Peter Luger Steakhouse

[Pan]

You mean all those old-looking furnishings in the current Lundy's location are fake?

[juuceman]

You mean all those old-looking furnishings in the current Lundy's location are fake?

well.. they WERE closed for years before the recent reincarnation..

[Pan]

I get it now. So much for reading comprehension.

[picaman]

When I eat there I'm inclined to order the Lamb Chops

Now there's someone I can respect!

Jamie

[Laksa]

My wife and I had dinner at Peter Luger Steakhouse last Friday.

I wrote a long review which I don't want to overwhelm (read bore) everyone here with. But you can read about our experiences here

Let me be totally vain and quote a small snippet:

Our waiter served the strips of bacon directly onto our salad plate.  The bacon was sizzling hot, and looked like it had just come off the grill.  I love to eat food, especially meat, at a high temperature.  Because the bacon was so hot, the powerful aroma it gave off made me tremble in anticipation.  The strips were cut almost as thick as pancakes, and the ratio of fat to the lean was just right.  Grill marks decorated one side of each piece of bacon, and the fatty outer edges were suitably blackened.  They were juicy and sweet, with a hint of honey and smoke.  The first mouthful tasted salty, that made me reach quickly for the bread, but each subsequent bite tasted progressively less so.

:

:

Not quite mash, and yet not quite discrete pieces, the German fried potatoes are served in a roughly chopped mixture that includes slivers of caramelized onions and various spices I was unable to indentify.  Crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, the texture resembles more an au gratin baked potato dish rather than any version of  fried potato that I know.  Its unusual appearance leads you to expect an exotic flavor, which is crushed the instance your taste buds, after considering all the evidence, in an unanimous vote, returns the verdict...

[wannabechef]

My wife and I had dinner at Peter Luger Steakhouse last Friday.

Great review! I have to put my tounge back in my mouth now!

[LJC]

Had the unfortunate experience of having my car towed by the marshal and it wound up in Greenpoint. So, as there has to be bright side to all crappy days, mine was lunch at Lugers. Had the burger with onion and tomato, a slice of bacon and a Brooklyn Lager. All for $22 including tip and I was in and out in less than 40 min. It can't be beat.

[ahr]

Call those nice folks at the Guinness Book of World Records. A few weeks ago, I sent a Peter Luger steak back to the kitchen—not once, but twice.

A childhood friend returning to New York for a week’s escape from exile in Texas wanted to visit Luger’s for old time’s sake; not having been for about a year, I readily agreed. We ordered a portion of lamb chops as a shared appetizer, and then the ritual tomatoes and onions, bacon, steak for two, German potatoes, and creamed spinach.

The salad and bacon came out first. We ate them happily enough, out of order, though tomatoes were very clearly already out of season in Brooklyn. The waiter then left an inverted dessert saucer on the table, which we took to signal the arrival of the lamb chops, their platter tipped to pool the savory juices (and Worcestershire sauce?). What arrived instead, however, was a beautiful porterhouse and our vegetables, all of which we rejected pending delivery of the missing appetizer. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake.

After a wait, we got the chops and then shortly another steak, visibly smaller than the first, and its accompanying vegetables. The steak this time was done on the charred-to-death side of medium instead of rare as ordered, so, once again, back it went. Finally, with a round of apologies from the waitstaff, we got what we ordered, more or less, this third steak midway in size between the first two. (Brief aside: Their reputation notwithstanding, I never find Luger waiters to be anything less than good-natured and helpful.)

The lamb chops, ordered medium rare, were slightly overdone but very good. The steak—the one we finally ate—ordered rare, was almost raw, though parts of the filet and the thinner outer perimeter were a bit more done, and the rest did continue to cook just a shade sitting on the hot platter. Tenderness and taste were not up to the Luger standard as I recall it, lacking the hint of gaminess and minerality indicative of the finest aged prime beef. In fact, it was pretty bland, though tasty enough in comparison to most other places’ meat.

Desserts and coffee were fine.

