The Grubsteak

On our last night in Salt Lake City, Dave decided to take us up to Park City to a steak restaurant. It was a beautiful ride up to Park City for us Florida boys to see all of that snow. I enjoy seeing the snow about once a year and particularly like it when I don't have to deal with it. It was great to head up there and see the sites.

We get to the restaurant and are led to a nice table in a cozy room. I know that this place has enormous potential as you just get a great feel that they know what they are doing when it comes to steak. However, I have a problem. I am not that hungry. I am almost in a panic trying to determine what I am going to order and how this is going to play out.

Matt and Dave order the mixed grill, which is a skewer of venison, buffalo, caribou and elk. Nick orders the filet, which he always orders when he has steak and given that I am not that hungry, I just decide to go for the bacon cheeseburger. If you have read this blog before at all, you know how I feel about soup. The soup on this night is a cream of wild mushroom soup with rice that I figure I have to try. It is a wonderful soup full of plump mushrooms, perfectly cooked rice and a luxuriously smooth base. It was really good. The guys are all gone from the table getting their salads that come with their entrees as I am eating my soup. They all seem as satisfied with the offerings on the salad bar as I am with my soup, so all is good so far.

The entrees arrive and I can see that the food looks great. I notice that Nick grabs his fork to set his filet for the first cut. The fork sinks all the way down through the filet without much pressure given it's incredible tenderness. All of a sudden, I am wishing I would have gone for the filet. Did I mention that I was not really that hungry? Well, I obviously did not pay attention to the menu when ordering my burger. This thing weighs in at a full pound. The bun would serve me well as a small hat and I also have an order of fries to eat. Matt and Dave are in heaven with their mixed grill and I have to say the meat does look really good. Putting all else aside, I try my best to eat my cheeseburger. It is cooked exactly like I ordered, medium rare. The beef had great flavor, the bacon is tasty and the cheese is gooey and delicious just like I like it. However, there is just too much for me to eat. I am able to only eat half of the burger and really hate wasting food. There is absolutely nothing I can do on this evening to finish all of my meal. I am stuffed.

We all finish up and prepare for our ride back through the beautiful countryside of Park City and Salt Lake. I am so full at this point that I am almost falling asleep in the car on the ride back to the hotel. The Grubsteak has definitely lived up to everything Dave said it would be. Once again, Dave has done a great job in introducing us to some great flavor of the area.

I have to give our trip to Grubsteak five Stiffey's. Great food and a great atmosphere make for the best restaurant experience during our trip to Salt Lake City. You have to venture out to Park City to check out this great location if you ever find yourself in the area.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Moochie's Meatballs & More

During our visit to Salt Lake City, we had the benefit of having one of our co-workers actually based in this fine city. Dave was under a lot of pressure to take us to some of the great restaurants in his city and I know he knows what a food snob I can be at times. The pressure was definitely on!!!

We asked Dave where he was going to take us to lunch on the second day that third day that we were there and he said, "Moochie's." I had heard about Moochie's from the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show previously. On that show the thing that I remember them being famous for was their cheesesteaks, but the restaurant is really famous for their meatball sandwiches. Given that I am always on the quest to find the best cheesesteak I can outside of Philadelphia, I had to get after one of them and skip the meatball sandwich. Although, I didn't even know about their prowess in the area of meatball sandwiches until after I had left, so it wasn't an issue. More about the meatball sandwich issue later.

We get to Moochie's and I notice this place is small. Seems Moochie's started out as a pottery store and the proprietor decided later to add the sandwich shop. It clearly fits into the dive category of the show previously mentioned, but that is all right. I love dives. Seating is limited and it as much too cold to sit outside on the day we visited anyway. We were lucky to find a table, but one of our party had to sit at the table behind us with some very nice Salt Lake City folks that welcomed Matt to their table.

Everybody in our group went cheesesteak and the only decision was six or twelve inch. Most went twelve with Clyde going six. We got our sandwiches as part of a combo, which includes chips and a drink. The sandwiches showed up after a very quick wait of only a little over five minutes and they were busy on this day. My guess is they stay pretty busy all the time. The bread was authentic just like you would find in Philadelphia and the steak was nice and tender with a generous spead of cheese on each sandwich. When you order, all sandwiches come with grilled onions and you have to tell them if you also want peppers or mushrooms, which costs extra. We all went with just the onions. While I thought the sandwich was great, I did think my onions were just a little overcooked and bitter. Not enough for me to not like the sandwich, but just enough for me to note. It was a good lunch.

I have to share with you a little story regarding our visit, which I discussed with some friends of mine. I was at the Budweiser Shootout upon my return to Daytona Beach and telling my friends, Kelly and Kelly from NASCAR, about our meal. These girls can appreciate a good meal, so I knew they would be interested to hear what I had to say about Moochie's. I was telling them about the fact that Moochie's is famous for meatball sandwiches and cheesesteaks and about the fact that I had only eaten a cheesesteak on my visit. Kelly from NASCAR speaks up and says, "You should have gone six inch meatball and six inch cheesesteak." This is a girl truly after my own heart. This would have been a great approach, but Nick brought up an interesting question. "If you go six and six, which do you eat first for maximum sandwich enjoyment?" Since going in the thought was that this was a cheesesteak place, I think you have to go meatball first and then your six inch cheesesteak as your entree so to speak. It's not something I can comment on from experience, since I didn't do it that way, but I think that is how it has to be played.

We had a great lunch and Dave came out of it a hero. He still had a couple of dinners to take us to, but his reputation at this point was definitely intact. I have to give our visit to Mooche's four Stiffey's and encourage anybody visiting Salt Lake City to seek out this great sandwich place. It is definitely worth the trip and the prices are right.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry