue... maybe it's hit or miss....but as you said, it's still great steak...

As for the lamb chops. my party of 6 ordered them as an appetizer along with a couple slices of bacon which I cut into pieces for all to sample... Somehow... even after these, the steak, potatoes and spinach... We all still had room for dessert....

Check and mate.

[wesza]

Ive been eating at "Peter Lugers", since I was a teen. Even spent time working in the Kitchen. My family did business with the Formans, who had aquired the business from the original owners and still operate the restaurant. They own the Thread Business across the street.

I've noticed that several posters have commented about the fact that when they've ordered Black and Blue Preperation on the multiple person serving of the Porterhouse Steak, that it's not prepared as they've ordered the steak.

The Porterhouse Steak is a bone-in cut that includes on one side the Filet, [boned out Filet Mignon] and on the other side the Strip Loin [boned out New York or Strip Steak].

Now should you order either the Filet Migon or Strip Loin Steak seperately they can be prepared exactly as you request as Black and blue or well done as requested.

But when your ordering a large Porterhouse, you must take into consideration that the Filet Section, cooks at a different rate then the Loin Section that has more fat and marbleing, especially in the larger multi-person Steaks.

Peter Lugers has the best of Steaks together with the finest professional broiler cooks who do their best, but aren't capable of doing the impossable as they are working in a large even heating broiler, essentially trying to cook 2 seperate cuts of beef to your satisfaction in one piece together with the bone and exterior fat trim.

So in the future unstead of requesting something that is very difficult to achive order either a Filet Mignon or Strip Loin that will assurdly be done to your satisfaction.

But even though i've tried all the cuts all the ways there is nothing better then the large Porterhouse cooked whole with the bone to fight over in my estimation.

Irwin

[Unagi2000]

Peter Luger is totally overrated! A huge disappointment!

I had heard that the Peter Luger experience was more about the steak than the ambiance so I was prepared for the "German beer-hall decor" described in the Zagat Guide. However, the place was more like a fraternity house on the final drunken night of rush week debauchery. Male diners outnumbered females by a factor of at least five to one and they made no small effort to make their presence known. The table behind ours kept yelling and barking in raucous unison as if cheering each other on in a beer chugging contest. The gentlemen at another adjoining table spent their entire meal describing in loud, crude and graphic detail all the women with whom they had engaged in a particular sexual activity that is illegal in nine states; not really the sort of thing you want to be overheard at your table when you're dining with your mother and step-father. The collective noise in the dining room was so deafening that everyone at our table struggled to hear what each other was saying. The atmosphere was not helped by the fact that there was a powerful vibration coming from under the floor, as if there were a never-ending subway train passing at full throttle directly beneath our table. When we complained to our waiter, he responded, unapologetically, "Yes, that's the meat compressor." We asked to be moved to another table but the vibrations were almost as bad there.

Of course, all of this could be forgiven, a small price to pay for the best steak in the world. After all, the hand-selected, dry-aged USDA prime beef at Peter Luger is the stuff of legends. I was expecting a beautiful porterhouse, cooked to perfection, browned and charred on the outside, pink and juicy in the middle with a texture like butter and a flavor bursting with richness and complexity. What I got was a cold, flavorless slab of cow flesh that was burnt to ashes on the outside and completely raw inside. I do not exaggerate. The highly touted Peter Luger steak sauce was OK but nothing special, tasting like a blend of store-bought shrimp cocktail sauce and ketchup. It made the steak edible. At $32.50 per person just for the steak, you'd think they could do better. The side dishes were equally unimpressive. The creamed spinach could have come straight out of a frozen TV dinner and the fried potatoes were greasy and bland. My girlfriend (who eats fish but no meat) ordered the salmon and, at the waiter's suggestion, requested it be cooked medium. It arrived completely overcooked with a dry, rubbery texture like canned tuna fish.

If you're looking for a great steak in New York, my advice is to skip Peter Luger and get the Grilled New York Steak at Gotham Bar & Grill. You will experience an amazing steak - delicious, perfectly cooked and beautifully presented - with the added bonus of enjoying one of Manhattan's most elegant dining rooms along with Gotham's excellent service. At $36, It costs only $3.50 more than the steak at Peter Luger. And, unlike the Brooklyn-based Peter Luger, you won't have to pay the $20 cab fare to get there or the $35 for the ride home with the Peter Luger car service.

