July 30, 2008

PINKY'S STEAKHOUSE & COCKTAIL BAR


"A GREAT ROOM AND I AM HAPPY TO SAY, A GREAT STEAK"

Location: 1265 Hamilton St. Vancouver
Telephone: 604-637-3135
Website: PINKY'S STEAKHOUSE

Steak. It's honestly one of my all-time favorite meals. Ron Burgundy loves Scotch and I loves me a good steak. I love trying steaks at different restaurants but more often than not, I am disappointed with the meal. While some consider it "just a slab of meat", it is actually quite a difficult thing to perfect. It has gotten to the point where I have perfected my own steak at home and now use that as the barometer for restaurant steak and it is rarely if ever beaten.

Sure there are a lot of steakhouse out there but most are far too overpriced for what you get or what you get is overcooked, rubbery and flavorless doused in a sweet or spicy sauce that does little to mask the blandness of the meat. Then along came PINKY'S. I discovered this place while cruising the net looking at the "new joints in Vancouver" so the wife and I decided to give it a go on a Tuesday night (Tuesday is the new Friday, right?).

The place was buzzing, all the tables had people and the lounge was filled with a party. Dark colors, great chandeliers, a "rockstar" light sign above the kitchen, rich leather banquettes, a lively oval-shaped bar... this place is cooler than cool. We were seated right away by a friendly hostess and ordered a glass of House Red and a Horseradish Caeser, both tasty. The menu looked fabulous and we were both Hungry.

As an appy, we ordered the Old School Potato Skins with smoked cheddar, blue cheese, bacon & scallions. They arrived 5 to the plate, hot, and dripping with gooey cheese. These definitely look like the classic potato skins of yesteryear but with the blue cheese kick, BOOYA, these were a definite homerun.


For our mains, we decided to see if this place truly lived up to its name as a Steakhouse. I ordered the 8oz Millionaires Filet Cut Blackened with Creole Butter and served with a "loaded" Baked Potato while my wife went with the 8oz Seasoned Sirloin Steak served with Fettucini Alfredo. The meals arrived and first off, the presentation is fantastic, the steaks looked great, the plate was vibrant with color and each piece of meat also came with 3 onion rings (what's a steak without Onion Rings I ask you!).


The Millionaires Filet was cooked to perfection just as I ordered it (medium rare) with the perfect amount of blackened spice encrusting it and creole butter on top. These flavors helped accentuate the steak's flavour rather than overpower it and add a great baked potato to the mix and I tell ya, it was probably the best restaurant steak I've had in the last 5 years. It doesn't top my ultimate steak (the Tenderloin steak crusted with caramelized shallots and aged balsamic syrup I had for my birthday years back at QUATTRO in Whistler is still #1) but this is definitely a close second. My wife's Seasoned Sirloin was also a winner although we both found her Fettucini Alfredo somewhat bland.


Despite our filled bellies my weakness for one dessert in all the world made us indulge... the Key Lime Pie. Bits of Lime right in the pie atop a great crumbly crust with a hint of coconut in it, this was definitely a nice sweet hit to top off the savoury meal.


All in all, we were both pleased with our experience at PINKY'S STEAKHOUSE, it's a great room and I am happy to say, home to a great steak. It may not mean much to you, but for me, that's a hell of an honor. We will definitely be going back for more!

1 comment:

CAMacKinnon said...

I had that same steak at the QUATTRO on 4th! LOVED IT!

Pinky's is open for lunch on Friday's, and I'm thinking of hitting it up sometime soon...