Boeuf & Coq - Dublin, Ireland

People were hungry, and we had to just sit down somewhere. They have outdoor seating and a tourist & express lunch menu which seems like a fair deal, and it's all very appropriate for our situation. 

The food on that menu is fair, but I would avoid the Fresh Mussels & Frites. They're about as fresh as you'd expect; not bad but but you want better. The cream sauce is decent, though. 

Steak & Frites comes with a striploin that's on the tougher side, but nothing a steak knife and a full set of teeth can't hack. There's a brandy peppercorn sauce that's not half bad. 

We ordered off a menu designed to chew through tourists who want to chew through their food fast so they can continue touristing, and we got exactly that. The real menu looks alright, and you're not pressed for time and still insist on sitting here, I recommend perusing that instead. That said, I can't recommend this place based on what we ate.

Red Rock UPDATE - Torrance

Beef bowls, the best in the business. 

The classic American Sliced Beef Don comes paper thin, covered with crack sauce. 

The Cut Steak Don is a cap of rare-red grill-lined steak over a perfect bed of rice. 

Omu-Curry & Rice with Pork Cutlet sounds complicated, but that murky black curry is simply superb. 

Steak Curry and Rice is the same curry with a smaller steak.

For a kid-friendly, adult-appealing option, don't overlook the Beef Omu-Rice at the very end. Choose the ketchup rice for a little tang, or opt for this garlic rice which is simply savory until the last blissful bite. 

Quality beef, quality rice, simply supreme. I just can't describe what makes this place so unforgettable - you'll have to see for yourself. 

Red Rock UPDATE - Torrance

Want a bowl of beef, get a bowl of beef. 

Have razor-thin, practically see-through slices piled sky-high, in the American Sliced Beef Don. Bask in the beefiness, crave the cracked pepper, and savor the sauces of ginger-soy and white yogurt creamy crack. A raw egg enriches the mix, but for obvious reasons is excluded in takeout/delivery.

Want meatier, beefier beef? The American Cut Steak Don is a flap cut so fabulous. Request it ruby-red so the medium rare juices can drip into the rice. 

They make a good omelet too, and their curry gets rave reviews if you’re looking to liven up your rice bowl. Keep it simple or complicate it as much as you care to - Red Rock leaves no room for regret.

The Arthur J - Manhattan Beach

I've always had mixed feelings about DineLA. On the one hand, it makes culinary powerhouses an affordable indulgence. On the other hand, you often get what you pay for and you get a "special" menu where they skimp on the ingredients to remind you that you're still unworthy.

The Arthur J isn't that. They're the "wow, I can't believe I get this much for a price this reasonable." Don't tell them, but for this quality, their DineLA menu is a steal at $99.

The Japanese Hamachi is topped with pink slices so sweet, they must have come right out of the water. Stone fruit softens the fish and brings out the sweetness. They even include some shrimp chips, my childhood in a crisp.

Cold to hot, a palate-warmer to a bowl of comfort. The Farro Risotto has a more assertive texture, more supple and firm compared to regular rice. The truffle permeates the decadent mix of mushrooms and gooey cheese.

They're generous with their steak. 16 ounces of Angus Rib Eye is substantial, and it's almost two fingers thick of juicy, buttery, marbled meaty fat. Buttered blue crab adds surf to my turf, and the briny ocean-sting lightens up the 16 ounces of pure meat. 

A side of Creamed Spinach tastes fresh and perfect, and the crunch of tobacco onions adds to the intrigue. They weren't kidding about the Butter Laden Mashed Potatoes. They're so saturated the butter skims out on top, a glistening puddle of no regrets. 

Giant slices of Chocolate Devil's Food Cake are almost the size of a steak. The icing is rich, the layers of cake are super moist, and you get to lick chocolate mousse off a beater.

Lovely presentation, prime ingredients, an intimate dining experience in the heart of Manhattan Beach. For South Bay steakhouses, the selection is slim pickings, but The Arthur J can hold its own against most of what Santa Monica and LA can boast. I don't do steak too often, but I'll sleep better knowing I can count on The Arthur J to deliver. 

