Big Horn Steakhouse in Stavanger–a bit too rare and cold
We went to Big Horn Steakhouse at 8 PM on a Friday night before going to the movies and we were a party of three. The restaurant is located in the middle of town at the Hotel Victoria and it is a part of a restaurant chain so you can also find a branch in e.g. Sandnes and 27 other places around Norway.
When we sat down at the table a waitress came over to ask us if we wanted to have something to drink and she was speaking in English. This always throws me off a bit as I’m not sure if the waitress don’t know Norwegian or that she assumes that we are non-Norwegians but it is not a big deal for me as I am able to make myself understood (more or less 
) in both languages. I went for onion rings to start with and a t-bone steak as the main. My friend was joking that we would be out of there in an hour and he was wondering how we would kill time before going to the movies. I didn’t take him seriously but it only took like a few minutes before the onion rings were served and I started thinking that he might be right. My wife went for the salad bar instead of a starter but as they waitress pointed out “it only includes one serving”. The salad bar was not very impressive in my opinion. The 4 onion rings I got was a nice portion – not some gigantic thing that we have seen on some restaurants the world – and the taste was not bad.
My wife was still eating her salad when the two waitresses came over with our main meal – and I was just done with the onion rings. We were amazed on how fast the meal was served and we were starting to wonder if they had started preparing our meal the minute we walking through the door! My t-bone steak meal included the meat, half a large tomato, some fried corn, potatoes of your choice, sauce of choice and butter of your choice. I had ordered my t-bone steak medium done and on the menu it said that when you receive the meat you should cut it in half to make sure that the meat is like you wanted it. 
But this sounds a bit strange to me – don’t you lose a bit of the juice in the meat if you cut it in half and it turns out that it has to be fried more? Anyway, my meat was more medium-raw but the main “problem” was that it was a bit on the cold side so there was no point in putting the butter on top as it didn’t melt. But the meat itself was not bad and was quite tender. The tomato was supposed to be a fried tomato but again it seemed like it had barely touched the frying pan and it was just a raw tomato basically. My garlic and creamed potatoes were excellent – nice portion and piping hot. I also ordered the coleslaw and it was also quite good as it came in a good size portion and chunky vegetables. I went for béarnaise sauce and I found it to be OK – my wife is lactose intolerant and she asked if the sauce contained cream and the waitress answered that it only contained egg and butter but we doubt it.
My wife was not that lucky with her tenderloin – the meat came out too rare. And she followed the advice in the menu by cutting the meat in two but by that time the waitresses were long gone and after trying to get their attention without any success , she just gave up and ate some of the meat that were fried. Her meat was also quite cold by the way. The waitress finally came over to ask us what the meat was like and we informed her of the steak that my wife found cold. The waitress immediately asked if my wife wanted a new piece of meat and when my wife said that it was a bit late, the waitress said that she could get a dessert for free – I think this was very well handled by the waitress.
The meal was about 400 NOK per person (about 70 USD) for the starters, a glass of red wine and the main meal. We were not impressed by Big Horn Steakhouse this time but I have been there in the past and I have been more satisfied at least. I’m not sure why they wanted to serve us the food so super fast this time – I mean, I don’t like waiting around for hours for the food but it is nice if you at least get to finish the starter before the main meal is served.
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
When we sat down at the table a waitress came over to ask us if we wanted to have something to drink and she was speaking in English. This always throws me off a bit as I’m not sure if the waitress don’t know Norwegian or that she assumes that we are non-Norwegians but it is not a big deal for me as I am able to make myself understood (more or less ) in both languages. I went for onion rings to start with and a t-bone steak as the main. My friend was joking that we would be out of there in an hour and he was wondering how we would kill time before going to the movies. I didn’t take him seriously but it only took like a few minutes before the onion rings were served and I started thinking that he might be right. My wife went for the salad bar instead of a starter but as they waitress pointed out “it only includes one serving”. The salad bar was not very impressive in my opinion. The 4 onion rings I got was a nice portion – not some gigantic thing that we have seen on some restaurants the world – and the taste was not bad.
My wife was still eating her salad when the two waitresses came over with our main meal – and I was just done with the onion rings. We were amazed on how fast the meal was served and we were starting to wonder if they had started preparing our meal the minute we walking through the door! My t-bone steak meal included the meat, half a large tomato, some fried corn, potatoes of your choice, sauce of choice and butter of your choice. I had ordered my t-bone steak medium done and on the menu it said that when you receive the meat you should cut it in half to make sure that the meat is like you wanted it. 
But this sounds a bit strange to me – don’t you lose a bit of the juice in the meat if you cut it in half and it turns out that it has to be fried more? Anyway, my meat was more medium-raw but the main “problem” was that it was a bit on the cold side so there was no point in putting the butter on top as it didn’t melt. But the meat itself was not bad and was quite tender. The tomato was supposed to be a fried tomato but again it seemed like it had barely touched the frying pan and it was just a raw tomato basically. My garlic and creamed potatoes were excellent – nice portion and piping hot. I also ordered the coleslaw and it was also quite good as it came in a good size portion and chunky vegetables. I went for béarnaise sauce and I found it to be OK – my wife is lactose intolerant and she asked if the sauce contained cream and the waitress answered that it only contained egg and butter but we doubt it.
My wife was not that lucky with her tenderloin – the meat came out too rare. And she followed the advice in the menu by cutting the meat in two but by that time the waitresses were long gone and after trying to get their attention without any success , she just gave up and ate some of the meat that were fried. Her meat was also quite cold by the way. The waitress finally came over to ask us what the meat was like and we informed her of the steak that my wife found cold. The waitress immediately asked if my wife wanted a new piece of meat and when my wife said that it was a bit late, the waitress said that she could get a dessert for free – I think this was very well handled by the waitress.The meal was about 400 NOK per person (about 70 USD) for the starters, a glass of red wine and the main meal. We were not impressed by Big Horn Steakhouse this time but I have been there in the past and I have been more satisfied at least. I’m not sure why they wanted to serve us the food so super fast this time – I mean, I don’t like waiting around for hours for the food but it is nice if you at least get to finish the starter before the main meal is served.
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
No comments: