Thursday, October 28, 2010

Eating USA: Route 66 and Rod's Steak House

withProf Horolographer



Route 66. Certainly one of the most famous roads in the US, perhaps the world. I managed to pass its path, when we stayed at the historic town of Williams, AZ when we were visiting The Grand Canyon. See my photoblog for pics of the canyon. Certainly a worthy visit.

Staying at one of the small towns that dot the historic route west for the Americans is advantageous in that it gave me a glimpse of Americana...diners, old american cars, pubs and salons...reminiscent of the wild west...



As we walked from our Motel...yes, its a small town...don't know of any large chain hotel...so we stayed at this little motel...comfort level was ok, but as the motel allowed pets, it was certainly not the cleanest we have ever experienced. The Super 8 motel at Mariposa was certainly one of the better ones.

Anyway, along the route...a pub! Which offered drinks, as well as a bath...I imagined a copper bath tub, hot water for the cowboys of the day to get themselves cleaned for a night out!



As Horolographer was no drinker, and not craving for a drink myself, we passed...till we came across this steakhouse...



A quick peruse of the menu...and we were inside.



Long story on quality, value...and a long story on how great a guy was Rod...who started the steakhouse.



The decor was almost exactly as we expected it...like a saloon in the Wild Wild West (those of you old enough to remember that TV series will know what I mean...those who don't can imagine the Will Smith version. And if that's too old for you too...um...google it up...)



Right on our ceiling where we sat...a light cover with a nice, fat, cow. Hmm...and the songs they were singing on how fantastic the steaks were got my juices flowing. So I ordered one of the signature steaks...Rod's Special Charred Steak. Dipped in sugar. Hmm...that sounds a bit suspicious...but the Special Charred got me.



Looks pretty good...but this was not the speciality charring I was expecting from a high end steak house...like Smith's & Wollensky we just had tried in Las Vegas...but more home cooked.

Cut, it looked good too...



The meat was ok. I guess the cow was grass fed...it had the characteristic sinewy, a bit chewy texture, and almost no marbling. But it was disappointingly sweet. I should have caught the dipped in sugar part when I ordered, but I was not really expecting a sweet piece of meat, which it was. Almost like dessert. Other than the coyness, the meat was fine, and the done-ness was ok. I should have ordered a more regular steak...sigh.



Rod's Steak House
301E Route 66
Arizona, USA
http://www.rods-steakhouse.com/index.htm

No comments: