Establishment: Tropical Acres
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Meal: Dinner
Drink: Coca-Cola
Appetizer: Gorgonzola Toast and Fried Zucchini Slices
Main: Porterhouse Steak
(Certified Angus Beef) 25-26 oz King of Cuts
Side(s): Mushroom gravy and Baked potato
add bacon, butter and cheese
Dessert: Fresh made cheesecake
cherry
Server: Jill for front service
There's a tradition that dates back many many years in my home ... for my birthday, we go to a steak house. Having lived in Chicago for over a dozen years, *that* made complete sense ... and we are holding out hope that the tradition translates well to southern Florida. For this year's edition, visiting family joined us at the oldest steak house in southern Florida ... and although the steak I got sure did fill up the plate (so much so that it was too full to even start to cut it), this choice didn't quite live up to the experiences of some past steak houses. However, it should be said, that it was known going in that this was more reasonably priced ... and the saying is true ... you get what you pay for. The details are below, as per usual ... but to sum it up ... to get dressed up and to *pretend* to go out somewhere nice, this fit the bill.
AMBIANCE: 8/10 (with an "attached to a hotel" feel, the space was plenty big, and our party had a booth in the corner where we could see out over the restaurant with its frosted glass panels and giant ceiling fans made out of boat rudders ... and the pewter plates and dessert cart were a nice touch ... but a point lost for booths that were a touch too small for our four people and another point lost because the place was too bright overall)
FOOD: 6/10 (a point lost for a pet peeve of mine [warm rolls {yay!} but nearly frozen butter pats that can't be spread {boo}], a point lost for a gristly steak experience, a point lost for fried zucchini that needed a touch more flavor and a point lost for a burnt steak of someone else at the table that was ordered medium)
SERVICE: 7/10 (one point lost for a leaky wine bottle the server poured, another point lost for the back server having no personality and a third lost for a bartender who was so slow that one drink came well into the meal [and it had to be sent back because it was wrong])
BACON: 6/10 (although no one in our party ordered them, they do have the good sense to wrap their filets in bacon ... and I had plenty to add to my baked potato, so that's good for a handful of points)
BONUS: 9/10 (+3 because server Jill did try to make the best of it by presenting a bubbly disposition that bordered on ditzy but was certainly entertaining, +3 for being the oldest steakhouse in southern Florida, and +3 magnanimously because it was my annual birthday meal)
TroyScore: 36 out of 50 -- aka 72, a low C
No comments:
Post a Comment