Jul 23 2009
Old School Business Lunch: Hy’s Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar
Today’s lunch has set the bar quite high for next week. If fact I think we will be hard pressed to out do this one.
Hy's Steakhouse: This is the way lunch was meant to be
Marc’s Review: 9/10 Peppercorn New York (served with Hy’s homemade brandy green peppercorn sauce), pan fried potatoes, and the most amazing cheese toast in town! Cost: Not sure
Hy’s just has that old world mens club feel to it. You walk in and the lights are low, wood panels line the walls, oil paintings of people from long ago hang on the walls. The back wall features a giant glass section putting the gill on center stage. This just feels right.
We started with, what I have no problems calling, the best cheese toast I have ever eaten. And I have eaten many a piece of cheese toast. The bread is so soft, and the cheese covers every inch of the top of the bread. It literally melts in your mouth. If I could I would have meal of just this.
I ordered the Peppercorn New York Steak, which is served with served with Hy’s homemade brandy green peppercorn sauce, pan fried tomatoes with onion and bell peppers. The steak was done to perfection, and every bite was its own memory. I had a break in my typing here as my minds eye played back a few bites. In a rare case of me eating the balance of things found on a plate with a steak, I also found the potatoes to be wonderful.
Would I go back? Well lets be honest here , this place is not cheap. I will not put this in the regular lunch rotation (well until I start selling more appliances), but I will be back on rare occasion.
Birgit’s Review: 7.2/10 shrimp and crabmeat salad
Why does a vegetarian go to a steakhouse you ask? Well, because it’s the polite thing to do when you get invited and because I feel it is my duty as the non-meat eater on this review team to provide options to my fellow vegequarians, no matter what the lunch destination is. So, Hy’s I guess provides a religious experience on so many levels, to steak-lovers in general, for the church-like atmosphere of the dining room, and also for the heavenly cheese toast. While the majority of the entrees are steak just like you would expect from any self-respecting steakhouse, there are a few decent vegequarian options that make you feel almost welcome in this carnivore cathedral (‘shrine to meat lovers everywhere’ — How many religious references can I come up with in this post?). My shrimp and crabmeat salad was nice. I enjoyed watching our unintrusive, yet attentive and professional waitress prepare a Caesar salad table-side just like it’s supposed to be done. Overall, this relic of a restaurant deserves to be acknowledged for its efforts to maintain a certain level of class in a town where eateries full of barely competent, scantily clad “I’m actually an actress” waitresses serving mediocre food seem to be all the rage.
Well put Birgit (although I did have Filet Mignon – the best one I’ve EVER had btw). I’d like to point out though, that I thought I recognized our waitress from a low-budget, straight-to-dvd sci-fi movie that was filmed in Vancouver two summers ago. But that’s just a minor detail.