Review: Bourbon Steak sometimes good, always pricy
September 30th, 2008, 8:00 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Jess Harter
The most impressive thing about Bourbon Steak, part of celebrity chef Michael Mina’s national restaurant empire, is the size of the dent the Fairmont Scottsdale resort’s trendy steakhouse will put in your bank account.
Some of Mina’s culinary offerings are very good; others are disappointing. But all are expensive.
During one of my visits, for example, dinner for three — two small appetizers, three entrees and two small desserts — results in a gulp-inducing bill, after tax and tip, of $411.
No, the meal doesn’t include Bourbon Steak’s much-publicized $190 Japanese “A5” Kobe steak (which is no longer on the menu). It doesn’t even include a bottle of wine.
And as we leave the restaurant, one of my companions accurately sums up the evening, “That was good, but not great.”
For $400-plus, shouldn’t a meal be great?
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Bourbon Steak’s chic Japanese-meets-Craftsman-style décor is appealing enough. With lots of natural stone, metal and glass, this is not your father’s steakhouse.
My only complaint is the modern seating — straight-backed wood chairs and too-deep banquettes — leaves both me and my dining companions squirming as visits push the three-hour mark.
While service is leisurely — who wants to rush through such an expensive meal? — it’s also very attentive. Water glasses never reach the half-empty point. And the staff knows every item on the recently streamlined menu forward and backward.
Meals start with a couple of freebies. Instead of bread and butter, rosemary-potato focaccia bread arrives in a sizzling killet. Drizzled with truffle oil, it’s heavy and soggy.
Much better are Mina’s signature trio of duck-fat fries, each set seasoned differently and paired with three sauces: onion ketchup, barbecue and truffle aioli.
You’ll probably want to stick to the fries, because appetizers are pricy and small.
Heirloom tomatoes and burrata ($16), for example, consist of just four wedges that, if combined, would barely make half a tomato. A pair of foie gras sliders ($24) dazzle with earthy flavors, but are gone in two bites.
Steaks, the stars of the menu, come in three tiers: top-of-the-line certified Angus, American wagyu (so-called American Kobe) and Japanese “A5” Kobe, considered the world finest beef.
At the bottom of this pyramid, a 12-ounce skirt steak ($32) proves surprisingly tough and grisly, as does the next “least expensive” steak, an 18-ounce “cowboy” ribeye ($47, pictured above), the menu’s only dry-aged steak.
In fact, it’s not until I climb to the American wagyu level, in the form of an 8-ounce boneless ribeye ($64) and an 8-ounce filet mignon ($72), that the steaks, slow-poached in butter and then seared over a wood-burning grill, finally begin to truly impress.
(The top-tier Japanese Kobe, by the way, which included a $190 filet mignon and a $175 New York strip when Bourbon Steak opened in February, has been reduced to a single offering: a $150 N.Y strip.)
And steaks aren’t the only entrées that can fail to live up to a hefty price tag.
Lobster pot pie ($90, pictured at left) comes in a pastry-covered pot and is rolled to the table in a bit of tableside theater. After the doughy top is carefully removed and placed on the plate, the server arranges the lobster and vegetables on it, then ladles on a rich sauce.
It looks picture-perfect, but the medium-sized, de-shelled claws and tail are not a lot of lobster for $90. Worse yet, the meat is tough and stringy.
A la carte sides also are hit-and-miss. Roasted asparagus ($11) and truffled mac ‘n’ cheese ($12) are top-notch. On the other hand, horseradish whipped potatoes ($8) are bland and runny, and jalapeno creamed corn ($8) is more like corn chowder.
Desserts include a smooth-tasting mascarpone cheesecake with small pieces of apple fritter ($12) and powder-sugared beignets with Scotch-soaked butterscotch pudding ($12, pictured below), both delicious.
Ultimately, though, a visit to Bourbon Steak begs the question: Is it worth the price?
For most East Valley residents, I suspect the answer would be no. But for some people, money simply isn’t a consideration, even in these troubled economic times.
On one of my visits, I’m eating a $22 hamburger alone at the bar and I strike up a friendly conversation with a resort guest from Hilton Head Island, S.C., while we watch the Diamondbacks on TV.
Along with his American Kobe steak, the gentleman, probably in his late 30s, orders a bottle of wine.
“I’m not familiar with that vintage,” I say. “Is it expensive?”
“About 75,” he says.
“Seventy-five dollars seems pretty reasonable for a place like this,” I say.
He looks puzzled for a moment, then corrects me: “Seventy-five hundred.”
Suddenly a $150 steak looks like a bargain.
Bourbon Steak
Where: Fairmount Scottsdale, 7575 E. Princess Drive, Scottsdale
Open: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
Prices: Appetizers $14-$24, steaks $32-$150, other entrees $22-$90, sides $8-$12, desserts $12.
Info: (480) 513-6002 or michaelmina.net
