We arrived at Mastro's in Thousand Oaks on a cold and windy night. The cozy interior of the restaurant helped to warm us quickly. The dining room was dimly lit and adorned with lots of eye-catching fixtures. Our waiter Shaun was younger, but knew the menu as if he'd written it. At this point a round of neat Johnny Walker's seemed like the smartest thing we could do. I love a place that serves good bread. This is such a simple thing, but not everyone gets it right. A server dropped of a basket of assorted breads that were all delicious. I had to restrain myself from not doubling up on the pretzel bread.
With steak being the obvious entrée choice Kevin and I both elected to go with seafood appetizers. I went with the stone crab claws and was glad I did. Served on ice, I believed that they had been flown in that day. The crab meat was so dense and sweet that I left it free of all the accoutrements on the side. Kevin opted for a dish of braised prawns on crostini with a spicy sauce that made me a bit jealous that I only had a sample of it.
I must point out, by the time we were about to order entrees I was short on nerves. The table next to us was occupied by a Mickey Rooney-looking old man and his 40-something son arguing rather loudly about who had the worst divorce. Now I certainly cannot fault Mastro's for the failure of two bitter men to recognize their belligerence. However, there was a man on a piano in the bar who was much more grating. The live Muzak player was everything you don't want in a piano bar experience. For starters, the songs he chose were your mother's light rock favorites of the late 70s and 80s. Worse yet, the singer had the punishing tendency to flatten out on high notes that he could not reach. Come on pal, do you really think people need to hear Billy Jean bad enough to witness you kill it? If I wasn't mistaken, I would swear that the music was coming through speakers behind us. The absolute moment of hilarity was when the man stood up to play a French horn solo. From this point on, I had a hard time taking anything seriously.
Our main courses arrived and I hoped that the steaks would drown out the Bryan Adam's song from the Robin Hood soundtrack. I ordered the bone-in fillet and could not resist when Shaun asked me if I wanted to, "add the twin tails". I have such a weakness when it comes to lobster. The lobster tails were grilled in the split shell and much easier to extract that I would have imagined. Once freed, these crustaceans were a sheer delight. Cooked perfectly, the tails were so hot that I had to immerse the pieces into drawn butter to cool it just enough to eat.
Before cutting into my steak I wanted to check out our side order. I found it interesting the Mastro's did side orders family style. On one hand that's a bad thing because it isn't so easy to choose just one. Yet, you do feel like you get a break on the bill because the portions are huge and the quality is high. I only needed to hear half the ingredients before ordering the gnocchi in gorgonzola with white truffles and crab meat. I had a hard time deciphering so many rich and wonderful flavors. The gnocchi was so tender that it almost melted in my mouth.
I had to pull myself away from the gnocchi in order to get to my steak while it was still hot. I had grown to expect greatness from this fillet, but upon taking a bite I was left a bit flat. I had heard that Mastro's uses a trademark seasoning on all their streaks, but mine was unseasoned and very plain. I wondered if this was some kind of accident. The cut was beautiful and the steak was cooked perfectly, but in the end it was just bland. I asked Kevin if the same could be said of his prime rib and he let out a slow nod of affirmation. He cut a piece for me and I could taste a faint bit of nutmeg on it, which struck me as odd. Everything we had up to that point was flawless and service was impeccable so I certainly wasn't upset by this let down. I will say I was a little confused though, I mean, a steak house where the steak is underwhelming?
Given the size of the portions here, I certainly didn't need dessert. Even with a slightly eaten steak, I was far from hungry. I just didn't want this meal to end on a down note. I was confident that the cheesecake would leave me feeling good. Once again, my instincts served me well. The cheesecake was good in the top 5 range; silky and rich. Served with a side of fresh berries and peeled orange segments, this was the ending I was looking for. Kevin was inclined to try the signature butter cake which was small, if it was meant for 4 people. Butter cake is not my thing, but this was good.
You might think an unseasoned steak might be enough to keep me from going back to a steakhouse a second time. While prices aren't cheap I think Mastro's has a lot of good things going for it and I suspect the steak would be better on another night. I just hope I don't encounter the piano man again.
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