Craftsteak (Mashantucket, CT/Foxwoods Resort Casino)

I was really excited to try Craftsteak, one of the Craft family of restaurants owned by celebrity chef (and "head judge" of Bravo's Top Chef franchise) Tom Colicchio, and arguably the flagship restaurant of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods; sadly, I ended up a little disappointed by the food.  That is not to say that the food was bad, or even mediocre; in fact, it was quite good, but when eating at a restaurant owned by someone who is supposed to be among the masters of the steak world, I really expected something transcendent.

The bar at Craftsteak

I sat at the bar, which, while dimly lit, is a pretty decent atmosphere to grab a drink or a bite to eat if you do not feel it necessary to sit in a fancy dining room; there is a flat screen television in the middle of it that was playing the Red Sox game, and the chairs are relatively comfortable.  The darkness wasn't a huge problem for me,  but if you don't have good eyes, it probably would be a bit too dark to easily read the menu; I can guarantee that my grandparents would not be able to read in that light.

Spinach salad with bacon and blue cheese

I went with the prix fixe menu, which includes a salad, a choice of two entrees, and a choice of two desserts.  The salad, consisting primarily of spinach, was the highlight of the meal, with cubes of crispy bacon a centimeter across, some Bayley Hazen blue cheese from the Cellars at Jasper Hill, and some kind of delicious dressing that I could not quite identify.  The bacon was spectacular, salty and succulent, and the cheese was great, with a sweeter taste than most blues, but with that classic flavor you associate with the variety.  There were also balls of what I think may have been confit pearl onions, which were pretty tasty, as well as some hard-boiled egg that did not really add anything.  This was a good example of what a salad can be; not something you eat just because you need some green vegetables, but a legitimately good, major part of a meal.  With the salad came a small skillet of "Parker House" rolls, which are pretty boring with the exception of the fleur de sel sprinkled over the top.

The entrees were a Scottish Salmon with spring garlic and fava beans or a Filet Mignon with black garlic and confit potatoes.  Figuring it was a steakhouse, I went with the filet; it was a pretty big

Filet Mignon with black garlic and confit potatoes

piece, considering the $45 price of the prix fixe, and it was reasonably well cooked, but for some reason, they slice it for you!  I do not get this; why would you take a beautiful piece of meat and cut it into pieces?  It makes the filet look terrible on the plate, like it has been mangled, and does not add anything to it as far as enjoying the meal.  That said, it tasted fine, though it was a little chewy for a filet; I do not know if this is an issue with the quality of the meat or what, but it was nowhere near as good texturally as the filet at David Burke Prime.  The potatoes were great, as was that black sauce you can see drizzled around the plate, but that was not enough to make up for the fact that the filet was lacking.

Raspberry Rosé and Mango sorbets

The dessert options are a Chocolate Espresso Tart or two scoops of your selection from a dozen or so ice creams or sorbets.  I went with the Raspberry Rosé and Mango sorbets, which were both good, but the mango far, far outstripped the raspberry.  The raspberry was a little bit too tart, giving me a pretty nasty canker sore, but the mango was spectacular, probably the best sorbet I have had in many years, and equal to most ice creams.  It was similar in texture to a good gelato, though clearly without the same level of fat content, which was fine with me.

Mystic Bridge IPA

With the meal I had the Mystic Bridge IPA, one of four beers on tap, from Cottrell Brewing Company, a Connecticut brewery that has some pretty well regarded beers on BeerAdvocate, including this one.  I was not paying a huge amount of attention to the beer, quite honestly, focusing more on the food, but it was quite good, a really solid IPA, though admittedly it did not stand out to me.  I would love to pick up a six pack of it to really get a better idea of where its strong and weak points are.

Overall, it seems like the restaurant makes an effort to keep things relatively local where they can, including the beers, the cheese, and some other produce.  This is a distinct positive in my mind, but at the same time, if they cannot make the overall quality of the meal stand up to that of the ingredients, then it is a waste.  I would absolutely choose Burke Prime over Craftsteak if I were eating at Foxwoods, and it would not be a difficult decision at all.

