Friday, May 29, 2009

T-Rex Barbeque...RAWRRR!

1300 10th Street, Berkeley, CA
(510)527-0099
http://www.t-rex-bbq.com/

My boyfriend and I came here really hungry on a late Friday night for my early birthday celebration. Stepping into T-Rex, I was greeted and seated right away. It was emptying out already since it was quite late for dinner. Although those who remained seemed very chilled. The seats make place look very layback also, one side with the connected cushioned seat and the other with movable ones. The restaurant has a bar and big television broadcasting sport.

T-Rex's offer pretty simple appetizers but simple enough that it can be made different ways depends on the restaurant. These include devilled eggs, beef jerkey, fried oysters, and calamari. Entrees consist of mainly barbeque meat, mainly chicken and pork. As mentioned on the website, their meat are antibiotic and hormone free, and their fish is sustainable. It also offers salad, which includes unique ingredients such as Pt. Reyes blue cheese, dungeness crab, smoked trout and fennel. Also, T-Rex uses organic ingredients whenever possible.

After looking at the menu for awhile, my boyfriend and I decided to order Bone-in Chicken Breast with BBQ Sauce, Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese with Aged Cheddar and Parmesan, and Belma Buckett's Cornbread with Honey Butter.


Belma Buckett's Cornbread with Honey Butter - I am never a fan of cornbread because a lot of times, it's either too dry or too moist that it crumbles apart. T-Rex's cornbread is nothing like the two I just described. It is so moist but hold its shape at the same time. T-Rex drizzles honey butter all over it before serving, so it was perfect when it gets to the table.


Macaroni and Cheese with Aged Cheddar and Parmesan - Funny thing, I am never a fan of mac and cheese either. It is usually overly cheesy that one bite and I'm stuffed. T-Rex's was different, I couldn't stop eating it. The cheddar and parmesan combination was delicious! Oh yes, they use shell shaped pasta instead of bow-shape, so it holds in lots of cheese in every bite.


Fried Chicken - Even though the chicken is fried, it seemed and tasted more grilled to me. I had a bit of it, and I was suprised that it was really moist and not overly oily. The mashed potato was a bit too creamy for my taste though.

Bone-in Chicken Breast - This was okay, nothing overly excited about. It was a little dry but still easy to chew. It comes with barbeque sauce on the side. The bbq sauce was okay, nothing too excited about.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Broadway Prime

1316 Broadway, Burlingame, CA
(650) 558-8801
http://www.boradwayprime.com/

Once stepped inside Broadway Prime, it was dim with candlelights on each tables. The restaurant was filled with steak aroma. The place looked pretty big, with steak cutters in white busy cutting prime ribs, and waiters in black constantly walking around to serve their customers. Right out of my head, this place is going to offer very good services.

My family and I were seated pretty quick since I made reservation before hand. We were seated at a corner upstair. To me, the upstair didn't seem as pleasant as downstair. It was a bit more "ghetto", with grayish walls and a window near ceiling of the wall that resembles those in a kitchen or bathroom. Nevertheless, I was excited about my meal.

Broadway Prime offers prime ribs, new york dry aged steak, fish of the day, and a vegetarian dish of grilled portobello mushroom. With each entree, it comes with a house salad, a side and popovers. My parents are big fans of ribs, so right away they knew they want to order prime ribs. Broadway Prime offers three kind of cuts for their prime rib and new york steak. The Peninsula Cut, which is a petite portion of the meat. The select Cut, which is a bigger size one, and the Broadway Cut, which is the thickest cut with the bone attached. Everyone in my family decided to order steak, so I want to change it up and order the fish instead. I know I can always eat off theirs and vice versa. The fish of the day for me was a grilled salmon. There are also many side orders to choose from: baked potato, creamed spinach, traditional mashed potato, creamed corn, and roasted garlic mashed potato.

Our waiter took our order and pretty soon, came back with our salad.


Fresh Salad with Broadway Prime's special dressing

The salad was drenched in dressing, which is one thing that disgust me with salad. Even though it disgusted me in a way, I took bites anyways seeing that my family who usually don't eat raw lettuce chowed down the plate. Boy! I was glad I ate some. The salad was delicious! The dressing definitely was something special. It resembles caesar dressing but tangy. I can also taste eggs in it.


Prime Rib (Peninsula Cut) with creamed spinach

Everyone in my family was surprised by the size of the meat that was on the table. The Peninsula Cut was supposed to be petite, but this thing was huge! It was very juicy and tender for the medium rare we requested. I was surprised that the au ju was also poured onto the plate already, and not given to us on the side. The plate also comes with horseradish dipping sauce on the side.

Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa. I ordered a side of boiled spinach because I don't like anything creamed. Anyhow, I know I say this everytime but I am stupid for ordering fish at a steakhouse. My salmon was pretty dry and hard to eat. I usually don't use lemon juice on fish. But since the salmon was a little bland, I had to keep adding lemon juice and salsa to it.

The prime ribs were pretty good overall, but my favorite part of my meal are these popovers. I just had to dive into them right when the waiter placed them on the table because they were still warm. The outside was pretty crusty but inside was very custard-liked. It was great comfort!

After my family and I chowed everything down. We had no room for dessert. When the waiter saw my sister's empty plate, he asked if she wants another slice for prime ribs! Whoa! Soooo, with that said, my tip to you is that order the petite cut and wait to be asked for second when you finish it, or ask for a second piece yourself. It is on the house...FREE!

Even though Broadway Prime is a dim place with candlelights, it is not a quiet place. It wasn't overly loud, but not quiet either. It is definitely one of those chill places that people gather and talk.

Friendly reminder: Unless the restaurant is famous for its fish, otherwise, don't order fish at a steakhouse unless you want your fish dried.