kyotousa said:fiveoh said:

It's as much as an insult that a customer can't get what he ordered after two chances. I know most of you don't eat steak well-done, but when I'm paying for it, I want it cooked the way I want, not how the chef decides to cook it or how he himself eats it. If you know how to cook (like a chef at a steakhouse should) it's not hard to have a juicy medium-well to well done steak.

How's that possible? Unless the steak is marinated and thin you can't have a juicy well done or medium well steak.
You cook a steak well done all the blood and fat are burnt off and those are the juice.
juicy well done steak, definitely an oxymoron....

I'll bet 20 bucks you can't find a juicy well done 4" steak

If you think logically, what's the point of having a meat cooked medium or medium rare if it'd taste the same as well done.

Of course its possible to cook a steak well done but most cooks fear it because they were never taught how properly. If they cooked it beyond medium during training they were yelled at like a little child. A well done steak is slightly charred on both sides with no pink remaining inside. If you do this right there will still be fat juices trapped inside.

Actually I never cared if the chef got it right but what bothered me most was the behavior of the wait staff. If you order beyond medium in most decent restaurants you are treated like crap. They act like you just stumbled out of the double wide and are a complete fool. If you order well done the vast majority will try to shame you into ordering lesser done by making fun of your choice with table mates or even with neighboring tables. A medium-well will start with the "are you sure" or " our steaks are of the highest quality and should not be cooked beyond medium" blah blah blah. I haven't ordered well or medium-well in several years because my tastes have changed. I can handle medium in most places but some chefs consider medium to be 70% uncooked inside. There should be standards and it shouldn't be a guessing game. If you think getting your steak right is a challenge just try ordering a fish steak beyond medium rare.

Argh, nothing for NYC/Long Island. I love Ruths, and they dont offer the lunch specials anymore in manhattan. Used to go there frequently when they did.

Thanks op... time to impress the misses.

kyotousa said:fiveoh said:It's as much as an insult that a customer can't get what he ordered after two chances. I know most of you don't eat steak well-done, but when I'm paying for it, I want it cooked the way I want, not how the chef decides to cook it or how he himself eats it. If you know how to cook (like a chef at a steakhouse should) it's not hard to have a juicy medium-well to well done steak.
How's that possible? Unless the steak is marinated and thin you can't have a juicy well done or medium well steak. You cook a steak well done all the blood and fat are burnt off and those are the juice.
juicy well done steak, definitely an oxymoron....
I'll bet 20 bucks you can't find a juicy well done 4" steak
Well done does not mean that all the blood and fat are burned off. Often it is if cooked improperly, but I've made well done steaks (albeit thinner ones) that were definitely not dry at all. They're not as juicy as a med-rare steak, but then again the difference is less than the variation between better and worse samples of the same cut of meat in the first place.
If you think logically, what's the point of having a meat cooked medium or medium rare if it'd taste the same as well done.
Huh? med and med rare definitely do not taste like a well done steak. I prefer med now, but I used to eat med-well to well-done as a kid because it tasted better at the time. Now I prefer med because that tastes better now. But they've never tasted the same.

I agree with fiveoh; the real crime is that staff at places seem to think that if you're not ordering something they approve of, they can treat you like crap. People like all sorts of unusual things, I know at fast food places I don't like any condiments which others don't understand. I recognize that chef's are fearful of ruining good meat by "overcooking it" (in their opinion). But if a customer is willing to pay lots of money to get high-class food that is cooked in a way that others don't enjoy, who are other people to tell the customer that he's wrong? If he enjoys it, he enjoys it. The fact that a chef would be insulted by a certain request seems like sheer arrogance. I recognize that the chef has talent, that they make things a certain way on purpose, etc etc. But people like different amounts of salt, fat, juiciness, seasoning, spiciness, etc. Being insulted by a customers request only makes sense if you accept that everyone should like their food cooked the same way (ie. the chef's preference). That just doesn't make sense.

jumpfroggy said:
Huh? med and med rare definitely do not taste like a well done steak. I prefer med now, but I used to eat med-well to well-done as a kid because it tasted better at the time. Now I prefer med because that tastes better now. But they've never tasted the same.


one thing, it slightly depends on the type of steak also. I prefer a leaner cut like a filet medium rare. a fattier cut like ribeye or anything in between, I always ask medium. I used to prefer medium rare in my younger days, but not so much when I go out for steak now. most steakhouses medium means you get that nice pink warm center. that's plenty rare for me...

