Steak results

[billiardsmike]

I know it's not Chinese food, but where else should I post it? I couldn't wait any longer and after finding the restaurant reviews on TBJ, chose Blockhouse in Chaoyang (a bit of a haul.) I was pleasantly surprised.

Nice place, good modern, casual atmosphere. A classy place where casual dress is the norm. Steaks were fair quality meat with great flavor and the sides (baked potato, salad, french onion soup and shrimp) were all very good, as well as the desserts. Beer selection was decent, much of it German. As you can tell, we pigged out. Service was excellent. I don't care if a tip was expected or not, they got a good one.

Of course the bill was a shock, but only because I've become accustomed to spending 15-20 kuai. By American standards, the price was very fair for the product received. Steak entrees ran from around 125-210 kuai. I would have no problem recommending the place to anyone else with withdrawal symptoms. I hope they last. 7pm on a Saturday and there were only 10-12 customers, all western.

[roddy]

Will move out of Chinese food to Living in China - more of a practical 'where to get good steak' thing than a general Chinese food topic.

Glad you got fed!

[imron]

I hope they last. 7pm on a Saturday and there were only 10-12 customers, all western.

No worries. After all, the meat still costs the same per kg, and the waitstaff still only get 5 yuan an hour. So when you're charging 10 times the price of local dishes, you can afford to have 1/10th of the number of customers

[gougou]

This is the first good review I see of this place, though. I have a couple of friends who will not set foot in that place, and when I was there myself, I wasn't impressed either (although I didn't think it was very bad, either, which seems to me the prevalent opinion)

[billiardsmike]

It's possible that my standards have dropped since I've been here, or that I was simply overcome by the presence of a steak, but I think it was still fairly good. I chose it because of other middle to great reviews. Granted, it's no Ruth's Chris. I'll try other places here for comparison, but I would go back.