Monday, June 23, 2008

Morton's - Macau

Just typing out the words ‘Morton’s Steak House’ makes my mouth water. I have eaten a variety of different foods in my life, even my limited posts over the last 3 years will attest to that. But even before blogging I have sampled the most awesome scampi in the world served out of a bus on the North Shore of Hawaii to the finest New York sold pizza right on the corner of Broadway and 55th. I have eaten Fufu at Nko-ko on the way from Accra to Kumasi at a small chopbar where we perched on stools and I savored every last drop of stew as it dripped of my fingers and I have devoured the most crispy dosas ever made at some hole in the wall restaurant across the street from an ashram in Putaparthi where I spent 2 weeks. But nothing… Anso-fuckin-lootly NOTHING, can compare to the dining experience I recently had the pleasure of taking part in at Morton’s in Macau.


Morton’s is actually a pretty popular steak house in the US and they even have a branch in Singapore as well. I had never heard of them before this trip to Macau where a couple of the guys suggested we hit them up for a couple of hearty steaks. Mainland China does not really have any good steak houses and even the cuts served at some of the 5 Star Hotels here are a bit dry and chewy for my taste, plus the atmosphere in hotels suck. But oddly enough, the Morton’s in Macau is located in the Venetian right off the gaming floor, but once you walk the doors you are totally cut off from the noise and action outside. The interior decorated in old school Chicago style gives of a totally swanky 50’s vibe. The swing music playing lightly in the back ground adds in the flavor.



And although Morton’s is known for being quite pricey, they have not gone overboard on their décor. In fact the only written menu they have is written on a chalk board. As you can see their selection is compromised mostly of grilled steaks and accessories thereafter.



Once seated and served with your drinks, which are all very generously poured, you can look forward to a fully animated verbal presentation of the menu by one of Morton’s very eloquent servers.



After running though through a full selection of appetizers this fine young lady familiarized us with every cut of meat they had to offer and the various sauces they could be served with. Thankfully there were no alternate forms of preparation other than GRILLED! Morton’s keeps it real. By this time my mouth was just beginning to water.



Then our server introduced us to Cindy the lobster. This crustacean was HUGE! And although I was intent on eating a steak, I could not stop imaging Cindy all grilled up and served with a garlic butter sauce. I love the whole concept of having the menu spoken to you instead of reading it off a page. I think it gave the food so much more personality. I think I was giving the server such hungry eyes at one point that she thought I would bite her. I almost did.



Tell me if staring down a table at these hungry faces would not freak you out just a little bit if you were a little Filipino chick? I swear to god, I could have eaten her, with a little black pepper sauce.



The side dishes at Morton’s are humungous. So do not ever go for one per person. Usually a single order of mashed potatoes or creamy spinach is enough for about 3 grown men. They start you off though with this massive loaf of onion bread which is to fucking die for. But with every bite you have to remind yourself to save space for the feature presentation.



I could not get my mind off Cindy, so even though I ordered a Porterhouse steak, I still got the Lobster Bisk as a starter. It was delicious. I have never had a creamier Bisk in all my life. On any other day this puppy could have been a meal on its own.



The boys ordered this lemon butter prawn deal that I did not even poke at. But in retrospect it looks pretty good. It’s just that when you hold these little foggers up next to Cindy, they seem irrelevant, like she could eat them for breakfast. They are the food, of my food!



Seven slabs of meat grilled to perfection. It does not get better than this.



My Porterhouse was a fantastic choice. Something I actually never knew before this is that the Porterhouse is actually two cuts of meat, the sirloin and tenderloin. It was just what the doctor ordered. Absolute divinity in the form of dead meat. At first I thought there was no way n hell I could devour this steak, but with every bite I just wanted more and more. I killed the fogger, lock stock, and barrel!



And the debauchery did not even stop there. We preordered a lemon soufflé or something like that. Not really my thing but the boys said it was awesome. I had my eyes set on another attraction right from the get go.



The Chocolate Melt… I am a fucking insatiable beast. I have no control over myself when presented with such an awesome desert, and by the hips that birthed me, this was the most scrumptious chocolate melt I have delved in, in my whole entire life. I secretly wished at that moment a meteorite would come plummeting towards this rock we live on and obliterate everything because at that very moment, life was perfect…



Ok, so I may be getting a bit overly passionate here, but let’s just call it poetic justice. The fact however remains that dining at Morton’s was not just another meal at a restaurant, but rather a dining experience that has become a story of its own. This was one meal that I will seriously be telling my friends about for some time to come.

No comments: