Steak is a great example of what separates someone who loves to eat from a foodie.  If you go to Prime at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, you love a good steak.  If you go to Ruth’s Chris, you love a good steak.  If you go to Outback Steakhouse, you don’t love a good steak.  If you order steak at Denny’s, you don’t love yourself.  Drink some Oprah Chai tea and give yourself a hug.  The award-winning Cowboy Star, located in San Diego’s East Village, just outside downtown, promises “a unique dining experience by combining contemporary American cuisine with a western flare.”  Pony up, y’all.  It’s time for some old west fusion vittles!  Circling the wagons with me tonight are:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Amy-Vegetarian Belle, Author, Event Planner

Chris-Attorney, lifelong food snob, loves good Scotch and gay jeans

Harry-Wise guy, master of the grill, loves camping for some reason

Molly-Recent San Diego transplant, jewelry maker, The new girl

Renee-My dresser in “Five Course Love”, Fellow MSTie, lover of The Wizard of Oz

Tim-Renee’s mysterious counterpart

Hee-Haw: The Next Generation…

The award-winning interior (yup, apparently they give out awards for that sorta thing, which is cool) masters the art of high-end meets country-come-to-town perfectly without being tacky.  Personally, I think a mechanical bull would off-set the look nicely but this is why people don’t pay me to decorate their homes and businesses.  Cowboy Star boasts an amazing variety of specialty cocktails and we were eager to try them (the ultimate one coming at the end of our meal).  Molly had the Hoosegow Mule; which she described as “fantastic” with a great melon flavor to it.  Chris ordered the house Manhattan and an Old Fashioned, which he said were GREAT and right up his alley.  Harry had the Smoking Gun followed by the Saddle Bum, both of which he said were delicious.  Renee had the Painted lady, which she described as strong and “perfumey but in the good way”.  Amy ordered an Old Fashioned (based on Chris’s recommendation) followed by the bourbon-based house Sangria.  She said all the cocktails were fabulous.

For starters before our meal, Molly ordered a C-Star Caesar Salad, which she said was pretty average but made with quality ingredients including, yes, actual sardines.  Renee and Amy both ordered the Heirloom Tomatoes with tomato sponge cake and pickled watermelon rind drizzled with basil puree and sherry vinaigrette. It received high marks from both ladies.  Aimee ordered the Roasted Lobster Mushrooms with seared bay scallops, duck egg, pureed scallions and shaved Summer truffles.   She said it was a little different from what she was expecting but the scallops were good and the sauce was delicious.  Grilled scallions is what made that dish for Aimee.

Chris and Harry shared the Special Hamachi 2 ways (raw and poached with pea pods, marinated cherries and enoki mushrooms).  Harry said the hamachi was incredible with a perfect gastric.  Chris also loved this dish.  I ordered the Sweet Corn Soup.  This soup was kind of amazing.  Smooth, creamy and super sweet.  Along with roasted pepper cornbread chunks, there was a special cream served in the soup.  It was grey stuff and, as promised by Lumier, it was delicious.  This soup was insanely, lick-the-bowl good.

The cream was grey and tasted like Thanksgiving. Look, If I knew what half the shit I eat was, I would probably just cook at home myself. Leave me alone…

For main courses Renee and Tim both had Snake River Farms Wagyu; An American style Kobe skirt steak from Idaho.  As someone who generally isn’t a steak person per se, Renee found herself pleasantly surprised with the dish, describing it as velvety, soft and delicious AKA BEEFGASM.  I wonder if she’s taken out the trademark on that term yet?  if not, I’m certain Burger King will jump on it.  Tim also enjoyed the flavors and textures, having had more than one tough steak in his time.  Harry & Chris had the daily cut of dry aged beef, which is aged for up to 35 days.  They also had side of Roasted Corn with chorizo and eggplant and a side of marinated sunchokes.  Harry said that there have only ever been 3 steaks he’s bought in a restaurant that he was happy to pay for and this was one of them.  This is either the highest praise or a sad essay on Harry’s inability to order a good steak throughout his life.  The real story of the night here was the sunchokes.  In a move no one saw coming, these sunchokes were delicious, hearty and full of rich flavor.  Chris likened them to the most “meat-like non-meat thing” he’s ever had.  That’s a really accurate description.  They were the bomb.  Chris and Harry also couldn’t resist ordering a side of Bone Marrow to compliment their steak and completely gross me out.  We’ve been over my feelings on the matter.

