Palm Steakhouse - Northbrook

Mrs. JiLS and I had a decent, not great, meal at the Palm Steakhouse in Northbrook Court last Friday evening. Some parts really were quite good, but there were serious issues that would make me think twice before going back. I'll just keep it simple by providing a bullet-point of the Good and the Bad, as I saw it:

The Good

- They managed to build a real restaurant in a part of the mall that I think used to house a Sam Goody and a card shop. Private entrance, free valet parking, an enticing walk up an interior staircase - a very nice first impression.

- The creamed spinach was the best I've ever had, anywhere. The hash browns were definitely flirting with an A-, maybe an A-level distinction. And they made them with onions and extra crispy, at my request. So good work on the sides.

- Mrs. JiLS had the Gigi salad, a sort of modified nicoise that I also sampled and enjoyed very much. More or less a whole meal in the salad (shrimp, bacon, asparagus, a couple hundred other ingredients - even a bit of actual lettuce in there for the purists -- sorry Hammond, almost a perfect alerna-salad).

- The steaks (mine the NY strip, hers the filet mignon) were excellent, cooked perfectly to order and actually something of a bargain by most steakhouse standards. The Palm has an interesting pricing policy; for example, you get a 12 oz. steak for $31.50, or and 18 oz. for $3 more; obviously, we went for the bigger steaks, so we would have more leftovers. I suppose the smaller serving is for business travelers who can't benefit from having 8 or 9 ounces of leftover meat to take home.

- We got a free dessert because we were first time visitors. However, as explained below, this was also part of or related to one of the major issues (and one minor one) I had with the Palm.

- The bar was fantastic. One of the two best bartenders I've ever had the pleasure of ordering from (the other works at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas). My only regret was that we had to get home and couldn't spend the whole evening ordering drinks.

The Bad

- The lobster bisque was horrible. Sure, it looked like lobster bisque, and there were plentiful chunks of the appropriate crustacean floating about therein. But the predominate flavor in the broth was bitterness ... not just an aftertaste, this was a bitter, bitter broth. Just plain yuck, and inexplicable. Clearly they couldn't have designed it this way, so maybe it was the execution that night. But I can still taste it; gghhrrff!!

- While our waiter was knowledgable, appropriately friendly and entirely professional in taking our order and getting us our food, he completely lost it at the end of the meal: we sat a full 30 minutes waiting for the check, just pushing our empty wineglasses around. And I happen to know that it is a WRITTEN POLICY of the Palm for waiters to present the check without being asked for it (some restaurants play up the idea that presenting the check without being asked is rude or intrusive, inhospitable; but the Palm has adopted a different policy, and it clearly was not being implemented by my waiter at the Northbrook location last Friday.) This waiting for the honor of paying you is a pet peeve of mine, and if possible I'd love an explanation as to why it happens so frequently, even when the rest of the service is excellent (e.g., it happened to the us at the big LTH dinner at Moto, where we cooled our heels for 45 minutes, at the end of a 6-1/2 hour meal, waiting for our checks). Why the heck is it that taking the customer's money -- which in one reductionist view is the raison d'etre of the restaurant -- should not be handled swiftly and efficiently? Well, anyway...

- The shameless marketing. They have a frequent diner's club, and there was a card on the table explaining the program. O.K., this is a chain restaurant, I guess I can deal with that. But the waiter (obviously on script) not once, but twice made the effort to be sure we had seen the card, knew all about the offer and the benefits we would receive, etc. It was just a bit too much of a hard sell, especially considering we were dropping a couple hundred bucks on the meal already. Just leave us alone and let us enjoy tonight's dinner, O.K.? (Although giving credit where it's due, I suppose if I were self employed and had a lot of folks to entertain at dinners, the discount would be a pretty good deal.) Anyway, the kicker came when the manager hit us up again as we were leaving the restaurant, pretending like he was just checking up on his employee to make sure he'd read us the frequent diner script. Sheesh.

- The cheesecake was free, and it was imported from New York, and I suppose it was pretty good (it at least met my minimum criterion of actually being a baked product, not an Eli's-style goo-fest) ... but it was served ice-cold, clearly just pulled from the refrigerator. Cheesecake needs to be at or just a little below room temperature to fully appreciate the cheesy nuances of flavor, and this just ruined the experience. Not that I want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, a mixed result at this meal, and nothing that would draw me back, given the thousand other options I've yet to try.

I'd love an explanation as to why it happens so frequently, even when the rest of the service is excellent

this is usually an indication that there are not enough servers on the floor. what happens is that your server gets a few new tables and, believing that they have given you good service, your meal is over, and a decent tip is in the bag, you become a lower priority. they focus on their new tables, get a bit busy, lose track of the time, and blow it by taking forever to drop the check.

if a restaurant is properly staffed this doesn't happen. it's can also happen when management is cuts bussers and foodrunners, forcing servers to pick up the slack and reducing the amount of time they have to tend to the guests.

elakin wrote:this is usually an indication that there are not enough servers on the floor.

If you'd been there, you'd realize that was not even close to being the case. The Palm has a HUGE staff on the floor at all times; they outnumbered the diners when we first arrived around 7:00 p.m. But even as the place started to hop, there were clearly more than enough staff to handle things. Nevertheless, I did observe our server working a number of new tables, and it did appear he had written us off. I certainly didn't stiff him on the tip, but I wonder why he didn't realize that his job included keeping us happy THROUGHOUT our visit, not just up to the point where he'd plopped the last plate down in front of us. You'd think they'd try to make the paying the bill part as painless as possible.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:...some restaurants play up the idea that presenting the check without being asked is rude or intrusive, inhospitable...

