Eun L.
Yelp
Given the name, "The Reading Room," I thought it'd have a cozier ambience. Upon entering, we saw a lot of suits, which gave it a stiffer atmosphere than expected. There were some books placed high on some shelves, but nothing about the place made me think of a reading room. The place is small, and all tables were full. We had a reservation so no concern there.
Since many of items on the menu sounded appetizing, it was hard to decide. Three appealing fish dishes were offered. I love bone marrow so contemplated getting that. But since it only had one bone marrow piece, I opted for the beet salad and the hanger steak with fries. My husband wasn't very hungry so he ordered two appetizers: the grilled octopus and steak on toast.
My beet salad came out with my husband's grilled octopus. My salad was a moderate portion with frisée, arugula and what looked like a medium sized beet sliced up. I was expecting more beets since it is highlighted in the salad name. But it was more like a small supporting role than the star. The goat cheese added a nice balance to the red wine vinaigrette, taming the acidity. It seems they were out of the red currants and replaced it with golden raisins. And I didn't taste any fennel.
My husband's grilled octopus was prepared well. The octopus was tender, not overcooked, and it was served with a creamy hummus. I didn't see parsnips, but it had some roasted green beans. Fried sweet potato chips added a subtle sweetness to the dish and a nice bit of crunchy texture.
While we sat there, several tables changed over. After our first dishes, we found ourselves waiting for some time before my main dish and husband's second appetizer came out. Considering the place doesn't hold many tables, I was puzzled as to why it was taking so long. Then a table of five that had arrived after we did ended up getting all of their main plates before we did. Our waitress said she'd look into our orders. When our orders finally did arrive, my plate looked good. But unfortunately, my hangar steak was cooked medium to medium well instead of the medium rare I had asked for. The fries were ok; not the style I prefer. They were similar in type to the fries served at five guys. They weren't bad fries, just not my preferred style. The chimichurri sauce was surprisingly a nice addition to the steak. I usually don't like any sauce on my steak, and I was worried that it may be slathered on. But it wasn't drenched in it and it wasn't overpowering.
The steak was also tepid. It was almost as if the plates were pushed to the side and forgotten in a corner. Being that we had already waited too long for our plates, I just ate it as it came (we also had our daughter waiting for us to join her after dinner). A few minutes after we finally got our plates, another table of five that arrived much later than we did received all of their plates, too.
My husband's steak on toast was tasty. The steak slices were on top of arugula with a complimenting chimichurri sauce.
It's unfortunate I could only give three stars. But with the long wait for the food and incorrect handling of the steak, that's all I could give. The flavors were pretty good for the dishes, but the execution needs to be improved.
