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Ray's The Classics, Silver Spring - Michael Landrum's Classic Steakhouse Sold To His Trusted Employees


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Excellent pastrami, and a very good pickle on the side. To quibble a little, gotta work on that bread a little bit. Not crusty enough, and the triple-decker thing didn't really work, as the bread got too soggy too fast. (No, don't toast it - just find a more substantial bread).

But I feel really let down, because I wanted the receipt to say "Amit's Smoked Meat", but all I got was "Amit's Pastrami".

Funny--Most of the Montgomery County clientele expect us to cut their crusts off for them...

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Excellent pastrami, and a very good pickle on the side.

Say hi next ti... oh, wait, you did.

And the perfect wine to go with it is.......

Flying Dog Amber worked well.

Funny--Most of the Montgomery County clientele expect us to cut their crusts off for them...

And to kiss our asses. Don't forget that.

Seriously, though: nice work, Amit.

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For the first time in nearly a year I managed to get over to RTC tonight.

Had a lovely and quick dinner at the bar. I was disappointed to find that the rumored fried smoked chicken wasn't on the menu. (I work on Capitol Hill 2 days a week. I just need to take a long lunch and get my ass over to East of the River...)

However the prime rib was pretty darn good. I also indulged in the deviled eggs and dark chocolate mousse. I admit, I'm in a rut... But it is a tasty, happy rut.

Nice service at the bar and it was packed by the time I left. I don't think I've seen it that crowded. I could barely get out the door so many people were waiting.

Mr. BLB was bummed that they wouldn't let him pay for my dinner with his credit card over the phone as a pre-birthday surprise. He's done this several times at Palena without a problem.

Now to get myself over to East of the River. Maybe instead of the usual Mexican birthday lunch at work, I can propose a jaunt a bit farther afield. (In the past 20 years I've had birthday lunches at only 3 places: Chevy's, Tortilla Coast and La Lomas. Surely I can lobby for something different this year.)

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I am planning on heading out to RTC to celebrate my son's 18th birthday.

If we sit in the Bar/Bistro area, are both menus available? I have never seen the bistro menu, what steaks are on it?

My son will probably have room for desert, what's good?

Thanks

Mark

We sat in the middle(bistro) section where our waiter told us we could order off either menu. Three of us had the Hell Burger for the first time and each agreed it was the best tasting burger we have ever had. My wife and son would love my burgers to have that beef taste. Maybe I need to start grinding strip steaks from Costco as an experiment. We had three glasses of wine and I thought the pours were generous, probably 1/4 of the bottle. With Salads for the adults and mac n cheese for my son, we were too stuffed for desert.

We'll be back..

Michael-How do I get my burgers to taste like yours?

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Say hi next time. We were in the window table in the bar.

1 burger, 3 hanger steaks w/salads, and still enough leftover for a couple of dinners tonight.

Plus, 25% of the checks for the night went to charity, and I matched RTCs donation.

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Say hi next time. We were in the window table in the bar.

1 burger, 3 hanger steaks w/salads, and still enough leftover for a couple of dinners tonight.

Plus, 25% of the checks for the night went to charity, and I matched RTCs donation.

How did you match? Is there a line on the receipt to donate? Do they do this in Arlington and what day?

Thanks!

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How did you match? Is there a line on the receipt to donate? Do they do this in Arlington and what day?

Thanks!

This was the Dining Out for Life event. They put a flyer/envelope in the bill jacket, so I just estimated the 25% that RTC was donating as a participating restaurant, and put that much in the envelope. I don't think Arlington was participating yesterday.

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Popped into the bar at Ray's last evening (with service at the bar great as usual). Seems the creamed spinach and mashed potatoes (versus the apparently short-lived broccoli and baked potato) are back as side dishes to the bar menu items (and I believe all the regular-menu items). Also, the bar menu had additional sandwiches (and perhaps a few other things, like a crab cake sandwich) for a while, but the menu is now closer to a regular Ray's menu. The Hell burger is still there, of course, with a turkey burger and a portobello burger to round out the sandwich options. Hangar steak and NY Strip were well-cooked and tasty as always. I wish I would have been in the mood for ribs, as house smoked BBQ ribs was a special last night.

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house smoked BBQ ribs was a special last night.

Those are so good.

I love steak, especially there, but those ribs make ordering difficult, because they are so much better than any others I've had in a long time.

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Well, there's a bit of good news! What choices were available for the bistro special?

I decided to answer my own question yesterday evening. The bistro options were salmon, scallops, and hanger steak with soup or salad starter for $22.99. The ribeyes (regular and bone-in cowboy cut) are not on the printed bistro menu, but can be ordered from the regular menu. (I would like to go on record saying that the ribeye is clearly the best steak offered at Ray's.) Everything was delicious as usual. I don't recall if this is the case in Arlington, but the NY strips were available in two sizes. I got the house special. The brandy mushroom cream sauce seemed a little less mushroomy last night, which was welcome for me, since I'm not a mushroom person but love the house special.

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My wife and I ate in the bistro section of The Classic's last evening and enjoyed everything that we had. We stopped in after a meeting nearby and at just after 5pm the bistro was nearly empty. After being seated we were greeted at the table and with a snack of spiced cashews and bread. The bread wasn't served with butter but was so rich that butter wasn't missed. We typically get the hanger steak bistro special but the special of the evening was smoked pork ribs which is what I opted for.

We started with the crab bisque soup and the devilishly good eggs which we shared. The soup is rich and creamy with plenty of large chunks of crab. The eggs were two halved hard boiled eggs with the yolks removed and replaced with steak tartare. The eggs were arranged in a square each sitting on some crumbled yolk. They encircled chopped red onion and capers and were surrounded by halved cornichons at the corners. Both dishes were delicious and we would happily order them again.

The smoked ribs were accompanied by either lightly seasoned regular fries (which I chose) or sweet potato fries and cole slaw. The ribs were well trimmed, tender and were completely permeated with the smoke flavor. I didn't detect any dry rub but they were served with a sauce which was sparingly applied (my preference). The fries were good with the right amount of crunch on the outside while soft on the inside (at least while they were still warm). The slaw was good, not to much dressing and not too sweet.

I thought I had ordered the perfect meal until I tasted the hanger steak. I had forgotten just how much flavor this meat can have. The char was just right and the meat was done perfectly (medium for my wife). It was absolutely delicious. We had asked for some brandy mushroom sauce on the side which complimented the meat well. The steak was accompanied by creamy mashed potatoes and creamed spinach which is chopped a little more coarsely than some steakhouses that I've been to. Both were good although between the richness of the soup, potatoes and spinach I was finding myself filling up quickly.

This was all accompanied by a bottle of Antis Malbec reserva which at $36 was very good. Both my wife and I were surprised when we were asked for ID as we are both in our early 50s. We found that neither of us had room for dessert and we both took leftovers home. The big surprise came when we got the check. I always expect that the evening's specials will be priced on the high side of the range of the other entree's prices (I know that I could ask the price but I rarely do). The smoked pork ribs turned out to be $14.99 which meant that they and the egg appertizer ending up being the same price as the bistro special.

Service was helpful and attentive. The meal with the wine, tax and tip was $107 which while not inexpensive was a lot of delicious food for the price. When we left at about 6:15pm there were only a few tables available in the bistro and a few single seats at the bar. Next time I would probably go back to ordering the beef but last night we both walked out satisfied and satiated.

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