Steakhouse 85, New Brunswick

Last week we tried a new restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ with Susan & Rich called Steakhouse 85. Right off the bat I want to mention that we picked this one because of the cool looking appetizers and a fantastic sounding side dish of truffles tater tots. We did NOT pick this based on its sad little wine list. Before the dinner, we called to see if they had corkage fee and were told, no. They sell wine lockers to members and because of that do not allow anyone bring bottles into restaurant.

Despite this, we were excited for the steaks and tater tots. The four of us decided to do an appetizer, soup or salad and then steaks. For appetizers, Susan ordered the lump crab martini; Rich had the oysters; Alan the orange chipolte scallops and I had the little neck clams. Susan's crab was good and fresh but not fabulous. The dipping sauce was too basic. Rich's oysters were quite good and the mignonette was perfect. Alan's scallops were interesting and different...cooked and split. My little neck clams were yummy and fresh but the one Alan tried was gritty. A perpetual issue for him and why he doesn't like clams and mussels.

For the next course, Susan had the baby spinach salad with warm vidalia vinaigrette, bacon and hard boiled eggs. She truly loved this dish but was expecting it to be warm and it wasn't. Despite the temperature let down, the flavor was wonderful. Alan had the baby iceberg lettuce with blue cheese, tomato and bacon. It was okay. Rich ordered the mussel chowder with saffron rice. There didn't seem to be any rice that was really too watery with a healthy amount of mussels. It didn't live up to the expectation when described by our waiter.

Oh, the wine we ordered was a cheap, decent red called Chocolate Block. It was the only thing on the menu that looked doable.

For entrees, we all took a nice long look at the steak display showcasing both wet and dry aged cuts. There was a porterhouse, fillet, tomahawk, cowboy rib eye, Delmonico and NY strip. Alan and Susan went with the Delmonico; Rich ordered tomahawk...all three of those were dry aged. I ordered the cowboy that was wet aged.

Susan and Alan both thought the Delmonico was too gamey tasting - a lot like an end cap. Plus Susan's was way too fatty with a whole vein of fat running through the center making it almost impossible to cut through. Alan's wasn't as fat but he didn't love the flavor either. A bit hard to take..even though the waiter did a good job describing the gaminess to expect. Rich's tomahawk...it was a good piece of meat; cooked well but lacking the crust that he loves and so left him a little wanting. And finally my cowboy was cooked more than I wanted (and requested) and didn't have the spices / flavor I was hoping for.

The side dishes were choose to accompany these steaks were the tator tots, lobster mac & cheese and creamed spinach. Interestingly the creamed spinach was fabulous!! The tots were good but they weren't what we were hoping for with a true truffle taste. And the mac and cheese didn't taste like it had any lobster at all. The top layer of mac I tried was so tried out I was totally turned off and didn't have any more.

So in summary, it was a fun night out with friends and there was a dish or two that stood out, but we'd be better off picking up steaks from Hind & Fore and having Rich grill them up at home.

Jenn's rating: 73