Steak Frites at Steak Frites

I had a bit of a sorority reunion last night when Bomber, SIP & I met for dinner. After some discussion Bomber & I decided on Steak Frites, a pleasant French bistro located in my neighborhood. I have been to Steak Frites on two other occasions and both times left the restaurant quite pleased with my meal. Would the third time be a charm?

The hostess sat me before the rest of my party (a plus) and Bomber chose a lovely bottle of Malbec from Argentina to start our meal. After perusing the menu, the three of us decided to go with their Restaurant Week offerings. This can be a bit of a gamble, however, since some NY kitchens seem to chide their patrons who choose the $35 three-course prix fixe even though the restaurant actually has to apply and get asked to participate in this program which is something I've yet to understand. You want to be a part of this to get business into your restaurant and then treat those customers like second class citizens? Why the attitude? And yes, I am talking to you San Domenico, Vong, and China Grill!

I've droned on enough about Restaurant Week - back to the pleasantries of our meal. We all had the lovely Belgian Endive, Roasted Green Market Beets, Black Walnuts & Warmed Goat Cheese salad to start. The 'black' walnuts were simply caramelized but the crunchy sweetness of the nuts was a nice compliment to the smooth beets and the creamy goat cheese. The salad was light, tasty and satisfying!

Bomber & I followed with a traditional steak frites; medium rare. The steak was cooked perfectly and had a bit more fat than I am accustomed to with steak frites but the overall quality of the meat was pretty good. The fries were crisp and a bit thicker than the matchstick fries found in most other French bistros but held their own against the competition.

SIP had a winter shellfish bouillabaisse and was quite satisfied with her choice. I was pretty stuffed by my entree but did manage to squeeze in a clam and was pleased by the slightly spicy tomato sauce.

Desserts were the highlight of our meal; a Warm Lemon Pudding Cake With Blueberry Compote for Bomber and SIP along with Profiteroles Arabica Puffed Pastry, Coffee Ice Cream and Dense Dark Chocolate Espresso Sauce for Ms. Foodie. The pudding was creamy and not too tart and the blueberry compote not too sweet.

My profiteroles were delicious; the ice cream was rich and the pasty was light with just enough sauce to coat the dessert without overpowering it.

All in all a pretty solid meal. There are better French bistros to be found throughout the city, however, if you are looking for a solid, consistent comparably priced meal in a somewhat pricey often pretentious neighborhood you really can't go wrong with a visit to Steak Frites.