Pages

October 13, 2007

The Restaurant's Reputation was at Steak.

I asked around but I couldn't find a single person who could tell me what they thought of Chief's, the steakhouse on Main Street. This marked the first time that I was unable to get an opinion out of Whitehorse's citizenry. As strange as that might seem, it gets stranger. Nobody I asked had heard anything from anyone else what they thought of Chief's.

This is Whitehorse - someone has always heard something from someone!

Want to know the secret details of an upcoming territorial budget? Just ask a stranger at Zola's. Want to know who's going to get sacked from a high profile position? Sit for a while in the hot tub at the Canada Games Centre. Want to find out who your neighbour's husband is sleeping with on the side? Read the Yukon News.

Want to know if Chief's is a good restaurant?

That knowledge is a little harder to come by. So I'm going to tell you.

Because it was our anniversary, Fawn and I went out for dinner last night. As I mentioned, we searched for reviews of Chief's but found none. Feeling adventurous, we decided to take a chance.

The second we walked in the door we were impressed by the service. Our waitress was very sweet and very efficient. I find that the standards for service are typically low in Whitehorse, but our server was top-notch - world-class.

I ordered the 8 oz. filet mignon and I ordered it medium rare. I ordered it that way because I have a bad track record with steak houses. I like a medium rare steak, but I really like my steaks to be medium and find that most steak places will overcook a medium steak order to the point that boot soles becomes envious. At least if it's undercooked, something can be done about it. The last two times I ordered steak from The Keg, it was served to me so rare that it could be called "still ruminating".

Our steaks arrived. Normally I eat quickly, shoving my food into my mouth on a mission to masticate my way to a full stomach, allowing me to move on to my next task. After the first bite of my filet mignon, my chewing suddenly slowed.

Oh, it was tender. The meat was like butter. It melted in my mouth. There was no way that I was going to rush through a perfectly cut, perfectly seasoned and perfectly grilled (medium rare) steak. I savoured the flavour and texture. Anyone watching would have thought I was chewing in slow motion. I guess I was.

You know when you see people in commercials pretending to like their meal? Like they've never had anything so good in their life? When they roll their eyes in pleasure and make obscene moaning sounds and such? My steak was so very good that I couldn't even do that. Although I know it's cosmically unlikely, the steak in my mouth became the centre of the universe1.

So, is Chief's a good restaurant?

It was when we went!

1My apologies to the lovely lady who was sitting across from me.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing! You're right that no one seems to know anything about Chief's. I haven't been yet, but I will definitely try it next time I'm out for a fancy schmancy dinner.

Happy Anniversary to you both.

ExploreNorth said...

I think Darrell Hookey did a review on it just after it opened, and was impressed. Friends of our are regulars there, and always rave about how good it is, so your opinion seems to be the usual one, Michael. Hapy anniversary!

dogsled_stacie said...

I've heard a couple good reviews of the place too!

Happy Anniversary! :)

Anonymous said...

Carole (see comment #1) and I finally made it to Chief's for our 6-monthiversary last night, encouraged in large part by your review.

We enjoyed the same experience that you describe: perfect steaks (try the salmon appetizer) and exceptional service. We'll be back.