This was the meal my DH was most looking forward to. Reason number one: He loves steak. Reason number two: This was one of two signatures we had yet to try. Reason number three: He loves steak.
When we arrived, we had a short wait in the bar/lounge area (VERY comfy chairs BTW) and enjoyed looking at the strips that were aging in the...well...aging room?
We were seated at a table for two in the middle of the restaurant. It was a great table, but we both had the feeling that this was a different atmosphere than most of the signatures we had dined at previously. It was a bit loud, chaotic, and much like a steakhouse...hence the name Yachtsman Steakhouse. Silly, I know, but I think we were both expecting something a little bit more upscale (geez, we sound like snobs...I swear, we aren't). Either way, what we were really looking forward to was the food.
For his drink, DH got a Dogfish IPA, his all time favorite (Go Delaware!). I got the iced tea. And I am proud to admit that I got the iced tea for one reason and one reason only...the little bottle of sweetening syrup that comes with it. I saw it on another dining review here on the DIS and just knew I HAD to get it. It was all that I imagined it would be and I would highly recommend it.
For his appetizer, DH got the Charcuterie Plate.
Now, this is not listed on AllEars, so I can only give you opinion, not fact. This was the weirdest appetizer I had ever seen. