Update 18-May-2010: This restaurant had closed.
Sometimes I don’t even know how to explain this.
At times, Suanne and I do not balk at spending $100 for a dinner for two. But for some reason, we can never bring ourselves to spending half that much in a Richmond restaurant. I don’t know why.
We passed by Boston Steakhouse virtually once a week but we had never wanted to visit that place. It was because we thought it would be overly expensive. That was until Wendy and Boyfriend went and blogged about it.
The Boston Steakhouse is located right at the intersection of Alexandra Rd and Hazelbridge Way. Parking is quite limited here because most of the parking spots are marked reserved for the neighboring businesses. There was this guy at the carpark who signaled to us to just park anywhere. Even though it was on a Saturday evening where all business were closed, we did not want to chance it and waited for an empty spot to come free.
Boston Steakhouse is very much like a Hongkong Style Cafe except that it is a tad more neater and they serve primarily steaks. The decor was modern but otherwise quite uncoordinated. Why … they even use plastic table cloth here.
Service wise, we like it better here compared to the other HK Style Cafes. They came with water very quickly and then proceeded to point to us their specials of the day. It was written on a chalkboard and all in Chinese. We said we can’t read and the young waiter translated slowly to us each and every item on the board. Such patience is something you don’t find in a lot in Richmond restaurants. LOL!
As in all HK Style Cafes, you get free buns, drinks, soup and sometimes dessert with the main dish. At the Boston Steakhouse,we were given the typical buns. These type of sweet and soft buns are called charn bau, or literally translated as dinner buns. I like that they served this warm because it melts the butter the moment you spread them on.
For drinks, I opted for Yinyong, a delightful cold mixture of Coffee and HK Style Milk Tea. Boston Steakhouse had a few more variety of drinks. Suanne selected the Honey Kumquat with Lime.
For the free soup, we had the Borscht soup. This is HK style Borscht soup where it is more like tomato soup. It was rich and tastes good.
The other soup they had was the Cream Soup. It was a bit too runny and quite bland to us even though it had quite a bit of ham pieces in it.
Now … this main is interesting. Boston Steakhouse calls this Kobe Beef Stone Grill. For a Kobe Beef this is $29. I could not believe it is Kobe beef, certainly not at this price. I had to ask the waiter exactly what kind of a Kobe Beef this is. I had a chuckle when he said it is the type that is from Kobe, Japan. Anyway, I just had to try this. Moreover it came served in a hot stone grill.
The waiter brought it to the table and I was looking at it and for a while did not know what to do. There was a big slab of beef rolled up and resting on top of some onions rings. I was not sure if it will just cook like that on the stone grill (don’t laugh OK, I had never tried this before!).
So I swallowed my pride and asked the waiter … what now?
The waiter was kind enough help me cook it! Well, there is a way you got to follow. Firstly, you remove the onions from underneath the beef and spread out the beef on the stone grill. It got seared very fast and after like 30 seconds or so, he removed the beef to a plate.
Seasoning is just simple salt and pepper which I was supposed to sprinkle on the stone grill. I then cut bite size pieces and put it on the grill to cook it a bit more to the way I like it.
The beef looks like it is at least 8 oz here. It was really good. If you like steaks, I think you will enjoy this way of serving steaks. Granted that this is no way Kobe Beef but it was tender and filling. This dish came served with a choice of sauces (mine was peppercorn) and sides of french fries and greens.
For $29, I felt that this is a good deal. I understand from friends that you will pay twice the price for the same thing from the Stone Grill in Granville Island.
Believe it or not, Suanne ordered not just the Prime Rib Roast … she had the 10 oz Prime Rib. This is only $22. If you think about it … that this includes the drinks, soups and dessert … and a 10 oz steak, this is quite a bargain. This is also way too much food for a small eater like Suanne.
She wanted it made medium but it came medium rare. I like it the way it was served but Suanne just can’t stand uncooked food. The problem was solved by putting the Prime Rib on my stone grill to cook it a bit more.
There is so much meat that Suanne left almost 1/3 of it untouched. I can’t help her because I myself was struggling to finish mine too.
Suanne’s sides also includes Ravioli. It was nothing great. I took one piece and did not want another.
There were also a lot of vege too on the side. We like that … they cooked it just right, not overcooked as it sometimes could get.
