barclay prime

[mrbigjas]

ok so people have discussed the $100 cheesesteak to death. and generally speaking i'm not that interested in going to yet another overpriced stephen starr joint. but maxine keyser's review in the citypaper this week (here until thursday) made me consider a visit for the actual steaks, gimmicks aside, even if i can't afford a drink.

so has anyone been? are they really the same steaks as served at peter luger? is it worth it to get a kobe hanger steak? anyone? anyone?

[Rich Pawlak]

ok so people have discussed the $100 cheesesteak to death.  and generally speaking i'm not that interested in going to yet another overpriced stephen starr joint.  but maxine keyser's review in the citypaper this week (here until thursday) made me consider a visit for the actual steaks, gimmicks aside, even if i can't afford a drink.

so has anyone been?  are they really the same steaks as served at peter luger?  is it worth it to get a kobe hanger steak?  anyone?  anyone?

←

Yes, I've been (see the new Philly STYLE mag for my quick take on the place---sorry, I cant help the shameless plug---it's a GOOD magazine! And it even has a Katie Loeb wine article!!!!!), and the food was surprisingly good, but yowza-baby-expensive, especially when you add up the sides and the sauces and oils that you can play with. Wines by the glass were decently priced, but the wine list as a whole was expensive, and the cocktails were astronomically priced. Good lounge-y vibe, strange low-rider seating, cold marble table tops and yet it all comes together and seems to work. Waitstaff is a bit TOO friendly and familiar, but they seem well-trained for Starr Stepford waiters. The Kobe sliders are worth the 10 bucks, really, a really cool appetizer. And all of the sides I tried (hash browns, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus were flawless, and the Gachot & Gachot ribeye was quite good, exceptional really, one of the best steaks I've had in a log while. Desserts are worth it too.

[mrbigjas]

thanks rich; sounds good. maybe one of these days when an expense-account type of friend who only likes steakhouse-type places comes to town and treats me.... oh wait i don't have one of those kinds of friends. i'll pick up the magazine.

[philadining]

Well, somebody give Steven Starr's PR people a raise! Simultaneous reviews of Barclay Prime appear in the current editions of:

Philly Style

Philly Mag

Philly Weekly

and the City Paper

I like Rich's review the best... although I like Lauren McCutcheon's line about this being Starr's 456th restaurant.

[Rich Pawlak]

Well, somebody give Steven Starr's PR people a raise! Simultaneous reviews of Barclay Prime appear in the current editions of:

Philly Style

Philly Mag

Philly Weekly

and the City Paper

I like Rich's review the best... although I like Lauren McCutcheon's line about this being Starr's 456th restaurant.

←

And mine was the only non-review! More of a glimpse, really. I saved my chops for the romantic places.

[herbacidal]

Yea, I've noticed a lot of reviews of the place in the local press.

If I was plotting his marketing and PR strategy, that's one of the reasons the $100 cheesesteak had major value.

[mrbigjas]

anyone know where i can take a look at barclay prime's wine list? i have a friend who's interested, and the restaurant isn't on the starr website yet.

alternately, anyone have a memory of basically what's on there? and i know it's probably incredibly marked-up, but this guy doesn't much care--he's more interested in the wines than the prices.

[Greg Ling]

Went to barclay prime last night with a chef friend after a day of looking at restaurants and drinking.

It's a very good looking room,and the servers are better than the usual starr joints.

we started with drinks ,I had a sidecar which was the best one I've had in a long time,The bartender knows what she's doing. We had the the kobe sliders which were really outstanding worth the 14 bucks .At this point my friend knocked over everyones drinks .Thanks to the excellent service everything was cleaned and repoured in 3 minutes.next came the oysters rock which were okay but a little dry,honestly not as good as samsom streets but a nice size.

After

that we had a steak tartare which was bland .I think mikey y's at rouge was the best.This was a golf ball sized piece with a slice of carpaccio .Needed an acid.

next we had the chopped salad which looked like creole trinity done in a cuisinart and tasted like olive juice ,so far 1 for 4.

Then what should have been the best part came, the n.y. strip .I have used Gachot meats before when I was in long island,and have toured the aging rooms there great people and product.They present a tray of nice steak knives(porche,global and lagouile etc,knives are like chef porn).Perfect rare but a little burnt but gachot steaks are still gachot steaks. skipped dessert but had port .

[stephenc]

I pass by all the time, but judging from the Bentley parked outside, I don't think I'll be going there until I become some sort of bigwig.