By the way, Mr. Cutlets appears to be correct, at least in this instance. The top of the third steak was lightly charred but the underside merely gray, suggesting that it was par-cooked on both sides, plattered, sliced, and then finished again, on the platter, under the infernal broiler.

Whatever happened to that Nebraska place?

[tommy]

The top of the third steak was lightly charred but the underside merely gray, suggesting that it was par-cooked on both sides, plattered, sliced, and then finished again, on the platter, under the infernal broiler.

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they add a bunch of butter before it goes back in as well. no resting for the old steaks at luger's, that's for sure. that must drive the steak cookers, who insist on resting, crazy.

[Suzanne F]

We're going tonight for HWOE's birthday; he's a Luger virgin, I've been once, and our companions are old hands (one even has a Luger charge card! ) I'm figuring on bacon, steak for 2, lamb chops, spinach . . . beyond that, dunno. Too late for tomatoes . HWOE is really looking forward to the lamb; when I went with the same 2 friends, we too shared an order as an app, and they were great (we ordered them more rare than med-rare, and they were perfect).

Reporting back the next morning: maybe we should have gotten the tomato/onion salad, it actually looked pretty good. But HWOE was satisfied, as were the rest of us, with bacon and an order of lamb chops as apps, then the aforementioned steak-for-2 and ANOTHER order of lamb chops for mains plus spinach and a small order of french fries. And a bottle of Jordan 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($80), 4 beers, and one piece of apple strudel and one of pecan pie (mit schlag, of course ).

We specified that we wanted all the meat RARE, and so it arrived. Perfect, just perfect.

How come nobody ever talks about the desserts? We really enjoyed them -- the pecan pie had a good ratio of nuts to goo, and the goo wasn't even all that gooey. The strudel was unusual, with a very thin layer of genoise between the fruit and the flaky dough. A bit too sweet overall for my taste, but interesting.

HWOE was oohing and aahing over the lamb chops, as expected, but he also LOVED the steak. What a relief!

Edited November 2, 2004 by Suzanne F (log)

[Chewme]

hi,

i will be going to PL again this Saturday for lunch in a group of 6 guys. this would be my sixth trip to PL in the last three years. i can't wait :) i've been avoiding any red meats and other high cholesterol food all week.

i need your suggestion about how we should order our steak

3 portions of Steak of Two

OR

2 portions of Steak for Three

OR

1 portion of Steak for Four and 1 portion of Steak for Two

I always order Steak for Two, but that's because I never go with more than two or three people in the group. I'm taking a Guest from another State this Saturday so I'd like to let him taste PL Steak at its finest.

Thanks

[wannabechef]

i need your suggestion about how we should order our steak

3 portions of Steak of Two

OR

2 portions of Steak for Three

OR

1 portion of Steak for Four and 1 portion of Steak for Two

Thanks 

←

I'm sure other more experienced "Lugar-heads" will be able to respond more accurately, but I was once told by a waiter that the best cut is the steak for 3. That's all I've ever gotten there so I can't compare - but the steak for 3 has always been great .

[Chewme]

i need your suggestion about how we should order our steak

3 portions of Steak of Two

OR

2 portions of Steak for Three

OR

1 portion of Steak for Four and 1 portion of Steak for Two

Thanks 

←

I'm sure other more experienced "Lugar-heads" will be able to respond more accurately, but I was once told by a waiter that the best cut is the steak for 3. That's all I've ever gotten there so I can't compare - but the steak for 3 has always been great .

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PL waiter told you that ?

PL has always been famous for its Steak for Two Porterhouse cut.

[tommy]

steak for 3 can often be 2 small steaks.

in my limited experience at lugers and other similar places, i'd stick with the 2's. it's what the sell the most of so i'd imagine it's what they do most often and, by extension, best.

and start with some bacon.

Edited November 11, 2004 by tommy (log)

[wannabechef]

PL waiter told you that ?

PL has always been famous for its Steak for Two Porterhouse cut.

Yeah, he said that the steak for 2 wasn't the entire porterhouse cut - that the you had to have a steak for 3 for that. Otherwise you're missing out on some parts. He recomended that cut to a party of 4 by the way.