[Pan]

And, unlike the Brooklyn-based Peter Luger, you won't have to pay the $20 cab fare to get there or the $35 for the ride home with the Peter Luger car service.

Welcome to eGullet, Unagi2000.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. But this is the only part of your post that I found dubious. You don't "have to" pay for a cab to Luger or a car service back. The J and M trains run right past the place.

[Unagi2000]

You don't "have to" pay for a cab to Luger or a car service back. The J and M trains run right past the place.

Quite right. However, given the unsafe reputation of Peter Luger's neighborhood (deserved or otherwise) I suspect most who visit there for dinner will "want to" travel by cab.

Welcome to eGullet, Unagi2000.

Thank you!

[Pan]

You're welcome, Unagi, and I look forward to more posts from you.

But please elaborate on the basis or time frame of Williamsburg being considered an unsafe neighborhood. I know that it used to be considered dicey, but so did Times Square and the East Village, in fairly recent memory (10-20 years ago, essentially), and I'd argue that neither is dangerous nowadays. I wonder if anyone else thinks Williamsburg is so dangerous nowadays that it's a real risk to walk to the subway there. Perhaps so, given that Luger's runs a car service.

[picaman]

I think it would be reasonably safe to walk the short distance to Luger's from the subway. When I lived in Greenpoint, my partner and I would make the half-hourish walk to Luger's and back at various times of the day and night without incident.

If you drive yourself, the parking lot is nearly as far away as the subway, and I'd imagine that people make that walk regularly.

Jamie

[tommy]

The highly touted Peter Luger steak sauce was OK but nothing special, tasting like a blend of store-bought shrimp cocktail sauce and ketchup. It made the steak edible.

you didn't dump the sauce on your steak before trying it i hope.

[sammy]

The highly touted Peter Luger steak sauce was OK but nothing special, tasting like a blend of store-bought shrimp cocktail sauce and ketchup. It made the steak edible.

The steak sauce is for the tomato and onion salad, not the steak !

[tommy]

The steak sauce is for the tomato and onion salad, not the steak !

in fairness, i think it's used on both.

[Schneier]

The steak sauce is for the tomato and onion salad, not the steak !

in fairness, i think it's used on both.

But it's good on the salad, and not on the steak.

[Unagi2000]

But please elaborate on the basis or time frame of Williamsburg being considered an unsafe neighborhood. I know that it used to be considered dicey, but so did Times Square and the East Village, in fairly recent memory (10-20 years ago, essentially), and I'd argue that neither is dangerous nowadays.  I wonder if anyone else thinks Williamsburg is so dangerous nowadays that it's a real risk to walk to the subway there. Perhaps so, given that Luger's runs a car service.

Peter Luger's neighborhood is described as sketchy in numerous user reviews on the Internet (see Fodors, ePinions, etc.). Several reviews comment on how, although Williamsburg, as a whole, has improved in recent years, the section where Peter Luger is remains questionable. Having been there only once, last week, I'm no expert on whether it is actually safe or not. Hence my reference to its reputation rather than my own personal assessment of the area's safety.

Let's also bear in mind that, given Peter Luger's extreme prices and no credit card policy, most people will be travelling there with significant amounts of cash in their wallets. I suspect most will opt for the perceived safety of a door-to-door taxi/car service.

[tommy]

But it's good on the salad, and not on the steak.

i haven't had it there, but i think it's horrible on everything. i can't image putting it on steak or ripe tomatoes.

Edited December 9, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Unagi2000]

The highly touted Peter Luger steak sauce was OK but nothing special, tasting like a blend of store-bought shrimp cocktail sauce and ketchup.  It made the steak edible.

you didn't dump the sauce on your steak before trying it i hope.

A great steak should be enjoyed on its own without any sauce. The steak I was served at Peter Luger was bereft of flavor other than the bitter taste of its carbonized, cinder-like exterior. It was also brought to the table cold, below room temperature. As I said in my review, the sauce "made the steak edible".

Edited December 9, 2003 by Unagi2000 (log)

[tommy]

The highly touted Peter Luger steak sauce was OK but nothing special, tasting like a blend of store-bought shrimp cocktail sauce and ketchup.  It made the steak edible.

you didn't dump the sauce on your steak before trying it i hope.