Red Rock - Torrance

Simply put, it's roast beef over rice. 

An oversimplification for sure. It's not the brown slices of sandwich meat you're used to, The American Slice Beef Don is super-rare, super-thin, super-juicy slices of scarlet beef, topped with a raw, adhesive Jidori egg to bring out the sweeter notes and add a layer of savor. I detect a little horseradish in the creamy yogurt sauce, and the bed of rice catches all the drippings. Goes best with beer. 

Try the Beef Omu-Rice as well, or come back after a night of drinks. This omelette is the size of your face, and its fluffy folds encase the best hangover cure I can imagine. The ketchup rice is some the most delicious and addicting fried rice I've ever eaten despite hating ketchup. The soy-gravy-crack sauce is so much better with a layer of gooey cheese on top. Get the gooey cheese. Pay the extra for the gooey cheese. Come back for the gooey cheese. 

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse - Koloa, HI

It took me decades to make it to Ruth’s Chris; better late than never. Huge high-end chain with a hub in every city and town in this country, and they've even crossed the Pacific to deliver quality steak. 

Be prepared. You'll get quality for sure, but if you're looking for the creativity inherent in fine dining, you won't find it here. There’s no thinking outside the box, no innovation, but sometimes a steak is just a steak and it only needs to be a steak. 

Bite into that Filet Mignon and tell me you want more. That steak is so tender you can use your knife to shave not saw. 

Have a few triple-thick, triple-fat bone-in Lamb Chops if you're gaming for something gamey. Order medium rare and swallow with every chew or you'll drown in all that juice. 

I hate getting salads at steakhouses, but their Caesar Salad is a nice one. You need some greens to break up the meat anyway. 

That said, I'd rather have the Brussels Sprouts. The bacon adds some oomph, and the bitter finish is a necessary reset. 

I'm describing in reverse order, saving the best for last. Butter-doused Crab Cakes, patties of lump crab with maximum flavor and minimum filler. It's like biting into a fresh crab except someone did the hard work for you and took off all the shells.

I would come back. You know what you're getting here and you get what you pay for. IF you're craving a good steak, you could do worse than this. Chains really aren't my thing, but at Ruth's Chris, I'll bite. 

Gwen - Los Angeles

Where do you take the man you love for his birthday? To a house of meat. A meat-house. No way this will fail. 

Gwen doesn't fail. Gwen can't fail. Prime butcher cuts of meat, expertly sliced and diced, a Charcuterie so good I forget to take a photo. A tender, lighter ham, a firm and fatty duck speck, a plush and salty salami spread, and a trio of sausages sliced thin, each with its own unique signature of savor. The fouetté is lighter with garlic and white wine, the Spanish chorizo has some spunk. The pork and fennel is gentle, and every bite just makes me mental. 

For a light surf n' turf warm-up, the Oysters are worth a gander.

We're in a meaty mood, and the Bone-in Ribeye is 34 ounces of heaven. Each bite melts in your mouth, and there's so much fat it could be a low-grade wagyu. Then again, foraging for an edible bite isn't very fun: two of those slices were just fat and the bone makes up quite a bit of the weight.

There's a side of Roasted Beets that I thought would cut through all the fat, but I'm not a fan. It's a lighter, silky root vegetable by nature, but they drown it in horseradish cream which leaves a bitter aftertaste.

There's a Panna Cotta for a little more aftertaste. A smear with much more cream than jelly, a cold, almost sweetmilk that takes me back a tiny town in Tuscany ten years ago. The panna cotta there tasted like this, and this is the first time I’ve tasted it again. They add their own special touch, with a streak of caramel and a refreshing uplift of apple. 

Little extras from the kitchen: a Lychee Dragee, a sweet fruit jelly and a Macadamia Nut Truffle with a chocolate crunch. 

I like Gwen. I don't love Gwen, but I like it. If you want a slab of meat that's guaranteed to be good, Gwen is a guarantee. I'm not sure how their seafood is, but I don't see a point in trying things they don't specialize in, especially not after those beets. Great steak and glamorous dining. Fun cocktails, good service. Bring a parent or a more conservative guest with a cautious palate and they'll love you forever, guaranteed.