Midtown's Renovated Strip House Presents New Menu Items

If the name Strip House makes you smirk, we're right there with you — but don't worry, the steakhouse is actually one step ahead of us all.

Racy black-and-white photos of pinup girls tease from behind backlit boxes and across the walls of the back dining room, and sultry red velvet cutouts of curvy women pepper the wallpaper lining the leather booths, giving the illusion that we've stumbled into a secret speakeasy, not a steak joint in midtown Manhattan.

We tackled the seafood platter first, an overwhelmingly delicious spread of fresh, flavorful seafood including tuna tartare, oysters, and jumbo shrimp so big it takes four or five bites to finish just one.

Shortly after we sat back to digest the platter, we were told that the chef prepared something special for us called "The Chicken and the Egg," and a large truffle in a glass case appeared at the table. We were instructed to smell the inside of the lid, and it was pungent in the most pleasant way. Two bowls of poached eggs and other savory bits are placed in front of us, and we watch, mesmerized, as delicate sheets are shaved from the truffle and float gently on top of our little pillows of yolk. The restaurant has just begun offering White Alba truffles, priced at $25 a gram, and Burgundy Truffles, priced at $20 a gram.

Minutes later, a $100 Snake River Farms Gold Label Kobe strip streak was delivered to the table, one that may have  been the best steak we had ever eaten. It was served with barely seasoned, yet flavorful, broccolini, and a heap of black truffle creamed spinach.

We found ourselves wishing we had more than one stomach, as then we could have tackled the 24-layer chocolate cake. Instead, we pretended to be annoyed that they brought out a baked Alaska and banana tarte, and managed to savor a few bites of each, proclaiming, with mouths full, that this was one of the best lunches we'd ever had.