Like you, I get the feeling some restaurants and/or waiters think this. If only they realized that making me ask for the check is far more rude. (It puts the customer in a submissive position: "please, may I pay you now?" Perhaps they do realize it puts the customer in a submissive position, and this is why they do it. Perhaps customers who have been forced into a submissive role are better tippers than those who feel dominant.)

If it's the restaurant's policy to present the check without being asked, then obviously they should have done so promptly. I actually like them waiting for me to ask for the check, as long as the waiter makes it easy to do so by checking in with you directly or indirectly. I do feel a bit that getting the check is the end of the experience at the restaurant, even though it doesn't have to be. That said, I don't like having to make a big effort to get the waiter's attention to get the check.

JiLS: Pursuant to my Vegas location, can you describe your MGM Grand bartender? Did you get a name?

gmonkey wrote:JiLS: Pursuant to my Vegas location, can you describe your MGM Grand bartender? Did you get a name?

I did not get his name, but he was working at 5:00 on Saturday evening at the bar over near the La Femme theater. Silver hair, maybe about 60 years old, mixed the best Manhattan I ever drank. He and a lady from Toronto who was seated next to me apparently went way back (in the sense that she's a regular at his bar whenever she's in Vegas and has been for years); they talked about his grandkids, etc. And they worked me into the conversation, too. It was a very human moment (yes, folks, Vegas does have a sole). The chat was as memorable as the drink, for sure.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:It was a very human moment (yes, folks, Vegas does have a sole). The chat was as memorable as the drink, for sure.

Jim,

I'm thinking sole was not a typo.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

JimInLoganSquare wrote:It was a very human moment (yes, folks, Vegas does have a sole). The chat was as memorable as the drink, for sure.

Jim,

I'm thinking sole was not a typo.

Enjoy,
Gary

I only wish I were that clever ... so clever that I told a joke even I did not get! No, it was a typo.

Our party of seven visited this restaurant Novmber 23, the evening before Thanksgiving. The steaks, lamb chops, appetizers, side dishes, salads and deserts were good.
We ordered two bowls of lobster bisque and both were bitter. We finished half of the bowls before decided to complain to the manager. He took off the price from the bill.
The bread was cold and not moist. The same as our previous visit during the restaurant opening. Service was a bit slow that night.
I agree that there is nothing that draws my immediate return given many other choices in town.

felix cl wrote:We ordered two bowls of lobster bisque and both were bitter. We finished half of the bowls before decided to complain to the manager. He took off the price from the bill.

Ah! Sweet affirmation on the bitter bisque! I only wish I'd thought to ask for my money back on this foul-tasting crud. And the portions are so small, too!

I'm really, really curious about the bitter lobster bisque, in the sense of "what could have gone wrong there?" Having made the bisque from Mastering the Art of French Cooking many times, and eaten lobster bisque at just about every opportunity presented to me here and in France, I am puzzled by the bitterness. Saltiness, yes. Overly fishy taste, OK, Even sweetness too prominent in the scheme of things can be a drawback of any given batch. But where does bitterness come from? Liver not removed? Mirepoix burned? Inferior wine added? Calling all chefs. . . [/u][/url]

I suppose the only way to really get a grasp on what has gone wrong with the Palm/Northbrook's bisque would be to go there and try it. However, let me try to expatiate a bit on what the "bitterness" was really like. It was like a green tomato; or even more, like the vine of a green tomato. It was like iodine. It was like the tincture of an aromatic, bitter root had been dripped within. It was not metallic, nor like petroleum, nor like the pure bitterness of a Tylenol pill. It was highly unpleasant.

Hi,

Bitterness in the lobster bisque can likely be found in the making of the broth from the shells. If cooked for too long, and this really requires a very short cook, the broth has been known to turn bitter. That's my estimate on the situation.

Regards,

Josephine,

Lobster stock, left too long to simmer will turn dark and become bitter tasting. Over browning the shells may also lend bitterness, not to mention too many celery tops. We simmer our lobster stock for no more than one hour at the club.

I've seen a similar bitterness in veal stock, left too long on the stove.

It's very painful to have to dump veal stock from a 200 lb. batch of bones.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Lobster stock, left too long to simmer will turn dark and become bitter tasting. Over browning the shells may also lend bitterness, not to mention too many celery tops. We simmer our lobster stock for no more than one hour at the club.

It's surprising the Palm hasn't figured that out, and seems to be consistently serving bitter, over-simmered lobster bisque. As distasteful as it may be to dump a load of overcooked broth, nevertheless a place charging premium prices like the Palm should bite the bullet and do what it needs to maintain the quality of the bisque - even if that means throwing some out rather than warming it over past the point where it is edible.

Regarding the bitter bisque...

They would be wise to consider this advice learned when visiting Cajun Charlies in Evanston, the owner provided an anecdote which I keep telling people about:

He used to work at Fannie's Restaurant, which has the spaghetti sauce many have been nostalgic about. On one occasion the spaghetti sauce did not taste as it should. He proposed to Fannie to doctor it up to make it passable. Fannie advised him to toss the entire batch away and begin fresh again. She reasoned by throwing the batch away she knew how much money she lost in labor and ingredients. If it was doctored and served, she could not begin to estimate the lost business by customers spreading their bad experience by word-of-mouth.

Cathy2 wrote:They would be wise to consider this advice learned...

Much too true!
Even (especially?) at the truffles-and-foie level of dining, the ingredients cost is such a small portion of the menu price, that throwing the food out is definitely the best idea. The cost of goodwill is a big part of the retail, and one bad experience can offset that quickly -- as LTH, with the power it now wields, can do.

I'm surprised the Palm has these hiccups. I've been to the one in Philly a couple of times on business (thank goodness not on my AMEX), and it's been flawless in terms of service and food quality.