Best RW Experience Yet at Rothmann’s Steakhouse and Grill!

As we’ve said time and time again, steakhouses are your best bet for a good Restaurant Week experience, and Rothmann’s Steakhouse and Grill was no exception.

I went Monday night and had a great evening from start to finish. The decor was simple and sophisticated, similar to other big steakhouses, and they started us off with a delicious and varied bread basket with steak sauce similar to Peter Luger’s infamous sauce. The service was also incredible…almost uncomfortably good. For instance, when I said what I wanted for an appetizer, our waiter followed up with “Thank you.” Confused, I awkwardly said “Thank you”  back to him and then placed my entree order, which he followed up by saying “Yes, please.” I almost started laughing. Our waiter was so kind that it was sort of weird to get those kinds of responses back after I placed an order.

The impeccable service was particularly appreciated since one major pet peeve of RW experiences is that the waitstaff treats you poorly if you order from the RW menu, but at Rothmann’s the lovely service spoke to the restaurant’s class. Another common pet peeve is that you have to ask for the RW menu versus it being presented to you. While they did give us the main menu first, about 5 minutes or so later the RW menu was placed on the table so we didn’t have to ask for it which was nice. We also hear complaints that the RW menus aren’t representative of the main menu and that chefs whip up other “lower” concoctions for the RW menus. At Rothmann’s it was a mix so we felt we got a real taste of the restaurant.

We picked Rothmann’s based on the RW menu options:

Appetizers: hot and sour fried calamari, traditional fried calamari, baked clams, cheese ravioli with proscuitto, basil and a plum tomato sauce, or buffalo mozzarella and beefsteak tomatoes.

Entrees: filet mignon with parmesean whipped potatoes and sauteed broccoli, hanger steak with a bacon and asparagus hash, roasted chicken or roasted salmon.

Desserts: fresh fruit platter, creme brulee or NY cheesecake.

How do you choose?! Well, in a pathetic attempt to monitor what I ate, I went for the mozzarella and tomato appetizer (which also came with a few sundried tomatoes and a drizzle of pesto), the filet mignon, and the fresh fruit platter. My boyfriend ordered the ravioli, the hanger steak, and the creme brulee. I also had a glass of Malbec and he had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Yet another pet peeve about RW experiences is that the portions are so darn small. This is not, I repeat, NOT, an issue at Rothmann’s. In fact, I would have been happy if they reduced the portions a bit. They were ridiculously huge. I saw a platter of calamari go by and I swear it could easily feed 6 people. It was crazy big. Paul’s ravioli appetizer could have been a complete dinner at an Italian restaurant and even my mozzarella and tomato appetizer was huge with cheese and tomato slices over half an inch thick and as wide as coasters.

And I’d be remiss not to note how delicious both of our appetizers were! Paul’s ravioli was every bit as good as it sounds with a homemade tomato sauce that he scooped up and ate. I didn’t even finish my appetizer but the cheese was fresh (although I would have liked it even saltier and milkier) and the tomatoes were unusually flavorful for this time of year.

The entrees were just as big as the appetizers. My filet mignon must have been 10 oz and Paul’s steak was thinner and wider, so it was harder to judge the actual weight of it. We were both surprised that we liked his hanger steak better than my filet mignon. Although we typically lean towards filet mignon when at a steakhouse, he decided to switch it up and try a new kind of steak – hanger – which came with the most delicious sauce. I can’t quite describe it, but I was dipping everything from broccoli to my potatoes to my fork into that sauce. It was so good and definitely pushed the hanger steak to the top place for the night.

His bacon and asparagus hash was good too and it had a lot of spinach which was nice. I’ve never tasted a smaller nibble of meat before that had as much smokey flavor as those bits of bacon in the hash, but it was really good. I had a few bites of my potatoes which were good and the broccoli luckily wasn’t too soggy from oil which I appreciated.

Then, when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore (we had to doggy bag our entree leftovers), out came our dessert. He ordered a second beer and I opted for some French pressed coffee which I consider to be a delicacy in its own right. I am happy to report that at least my fruit platter had good fruit – pineapple, fresh melon, raspberries, etc. It could have been crappy winter fruit, so I was pleased. Naturally Paul’s creme brulee was better and it was definitely big enough on its own to share. It was just the way you want creme brulee to be with a crispy sugar topping and creamy custard underneath.

It was an outstanding dinner and neither of us could find a single fault with any aspect of it if we tried. Considering the filet mignons on the menu range from $36-44, and the appetizers and desserts $10+, the Restaurant Week menu is without a doubt a great value. I highly recommend Rothmann’s Steakhouse and Grill for a top-notch RW experience or any special occasion place. You will not be disappointed!