#nycsteak

We love the Palm.  We love their filet, we love their giant oversized martinis (surprisingly good value in NYC - get Titos vodka dirty), we love their creamed spinach, we love their potatoes, we love their wedge salad. That being said, reviewing a specific location of the Palm is like reviewing a specific McDonalds. You know what you’re expecting and they are either going to execute well or miss. Also, if you don’t like filet and steakhouse sides, just don’t go to the Palm - this isn’t your restaurant.  We’ve been to this particular Palm about 8 times (we went right after we got engaged and kept coming back) and have had some hits and misses there.  But it’s in our neighborhood and we love the idea of being regulars at restaurants, and they are friendly, so we keep coming back.  But let’s not color this review with the past and jump into it.  Wife and I arrived early, after our Uber driver cancelled on us (5 minutes and they just bolt now!) and were not in our best spirits. Wife was mad about something (not to be disclosed here, but she had good justification) and we were hot and sweaty from walking.  But the Palm greeted us with good service and as always, excellent drinks.  The bar area at this location is very good, and they have a great piano player on Friday nights.  We got a good booth in the main room, and had a great view of the 3 times the staff sang happy birthday to 3 different Jersey wives.  I guess because this location is close to Lincoln tunnel.  Wedge salad was excellent as usual. Love the dressing and the tomatoes and the bacon bits.  Protip - get the small version and split it.  Portions are that large here.  They didn’t have the Cowboy Steak, so I had the NY Strip and Wife had the filet.  Both cooked perfectly and high quality meats - but somehow didn’t do it for us.  Nothing was wrong.  But nothing made us feel that this was really excellent steak either. This is the weird middle space that Palm usually occupies.  But every once in a while, they do hit it out of the park with some of the best steak that I’ve ever had.   Sides were similar - good, just not great and hard to say why.  It seems like they keep changing up their recipes. They also took Palm beer off the menu (how could the Palm do that?) so they lose a small point for that.  We still left feeling very satisfied.  Bill was under $200 and we walked out with a giant bag of leftovers (2nd Pro tip - always get the larger sized steaks, they cost like $4 more and are double the size), so excited about Palm breakfast tomorrow.  Service was very good. All in all, the meal was exactly what we were expecting, but it didn’t hit that note when you’re fooled into thinking that you’re eating at a really exclusive steak restaurant.  Instead we were reminded that - nope - you’re just eating at the Palm.  And the West Side location at that (Palm II is the best).  But we’ll be back.