Aimee went against the norm and ordered Pan Roasted Salmon with toasted red rice, Chinese sausage, roasted brassicas and Salmon Verjus Reduction.  She said she rarely orders salmon but it was perfect.  Beautifully cooked, medium rare all the way through.  Beautful sear.  What made the dish were the side dishes, the rice (She would’ve gladly taken an order to go) braised cabbage (Brassicas) was amazing.  Just the right amount of char without getting bitter.  Molly had 8 ounce Filet with Blue Cheese crumbles.  She praised the cheese as a nice touch and said the steak was certainly one of the better ones she’s had.  The accompanying potatoes were nice but she prefers a more rustic style mash rather than the smooth, creamy version we were served.  I agree 100%.  Amy ordered the Braised local beets in smoked vegetarian beet puree with shaved beets and radishes, black olive chimmichurri, toasted peaches, cream and mint.  While she said the dish was well done, for Amy, it was less of an entree and more an appetizer due to the dish’s overall lightness.  The inclusion of some kind of starch would’ve helped but it seems like our vegetarian friends are better off ordering a few items a la carte and building their own dinner here.

For me, I thought it would be silly to eat dinner at Cowboy Star and not get a steak so I ordered the 12 ounce New York Strip (a favorite of mine) with Brandy Peppercorn Sauce.  It was really flavorful and very well cooked.  I also liked that, at $38, it was not as expensive as that kind of steak usually runs.  I’ve paid way more for the same thing elsewhere.  While I didn’t find any new ground being broken here from a culinary stand point, it was still a really great steak.

After years of ordering my steaks well done, I now prefer medium rare. Proof that one can go back after going black.

I’ve been droning on so much over the food at Cowboy Star, want to take this moment to recognize the service.  The staff there was fantastic, attentive and committed 100% to our dining experience.  Our server, Jeremy, knew his stuff.  He was helpful with suggestions about food and wine and had a fantastic sense of humor, which is exactly what you need when spending two hours in a restaurant with these drunk assholes  my friends and I.  I wanted for nothing, had every question answered and didn’t once see the bottom of my glass.  This makes me a happy boy.

Before we knew it, it was time for dessert.  As a table we ordered several of the desserts (as always, for science).  Among them were “Our PB&J”, an inventive dish comprised of a Peanut Butter Blondie with concord Grape Sorbet.  The flavors are on point and closely evoke a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We also had the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with warm butterscotch sauce.  The dish is served with chocolate ice cream but Jeremy suggested we do vanilla instead and it was another great call.  This was the hit of the desserts with the group.  It was light and mildly sweet without being totally overpowering or too custard-y.  My favorite of the desserts was the Sweet Tea Semifredo with stonefruit sorbet,  granola, meyer lemon & sliced stonefruit.  This dish was super original and unlike anything I’ve had.  I loved the flavors.   It was unexpected and I really really enjoyed it.

The House Wine of the South in dessert form. Yippie Kayay muther forker!

The final dessert item we ordered was something from the drink menu that we just couldn’t resist; A Bananas Foster Martini.  The only things you need to know about this drink is it’s sweet, it’s strong and it will make you believe in love again.  Several people in our group said they would come back for that martini alone.  But the point being, we’re totally coming back.  I think Chris said it best when he said that he can’t think of anything negative to say.  He (like I) had high hopes and they were not only met but exceeded.    Well done, Cowboy Star.

Further reading: https://www.thecowboystar.com/home

To see all the pictures from my dinner be sure to follow The Boy Who Ate San Diego on Instagram!