Ruth’s Chris vs. Morton’s Salad House

My wife loves steak. Once a month or so we’ll venture forth to one of her favorite steak places. Some good, some not so much.

A steak house is always an adventure in varied dining. At expensive steak houses, such as Ruth’s Chris or Morton’s Steak House, you get quality meat, elegant dining, attentive service. Most of the time.

Our three most recent steak house experiences were at the new Ruth’s Chris Steak House on the Beachwalk in Waikiki. Food, dining, and service are so good that we no longer frequent the Ruth’s Chris restaurant near downtown Honolulu.

Variety is the spice of life, and it’s been awhile since we dined at Morton’s Steak House at Ala Moana Center, so my wife made reservations for Friday evening. We arrived on time and yet we had to wait. That’s not a good way to start an evening of fine dining. Not at 5:30 when few customers are present.

Once we were seated the evening’s festive dining began. Sort of. I don’t ask much from a restaurant, but I take into consideration that what I pay for is comparable to what I get. Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris are expensive, so I expect every aspect of the dining experience to reflect their attention, not only to the little things, but the basics; food and service. Our recent dining experiences with Ruth’s Chris have been positive. Maybe there was a reason we had not dined at Morton’s for a few years.

Our waiter at Morton’s was attentive and pleasant and explained various items on the menu. My wife always has questions so the extra details are appreciated. We both ordered a filet. I requested that mine come butterflied, medium well, with a touch of pink, and no more. I also ordered a house salad, a potato, and the spinach and mushrooms. The menu selection also came with some kind of shrimp in a sauce. That unexpected add-on turned out to be the best thing about dinner.

Music from Frank Sinatra played lightly in the background. Waiters and staff scurried about, all too often engaged in their own rather noisy conversations in full earshot of customers who, considering the prices they charge at Morton’s, would prefer more Sinatra, less waiter.

First on the table was the salad, very large and chilled. Actually, relative to salads at Ruth’s Chris, it was very, very large. In fact, the salad was so large that I had trouble getting through it (I feel bad if I leave too much food behind) before the entree arrived. My wife did not finish her salad. From there it was all downhill.

I’m certain that the chef accidentally spilled a container of Morton’s Salt into the spinach and mushrooms. Had it not been served to customers that evening the spinach and mushrooms could easily be preserved in a Waikiki time capsule to be dug up, fully edible, in another 100 years.

What about the steak? Steaks that cost as much as they do at such fine dining establishments need to taste better than steaks from Safeway or Foodland. This one did not. First, no butterfly. Second, medium-well was substituted for medium-raw, somewhat steak-like on the outer edges, still pretty much a cow inside. Third, what was edible was rough, the opposite of tender. Meanwhile, our waiter had disappeared, possibly using Morton’s copy machine to run off additional resumes, or to schedule an interview at Ruth’s Chris.

Dessert was Morton’s famous warm chocolate cake. It’s difficult to mess up chocolate cake, though in Morton’s defense, there’s no evidence they tried. There is evidence they worked hard to do just that elsewhere in our dinner. Though I cannot remember the specifics, I’m sure there were a few reasons why we did not dine at Morton’s over the past few years. Now I have plenty of reasons why it will be a few more years before we venture there again.

All in all, I spent $50 for a very large salad that came with a nice dessert, and plenty of steak for my wife to freeze for future lunches. The comparison between the elegant dining, excellent food, and superb service we’ve encountered at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Waikiki puts Morton’s in a whole different category.

Henceforth, they shall be known as Morton’s Salad House.