[shacke]

I pass by all the time, but judging from the Bentley parked outside,  I don't think I'll be going there until I become some sort of bigwig.

←

I am likely going tomorrow for dinner. If anyone knows of any don't miss things, speak to me, please!

Evan

[herbacidal]

My friend has offered to take me there.

Evan, tell me how it goes. Your and Greg's reviews will be useful scouting reports.

[shacke]

My friend has offered to take me there. 

Evan, tell me how it goes.  Your and Greg's reviews will be useful scouting reports.

←

I will report back - have a gift certificate to soften but not deflect the financial blow.

Evan

[Rich Pawlak]

I pass by all the time, but judging from the Bentley parked outside,  I don't think I'll be going there until I become some sort of bigwig.

←

I am likely going tomorrow for dinner. If anyone knows of any don't miss things, speak to me, please!

Evan

←

Dont pass up:

Lobster bisque

the Kobe sliders

Sauteed spinach

sauteed mushrooms

the Gachot & Gachot ribeye

the deep-fried cheesecake bon bons

[shacke]

I pass by all the time, but judging from the Bentley parked outside,  I don't think I'll be going there until I become some sort of bigwig.

←

I am likely going tomorrow for dinner. If anyone knows of any don't miss things, speak to me, please!

Evan

←

Dont pass up:

Lobster bisque

the Kobe sliders

Sauteed spinach

sauteed mushrooms

the Gachot & Gachot ribeye

the deep-fried cheesecake bon bons

←

Duly noted. I hear lots of the ribeye but kobe hangar steak sounds wild - if its still there. besides - 20 oz? talkin doggy bag city.

Evan

[Tim Dolan]

I took my girlfriend there for her birthday last Friday night. It was really good, also really expensive. I'm a young guy so it's not like I have the cash to be going there to begin with, but being it was a special occasion and I heard all good things about that ribeye, I there caution (and personal finances) to the wind.

We had the kobe sliders for our app, which definitely lived up to all the hype you've heard and at $15 a bargain compared to the rest of the menu. Very small though. For entrees we were tipped off by our waiter that we could split our entrees if we wanted, so we did. I was worried that doing that would look cheap, but being that it was about 6pm on Friday and we were only the 2nd table in there I figured why not. Another reason we did this is because my girlfriend's eye got really big when our waiter explained the butter poached lobster to us. My eyes got really big when he mentioned that the market price was $26 and change a pound, and we would be served a 3 and a half pound crustacean. There was no way I was shelling (no pun intended) out $91 for a lobster and not getting any of it. So we split the lobster and the ribeye. In hindsight I'm still kicking myself for this because 1) I'm not a big fan of lobster and 2) they sliced the steak width-wise, not legnth-wise. Basically the steak looked normal but was only about a half inch thick as opposed to maybe a more narrow but still thick steak that I was expecting. The steak was still very good but didn't blow me away like I was expecting, most likely because it was thin. The lobster was ok, but as I mentioned before I'm not really a fan. The girlfriend loved both so it worked out for me.

We didn't stay for desert because we had a Phils game to catch (GF wanted to see the fireworks) so we got the check and headed out. I forgot to mention that we also ordered a half bottle of wine due to the fact that there wasn't a normal bottle on the list under $85. We ordered the second-cheapest bottle of pino noir for I think $42. GF isn't a big wine drinker anyway so I didn't feel bad skimping on that. The total bill for the kobe slider app, ribeye, lobster and half bottle of wine with a 20% tip came to $255.

It's worth noting that we had two waiters serve us, one to take our orders and the other to explain the menu. Both were nice young fellows I'd say in their late 20's and both were very helpful and attentive. I think there names were Ed and Gary, but don't quote me. I know that Starr waiters/waitresses catch a lot of heat for being ditzy/disrespectful/condescending but these guys were none of the above. The guy who was explaining the menu, a shorter Asian man, seemed genuinley excited about his job but not in an over the top or cheesy way. If the menu wasn't so far out of my price range I would go back just because these two guys are what you should expect when you go out to a very nice place. All in all I'd say that Barcaly Prime is good if you can afford it, but you could probably find the same quality somewhere else for half the price. Let me know how things work out!

[shacke]

Deja Vu Tim! I went there tonight with a friend and we had a similar meal.

First off, let's dispense with the obvious. It's expensive but it was good and not a rip off. $275 for two - total (included 2 glasses of wine).

OK. I had the sliders and they were a nice idea and very flavorful. 2 mini 2 oz kobe burgers, one topped with onion and tomato and the other with cheese (can't remember the kind). I enjoyed them a lot although I am not sure I could tell the difference between kobe and any other meat in this preparation.