My Kobe Beef Stone Grill comes with a better dessert — mango cake. Knowing how much Suanne loves cakes like this, I gave her this while I …
… had this instead. It is some sort of an ice cream cake and comes on a cold plate. Despite the look, it was quite tasteless. I did not like this.
The bill came up to $55 before tips. What do you think? I think it’s a great deal for a full steak meal. Suanne and I would certainly come back again some day when we get this craving for steaks.
Boston Steakhouse accepts only cash. Kind of strange isn’t it? Normally at higher priced restaurants they would accept plastics.
LOL! Kobe beef is just beef from Kobe, Japan!
Most likely Kobe *style* beef but, oh, well…
I passed by this place a thousand times and never have the guts to try. For some reason chinese steak house never sounds right. I’m still hesitating on trying it but I enjoy reading your review very much!
We sometimes have dimsum at GOOD EAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANT close by on 8111 Leslie Road, and we pass by this restaurant all the time. I’ve always wondered about it. I knew it was a HK Steakhouse, but I’ve never really been to one. I think the only thing I would like is the steak. The soups & the desserts look less to be desired LOL.
I’m surprised at the stone grill thing though.
Have you ever tried the Stone Grill Restaurant on Granville under the bridge? I went there many eons ago, and I was just like you. They brought out my seafood on this stone grill and I was like: “What the heck?” Now, mind you….this restaurant is high-end. We ordered a combo menu and it rocked. Only problem was that I was still hungry afterwards. 😉 You know how high-end restaurants are. The owner was a chinese fella during those times. No idea if it’s the same owner. But he was super-nice. Service was great.
Oh, forgot to put this in. Check out this link:
http://www.stonegrillvancouver.com/
I am from HK but I never order steaks from HK style cafe. They marinate beef with some stuff that make them too tender/soft for a normal steak should be.
If I want steaks, I rather go to a steak house.
That Kobe beef looks like the same as the Prime Rib.
THAT”S IT!!! Winnie is right. I’ve had steak at a HK Style one time and the steak was soft. My mom says they marinate it with sauce and cornstarch. That’s what makes the meat soft. My daughter likes this soft-style beef thought LOL. My mom took her to that HK Style at Lansdowne Mall (outside, by the Toys R Us entrance) and she loved that soft beef. I agree with Winnie. I don’t like a steak that is marinated. Was your “kobe” marinated?
No, the “Kobe” does not appear marinated. Look at the picture … unless of course, they rinse off the marinate before they serve it. You guys should try it yourself and let me know what you think.
Ben
Well, I don’t want to say too much but when I said marinated, I didn’t mean with salt/spice/sauce. I mean “stuff”.
The steak does look good 🙂
I’m glad you liked the place~ It was funny reading that you didn’t know what to do after it arrived at your table…I guess I need to put instructions on my dining experiences next time!!
I’m surprised that it seems like quite a few other people haven’t visited this place before!!!
Geez! The drink is inexpensive. It would cost about $5 in SF.
There is a large parking area on the north side of the restaurant. Actually we have started going to this restaurant after reading Wendy’s post. We go during the discount period of early afternoon and late dinner. (20% discount). A lot of their dishes are around 7.99 – 8.99 range including drinks. (Note that the $1.00 surcharge for cold drinks is now gone.) So that the dinner for 2 that includes drinks comes to about $15.00 including tax. Its hard to beat that.
Ravioli looks packaged.
Kobe beef looks ok but not sure what cut it is. The prime rib looks good.
Here I was thinking they were modelling their restaurant after the old school Boston Steakhouse in HK (Wanchai) but unfortunately not. Jonneks post about the discount period seems more appealing then during regular hours. And I have to agree with Winnie about starching their meats. Almost all HK cafes do that.
Maybe they use meat tenderizer. On side note, what percentage do you tip? Is it the same for Western restaurants or do you go cheaper for Chinese. Just wondering proper etiquette for being a cheapskate.
Hi Canto Curious:
You will enjoy reading this chowtimes post on “How Much Do You Tip?”. That post generated 51 comments! From the comments, most people will generally tip lesser (10%-15%) for Chinese restaurants and more (15%-20%) for others. The link to the post is http://chowtimes.com/2008/07/18/how-much-do-you-tip/
Ben
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