Like I said, I have no idea how much validity there is to this. I'm only relaying what I was told.

[wesza]

I was able to eat at "Luger's" twice during my recent NYC visit as a guest of my client's who wanted to keep on my good side, knowing that I was familiar with the operation.

It was fun to me as I was able to dine anonymously since all the employee's who knew me in my previous guise [485 pounds] did not know me in my svelte recent guise [185 pounds]. IF any of the owners had appeared I would have had to say hello but no one showed so I just enjoyed as a regular customer.

I started as usual with the Lamb Chops and Bacon Appetizers and they were still exceptional. For entrée at Lunch I stuck to mt Hamburger while my host's ordered a Steak for 3 that I of course tasted some of the Strip and Fillet slice cooked rare as ordered. Fried Potato's and Creamed Spinach were NYC Steak House Good.

Strudel for dessert with schlag was reminiscent.

The first time was for Lunch the second meal was for dinner with a tomato onions salad added, same appetizers, German Potatoes in place of French Fries, no Burger but several Steaks for three and I ordered Lamb Chops to bring home to the Hampton's for my daughters Breakfast that she enjoyed Cold with a naughty grin, sharing with her husband after I took the kid's crabbing. [for Blackfish Bait]

The Restaurant still maintains it's Quality and Standards in the Traditional manner and New Yorkers are fortunate that they still have several places that are still willing and able to continue doing this in a responsible manner. I have eaten at Lugers for over 55 years and it still is a special treat.

Irwin

[woodburner]

After reading all the posts on the previous 12 pages, FG mentioned a few times that Luger's now does mail order. I was unable to locate any information regarding anyone ever having done it.

It appears they sell the same steaks mail order that are sold in the restaurant.

Has anyone ever ordered from them, and what was your opinion?

woooburner

[Suzanne F]

Do they sell the broilers, too?

[rich]

Not only the broiler, but pounds and pounds of the butter they use to get "that taste" - similar to what some very popular Italian places do to their red gravy.

[LJC]

As for the steak size, singles are just the strip with the bone, doubles are larger and have a small portion of filet. Sometimes a steak for three is very large and has a portion of both the strip and a good size filet, other times you get a double and a single. IMO the best thing to do is ask if the triple will be one steak or two and if it's one, get it, otherwise order doubles. (BTW there is no single steak for 4).

Enjoy!

[SobaAddict70]

None of the burgers hit their marks. Mine arrived medium to medium-well. The one that was supposed to be medium was much more done than that. The one that was supposed to be rare verged on raw. Its center was scarily cold.

For me the frustration of a burger needlessly complicated is more than matched by the letdown of a simple burger that's simply botched.

Peter Luger (Frank Bruni)

Soba

[rich]

At last, the current NY Times critic and I totally agree on something - Luger's kitchen has become careless and lazy. As I have said so many times in other posts, this place is not what it was in the 60's, 70's and early 80's. People who like it now, should have been there then.

[rich]

Oh no! I just realized something - another full review of Luger's is in the making. Please not again, this place gets reviewed as often as I change my socks ( and I cleaned that up).

[oakapple]

Oh no! I just realized something - another full review of Luger's is in the making. Please not again, this place gets reviewed as often as I change my socks ( and I cleaned that up).

←

If you mean another full review by the Times, I don't think so. Bruni has covered Luger's twice in less than a year, if you count the praise it received in the Wolfgang's review. Frank is probably done with Luger's for the time being.

[rich]

Oh no! I just realized something - another full review of Luger's is in the making. Please not again, this place gets reviewed as often as I change my socks ( and I cleaned that up).

←

If you mean another full review by the Times, I don't think so. Bruni has covered Luger's twice in less than a year, if you count the praise it received in the Wolfgang's review. Frank is probably done with Luger's for the time being.

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I hope you're right OA. Reviewing Luger again is similar to people who ride the Long Island Railroad everyday - it's boring but serves a purpose of transporting you to where you really want to go.