Charley G's

It’s been a while.  But that doesn’t mean there still aren’t many delicious steaks out there.  So seeking the delicious, we went to Charley G’s.  Did we find it?  Read on.

Charley G’s
3809 Ambassador Caffery.  Lafayette, LA.  70503.
http://charleygs.com/

12 oz aged ribeye, medium rare.

1.  Price.  For the ribeye, potatoes, and some asparagus, the steak was 39 dollars.  I added the crumbled blue cheese on top for an extra 5 dollar to bring the total to 44.

2.  Look

 12 oz ribeye in the bottom right, 8 oz filet bottom left, and 5 oz filet at the top.

3.  Cooked to Doneness

Solid medium rare.  But it looks like they err more towards the cool side of medium rare than the warm.  That’s not a complaint, just a fact.  Any respectable restaurant should always be wary of overcooking a steak, as I’ve said before.  It can always be cooked more, but can be uncooked.  So if you like your steak more on the warm reddish-pink side, go with medium.  The steaks looked sizeable enough to handle additional cooking without drying out.  Plus, they were pretty good quality.  But if you can handle the meatiness, medium rare is where it’s at.

4.  Taste

Well we found deliciousness.  The steaks weren’t prime, to my knowledge, but the menu describes them as “aged.”  For a brief review, aging intensifies the flavor of the meat by moisture loss or marinating, depending on if it’s dry-aged or wet-aged.  It wasn’t specified which the meat was(wet aging is the more popular, less expensive process), you can taste the difference in the meat.  It was quality beef.

5.  Seasoning

As I’ve said before, I’m a pro-seasoning person.  When the quality of the meat is high, you tread a fine line of wanting the seasoning to enhance but not hide the flavor of the beef.  So most restaurants use a light hand when seasoning.  I’d say Charley G’s had it as close to perfect as it can be.  I only tasted salt and pepper, but it was in good proportion to the steak.  Enough to enhance and be noticeable, not too much to mess with the flavor. 

But keep in mind, I added the blue cheese.  And of all the places I’ve had blue cheese, Charley G’s has some of the most potent I’ve had.  Very strong and creamy addition to the steak, which I love.  So if that’s your thing, I recommend it.

6.  Bang for the Buck

The only problem you run into with 40+ dollar steaks, the thought will creep into your mind, is it worth it?  Is this so much better than the 20 dollar steaks available at chain steak houses?  Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t.  This time it was.  You might get a good steak at Chain Steakhouse X, but you’ll never get a high quality steak like this.  So it’s worth the occasional sampling, for sure.  The only thing that keeps this from being an all-time home run, the sides.  The potatoes and asparagus were mediocre at best and the portion was tiny and under-seasoned to boot.  I hate to cast a dark cloud on such a good steak, but it is what it is.  But saying that, there’s a lot of awesome other items on the menu, I just wish the sides got a little more attention.