that doesn't mean they always cook it perfectly the way I want it when I go to different, but it gives me the most satisfaction, best taste and great chance they're going to get it right. if it's just slightly undercooked I'm fine, if it's just barely overcooked I'm fine.

anything outside of that range and it's going back... by the way I went to Morton's last valentine's day (whoa $$$) they have a cajun ribeye that is just great. but the rarest you can / should order it is medium. mine was actually crispy around the extreme edges, so I'm glad I didn't order it medium-well because it would have been charred. oh yeah, anyone who visits Morton's don't order a Chimay beer unless you understand it is almost 2 beers and is going to set you back $22 for a beer that's $10 in a specialty store like BevMo. damn they're good, but $22? one reason I hate restaurants with no beer list.

jumpfroggy said:kyotousa said:fiveoh said:It's as much as an insult that a customer can't get what he ordered after two chances. I know most of you don't eat steak well-done, but when I'm paying for it, I want it cooked the way I want, not how the chef decides to cook it or how he himself eats it. If you know how to cook (like a chef at a steakhouse should) it's not hard to have a juicy medium-well to well done steak.
How's that possible? Unless the steak is marinated and thin you can't have a juicy well done or medium well steak. You cook a steak well done all the blood and fat are burnt off and those are the juice.
juicy well done steak, definitely an oxymoron....
I'll bet 20 bucks you can't find a juicy well done 4" steak
Well done does not mean that all the blood and fat are burned off. Often it is if cooked improperly, but I've made well done steaks (albeit thinner ones) that were definitely not dry at all. They're not as juicy as a med-rare steak, but then again the difference is less than the variation between better and worse samples of the same cut of meat in the first place.
If you think logically, what's the point of having a meat cooked medium or medium rare if it'd taste the same as well done.
Huh? med and med rare definitely do not taste like a well done steak. I prefer med now, but I used to eat med-well to well-done as a kid because it tasted better at the time. Now I prefer med because that tastes better now. But they've never tasted the same.

I agree with fiveoh; the real crime is that staff at places seem to think that if you're not ordering something they approve of, they can treat you like crap. People like all sorts of unusual things, I know at fast food places I don't like any condiments which others don't understand. I recognize that chef's are fearful of ruining good meat by "overcooking it" (in their opinion). But if a customer is willing to pay lots of money to get high-class food that is cooked in a way that others don't enjoy, who are other people to tell the customer that he's wrong? If he enjoys it, he enjoys it. The fact that a chef would be insulted by a certain request seems like sheer arrogance. I recognize that the chef has talent, that they make things a certain way on purpose, etc etc. But people like different amounts of salt, fat, juiciness, seasoning, spiciness, etc. Being insulted by a customers request only makes sense if you accept that everyone should like their food cooked the same way (ie. the chef's preference). That just doesn't make sense.

I believe the main reason the steaks at high end places, when cooked well done, are not as "Juicy" as other steaks has to do with the aging of the steak. When a steak is "dry aged" for 15+ days, the steak itself looses a lot of moisture. This also creates a stronger flavor. The aging also makes the steak not as bloody or juicy at medium rare, which i like.

have you ever noticed that when you cook a steak from ralphs medium rare, it is really bloody and juicy? This is because the ralphs steak has not been aged as long as the "ruth's" steak.

When a good steak is cooked Well-Done, i believe it is not as juicy due to the aging.

lowpricewanted said:Cut out the Hannity and Limbaugh ad budget and the meals could be half the price.

..and then no one would go to eat there because they'd never heard of the place.

it's called targeted marketing. these aren't hippie vegetarian twentysomething hopebot neckbeards listening to Hannity and Limbaugh. They're affluent, well educated folks who enjoy good steak.

Kudos to Ruth's for a job well done when it comes to knowing their customer base.

haha! ruth's everywhere in california! SoCal and SF area, at least.

charchar said:haha! ruth's everywhere in california! SoCal and SF area, at least.

Yeah, obviously. But this deal is no good there.

jklyank said:I can't believe all the steak experts that have gathered in this one spot! You people really know your stuff about how people should like their food. It's obvious you don't need to hang out at fat wallet to save money look for deals, you come here to dazzle us with your knowledge. Thank you!

Whats obvious is that you shoudnt be in a thread about a steak house.