The best steak restaurant in the world........perhaps

I promised when I wrote my Boston Blog that I would tell you all about Abe & Louie's steakhouse - so here we go.

The benchmark for the best steak has always been at Keens Olde English Chophouse located in New York, discovered by Paulie and Andy on our first trip to the Big Apple. I ordered a Kings Prime cut which looked like this.















It was terrific. Melt in your mouth delicious. We ordered a couple of side dishes to accompany the steak, but these remained largely untouched because the steak was that large and that good. If you ever find yourself in New York, this is a place you must visit.

The hunt for the best steak continued when we found ourselves in Chicago last November. My parents had eaten at Smith & Wollensky's here and made a very bold statement that the steak was better than the one they had in Keens. This is something we could not ignore so we booked in to see for ourselves. I decided to order the prime rib.















I don't have a pre-dinner picture, but I'm not sure that this steak was better than Keens. We decided that we would need to eat one night in Keens and the next at S&W's to be able to be sure. Next trip maybe!!

So, me, Cazzie, Paulie and Karen then found ourselves in Boston 7 months later and there was a Smith & Wollensky's right next to our hotel with the general consensus being that we should eat there. After a quick chat to the hotel concierge, he informed us that a place called Abe & Louie was "much better than Smith & Wollensky's).". I'll be honest with you - I didn't believe him, but I have always been a fan of local knowledge, so reservations were made. If we didn't like it, we could always go to S&W the next night.

When we walked in, you could tell that place was going to be something special. Nice low lighting, bustling atmosphere and it was full. What was great about this place was even though the place was full, you didn't feel over crowded. We were shown to our table, which was more like a booth. Our waiter for the evening was called Matt - who as it happens was from Chicago. This was pretty much the only guy we saw for the rest of our meal. What I don't like about some places is when you see 6 different people during your meal. One to show you to the table, one to ask what drinks you want, one to bring the drinks, one to bring the bread, one to take your order and one who brings your order. It's not a personal service. But Abe&Louie was totally different and it was so refreshing. Paulie ordered the wine with Matt who tottered off to go get it. About 2 mins later he came back with a small glass of different wine for Paulie to taste. The wine was better, would accompany the meal better and was actually cheaper. Too many places try and offer you a different bottle of wine that's actually more expensive and try to screw you over.

I had ordered another prime rib - double cut this time - while Cazzie and Karen went for the fillet on the bone. Paulie had the sirloin (I think).













This was the best steak I have ever had. It was stunning. Tasty, juicy, tender, succulent. I could go on. Cazzie, Karen and Paulie agreed. There was no meat left on any one's plate by the end of the meal. The 2 bottles of wine was a perfect accompaniment to the meal. Matt kept dropping by and asking if the meal was OK. He even stopped for a chat about Chicago, Smith & Wollensky's and a gave us a few "must do"'s if we are ever back in the Windy City.

Even the deserts were excellent. We didn't want a huge portion each, so Matt arranged for us to have a selection of all of the best deserts.















Each one was so tasty. Rich and sweet.

The meal was finished off with a very healthy Irish coffee.

This was, without a doubt, the best steak experience I have ever had and if you are ever in Boston, you must go here....and ask for Matt!!

The hunt still continues, but the benchmark is now Abe&Louie.


xxx

Cheers Boston!

After a very early flight from Vegas, we arrived in Boston mid afternoon. I knew from previous Vegas trips that we would need something to do on our first night in Boston, otherwise we would all pass out very quickly. With this in mind, we decided to take in a Red Soxs baseball game on Friday night. A quick check-in at the hotel, where we were offered a half price upgrade to a better room that included access to a bar on our floor which served free snacks between 5 and 7 and a free breakfast. The cakes here were amazing!! We enjoyed a few beers here before we headed to Fenway Park.

The plan was to get foot long hotdogs, beer and foam fingers. This was followed with military precision.

After another baseball game where I really didn’t know what was going on and my 3^rd successive game where the home team lost, we all headed to a local bar to grab some fried food and a few more beers. The evening was a great success and stopped us all from pulling the rip cord very early on.

The next day we had booked ourselves on the trolley bus tour of Boston – you know the type – the tours round a city where you get a guide at the front telling you all about the stuff you are passing and you can hop off and hop on where ever you want to, to walk around. It is very touristy but the only way of seeing all the best parts of a city. We took a walk to the first stop and grabbed breakfast on the way. The street we walked down was lovely. Full of boutiques and antique shops. Really English. Really quaint. After a great breakfast, we hopped on the trolley and began our tour. Our guide was excellent and we learnt all about the history of Boston, the English invasion, the famous Tea Party, MIT and Harvard and more importantly, the Cheers bar. There is the replica bar, where we stopped and had a beer, and about 1 mile away is the actual place where all the outside shots were taken.

The replica bar was in a place called Quincy Market. This place was full of shops, bars, restaurants, street entertainers and a large market. It was a great place and really bustling.

We hopped back on the bus and continued our tour. Then we got told something that is truly genius. We had all noticed that there wasn’t much traffic about and wondered why. A few years ago, traffic was so bad in Boston that the powers that be decided to build a network of roads underground. This is a great idea. Anyone that wants to get from one side of Boston to the other now uses these tunnels meaning they don’t have to clog up the city centre. Screw the congestion charge, we could do with this in our major cities. It’s a great idea. The only trouble with this plan was that it is very expensive. Original budget for these tunnels were $3 billion, but it cost nearly four times that much.

A few more stops on the trolley and we were back where we started. It was a great tour and I can highly recommend it.

It was time to head back for a shower, so we took a walk through the park that was by our hotel. There were lots of wedding parties having picturesque photos, boats on the river and lots of little ducklings.

For dinner, we headed to Little Italy and after a few glasses of wine in a few bars, we were ready to eat. We dined in a lovely little Italian restaurant and were given a great table. A few more glasses of wine and lots of lovely food, we were all ready to hits the bars of Boston, so we headed a place that had a live band on and proceeded to get smashed. The band was great and the drinks flowed. A great night had by all and we were chucked out at 2am. Cazzie’s feet were hurting, so we taxied it back to the hotel, where she decided to do cartwheels in the corridor of the hotel at 2.30am which we were amazed that it woke no one up! Videos will appear later on YouTube!

The expected hangover greeted us the next day, so a fry-up was next on the agenda. After a walk around the shops and a trip to a couple more places such as the Boston Library, it was again tea time. There is a bar at the top of the Prudential tower that we wanted to go to which gives great views of Boston. As the weather was rubbish, the views were not so great, but the cocktails were! I think I won with my Tropical Splash.

Hunger was very much upon us, so after a great recommendation from our Concierge, it was time to go to Abe and Louie’s. We were told that this place is much better than Smith and Wollanskies. I was somewhat sceptical but as I always say, there’s nothing like local knowledge. I will be doing a separate post about our dining experience here. Enough said.

After our meal, we were all pretty much spent, so we retired to bed as Cazzie and I had to leave to 9am to catch our flight to Washington DC.

Boston is a terrific city. Full of culture and history with plenty to keep you occupied for 3 days.

See you in DC!

Love

Stuoobs

xxx