A great steak should be enjoyed on its own without any sauce. The steak I was served at Peter Luger was bereft of flavor other than the bitter aftertaste from its incinerated exterior. It was also brought to the table cold, below room temperature. As I said in my review, the sauce "made the steak edible".

ah. i misread. i thought you said it made the steak inedible.

i've never heard luger's described as flavorless though!

[bpearis]

You're welcome, Unagi, and I look forward to more posts from you.

But please elaborate on the basis or time frame of Williamsburg being considered an unsafe neighborhood. I know that it used to be considered dicey, but so did Times Square and the East Village, in fairly recent memory (10-20 years ago, essentially), and I'd argue that neither is dangerous nowadays. I wonder if anyone else thinks Williamsburg is so dangerous nowadays that it's a real risk to walk to the subway there. Perhaps so, given that Luger's runs a car service.

I live about four blocks from Peter Luger's and the neighborhood is quite safe. I've been there four or five times and can't imagine getting a "flavorless" steak there but I'm sorry you did. I'll agree about the sides, though -- they're really not anything special.

[VeryApe77]

I was in the neighbourhood for the first time recently and found it to be downright pleasant (although I'm aware that this probably wasn't always the case)! It reminded me of the East End of London.

Edited December 9, 2003 by VeryApe77 (log)

[sammy]

A great steak should be enjoyed on its own without any sauce. The steak I was served at Peter Luger was bereft of flavor other than the bitter taste of its carbonized, cinder-like exterior. It was also brought to the table cold, below room temperature. As I said in my review, the sauce "made the steak edible".

If I was served a cold steak bereft of flavor I'd give it back and demand another one.

Did you speak to the waiter about it?

[marcus]

There have been countless reports as to the excellence of Peter Luger's steak, count me in this group, and a small number that have been less positive to negative. Individual reports are difficult to assess and I would need to see many more negative reports before I would become concerned.

I always take the train and walk and have never observed any problem. There are always a number of people on every train who are walking to Luger's with whom you effectively form an extended group, which provides even greater safety.

[Unagi2000]

A great steak should be enjoyed on its own without any sauce. The steak I was served at Peter Luger was bereft of flavor other than the bitter taste of its carbonized, cinder-like exterior. It was also brought to the table cold, below room temperature. As I said in my review, the sauce "made the steak edible".

If I was served a cold steak bereft of flavor I'd give it back and demand another one.

Did you speak to the waiter about it?

No.

1) The waiter had already demonstrated a general lack of interest in my party's enjoyment of the meal coupled with an arrogant and obsequious reverence for Peter Luger steak. Consequently, I sensed that to say anything critical, no matter how valid, would have been construed by the waiter as an insult and would have resulted in a tense and awkward situation. It seems my perception was accurate: since eating at Peter Luger last week, I have read other reviews online where people who did complain about their steak at Peter Luger received a frosty response from their waiter.

2) As described in my full review, just about everything else at Peter Luger, from food to service to ambience, was so uniformly bad that I had no confidence that they could do any better.

[picaman]

1) The waiter had already demonstrated a general lack of interest in my party's enjoyment of the meal coupled with an arrogant and obsequious reverence for Peter Luger steak. Consequently, I sensed that to say anything critical, no matter how valid, would have been construed by the waiter as an insult and would have resulted in a tense and awkward situation.  It seems my perception was accurate: since eating at Peter Luger last week, I have read other reviews online where people who did complain about their steak at Peter Luger received a frosty response from their waiter.

Sounds like a bit of a rationalization to me. You didn't give the restaurant the opportunity to correct what you perceived as a mistake. If you had done so, and they had then failed to follow through, your assessment might hold more weight in my view.

Jamie

Edit: spelling

Edited December 9, 2003 by picaman (log)

[SethG]

Welcome to eGullet, Unagi2000!

I think all the usual defenders of Luger supremacy must be worn out from the Charlie Trotter, French Laundry, and El Bulli threads.

EDIT by Jason Perlow: Past threads merged.

I've only been there for lunch, I'm sad to say, but their burger is great and it's an exceptional deal.

Edited December 9, 2003 by SethG (log)