Newport Grill

Here is a new restaurant review.  I promised something new.  Newport Grill in Wichita, Kansas is one of my favorites.  It has the best martinis in the city and the bar tenders know how to make them properly.  They stuff their own olives with blue cheese and then know to shake them the proper amount of time.

On this visit, I had a straight vodka martini with potato vodka (they have a great variety of alcoholic beverages).  The regular copilot had the Black and Blue--that's a very dirty martini with stuffed blue olives.  I like the stuffed blue olives too just no dirty in my vodka.  The martinis were excellent, as usual, and consistent. 

We also had the steak tartar, tuna tartar, shrimp cocktail, and ceviche.  These are all appetizers.  So, we like appetizers especially raw ones.  The steak tartar was excellent.  We always ask for more toast points, mainly because we like them and secondarily because the second batch is usually softer, and I like them softer.  The regular copilot likes them crustier.  The steak tartar at Newport Grill is European style.  I mentioned before the steak tartar at The Candle Club is American style.  I like them both.  European style tends to have more spices in the steak and usually capers and onions.

The tuna tartar has fried crisps with it.  The flavor was excellent.  Their ceviche is more prepared than I like it.  The best US ceviche I've had was at Ruth's Crisp.  Newport Grill's was pleasant, but not my favorite.  The shrimp cocktail was typical and US style.  It's one of the regular copilot's favorites. 

All in all this was a pleasant evening.  We sat at the bar, but if you want to get a table, make reservations.

Steak Tartar and Cigars

I'll put together two restaurants in Wichita because, as far as I know, they are the only places you can get Steak Tartar here.  On Wednesday my bud asked me to the Candle Club for cigars and drinks.  I brought the cigars.  The cigars were pretty spectacular.  They were four cigars (two pairs) I received in my Fuentes event humidor box.  One pair was a five inch 50 ring pressed box maduro torpedo Fuentes.  I saved the rings, but I didn't note the other information.  The other pair of cigars were an English wrapper four and a half inch 40 ring by a manufacturer I didn't recognize.  We had martinis and cigars then both ordered the steak tartar.  The martinis were okay--they should have been shaken longer.

The cigars were both strong, but they went well with the martinis and the steak tartar.  The steak tartar is very nicely prepared at the Candle Club.  It is not overly spicy and is served with a raw egg yoke on top.  The bread served with the steak tartar is very fresh and very nice.  It is an Italian style bread that is just the right consistency to hold up to scooping and holding steak tartar, but still soft.  The steak tartar was excellent.  It wasn't overpowered by too many spices or flavors and is just the right amount for a single meal.

On Friday, I took the usual copilot (my wife) with a couple of friends to Newport Grill.  Newport Grill also offers steak tartar as an apetizer.  We didn't have the steak tartar (I have had it many times there) but I'll report on it.  Newport Grill's steak tartar is different than the steak tartar at the Candle Club.  It is served similarly, but it is spicier and a slightly different consistency.  It is more typical to the steak tartar found in Europe and not the USA.  The flavor is consistently excellent and very meaty, but still with strong spice.  The bread served with it is very nice, but not as nice in quality as that at the Candle Club.  The different steak tartars are an excellent contrast in flavors, and I recommend both.  By the way, we usually have to order extra bread with each steak tartar, so be ready.

At Newport Grill, we did try out two new appetizers.  The first was a fillet wrapped with a date and bacon with a sweet sauce and orange sauce.  It was very nice and worth a second try.  The orange sauce didn't really complement the flavor, but the overall sauce did.  A cranberry sauce might be excellent with it.  The presentation was great.  The other appetizer was lobster deviled eggs.  For people who like deviled eggs this was a fantastic addition to the menu.  The lobster flavor was very muted, but that didn't matter, the deviled eggs were perfect.  If you like deviled eggs this is the appetizer for you.

We had the usual Newport grill main courses: fish and steak.  The fish is first rate and always great.  The steaks are perfect.  I recommend them all.  Newport is basically a "yes" restaurant.  They'll do about anything you want.

I especially need to remark on the drinks and our server.  We had a young lady as our server and she was the best and most attentive we've had at Newport.  The drinks were correctly shaken and correctly made to request.  If anything, Newport has the best martinis and the most properly done.  All in all, the evening was a success.  Oh, I should mention, we shared the bread pudding for dessert.  Their desserts don't rotate much, but they are very nice.

Go try out the Newport Grill and with a member, the Candle Club--especially if you like steak tartar.    

Cigar Night 3 Nov

4 November 2011, Cigar Night at the Candle Club

We have out cigar night out the first Thursday of every month.  We've been congregating at the Candle Club.  This is a private club in Wichita, Kansas.  Kansas has passed laws that prevent business owners from exercising the private property rights on their own property--the legislature has prevented the use of tobacco products in non-private clubs.  Someone should take these legislators to court for taking the value of property from property owners.  Our country is doomed as long as property owners can't determine the legal activities they will allow on their own property.

In any case, we had cigar night at the Candle Club--there we can have drinks, cigars, and dinner.  The food at the Candle Club is outstanding.  I brought cigars. 

The usual bartender wasn't in the smoking bar.  I ordered a vodka martini with grape based vodka (I like potato based vodka because I don't like the sweet flavor of grain based vodkas).  She came back with a vodka martini made with grape flavored Sky vodka--yuck.  Okay, reload.  She had a discussion with the regular bartender and came back with the right drink.  I thought it was funny.

I brought a bunch of cigars, but started with a Partagas number 10 (my favorite), but my buddy brought a special Cohiba torpedo.  The Cohiba was a great cigar.  It was tightly wrapped with the usual great Cohiba flavor.  A nice gentle chocolate and cream.

For dinner, I ordered the Steak Tartar.  There are only two places (that I know of) where you can get Steak Tartar in Wichita Kansas:  the Candle Club and the Newport Grill.  The Steak Tartar at the Candle Club is wonderfully fresh with very little spice or stuff mixed in.  It has a raw egg yoke on top.  It is excellent.  I looked forward to it all day.  With it I had a Flexinet Cordon Negro half bottle.  I wanted to have another--Steak Tartar and Fexinet.  The bread with the Steak Tartar was a thin sliced French style with a brush of oil.  All in all this was a very pleasant meal.  I recommend it.

My bud recommends the chicken fried steak at the Candle Club--that's what he had.  After the Cohiba, I went back to the Partagas number 10.  That was my limit and I got almost 3 hours out of the cigars--wonderful.  The flavor of a Partagas 10 is slightly sweet and honey with cream.  Very close to the Cohiba but a gentle cigar that doesn't stay with you for two days.

That was my planned end of the evening, but another friend offered me a Nub English Wrapper.  I ordered a Jamison on the rocks to match the Nub.  The Nub cigar was nice and not too long a burn.  It is a similar cigar to the other two.  It is a light and sweet cigar with a nice flavor.

So, the end of this cigar night.  We had 13 members and a great evening of conversation.