Restaurant Week: Part Two

We've just returned from our fancy-schmancy date night courtesy of Biltmore Village Restaurant Week.

Thanks to their wonderful deals, we were able to enjoy a three-course meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for a fraction of the normal cost. As, I'd mentioned in my earlier post, we were hard-pressed to pick between the six great choices in BV but chose Ruth's because we found it to normally be way out of our price range and this affordable option allowed us some high class exploring.

I'd anticipated being served delicious food, but in very small portions and assumed we'd be stopping at good ol' Krispy Kreme on the way home. I was pleasantly surprised!

Here's the delicious menu we were treated to.

We both had the lettuce wedge salad, opted to add $10 for the filet mignon, shared our garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and thoroughly enjoyed our individual cheesecakes.

One of the changes I've noticed in my taste preferences is that I actually like bleu cheese now. As a child, I was terrified of the molded fromage, but found the (gargantuan) crumbles along with matching bleu cheese dressing to be the perfect tang to compliment the bacon and generally flavorless iceberg lettuce.  

Neither of us are big red meat eaters, and rarely eat steak at home, but since this was a renowned steakhouse (where the filet ALONE costs $43 on a regular night) we decided to try it out. The filet which looked tiny was actually rather huge (11 oz.) and full of flavor. The meat was incredibly tender and cooked perfectly. Despite being initially apprehensive, I really appreciated that there weren't steak sauces available other than the juices and butter the steaks were cooked in. Undoubtedly, this was the best steak I've ever eaten.

The sides were wonderful compliments to the steak as well. The mashed potatoes were of a great consistency without lumps, but not too "wet" from either milk or butter and were incredibly flavorful. I love mushrooms in almost any preparation and these were no exception. Five rather large button mushroom caps had been sautéed in and served with herb butter. The level to which they were cooked gave them a satisfying meatiness that subtly mimicked the steak.

And of course, the cheesecake. I can honestly say, I have rarely had a bad cheesecake anyway, but this one was exceptional - very creamy, with almost a whipped cream cheese layer on top and the graham cracker crust wasn't too heavy or too light. I was very surprised to find I loved the dark chocolate bark with pecans and walnuts (I don't like "healthy" chocolate; I want mine milky!). But it was rather soft - it actually melted when you touched it - and brought an earthiness to the very sweet cheesecake and berries.

Though this day had had many snafus beforehand and an old man farting beside our table as he left, the meal at Ruth's Chris was wonderful. They seem to pride themselves on giving their patrons a spectacular experience with great ambience and terrific service - including a complimentary valet (poor dears had to run several blocks down the highway to fetch the cars!), vigilant waiters and back servers and they even "de-crumb" your tablecloth between courses.

Any time we spend together is a blessing, but this date night and meal were spot on. I highly recommend visiting a Ruth's Chris location, as long as you have some good company.