31. Ray’s the Steaks
Obviously, homonyms are hot in DC cuisine. Not only do we have Pete’s Apizza (yes, I know it’s not a real homonym, but stick with me), but tonight I ate at DC’s most famous homonym cum restaurant, Ray’s the Steaks. For the sake of full disclosure, I am not a steak eater. Actually, steak is the last thing I would order off a menu. But even though there are plenty of seafood dishes on the menu at Ray’s that come highly recommended, it felt like sacrileg to order anything but a big fat piece of meat. The menu is seriously thorough, every different kind of cut and every thinkable corresponding sauce. Like I said, there is a beefy (ha!) seafood section, so non-red meaters need not to worry. If you’re a vegetarian though, perhaps you should choose another restaurant. I’m sure it’s possible to eat PETA friendly there, but I can’t imagine why you’d want to.
None of us at the table were super red meat fans, so we weren’t too sure what we were ordering. I had the Guinness-braised short ribs (one of the only things I could identify) and the rest of the table had the hanger steak with bearnaise, and uh…another steak…with the mushroom sauce. (Sorry readers, my memory has failed me!) My short ribs were a full 20 ounces without the bone which is some serious food for only $13. It was served with a couple sauces, the spicy mustard being the best (paging President Obama!). The only drawback was that the short ribs were SO JUICY that the little bowls for the sauces were served floating in the short rib byproducts. A little unappetizing to chase the condiments around the plate. The other steaks at the table got rave reviews. Our waiter recommended the hanger steak be prepared medium, which was downright genius since otherwise it would have still been mooing (old man joke alert!). Ray’s embraces the ‘hunk of meat on a white plate’ mantra that made Ruth’s Chris famous, but alongside every entree is a serving of mashed potatoes and creamed spinach for the table. The mashed potatoes were fine, but the creamed spinach was to die for. I was more excited about the creamed spinach tossed in with my leftovers than I was for the 16 ounces of short ribs still left to eat.
When my friend ordered the hanger steak, our waiter told us that for four dollars more, she could get “the deal”. “The deal” was the hanger steak, plus either a soup or salad, and a dessert. It seemed just crazy to pass up! The soup was a hit, but I was thrilled with the dessert—key lime pie. I love key lime pie and consider myself an expert, and this pie was seriously good. The crust was apparently just brown sugar and butter formed in to a pie pan, but their secret’s safe with me—in my belly!
There are two important things I took away from my inaugural meal at Ray’s. First, this seems to be the steak place of the new millennium. Aside from the hunk ‘o meat plating theory, this is pretty far cry from The Prime Rib or Ruth’s Chris. The restaurant is so well lit you could perform surgery in there, and though the clientele is dude-heavy, there were girls and kids and plenty of young people to round out the crowd. Second, you are getting great quality food and a lot of it for a great price. Our meal for three people with plenty of leftovers and a glass of wine each, was $2 less than it cost for two people to eat at 2 Amy’s. Now I’m on to Ray’s the Classics, Ray’s Hell Burger and Ray’starbucks. I think that last one is still in development…
