New York is constantly evolving. I know this isn’t a profound thought by any measure but it’s one that’s been entering my mind a fair bit as of late. Friends have moved away and once familiar streets feel foreign. Restaurants I frequented a few years ago aren’t the same as I remembered, some for better, some for worse. Overwhelming, a lot of those favorites from a few years ago are starting to feel rather indistinct. If you closed my eyes and only showed me the table, setting, and food, I’d have a hard time differentiating a handful of them. There’s a glut of copy and paste restaurants across New York City, and then there’s Medium Rare which I had the distinct pleasure of visiting recently.
To cut to the chase, they join the ever-growing line of wonderful places I’ve recently visited and are joining my regular rotation of restaurants. Medium Rare, the original sizzling single-choice Steak Frites prix fixe meal experience from Washington, D.C., has “steaked” its claim in the Big Apple. The new location at 488 Third Avenue in the City’s Murray Hill neighborhood is Medium Rare eighth, and the restaurant is ready to win over discerning New York diners. From the moment you enter, you’re immediately greeted by the warm and welcoming GM of the restaurant, Bill, who’ll usher you into this 90’s Parisian bistro dream of a restaurant. The interior felt like a playful time capsule, with the casual and welcoming interior denoted by nothing better than the fact that the that waiters write your order on the paper table cloth with crayon. If you’ve ever been to restaurants in Paris, then you’ll know exactly what ambience I’m trying to convey as this truly made me feel that I was no longer in New York but just a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe.
Speaking of time capsule, the other stand-out is the price. Medium Rare’s single choice prix-fixe menu consists of award-winning Culotte Steak, seared to personal preference and generously drizzled with said special sauce, fresh-cut French fries, mixed greens salad, and artisan rustic bread, all for an astounding $34.95. Vegetarians and vegans can enjoy a portobello mushroom entree with roasted red-pepper sauce. Weekend brunch comes with unlimited cocktails, coffee, juice and soda, for $39.95 and includes their signature steak frites as well as some other traditional brunch options.
A reasonably priced steak is great. A double portion included in a single price is even better. The absolute kicker is that it is genuinely really good. There’s something to a restaurant that sets out to serve exactly one thing and absolutely nails the execution. While the cut of the beef is not the finest cut known to man, it is impeccably cooked, well prepared, and served with a wonderful sauce that’s similar in nature to a peppercorn sauce. The fries were crispy, thin, and the perfect complement to the steak. Even the bread was freshly baked and the starter salad was solid.
What higher praise can I give than say that this is place that I plan on frequenting in the future? If you haven’t checked this place out for dinner or brunch, you need to add it to your list. At these prices in this economy, this may be the best deal the New York food scene has to offer.