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Very Ordinary - Review by citysearch c | Keens Steakhouse

Keens Steakhouse

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Very Ordinary 6/20/2010

We decided to go to a steakhouse at the last minute and couldn't get reservations at one of our favorites so we decided to try Keens. We called for reservations at about 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday and had no trouble getting reservations for that evening. When we walked through the restaurant to get to our table the restaurant seemed to be filled with tourists which to me is not a good sign. They had a special of lobster bisque which I generally don't have but I decided to try it. The first taste wasn't very good but it improved as I kept going and was able to finish it but I wouldn't recommend it. The shrimp cocktail was OK but definitely not top notch and the cocktail sauce was way too spicy. They had a special arugula salad with marinated tomatoes and pears and this was the best dish that we had in the meal. Not a great omen for a steakhouse. I ordered surf and turf because I'm not crazy about mutton and I didn't want to compare the porterhouse to PL because no one ever wins in that comparison. The lobster tails and claws were passable but not dressed up in any way. The filet mignon was pretty good if slightly fatty. I asked the waiter what potatoes he recommended and he said ""french fries or hash browns"". I got the hash browns I wanted to at least compare that to Peter Luger and the hash browns were positively embarrassing. For $8.50 you received a 3 inch square cut of mass produced pan of potatoes that looked like noodle pudding and tasted like potato pancakes. The waiter was mainly good but had a habit of bringing the wine by the glass that I ordered with each course long before the food came hoping I would finish it quickly and order more. I?m sure that this is the restaurant policy and not his. His one assist on a wine selection was not great, and the wines were not good in general. I had the hot fudge sundae for desert because by this time I knew ordering something like tiramisu would be a waste. The sundae wasn?t great either. Even though Keens has been around about as long as Peter Luger I?d barely heard of it and now I know why. In midtown Manhattan you can do way better. If I went there as a tourist or it was in another city or I had no expectations I probably wouldn?t have been as disappointed. Pros: Wide Selection for steakhouse Cons: Uneven food, small portions more
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