Well, I just have to start out by saying if you have never been to New York City and seen all the sites you are truly missing out. We just got back from a 9 day trip to the "Big Apple" and we took a huge bite out of it for my son's graduation trip! We ate lots and lots of great pizza of course, did some great walking tours, checked out Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and visited the 911 Memorial and One World Tower just to name a few. We wore ourselves out with all the walking and subway hopping we did for sure!
One of the things my son requested we do while in town was have dinner at one night at Peter Luger Steak House. If you are not familiar with Peter Luger, it has been a high end steak house since 1887 and has some of the best dry aged steak in the country. I must say we had a great time and the experience was a blast! It is not really a "Black Tie" sort of place, but it is definitely Pricey and has a great atmosphere. The service and sides were excellent, the wine list massive, and the steak was delicious. BUT, the one thing I can say is that I much prefer the dry aged steaks that I make myself using the sous vide method, and here is why:
A: The Peter Luger Steak was cooked inconsistently.. Although it had a great flavor, was cooked and coated in butter, it was either gray or more raw in the middle in different places around the steak. They cook using a high heat broiler or "salamander" with a gas flame, which does a good job of producing a great outside "crust", but a lousy job getting the doneness inside right.
B: The Cut they use not my favorite: Since the beginning, they have used the Porterhouse steak cut, which is OK I guess, but not my favorite cut. What usually happens with this cut is a lot of meat gets left on the bone and since the filet and strip are so different in texture, you end up getting the inconsistent cooking like mentioned above. The presentation was great, but personally I would rather have a perfectly cooked filet or ribeye.
C: The Price will set you back: We went into this meal knowing it was more for the experience than the value for what you get for the money. Sometimes you pay a premium for where you are and what they are. This was a great experience for us and it made my son happy. He graduated this year from high school and made Eagle Scout this year also, so we did not mind celebrating with him.
D: Sous Vide would make it perfect!: After all is said and done, had they used sous vide to prepare the steak at Peter Luger it more than likely would have put out a superior steak in my opinion. The dry aging was perfect, the butter made it tasty, but the doneness was the only thing that made it less than perfect to me. But since they have been cooking this way for many years and never seem to have a problem filling the seats, I cant imagine them buying a circulator anytime soon. LOL! Check out some of the pictures we took below.
