House of Prime Rib

Okay, okay, okay...  We all know that House of Prime Rib can be rather touristy since it has been on featured on Food Network.  Yes, I've seen it all before - the roaming carts of whole prime rib and the fact they serve nothing but (except for one fish of the day dish).  The all-inclusive price gets you a  sourdough loaf, salad prepared table side, a slice of prime rib (in large, larger and larger!), a choice of potato, a "vegetable" and Yorkshire pudding.  Despite the "cliched" item on my bucket list, it is somewhere I've wanted to try for awhile (especially since I have relatives in San Francisco and have visited the place at least a dozen of times).  So off we went, including the kiddies, for some serious meat!

To begin, we were served a Salad with iceberg lettuce, watercress, crumbled egg and beats.  It was prepared table side with a zesty Thousand Islands dressing spiked with seasoned salt.  Although it was aggressively dressed by the overly-showy table side delivery, it was still quite good.  I liked the crunch of the lettuce with the texture of the eggs and the watercress.  It was flavorful with a tang and spice.  After we dusted that off, we were introduced to the chef who carved our slices of prime rib.  In the Cart, we found 3 different racks of rib (assuming different doneness), au jus, creamed corn and creamed spinach.  With each slice of the beautiful meat, we could hear birds sing...

For my daughter, she was able to get the Kid's Cut which was still a generous portion.  She chose to have mashed potatoes and creamed spinach as her sides.  For $14.95, it also included a glass of milk and a humongous ice cream dessert.  She wasn't able to finish, but put in a good effort to do so.  Personally, if you have younger kids, don't be afraid to bring them because this was reasonably-priced and portioned.  Viv and my son went for the City Cut that was small in my eyes, but more-than-enough for them.  They both chose creamed corn as their vegetable and it was sweet with appealing pops from the niblets.  It wasn't too creamy, so it was probably the lighter of the 2 choices.  I found the mashed potato to be salty and a bit dense, but the ample jus helped with that.

If there was any doubt, I went for the King Henry VIII cut that was definitely large and included the rib.  I found the medium-rare meat to be buttery soft and tender.  It wasn't over-seasoned which meant I could taste the natural flavors.  I paired it with the creamy horseradish that was provided (along with regular horseradish).  The side of creamed spinach was extremely rich and salty from the addition of bacon.  I got a baked potato and it was soft and fluffy where they weren't shy with the butter and bacon bits. So as you can see, the menu ain't complicated.  But do one thing and do it right which is House of Prime Rib in a nutshell.  I would totally do this again.

The Good:
- Does one thing and does it right
- It may seem expensive, but it is worth it

The Bad:
- Not particularly great for someone who doesn't like prime rib 
- The kid's portion was as large as the city cut (if you were comparing prices)