Bon Appetit!

This week for the blogging project, Sara ask us to: "Imagine you are a food critic. Which restaurant would you critique? What food would you be served, and how would you describe it in your critique?"

When I saw this topic a smile came to face. See, I'm a Yelper which means I'm a food critic each and every time I dine somewhere.

For those of you who don't know what Yelp is, it's a online site were you can find reviews written on various businesses - including restaurants. I've been "yelping" for several years now. At one point I was so into yelping that my friends would ask me how my review would read while we were sitting waiting for our food. These days I don't yelp as much. It's not due to lack of places to yelp about, but more about having the time to yelp about places I've been. (I guess that is the trade-off for being on the go a lot of the time.)

Getting to Sarah's original questions, I've decided to serve-up one of my past reviews so you can get a feel for how I review restuarants - (especially ones I really enjoy).

This particular review, written in 2008, is for St. Elmo's Steakhouse located in Indianapolis, IN:


"This place definitely gives my favorite steakhouse a run for it's money! If it were close to where I lived I'd have a hard time trying to decide where to go for a great steak dinner.

I'm going to be upfront and tell you this St. Elmo's isn't cheap. I would guess done right (appetizer, steak, dessert and wine) it costs about $70 - $80/person - at least. I wouldn't know for sure since I this was treated to this wonderful meal as a show of appreciation.

The meal itself ---

Come hungry! There is a lot of food served with this meal and it's all good. . .

The Wine:

If you can't find a wine you like you're not looking hard enough. This particular evening a nice Pinot Grigio was the wine of choice.

The Food:

We went full-force on the meal (well for the most part).

The Appetizer:

For starters we had the shrimp cocktail. The horseradish in the cocktail sauce is freshly ground daily. Though the horseradish was a bit potent at times, the cocktail sauce, overall, was perfect. To accompany this fine treat I had an onion roll. That was good as well. The onion was not too over-bearing in taste.

The Soup:

I got the Navy Bean (a first for me). Yum! That is all I have to say about that.

The Steak and Potato:

By the time the main course arrived I felt as though I already had dinner and dessert so I was hopeful I wouldn't waste the eye catching filet that was placed in front of me. I was warned ahead of time they have a tendency to cook things on the rare side so if you like your meat medium order it medium well . . . which I did and it came out perfect. Just enough pink. And the taste - OMG! So good! It was everything it was built up to be - and more. I accompanied my steak with a good ol' fashion, plain-jane baked potato swimming in butter (hey, if I was going to do it right no corners would be cut this evening which for me meant lot of butter on my potato).

Dessert:

The only look at dessert our table got was across the room at someone else's table. By the time dessert came around we were both full though the thought of Creme Brulee was tempting. (Not a usual choice for me, but it sounded really nice this particular evening.) However, I passed.

The Service:

Outstanding service. Impeccable. Our waiter had been there 9-years and treated us as if we were his first customers. He was on the ball at all times and anticipated our every request. Not something I've experienced often.

The Atmosphere:

When the suggestion of St. Elmo's came up I was told it had the feel of an " Ol Boys Club." Funny enough, I would later learn from a good friend of mine that once upon a time that presumption was fairly accurate. How did I find that out? Turns out the grandfather of one of my close friends was an original owner of St. Elmo's. Further into the discussion about St. Elmo's past, it turns out the kitchen use to be in the front of the restaurant however that has since changed. The front now sports a dark wood bar and tables in with minimal lighting. In the back of the restaurant a well lit, open dining area. While dinging in the main dining area, take a look at the photographs that adorn the walls of the main dining area. It's cool to see who's been there to eat.

All in all, dining at St. Elmo's is well worth the cost."


Now that I've shared one of my "food critic" moments, please take a moment to read what my fellow bloggers have to say on the topic:

• Momorock (Sara)

• Merryland Girl (Melissa)

• Mom of Many (Susanna)

Until later . . .