Arnie Morton's Steakhouse

My Eat Venture Event #1
Event Date: 10/4/09
Restaurant: Arnie Morton’s Steakhouse
Location: Woodland Hills California

The past several years I have been hearing about this place, and somehow never got that chance to just stop by and give it a try. Always ended up at the usual places which repeated the cycle over and over. And now, finally decided to make Morton’s the very first My Eat Venture Event.

As some of you might already know, this is the first week for the “Dine L.A. Event” where a bunch of restaurants have a fixed menu that is reasonably priced lower than usual. Let’s just say it is more of a teaser of the complete menu. Well Morton’s was one of many that participates in this event, so we took advantage of this week to Launch our very first MEV Event.

I heard of the more popular locations in Beverly Hills and Downtown LA, but this one is in Woodland Hills which was pretty close to where I live so we decided on this spot. The moment we got there, we had two well-dressed men open the door and welcome us in. One of them was a guy named Mike who escorted us to our seat, while giving us a little tour of the place.

The first thing you see as you enter is their bar.

During that short walk, I could just smell all types of flavors as my mouth was salivating… Yummm. I know it’s rude to stare at people’s food, but darn it I can’t help it. For some reason my eyes also have the ability to taste. Could that be possible?

Anyway, we were approached by our server Karly, who is a very sociable, cute, down to earth type girl. She introduced herself to us and explained how they present the menu, I think I heard her say something about bringing things to us, then I thought about other steakhouses where they bring the whole Prime Rib to your table and give you your slice of choice. Being our first time, we did not know what to expect, and now she comes with a tray of Meat, Veggies and Seafood. First thing I did was taking the camera out and take a shot of that Lobster (live).

Karly explains all the cuts from Filet Mignon, Rib Eye (Bone-in), New York Strip, PorterHouse, also the selected veggies. It’s a good thing she doesn’t show any cooked meats, because I might actually eat it all on the spot.

Above is the Lobster, imagine if they have soft-shell Lobster served at that size, and roll it up like a Spider Roll, but this wont be a Spider, more like a giant Alien monster from StarShip Troopers. Yummm…

The pictures below are my favorite types of fish for grilling. Salmon, Chilenean Sea Bass, and Ahi Tuna, plus a portion you see an Alaskan King Crab Leg, gawd imagine how big this sucker is when fully assembled. Again referring back to the Giant Alien Monsters from StarShip Troopers, but this one has a built in rocket launcher and twin lasers from its antennas.

By the way, here is a picture of Karly, she’s an ex-Country Rock Star originally born and raised in Arkansas and then moved to New Orleans after high school to learn how to master the art of “Gumbo”. Actually I am just kidding about most of that except the Gumbo part. She claims to make good Jambalaya, Etouffee, etc (when you hear the first 2, expect Gumbo to be there). In short I challenge her to make me a good one, as I have not found a good replacement the gumbo I get at the Las Vegas “Palace Station” Oyster Bar. Sorry that’s for another blog entry. Sorry Karly if you do not like this picture of you, it’s all I have and its all your fault for being camera Shy. (This is what happens to those type of people who try to cover their faces or turn around real quick when you take a shot, they don’t know they look goofier than they should)

Now let’s get to the Food, we decided to take advantage of the Dine LA menu, I chose Morton’s Salad, Broiled Salmon Fillet with Lyonnaise potatoes and Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. Jen chose the Caesar Salad, Single Cut Filet Mignon with sauteed garlic green beans and the Double Chocolate Mousse. We also added a glass of red wine, Ahi Tuna tartare and Souffle.

Let us start with the Appetizers. Besides devouring the awesome dome bread they provided us, we ordered the Ahi Tuna TarTare.

Tuna, Avocadoes, Tomatoes and Sprouts with a lovely presentation on the sauce part which was I believe to be some type of cream with and balsamic sauce.

Now, let’s get to the main course, My Broiled Salmon Fillet, oooooooOOO so perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and medium on the inside. This is Chef recommended dish to be prepared medium. And on its base was Chef’s Beurre Blanc Sauce. I think that has something to do with white wine and butter, possibly some cream? Oh well, but its Perfect, it did not survive long!!!.

Now Jen’s Single Cut Fillet, Medium Rare, very nice size for a single. I took a slice of it right away. You can have this by itself which I always do for a first bite, but it came with a Béarnaise sauce. Perfectly prepared meat.

Now the Sides that make people go crazy… I’ll start with a new favorite, Lyonnaise Potatoes, this stuff drove me crazy, and I couldn’t stop eating it. I believe its sauteed Onions with Potatoes and Bacon and some secret ingredient that won’t let me stop eating it. Karly had to take it away so I can save room for the sweet stuff (again another joke)

And the other one was just as good, Sauteed Garlic Green Beans, so full of flavor.

And Finally Dessert Time, a very popular favorite “Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee” and Double Chocolate Mousse. This was served with the Souffle since that has to be made to order.

They were all excellent, but by the time I got to the Mousse, I pretty much hit my sweet Limit. I wish I could just try them all. Gawd I say that a lot these days, I just want this and that and everything.

So that was pretty much it on the things we have tried at Morton’s. We had such a blast, the selections were straight forward and simple, price is reasonable and about the same range with the type of quality they offer.

The people around were very friendly at that time, I even got to meet some guy who was having dinner with a Priest who knew the Priest of my childhood school. Karly was an awesome server; she kept up with our questions, gave us company and put up with our silliness. The Chef even paid a visit to our table to make sure everything met our expectations. Isn’t that Cool, we got to meet the Chef; he was nice enough to hang out for a bit and even take a picture with us. I wish I had a list of questions prepared for him, but he’s originally from the East Coast, from what I remember, New England. When he was a kid, he invented the New England Clam Chowder. (ok that was seriously made up just right now) Chef, please email me and help me out here so I can add some facts about your bio instead of coming up with clam chowder or Gumbo. Thanks

Here is a picture of Jen and myself with Chef Jason C. Pepin.

Some more pictures of us enjoying our first MEV event. (While overhearing the 2 behind us on a blind date, Not sure, but all I heard her talk about was how she wasn’t the type of girl who this and that and blah blah blah. Sorry I couldn’t help to not add that )

Jen was the only one allowed to drink tonight, as I was recovering from being in bed with a head ache for the past 3 days.

Finally Saying Good Bye

So as our final comments, Location, Service, Food was Outstanding. I will definitely come back to this one and maybe the other branches just to see the difference in atmosphere. Not anytime soon as My Eat Venture is in effect so we can provide you with more MEV Places.

Thank you for your time in reading this blog entry, I hope you enjoyed it so much that you want to just print the pictures out and eat it. I would also like to thank all the staff members at Morton’s, especially Karly and Chef Jason for making our MEV Event a memorable one.