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David Burke Prime Steakhouse (Mashantucket, CT/Foxwoods Resort Casino) Trip 2

One side of Prime Steakhouse's bar

I apparently lack originality, since I'll be talking about the same restaurant twice in as many posts, but I went back to David Burke Prime Steakhouse on Thursday, again as part of a trip to play poker at Foxwoods.  I again sat at the bar, and had the same bartender, who was as superlative as last time, and the food held up nicely again.

Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA

I went with the prix fixe again, but chose entirely different options for everything except my drink option, going with Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA.  This was less of a perfect choice this time, as I went with the Lobster Bisque for the appetizer and the "Angry" Filet and Jumbo Shrimp for the entree, and it sort of overwhelmed the filet.

Popover with butter

I forgot to mention last time that the meal comes with a large popover, with a healthy dose of pepper in the batter, which is apparent both visually and flavor-wise, and really separates the popover from most others I've had.  They're all good, but Burke's are pretty damn great.  Served with butter, it is a great start to the meal, a light, crispy, savory pastry that also worked well with the bisque.

Lobster Bisque with "crisp lobster stick"

The Lobster Bisque was pretty damn good, with all the richness and creaminess you would expect from a good bisque, and little chunks of lobster floating in it.  There are few things I enjoy more than a good bisque, and Burke does a really nice job with it.  It's a lovely, deep, rich flavor, and you can clearly taste the lobster in every spoonful, something that is just not true in a lower quality product.  The lobster tasted really fresh, which is exactly what I'd expect from a place that prides itself on high quality products.  The menu states that the soup has a "green apple essence" in it, which you can't really taste, though there is a tartness to it that could be from that.  It also comes with what they call a "crisp lobster stick," which is really a stick of lobster in a tempura batter.  It's a little doughy, but that's actually not a bad thing in this case, as the doughiness allows it soak up the bisque if you dip it, which of course I did.  It was actually a really pleasant surprise, seeing as I hadn't actually read the menu this time and didn't know it was going to be there.  Dipping the popover in the soup was pretty great as well.  Overall, a really nice, albeit heavy, appetizer, which went exceptionally well with the bitterness of the beer.

"Angry" Filet and Jumbo Shrimp, with garlic spinach

The "Angry" Filet and Jumbo Shrimp included a perfect 6oz filet mignon crusted with what can only be described as a mild blackening rub, two legitimately jumbo shrimp, and a little pile of garlic spinach.  The filet was cooked rare, and was exceptionally tender, with a nice beefy flavor accented perfectly by the spice rub, which had a little bit of spice, though a little more would have been welcome.  The shrimp were also mildly spicy, with a glaze that had an east Asian flair to it that the menu labels as "chipotle bbq," but they were just slightly overcooked, becoming a tiny bit tougher than I prefer my shrimp to be.  That said, it was very tasty, again lacking the overall spice that I look for in something like this, but certainly tasty.  The spinach, however, was the highlight, with a light garlic-y flavor, perfectly wilted leaves, and a healthy dose of fat clearly having been used in the cooking; it was delicious, exactly what I look for when I eat a green of any variety.  The flavor of the spinach was still there, something that isn't guaranteed when you cook it to the point that it's extremely soft and almost melts in your mouth, and it balanced nicely with the meatiness of the beef and shrimp.  I do wish I had gone with wine instead of beer, however, as the flavors were a bit milder in this entree than in the prime rib, and the heaviness and strength of the Pitch Black IPA was a bit overpowering.

Crème brûlée

For dessert I went with the crème brûlée, and this was quite well done.  Soft, creamy, a perfect custard underneath a crisp sugar crust, it was light enough at the end of a good meal to not make me feel sick, but with a strong enough flavor to not be lost in the mix.  I love simple classics, and vanilla crème brûlée certainly qualifies.  When prepared properly, it's a wonderful thing, and this was the perfect end to a good meal.

David Burke Prime Steakhouse's bar, from outside

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