after dinner sneeze

t says:  After my great experience at GTC for their all-you-can-eat steak adventure, I brought some friends to get a second opinion.  Just to recap, it’s all-you-can-eat steak, all-you-can-eat French fries, and [presumably] all-you-can-eat salad … for $25 … and GTC is corkage-free for the first bottle, and $10/bottle corkage therafter.  Oh, and now it’s officially on the menu!  Hooray!  Long live steak!  In any case, this is what a and v had to say:

v says:  Mmmm… steak was delicious. We are on steak 9. My favorite sauce was a’s, but I couldn’t have eaten as much of his as I could mine… It was so good I could have continued making room for more if I wasn’t worried about undoing the buttons on my pants. The fries were also great. What stands out, though, is the salad. I immediately noticed they used the same dressing for this salad as their Lyonnaise one. Great decision, unfortunately, they’ve toned down the flavor due to a couple of complaints about the intensity of the dressing. The service was more than eager to continue serving us, which was great, because we didn’t feel like the gluttons that some of us (a and I) were.

I will wear an elastic waist band next time…

a says: I agree with v’s take. Best $25 complete meal in Philly and bonus: it’s AYCE. My dessert was good but I really didn’t care at that point since I, too, was on steak 9.  Let’s do this again real soon!  N.B. Plan to walk to AND from the restaurant.

Also, the wines were delicious and fun. Most had a typical aspect: nose for the Pinot, mouth for the Sauvignon Blanc and Cab, but then proved more interesting in other aspects. The Pinot was full in the mouth with nice viscocity, it stood up to the steak – the standout of the night (check it here). The SB smelled like rubber (burnt rubber, actually) and hay then switched to strong petrol in the mouth. The Cab smelled more like a Shiraz or Merlot with lots of red fruit and some green earth but then went to dark fruits, vanilla and good grip (t gestures: “grip!”)  on the tongue (check it here).

t says:  Ah, yes, the wine …  That Sineann pinot noir was most definitely a cab-drinker’s pinot.  It was rich and full and void of a single rough edge anywhere, even if it was missing some of that hallmark Oregon funk and acid … but it was still delicious.  Not a single person, including me, could object to it.  I wish more of the ’08 could still be found (I personally don’t know if other vintages taste as good – but one can hope!).  I’ll give it a nod as wine of the night, as it was straight-up more interesting than the Hall cabernet.  Even moreso interesting, however, was the Sauvignon Blanc that we had.  Now, this is not some “easy-breezy” Sauvignon Blanc.  This one slaps you in the face with petrol, petrol, and more petrol.  I estimate that 99% of casual wine-drinkers will not like this wine.  I estimate that 90% of wine enthusiasts will not like this wine.  But g and I love it (a and v liked it, too, but it’s not like they’re clamoring for more).  It will now be added to the cellar so we can have some of this $10 beauty on hand at all times.  If you manage to find it, buy a bottle and give it a try (or take us to dinner and we’ll bring a bottle for all to try!).  I bet that people who kinda-sorta-secretly-enjoy the scent of a gas station will like this wine (seriously!).  Also – if this is your kind of wine, then you’re our kind of people: let’s eat and drink together.  If not, then, well, we can get you some Woodbridge Chardonnay or Cavit Pinot Grigio (burned! … j/k!).