This past weekend we decided, for my birthday (which this year ran from June 12th – June 20th with a multitude of events for my 70th Birthday) to head over to Steak 48, Del Mar Heights to do a Restaurant Review. They still gave us one of the six glass in booths they have towards the back. Steak 48, Del Mar Heights gets so many points for having these booths.
Our waiter has an assistant, who checks in to make sure everything is good, regularly. Now that’s style. So I’m still not at the food yet because everything up to the food is ah-mazing, including the Raw Bar with fresh oysters shrimp etc. that you walk by to get to the table. The open kitchen which is really big, is quite the show stopper too.
OK. Food. We start with appetizers …. so that’s Crispy Shrimp and Chicken Fried Lobster Tails. Simone is from Germany and doesn’t quite get the lingo of Chicken Fried anything. She’s surprised by my explanation. It’s fun to eat with people from other countries.
The waiter says the Crispy Shrimp is a signature dish so we order the Shrimp and the Chicken
Fried Lobster Tails. Chicken Fried Tails are good. And I must say it is crunchy outside, but soft and easy to eat, inside. While I had heard from a friend that I should go to Steak 48 just for steaks, that their appetizers are just ok, I disagree. And actually by ordering the Crispy Shrimp with the Lobster Tails, it’s a nice trip into spicy and then crunchy profiles, in the seafood world. One more thing: no matter what you order, order the bread. It’s amazing.
We order the bone in 22 ounce Ribeye with sides such as Chef Daniels Potatoes au Gratin, a fully stuffed baked potato and the Corn Crème Brûlée. Sheri, our resident meat eater just loves the steak. I take a couple of bites because normally I don’t eat beef and I must say it’s everything you want a steak to be. As for the side dishes mentioned: One side dish is better than the next. Everything is done right!
Simone orders the Hassleback Potatoes after I explain exactly what that is. Hassleback? It’s a baked potato, (restaurants usually use Yukons, but these are so big they have to be baby russets, cut almost through in strips, like the picture.
The way you can prevent it from cutting all the way through is: place chopsticks on either side and you will hit the chopstick before cutting all the way through to the bottom. You baste it (with butter or butter and olive oil, do you season on the stove top with thyme and a couple cloves of garlic). Potatoes cook generally for an hour, so half way thru baste it again. I can do that at home with anything you’re cooking and add a really special touch to the meal.
And yes. There is dessert. The Birthday Girl (me) gets their best dessert, Warm Vanilla Caramel Cake on the house! It is the best dessert I have ever had. And I will go back, just for the dessert!
Everyone from my group that has been to other events with me says Steak 48 is great, but bring a thick wallet. Yes. It really is, with an inexpensive ($100) bottle of wine shared) still $200 a person plus tax and tip. Steak 48 does a great job at adding a special touch to everything they serve. We eat with our eyes, so the presentation is exceptional. We smell what we’re going to eat. Pretty exceptional. And then, we savor the flavor. Well done Steak 48! I don’t mean order steak well done. Go medium rare on the meat! lol