30-Second Food Review: Mesa Grill (NYC)

102 5th Avenue, New York City (map)

My food quest started with a booking at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant two months ago, and later I decided to also do my own “Iron Chef tour.”  First on the list was Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.

Food:  Pretty? Yes. Worth it? No.  Starter bread and corn muffin were average. We skipped appetizers and went straight for the entrees. Both the boyfriend and I opted for the spice-rubbed New York strip.   For $35 I expected a lot more.  The steak was overcooked (I had asked for medium-rare, it arrived closer to medium-well) and I didn’t taste much, if any, spice.  I could’ve cooked a better steak myself for a quarter of the price.  For sides, we had the carrots, which were in a sweet and spicy sort of sauce, not too bad, and mashed potatoes, probably the best of the dishes ordered, but still nothing special.

Service:  I’d booked the reservation through Open Table that morning, and when we arrived, we still had to wait 5-10 minutes for the table.  The main waitress was quite friendly.  Food came quickly.  Surprised they don’t offer fresh ground pepper.

Ambiance:  Rather nice, darkly-lit.  Reminds me of Cactus Club, but I suppose a tad classier.

Overall:  I would not return or recommend.  It’s possible maybe their other dishes stand out a lot more, but for an American-styled restaurant, I was disappointed with the poorly cooked steak.  Maybe if the steak were $20 instead, then I’d say that quality would’ve been expected. I later received an e-mail from a co-worker saying that’s what you get for a chef whose first restaurant was in Vegas, has a career based on TV shows, and hasn’t lifted a pan in years, lol.

Posted by tastethehappy September 2008

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