Last week I ate at Peter Luger’s steakhouse in Great Neck. I must say, I was disappointed with the quality. The steak that I ordered (medium rare) was simply not as good as the last one I had there, which was about a year ago. It was not as flavorful. It was not as juicy. It didn’t have the same amount of that savory, fulfilling taste…it’s hard to describe. Maybe “Umami” is the closest approximation. It’s that taste that makes a steak taste truly great. These steaks did not seem to have it.
I have had great steaks at Luger’s before. But in all honesty, the one I had recently was nothing special. The steaks at Janko’s “Little Zagreb” here in Bloomington are superior to this particular steak.
Did I just happen to get a mediocre cut of meat? Or have others observed that the quality of Luger’s has suffered a decrease?
I can’t speak to Lugar’s but I can second Janko’s. I lived in Bloomington for about 8 years and it is still my favorite place. We had our wedding rehearsal dinner there and Bob Knight held the door for my mom. I think she was more excited about that then the wedding.
Haven’t been to Luger’s for a long time. It’s not surprising to see the quality of all meat declining as a result of farming practices. But restaurants change over time too. New chefs, equipment, methods. If something can lure me back to NYC, I’d like to eat at Luger’s again. Hope I’m not disappointed.
Just to chime in, Janko’s “Little Zagreb” is really great.
My littel brother went to school in Bloomington and every time I would visit I’d take him there for dinner at least once.
Sometimes you just get a mediocre steak. Remember the grading system is visual - the inspectors grading a side of beef don’t cut a steak off and cook it.
I haven’t been to Peter Luger in 5 years and I’ve only been there twice, but on both occasions I thought, “I’ve had better steak at a church barbecue than this.” And just this past weekend, I went to Safeway and bought two ribeyes for $6.99/lb and grilled them and once again beat Peter Luger. I really think that Peter Luger makes its money off people who have never had good meat in large quantities.
My conclusions as to why Peter Luger didn’t make you happy:
The steak didn’t rest. 5-20 minutes, covered, after cooking
Because they don’t rest their meat, they cook it too hot on the outside to get the inner temp high enough instead of using time (resting) to do the same
The fat on the outside- what purpose does it serve other than to cost you money and make it hard to get to the real meat
They season their steaks too far ahead of time (15-30 minutes is great). This causes too much dehydration and breaking down of the surface- I want a carmelized surface, not a “foam”.
Yes, I realize they are making a whole bunch of money doing what they do and obviously this is all my own opinion, but I think their success is absolutely a peer pressure/mental thing as their steak is sub-par.