The Skinny: a step up on the regular steakhouse, this place delivers some good eats with finesse and occasional missteps - don't order the duck fat fries because it comes as a sizable amuse bouche (4) Service: our waiter/servers were great but there are major issues with the hostess stand (3) Value: considering the plethora of deals on Restaurant.com, this place can be a good value if you order right (4).\n\nMy hubby was hankering to take me here for a while and we finally got a chance to try the menu at Stripsteak.\n\nAfter passing by multiple restaurants with hostesses soliciting our business, we were taken aback by the inefficient hostess. By our seating time, there was least 3-4 group of guests gathered around the hostess desk. She basically ignored the diners and the wait staff who lined to find out how to seat us. \n\nShe also didn't tell us about ongoing promotions at the restaurant: ie, the 3-course prix fixe menu for $55, or that they are currently having a half-priced happy hour lounge menu from 4-7pm. Plus, they don't offer you their prix fixe menu unless you specifically ask for it... even when you're seated at the table. For this reason, despite the stellar service at our table, the service gets 3 stars.\n\nMichael Mina is known for preparing a dish in three different ways. So obviously our amuse bouche consisted of Bay-seasoned, garlic herb, truffled duck fat fries served with accompanying truffle aioli, ketchup and mustard/bay-seasoned sauce. The fries had a lovely crispness that retained its texture even when it cooled off. The sauces were lovely especially the truffle aioli. I considered drinking the remaining dregs of it on the bottom but decided I still needed to save my appetite for food we'd ordered. \n\nThe soups were solid but nothing special. The vidalia onion soup accentuated the sweetness of onion but the croutons really lack that nice crunch. The seafood chowder was good - the broth was a little on the milder side which allowed for the diner to get the full flavour of the crab when eaten.\n\nThe foie gras sliders had the right flavour however the bun was definitely overly large considering the serving of foie on the inside. The plating would have been infinitely improved with having the bun on the side.\n\nBy far the standout was our bone-in rib-eye. It's rare to see me shovel down an entire steak the size of a catcher's mitt all on my own but there was not a scrap of meat left on that plate. Yes, it is that good. The carmelized crust on the meat was so wonderful, the inside so tender and well-seasoned ... it's hard to find steak that well-prepared. \n\nIt was lovely that they provided a small tasting of three sides along with the rib-eye. The peas were okay - a little on the mealier side of things. The truffled mac 'n cheese is always great - perfect consistency, texture and flavour. Unfortunately, the creamed spinach had a rather bitter unpleasant undertone.\n\nThe hubby's grilled chicken (they don't fry a serving of chicken unless two people order) was a very large portion. Half a grilled chicken - a lovely crispy skin, tender and moist on the inside - on top of their wonderful mac 'n cheese. Who wouldn't like this?\n\nWe topped off our very filling meal with a root beer float and warm chocolate chip cookies. We loved the fact that the ice cream was so cold, it turned our creamy root beer into a nice slush. The chocolate chip cookies were a delight - not too sweet,cool enough to have a mild crust on the outside with melting chocolate on the inside.\n\nOverall, we had a wonderful meal for a very reasonable price due to the Restaurant.com certificate. We ordered one prix fixe meals ($55 + $10 supplement for the steak) plus two starters (foie gras $22; onion soup: $17) and one entree (chicken $30). Subtract the $50 Restaurant.com certificate (we got at bargain basement prices), the meal ended up being $118.97 (including tax and 18% tip) which is reasonable considering the quantity and quality of the cuisine. Definitely a solid four star review.
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