[robertlempriere]

Hi All,

I tried Bistecca, the new Italian steak house in LKF, where Tru used to be...
I went at lunch, was sorely disappointed;
- poor service
- the 'steak' which was served was basically chopped steak which was fitting to be ground into a burger

Up-side;
- the meat in the coolers looks great
- some nice decor

Anyone else have stories to tell? Should I try again?

[wayland]

Which steak did you order?

I went last Saturday evening and we all enjoyed it immensely.

We ordered the porterhouse and the t-bone to share and the overwhelming consensus was that the t-bone was better. The filet portion of the porthouse wasn't bad but the sirloin was so so. Oh but the t-bone was to die for. The charred crust they do is spectacular and these guys seriously know how to cook their steaks so order it the way you want i.e. rare, medium rare, etc.

Creamed spinach, spinach salad, roasted peppers were all good. The zucchini fries were ok (but I wouldn't order again) but I couldn't help but wonder how much better they'd be if they were sweet potato fries. The mushroom side dish wasn't anything special, they're large mushroom caps with this heavily seasoned meatball thingy stuffed into it. Tossed salad is standard fare and actually quite large (as was the spinach salad).

steak tartar was also good but slightly different to what I'm used to. I'm used to ground beef but this was more like a hand chopped steak. You had to cut it with a knife as it wasn't ground/minced. Might sound 'meh' but it was quite tasty.

We even ordered a cheese platter that wasn't on the menu.

I'm not a fan (in fact I hate it) of Wagyu but the t-bone we ordered was excellent. Next time I wouldn't mind trying one of their USDA offerings, but I will definitely be returning to this place.

Regarding their poor service...I wouldn't rave about it but it wasn't poor by any means. At times it took a bit of effort to get their attention (they weren't even full) but when they were polite, etc.

[PDLM]

Some indication of price?

[wayland]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Some indication of price?

Group of 6, plus 2 bottles of wine it was around $500 each.

In fact, they have their menu online and I just realized that I was wrong. In my earlier review, I kept on talking about the t-bone when in fact it was the Delmonico 24oz bone in rib eye that we had in addition to the Fiorentina, 32oz Porterhouse.

Dining Concepts Ltd.

[PDLM]

Sorry, that was lazy of me. Thanks for the link.

I guess the OP ordered the Bistecca alla Pizzaiola (which could quite legitimately be chopped lesser cuts of steak) without knowing what it was.

It looks a little cheaper than Wooloomooloo (our regular steakhouse) overall so we'll give it a try - thanks for the review.

[robertlempriere]

I ordered the lunch set, hoping it would be a decent indication of what they had to offer.
Needless to say, I don't expect the lunch set to be fantastic, but it was more disappointing than expected, hence my curiousity regarding the opinion of others.
I suppose I'll go back for a second try, however, it's a difficult choice to make when comparing to Wooloomooloo in the Hennessey building ...

[PDLM]

Yes - we enjoyed Wooloomooloo Wanchai last week - the environment at Bistecca looks a lot less "sophisticated" (for want of a better word). But Wooloomooloo for dinner for 3 including only 1 (modest) bottle + 1 glass of wine came to nearly $2500...

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by robertlempriere

I ordered the lunch set, hoping it would be a decent indication of what they had to offer.
Needless to say, I don't expect the lunch set to be fantastic, but it was more disappointing than expected, hence my curiousity regarding the opinion of others.
I suppose I'll go back for a second try, however, it's a difficult choice to make when comparing to Wooloomooloo in the Hennessey building ...

The thing is though that any 'lunch set' is cut down to a certain budget, You certainly aren't going to get the same quality as if you went A La Carte.

[cookie09]

i have heard from several colleagues that bistecca is not good for lunch - too expensive and not enough value for money.

especially if you consider that tru used to be there which was a great lunch time place

[robertlempriere]

this has prompted me to create a new thread.. stay tuned for "Best Lunch Sets"