Ray's The Steak

I must admit that my most recent trip to Washington D.C. was a bit of a food disappointment. We arrived late in the evening only to find that our hotel reservation had been switched to an 'express' which did not have a restaurant or room service. Thus forcing us to walk around an unknown area until we ran into a random greasy, yet organic (?), diner. And I'm sure you all read about our failed lunch date at The Good Stuff Eatery. So there was a lot riding on our dinner reservations. Before I left good old Nebraska I put out a facebook plea for recommendations of D.C. dinner spots. My friend Pat sent me several establishments to look into. The one that first caught my eye was a steak house with a clever name. Ray's The Steaks. It was on the same subway line we traveled so I took this a fate and made a dinner reservation. I wasn't sure what to expect as we walked up. The restaurants designer believed in a very minimalistic approach. The sign outside was made up of simple white letters on a black backdrop placed just above the entrance. The interior matched. Classic wood floors, white walls with black accents, sleek black table tops and quality silver utensils. At first impression it seemed kinda stiff but the longer we sat there, the more comfortable we felt. The wait staff was super friendly and the whole place was filled with good conversation and laughter. We were given our menu's and a plate of bread and a bowl of spiced nuts. And what a selection! A restaurant that serves only steaks and we still had over fifty menu items to choose from. Different cuts, sizes, styles, and sauces. I was impressed to see hanger steak on the menu. A rare cut of meat that is one per cow. I was a little nervous looking over the menu as my mom is not a big steak eater. In fact it has been over 11 years since she has last had a steak. She decided on the steak salad, well done. And I eventually choose a Brazilian strip, medium rare, with a spicy deablo sauce and sauteed garlic. While we waited for our food to arrive I couldn't help but noticed how well trained the staff was. As I watched them at times they seemed choreographed they moved that smoothly among themselves. I have a feeling that this detail that made our evening so nice was completely un-noticed by the majority of the patrons there. No one ever notices when things go right, only when things go wrong with service do people pay attention. But I paid attention. Slight head nods and small hand gestures between the servers and bussers keep the tables clean, our water glasses full and the dinning room floor relatively clear of traffic. Our food arrived in a timely manner and it too was minimalisticly plated. In fact the only thing on my plate was my steak. No squiggle of sauce, no parsley, no garnish. Just a well cooked piece of meat. We were also served family style mashed potatoes and creamed spinach free of charge. Which for an upscale steak house is un heard of. My steak was thick and juicy just as I expected. What really impressed me was that my mom's well done steak was still tender and juicy. Personally I take offense to any steak that is cooked above a medium, as I feel it destroys the texture of the meat. But her steak was cooked through without being leathery and tough. The deablo sauce that came with my steak was made with spicy green chili's and a hint of cilantro. Very spicy on its own and tamed to a desirable level of heat when eating with the steak. I did find that about a third of the way through my steak I stopped using the sauce and just ate the meat because it was so well seasoned. You could taste the grill! And not in a burnt ashy way. No, what you tasted was a well seasoned cast iron flavor. The same sort of flavor that comes off of my cast iron skillet that goes three generations back. The mashed potatoes were just lumpy enough to let you know they were made from real spuds and creamy enough to not require extra butter or gravy. The only part of the meal that we didn't eat was the spinach. I thought it was a tad on the bitter side and my mom just isn't a cooked greens eater. But that didn't phase either one of us, we both had more food than we could finish. And the check? under $25 a person. As soon as we left the restaurant I sent Pat a thank you message, his recommendation was right on. A quality steak dinner in a friendly well staffed restaurant for under $25, Ray's The Steaks lives up to its name.