Steak Easy

From the same people who brought you Secret Congee and Ginger & Scallion, we find a pop-up restaurant near UW.  Steak Easy is its name and Steak Frites is its game.  Yes, they only serve  a few variations of Steak Frites (with 5 sauce choices), salad and bread here.  They do have a bar though where you can pair the steak with your favorite beverage.  Now from the outside, it isn't obvious where the place is located as the only sign you will find is a 8.5 x 11 sized paper with handwritten "Steak Easy Pop Up" on the door.  It is actually located at the back of Okonomiyaki Jiban-Ya, so try finding their sign on the adjacent door.  You will find the old signage for Big Mario's sooner than the 2 aforementioned restaurants!

Once inside, the place was bustling and we headed to the back of the restaurant for some steak action.  But before that, we dove into some locally-sourced Bread that was chewy with a soft center.  It was served with a boatload of butter that was creamy and spreadable.  Only other item we could get was the House Salad with a house vinaigrette.  This was fresh and loaded with cheese on top.  The vinaigrette was tangy and a bit sweet.

Onto the main event, we had 2 versions of their Steak Frites including the large version of the Wagyu Flank for $45.00.  Half the amount of steak would've been only $25.00.  Each piece of steak was prepared a bit differently with one being rare and the other around medium.  Although the rare looked fabulous, the medium ate much better.  With fattier cuts of meat, it is always better to activate the fats by cooking it more.  As expected, there was a much meatier flavor with this steak.  A bright aji limo chimichurri topped the steaks and it was plenty garlicky and citrusy with slight spice.

Our second Steak Frites was the 100% Grass-Fed Picanha served as the large version for $30.00.  Single steak would be only $15.00.  A freakin' steal in my books.  This was cooked to medium and despite looking dry, it ate really well.  Nice meaty flavor with a coffee rub on the outside.  Steaks were seared up nicely.  We found a yuzu Hollandaise on this steak and it was creamy with just the slightest of tanginess.  Handcut frites were fried in beef tallow being crispy and lightly salted.  They didn't skimp on the portion size for this.

Trying to get a sense of the other sauces that were available, we got sides of the Mushroom Bordelaise and Sichuan au Poivre.  Loaded with mushrooms and shallots, this was a sauce that had plenty of umami and slight tanginess.  Maybe the wine could've been cooked down more, but if you like wine flavor, this would be it.  As for the Sichuan pepper sauce, it was creamy and had the slightest numbing spice at the end.  We liked this one the most.  Overall, we thought the Steak Frites at Steak Easy to be a great value.  Sure, they can't compete with an actual steakhouse, but for the price, I dare you to find something better.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Highly inexpensive for what you get
- Decent quality
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Cook on the steak could've been more consistent