On my most recent trip to Rochester NY, I was looking forward to trying Tavern 19. The last trip I made to Rochester, I had a choice between Veneto Wood Fired Pizza and Pasta and Tavern 19. Fortunately, I selected Veneto’s. This trip I was determined to go to Tavern 19. I was hoping I would strike gold on two trips in a row.
Usually, the week prior to my trips to Rochester, the Production Team from Rochester and I discuss on our conference call where I am going to eat this trip. Of course, I ask for recommendations. I have to say the Production Team in Rochester is fairly good at picking restaurants for me. On this occasion they couldn’t have been more wrong.
I went to Tavern 19 on a Wednesday night. The place was empty for the most part. There was one other couple in the dining room and a group of people in the bar. So my expectation was good service and good food. It turns out I was expecting too much. My waitress was nice. She was very attentive. My only fault with her was that she couldn’t describe all the food items on the menu. After going through the menu, I settled on Steak Au Poirve.
The description of their Steak Au Poirve sounded good. It was a little on the pricey side, but I felt like splurging for a good steak. Their interpretation of Steak Au Poirve was a 20 ounce cut of steak, Wine based Demi-glaze , with peppercorns and garlic. Sounded appetizing. I had a choice of sides, so I chose mashed potatoes.
When my meal arrived, the first thing I tried was the mashed potatoes. They were borderline cold and lumpy. In that first bite I picked up some of the Demi-glaze sauce. It was sweet, certainly not what I was expecting. So, I cut myself a bite of steak and soon discovered is was mostly gristle. I was not about to eat gristle, so I politely spit it out. Strike two was having at least a third of the steak comprised of gristle. I was already not happy with the sweet flavor of the sauce; strike three came when biting into the crunchy burnt pepper corns, very unappealing. This steak was horrible. I only ate half of what remained after cutting away the gristle.
There should be no question as to whether I will ever return to Tavern 19 or recommend them. Have you been to Tavern 19 and had a better experience or have a favorite Steak House in the Rochester NY area, please leave a comment.
