Steak Time

This week is Spring Restaurant Week for Phoenix, which means awesome restaurants have great deals on dinners! Matt and I have never participated in Restaurant Week before, but it seemed like a good deal: Pay $30 or $40 (depending on the restaurant) and choose from a prix fix menu that often includes an appetizer, main course and a dessert. You can even see what the prix fix menu is for each place online – helping you to make sure you’ll get options you like. We scoured the list and finally decided to try out a place called Donovan’s Steak & Chop House in Phoenix. Matt’s friend Doug had recommended the place to us a few times, but we never seemed to have an occasion to go and drop that much money on steak.

Oh, boy, am I glad we finally did!!

We got there, and the atmosphere was definitely a little fancier than we are used to. The servers all wore tuxes and everyone seemed to be a master sommelier. The interior screamed “money,” but not the kind of money like rap stars have with all the bling and whatnot This was more (as Ron Burgundy would put it) “rich mahogany and leather- bound books.” But they didn’t overdo it – it was actually quite nice to be in there.

The evening started off with some delicious bread – the perfect mix of crunchy outsides and warm, soft insides. Good bread is a must before you eat a good meal – we were off to a good start. Neither of us were drinking because it was a Monday night and we aren’t (always) alcoholics, but it did look like they had a great wine selection to choose from. We both decided to stick with the prix fix menu, but get different things so we could have more variety. The menu:

Pamela:
- Chopped House Salad
- Two – 4oz Prime Filet Mignon Medallions topped with melted bleu cheese and port demi glace. Side of Gruyere Au Gratin Potatoes and fresh vegetables
- Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Matt:
- Lobster bisque soup
- 6oz Prime Filet Mignon medallion and 2 Bacon Wrapped Scallops. Side of Skillet Fried Potatoes and fresh vegetables
- Chocolate Mousse

I’m not kidding you when I say this steak melted in my mouth. I had to close my eyes like I’m on some chocolate commercial so I could savor the flavor for as long as possible. It was just cooked so perfectly and the bleu cheese was so savory and the potatoes were smothered in cheesy goodness. It was what I imagine steak heaven to be like. Matt’s was wonderful as well – he polished off his plate with the same zeal as I did. And the desserts were amazing as well – especially the cheesecake. By the time we were done, we knew that we were going to slip into food comas within the next 30 minutes, so we rushed home. I woke up this morning still full.

I think we just found our new “special occasion” spot.