Quality Meats, New York City

Quality Meats NYC (Addr: 57 W 58th St, New York, NY 10019, USA Phone: +1 212-371-7777)   is a restaurant  backed by Smith & Wollensky, a steakhouse institution in NYC (that now has several branches across the US as well as abroad). It is part of a  group of restaurants that include some of the most successful eateries of NYC such as Don Angie, Smith & Wollensky, Park Avenue, etc. They do offer a contemporary take on North American familiar dishes  such as their take on the North American steaks . It  is hip and does have a social vibe. The decor features  several   elements  pertaining to the  neo rustic chic interior design, elements such as marble, wood, and stainless steel. Chandeliers and white ceramic tiles completing the decor.

I went there because not all steakhouses in NYC do offer great  bone-in rib eye steaks, my preferred cut for a steak. They do stellar Porterhouse steaks, at virtually all the great chop houses  in NYC. But rib eye steaks are either absent from their menus, or do come in meager size, and are rarely dry aged (it is pointless, for me, to splurge on wet aged meat, my palate  associates it with just a generic piece of steak).  On this particular occasion,  I was also looking for a steakhouse exempt from the usual  potential “”dry aged” or mixed  type of service (However great is the food, if the service has the potential to make me vomit, the food is worthless) . I heard that QM has fine  hospitality standards and that they  do  an excellent rib eye steak. I went  to find out.

My expectation was the usual expectation of any steak lover: I needed my steak to be a fully flavoured juicy slab of prime beef, exquisitely  seasoned, unleashing   a great deal of umami sensation in mouth. Did the steak meet that expectation? First, a description of the steak I did order:   a 24 oz. long-boned Black Angus Prime, dry-aged rib steak.  Aged for 40 days. My rib eye had a delicious seasoning, but it was cooked  past the requested medium rare doneness. Dry and tough here and there, as well. Disappointing 5/10

Other items that I did sample here :

With my steak, I took the creamed spinach, which was Ok (the spinach was fresh, its seasoning judicious)   6/10

The other side dish I did order was their popular crispy potatoes, which are blanched in duck fat, seasoned with garlic , thyme, and bay leaves and dressed at the last minute  with a hot sauce of butter seasoned with garlic , thyme, parsley, chives  and rosemary. Ok, though nothing to write home about.  6/10

Bottom line: I had mixed feelings about this eatery ….yes, the service, in the dining room was stellar, BUT  at the entrance, a  young lady with long straight black hair seemed to have suffered from some serious attitude problem, to the point that I thought that I was  heading into a  ghetto-style establishment. When I complained to their high Management, about that , I  received no follow up…which left me with the impression that they have no problem with that….So, as a serious long time diner who has indulged in flawless dining experiences in NYC, I can say that …NOPE… this eatery really DOES NOT  deserve  my hard earned money. It is a  NO REPEAT  for me, especially considering that NYC is a world class dining destination with plenty of stellar steakhouses offering world class service from the minute you push open their doors  up to every single second you will spend in the dining room..; Consequently, of QM…I would say…NAY…I am not the type of person looking forward to poor experiences at restaurants (my hard earned money has no room for that), and I do my best to go to places I believe can provide a quality dining experience, but sometimes such disappointments will happen even to cautious diners like me.