I have many fond memories of House of Prime Rib because my coworkers and I would often go there for team dinners in my previous department. Once I switched to my current position, I’ve rarely gone, partly because I’ve often been in the company of people who don’t eat red meat. Well, I organized a reunion dinner recently for my old shift (N1 for life!). Most of us had either switched to positions in another department or to a different shift so while many of us still get together and hang out regularly, it had been years since all of us had been in the same place at the same time. It was fantastic hanging out as a group again and stuffing our bellies with delicious food while we were at it. Oh and we hit up a bar beforehand too haha. Good times!
Salad
Every meal comes with a salad prepared tableside for the party. It makes for a pretty nice show since they spin the giant salad bowl as they mix the ingredients and add the dressing. Most of our group aren’t super into salads typically, but we all enjoy the salad here and finish off our plates. The salad includes beets and egg, tasty.
Entree
Obviously if you’re going to a restaurant called House of Prime Rib, you should order the prime rib. To do anything else would be insanity! They offer multiple cuts, but I always stick with the classic House of Prime Rib cut, but I’ve had friends with larger appetites order the King Henry VIII cut. There’s a smaller cut available as well. I ordered medium rare of course. Perfectly cooked and juicy and came swimming in au jus. Pro tip: if you’re still hungry after finishing your meat, you can get seconds (a much smaller slice) for free. I used to be have the appetite to finish off a second slice but now that I’m older, it’s too much for me doh!
The prime rib comes with a few horseradishes. One’s creamy, another’s mild, and another one’s spicier. What I didn’t know is that there’s an off-menu horseradish you can order too! A friend requested one mixed with Tabasco. Not sure if I’d have the urge to special order it on a future visit, but I’m glad I got to try it.
Tangent: On a previous trip, one of my friends once ordered his prime rib here well done. Sacrilege! And then later he ordered the flourless chocolate cake for dessert and was surprised by how small it was, esp since he’d seen how large the regular chocolate cakes were that order folks had ordered. I told him it’s because they figured he couldn’t appreciate food properly with his well done steak so they didn’t want to waste the cake on him haha.
Sides
My favorite side is the Yorkshire pudding that comes with every meal. Actually my friend managed to request a second piece. (It was the same guy who ordered that secret horseradish. He really knows how to have dinner right at HOPR! Haha.) I was tempted to request a second piece too but figured that might be too much food which was probably the right decision. The first time I saw Yorkshire pudding, I was surprised by how it looked since it’s not pudding the way we define it now. It’s basically a puffed pastry of delicious goodness that you can use to sop up the au jus with. Mmmmm. I’m getting hungry again thinking about it.
The creamed spinach was the right balance of cream and spinach. My friend who doesn’t eat pork was sad to discover that it’s cooked with bacon. The baked potato was pretty standard.
Final Thoughts
I recommend this restaurant to friends all the time to take their out-of-town friends to for dinner. It’s a delicious meal for what I consider a very reasonable price with all the accompaniments. I really should try to go more often than I do haha. Also Anthony Bourdain loves this restaurant too and calls it the best prime rib. He’s featured it on a couple of his shows. So if you don’t trust my opinion yet, you can trust his. If it’s good enough for Bourdain, it’s good enough for me! ;o)
Rating (out of 5)