My friend had the chopped salad which was fresh and contained an advertised 12 ingredients finely minced to bits - like I could verify? I liked it. Frankly, I could have have the sliders and a salad at the bar and gone home.

Although I eyed the 16 oz kobe strip steak (never had a cut of kobe), I passed knowing it was just "too much", not because of the price tag but it seemed like a awfully big slab of marbled rich beef.

We shared a surf turf like Tim had each getting 1/2 the butter poached lobster and 10 oz of the ribeye. Sadly, it was cut horizontally instead of vertically and felt a bit cheap although the flavor was quite good. Truth be told, I am not a huge steak fan so gulleteer emptor here. I was pleased with the combo and still had a doggy bag to bring home.

For sides, I ordered the tater tots (yes) for the peasant food contrast and they tasted like -uh - well - y' know - tater tots.

For dessert, I forwent the banana on banana item to take Rich's rec of the cheesecake truffles which were cheescake bits rolled in a cookie crumb dough and fried. 4 were served atop different sauces - banana, chocolate, pineapple and strawberry. They were interesting and light enough not to feel guilty. They were not crunchy as I had hoped they would be - more like a dunkin munchkin texture. As a fan of creativity, I enjoyed the concept.

Service was attentive and yes they are "starr"pford wives, drolling on in starr-ese but it was friendly, helpful and unrushed. The standard hot Starr babe in the front greets you as in all the other places.

BTW - The cheesesteak is still on the menu sans foie gras (now with lobster meat along with black truffle shaved kobe and teleggio cheese for $100). But wait - it comes with a split of veuve cliquot. This does not sound the least but intriguing to me.

I liked it. I would go back. I still have a soft spot i my heart for Morton's and I imagine that this does not crush the steakhouse competition in the city although have yet to go to the other biggies.

If you are the steakhouse kind of person - its worth a try.

Evan

[philadining]

OK, Tim, Evan, I'm probably being dense here, but can you confirm the way the steak was cut in half? Horizontal? Do you really mean they made two thinner steaks from one "normal" serving? Weird!

A rib-eye does have an interesting variety of tastes and tenderness around the different areas of the steak, so I can see how it might make a certain amount of sense for them to try to assure that you each had what seemed like complete steak, but making it thin like that would seem to me to be counter-productive for highlighting the qualities of a piece of meat like that. It doesn't seem like either of your were happy with the preparation.

The only times I've seen anything like that is when someone orders a filet mignon well-done, and and the chef butterflies it to keep from charring it (and to keep from rushing out into the dining room and murdering the person who ordered it.)

But it seems odd that Barclay Prime would divide a steak that way just to facilitate sharing.

[shacke]

OK, Tim, Evan, I'm probably being dense here, but can you confirm the way the steak was cut in half? Horizontal?  Do you really mean they made two thinner steaks from one "normal" serving?  Weird!

A rib-eye does have an interesting variety of tastes and tenderness around the different areas of the steak, so I can see how it might make a certain amount of sense for them to try to assure that you each had what seemed like  complete steak, but making it thin like that would seem to me to be counter-productive for highlighting the qualities of a piece of meat like that.  It doesn't seem like either of your were happy with the preparation.

The only times I've seen anything like that is when someone orders a filet mignon well-done, and and the chef butterflies it to keep from charring it (and to keep from rushing out into the dining room and murdering the person who ordered it.)

But it seems odd that Barclay Prime would divide a steak that way just to facilitate sharing.

←

Confirming: cut "horizontally" a la steak at IHOP or denny's - the kind you would get with your eggs. Mind you that example is for visual analogy not taste!

I agree that it takes a bit away from the experience - like sinking your teeth into a slab of steak. Maybe people would complain if they received an anemic 1/2 piece of a 20 oz ribeye cut vertically? Dunno. Your point is well taken however as this cut on one side is different from the other. A rim of fat lines one half and not the other (where the bone in a rib steak would be were it still attached to the "eye")

Evan

[NulloModo]

How do the actual steaks at Barclay Prime compare to what you would get at the nations top steakhouses/butchers? Is it all dry aged prime grade beef?

[Tim Dolan]

What Evan said. :)

[shacke]

Went back last night, mercifully on the corporate dime. I had the lobster bisque this time with Kobe sliders as my "entree". Both were excellent. I wound up sharing some of a G-G ribeye with a friend and it was really really good and I am not a huge steak person. I think I'll get that should there be a next time.

Evan