For this memorial weekend, we wanted to go somewhere out of town, but we had to cancel plans including non refundable bus passes. I’ve been watching the Cooking Channel as my background noise, and they had an episode of steak. My partner hadn’t been to Keen’s, and I thought this would be a great time to introduce them to it. I had been here back in 2018 for the first time, and it had a very delicious, if not the best, prime rib. Dinner reservations were difficult to make, so we opted for a lunch reservation instead which was quite easy.

Keens has a pretty interesting history that you can read in more detail online. It used to be a pipe smoking club. Prior to 1885, it was part of a theater and literary group managed by Albert Keen. When it officially opened in 1885 as a gentleman-only premise, it became a meetup for actors, producers, playwrights, etc for smoking, drinking, and eating mutton chops.

Ambiance

Keeping in mind this has COVID rules in place, the tables have window panes separating tables from each other. On entry to the restaurant, they checked our temperature. There are multiple rooms in this restaurant, and they sat us directly in the dining room in front of the entry to the restaurant.

The restaurant is dimly lit and definitely exudes that classical but upscale feelings of history. The ceiling holds a plethora of pipes. Much of the decor gives off a subtly pretentious but very cool feeling sense of history. Where we sat, they had laminated examples of some of the theater programs.

The service was fairly casual but timely and attentive.

Food

The complimentary bread came out warm with a big thick piece of butter.

I ordered a Sprite, and my partner ordered a Mai Tai.

The caesar salad came with lettuce, cheese, dressing, and an anchovy on top. I thought this was the quintessential caesar salad. Everything tasted fresh and crisp. The parmesan was freshly grated, and they put a piece of anchovy to show that the sauce has some of it. The waiter split the Caesar salad for us by intuition, so it was very appreciated without having to mention it.

This was the prime rib of beef, king's cut. The thickness of this visually appeared to me about ~1.25". It’s thick and can be shared or be 2 meals for 1 person! Not surprisingly just as I remembered, the steak was a perfect medium rare and was super tender full of flavors. It came with a pepper that was grilled nicely with a nice smoke to it. I think prime rib is very underrated here, and surprisingly it was way better than just about every prime rib place I’ve been to in my life so far.

The au jus horseradish was served along with it. It was simply au jus with horseradish in it. The horseradish was very mild, and it was a perfect match to the prime rib.

The mashed yukon gold was simply mashed potatoes with a lot of butter in it, but of course not the Joel Robuchon kind. It had the consistency more like KFC mashed potatoes.

The filet mignon 8 oz was cooked a perfect medium rare and was very delicious. My partner typically orders the filet, and this one was definitely very good. They also ordered a side of mushroom sauce which they enjoyed a lot.

The creme brulee came torched on top and was cold in the middle. The creme was pretty good, but the top was burnt. Unless you’re craving for dessert, I would pass on this.

Final Verdict

I’ve been championing Keens as my favorite steakhouse for their prime rib. Even after this second try, I still feel it’s my favorite. Perhaps one day, I will try the mutton chop or other steak cuts, but their prime rib was really good. Some of their other dishes are kind of just average, so set your expectations. They are known for their meat!

Yelp Jabs

Didn’t make it as got the rudest person when I called for a reservation today. How does this restaurant even operate like this?

People often construe NYC directness as rude. The honest truth is it’s not rude. It’s just that this Yelper is soft.

Would we come back? No. This entire experience and meal was not worth $202. The first steak that was sent back because it wasn’t cooked right? Nothing removed off the bill. It’s an overpriced cut. If you’re going to price it that way, cook it right the first time. It’s also too dry. First one dry. Second one, dry.

This isn’t a chained restaurant. The fact that they served this Elitist a second filet cooked propery made up for it. Of course, it should be no surprise that a Hoboken Elitist expects their steak comped. I don’t understand the too dry part. I’ve always felt filet mignon was always one of the more dry cuts of meat because it’s so dense. My partner’s filet mignon, albeit 8 oz, was cooked perfectly. The flavors were there, but yes it was more dry than other cuts.