Left Bank

Left Bank

377 Santana Row # 1100
San Jose, CA 95128-2058
(408) 984-3500

I've been to Left Bank on multiple occasions. I must admit it is a hit or miss with me on this restaurant. Sometimes I'm blown away and other times, I'm left disappointed.

After a hard days work, my wife and I decided to unwind at Santana Row. After walking among the plethora of restaurants, we decided to go with Left Bank.

The place was packed, but we were seated right away. After skimming over the menu we decided to start with the Ahi Tuna tartar. My wife would have the steak and fries and I had the duck served two ways.

Our server quickly took our order and brought over some bread. They actually brought over two batches. The first batch was room temperature and we quickly devoured it since we were so hungry. The second batch was better, it was still hot, like it just left the oven. The butter was okay, but it was a bit hard, which made for spreading a bit difficult.

Our Ahi Tuna was brought pretty quickly. It appeared nice, but it was quite bland. There was little to no seasoning. We were a bit disappointed. Perhaps they thought the small amount of olive oil would provide the flavoring. The tuna itself was okay, but it lack the fatty buttery taste of a good tuna. The micro salad was okay, it had a bit of a peppery kick to it.

My wife's steak was okay, though it was a bit small. The meat was tender, but once again was a bit bland. The fries was decent. If you ever had McDonald's french fries, this was similar. This is not to knock that the fries were bad. In fact a freshly made McDonald's french fries are some of the best. My wife remarked that I had made better steaks at home. After taking a few bites from her dish, I tended to agree. The side carrots were decent, they were both soft and sweet.

My duck was better. The leg was served confit style, while the breast was roasted. There was a sweet apricot salad in the middle. I often like fresh fruit with the main dish, it makes the whole dish more fresh and appealing. The duck itself tasted okay, but it lack that signature bold flavor that would have put it over the top. The dish felt almost there, but seem to lack that one thing or ingredient.

Service on the whole was good. We were catered upon and had our drinks refilled without asking. Even though the place was busy, we never felt neglected.

Final Thoughts: It was a miss this time.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 4 stars

Price: Above Average

Overall: 3 1/2 stars

Morton's Steakhouse

1895 S Harbor Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92802-3509
(714) 621-0101

Sometimes you know you are being a bit too excessive. You are bordering on being a bit too self indulgent. But during those times you must say to yourself, "I deserve it!" I knew that by going to Morton's Steakhouse, that I was going to blow my vacation budget. I knew that the bill was going to be astronomically high. But it was a chance I was not going to pass up.

The restaurant was literally only a block away from our hotel on South Harbor Blvd in Anaheim. There was another steak house closer called Chris Ruth's Steakhouse, but we made the extra effort in going to Morton's. Although we were not dressed for the occasion, the hostess did not mind. All she requested was that I remove my cap in the main dinning room, to which I was happy to oblige. Inside, you'll find a very old time rustic decor that screams out that they take their food very seriously. Most of the patrons were smartly dressed which made us feel a bit under dressed. The main dinning room was pack, and plenty of servers with their hustle and flow provided a great ambiance.

The servers provide a show before they take your order, which included the different cuts of steak. They tell you specifics, like how long they aged their meats, what sauces are with what dish, and any dessert that require pre-ordering due to the cooking time. All the servers were very knowledgeable and we found them to quite friendly. After the presentation, we decided to start with a lobster bisque, a Jumbo Shrimp Alexander for my wife, chicago style bone in rib eye for myself. We also pre-order the Raspberry Souffle so that we could end our meal with even more decadency. The sides were extra, but we ordered some hash browns and steamed vegetables, because eating nothing but meat would have been a bit too self indulgent.

The bread that most restaurant starts out with is usually pretty forgettable, but not Morton's. The bring out a onion round loaf. If you never had one, it's like eating a big onion bun that you find in bakery stores. The crust is crisp and the inside tender. With the accompanied soft butter, I could have just eaten that by itself for the the whole meal.

Our soup came out first, it was the very rich lobster bisque. My wife thought it was way too rich, but I suspect that she does not understand what a bisque is. I tasted it, and it was fine to me. The rich buttery silky smooth soup with the lobster flavor as the background. I think my wife expected more of a lobster chowder.

The shrimp for my wife's Jumbo Shrimp Alexander were truly huge. Usually when people claim jumbo they really just mean large. Most shrimp are not big enough to be consider an entree by themselves, but the ones we got were. They were coated with some seasoned bread crumbs and served with a white creamy sauce on the bottom. The shrimp tasted fresh and was seasoned nicely. I'm not a big shrimp fan, often I find them very boring, but these shrimp definitely woke me up a bit. The picture do not really convey the how big these shrimps were.

The star of the night was definitely my rib eye. I often choose rib eye due to the fact that the cut has great marbling. Morton is more known for their porterhouse cut, but there was no way my wife and I could've finish a steak that size. Now when Morton's ask you how you want your steak done, you better know for sure. When they tell you that they can prepare exactly the way you want it, they mean it. If you say medium well, with a slick just a hint of pink throughout, that's exactly the steak you'll get. I requested medium rare, and it was exactly the way I want it. My steak had a good charred crispy steak and the more center you cut the more rare it got. The outside was seasoned perfectly. The meat was aged which means they let it sit, usually for time time in a dry cool cellar. This allows the meat to become way more flavorful and way more tender. The side order of hash browns unfortunately was a bit too crispy and over done. The server noted it and took it off our bill.

We ended our meal with the raspberry souffle. It was presented as usually with the top overflowing it's container, but quickly deflated as it was cut into. The raspberry flavor was very mild and nice. The souffle was nice and smooth and not too eggy. There was no sauce served with it, but they did scope a rich heavy cream next to it. It was a nice contrast of the light souffle and heaviest of the cream. My wife, who is not a souffle fan, even said it tasted pretty good.

Our servers were excellent. We did not have to request for refills of our water. They even bought out a live lobster to show and entertain our small child. Everything was handle quickly and professionally. Plus the fact they were are very knowledgeable was a bonus.

Final thoughts: Well worth the price of admission.

Food: 4 1/2 stars

Service: 4 1/2 stars

Price: Very high to Astronomical

Overall 4 1/2 stars

Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse

632 Blossom Hill Rd

San Jose, Ca

95123

(408)226-4922

We went to Outback on Blossom Hill road in San Jose to satisfy our craving for a bit of meat.

It was not a busy day, so we were seated promptly, usually the wait is about 30 minutes to an hour. The interior of any Outback is usually the same, white walls decorated with an Australian theme motif. If you been to one Outback, you probably been to all.

The waitress brought us some of the usually dark rye bread that Outback usually serves with a side of whipped butter. The bread was decent with a nice robust flavor, but the butter was rather bland. They either added too much air or selected the wrong type of butter. It could not hold it's own against the strong flavored bread.

We ordered some appetizers and decided to split the entree. Our first appetizer was their famous blooming onion. Of course other restaurant chains have their versions like the awesome blossom. It's basically an onion that has been cut and battered, then deep fried. Yes, it is as fattening as it sounds. Not recommended for my fellow dieters out there. It was crispy with a nice onion flavored throughout. The mayo dipping sauce accented the onion nicely.

Next came our chicken wings or kookaburra wings as Outback calls it. It has a flavored of a fried chicken mated with buffalo wings. It comes as mild, medium and hot. Since my wife as the heat tolerance of a 2 year old, we had to settle for mild. Lucky for me, even the mild version has a bit of kick. The skin was crispy and fried nicely, while the blue cheese dressing provided a nice cool sensation to those that needed it. It also comes with an accompaniment of celery but the celery is not really needed.

We had our serve split our steak in the back. We chose the Victoria's Filled cooked to a medium rare. Outback has an additional topping of blue cheese or horseradish crumb crush on top. My wife did not want my suggestions of blue cheese, she felt that she did not like the strong flavor of blue cheese. I had my reservations of a horseradish crumb crust, but reluctantly agreed. Unfortunately my fears was right. The horseradish did not combined well with the steak at all. The spicy and radish flavor clashed the salt beefy steak. I elected to scrap off the topping and just eat the steak, which wasn't bad. We selected the baked potato as our side, and that was nice prepared. Soft and well cooked throughout with a butter and chive topping. If only my steak could have tasted as well as the potato.

Our server was excellent. She check in on us multiple times and even refilled our drinks without us asking. All of our request was handled speedily. Luck for us it was not a busy night so we were able to get all the personal attention we want.

Final Thoughts: Good place to satisfy that steak craving, but stay away from that horseradish crust.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 4 stars

Price: Average

Overall: 3 1/2 stars

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