The Striphouse: OK (expensive, too)

Normally, I would be at the beach now, but boy 1 is headed off to camp tomorrow and we are in the City this weekend.  Last night, we took boy 1 and boy 2 out to a steak place in honor of the boy 1's impending 7 week trip to institutional food.  One of boy 1's friends had eaten at the "Strip House," located at 13 E. 12th Street, NY, NY, 10003 (212-328-0000) and liked it, so we went.  I vaguely remember having gone there when it opened some years ago with our friends from London before theater and not running to go back, but, no matter.  The lovely wife did not have similar memories, and off we went into the sticky and gross New York City Evening.

When we arrived, I remembered why I remembered eating at the strip house: naked ladies.  Lots of them.  The walls of the restaurant are adorned in cheesecake photos from the earlier parts of the twentieth century.  Hubba, hubba.  According to the Website, the photos were all taken at Studio Manasse in Vienna.    I assume that there are similar photos at the Strip House's many other locations, including Key West (I will have to ask the in-laws if they have ever been there).  They also have a website that is so web 2.0, its veritably web 3.11.  It takes a while to get a phone number because of all of the transitions and graphics.

The restaurant itself is pleasant, dark, and its red walls are covered with the pictures noted above.  Its quiet enough.  As for the food: good, but, even by New York steak house standards, on the pricier side (I will never get over a $9.00 baked potato).  I thought the oysters were fine, but nothing special.  Particularly good was the bacon appetizer, which consists of two large strips of bacon, some lettuce, and Russian dressing.  Caesar salad was just fine.  We had two steaks, a tomahawk cut ribeye and the porterhouse.  I am always reading about how great Ribeye steak can be, and in all honesty, have never truly enjoyed one.  This did not change on this trip.  What waiters call marbled inevitably tastes "fatty."   The porterhouse was quite good, with an excellent char and done as we requested (medium rare).  We skipped dessert and headed to Pinkberry.  

As we continue our tour of seemingly every steak house in New York, I'd have to put the Strip House somewhere in the middle.  Its fine, and it was pleasant to talk in.  However, when we walked out and saw the (somewhat less expensive!!!) Gotham Bar and Grill, I realized that my children were doing fine with steak and it was time to try to expand their horizons.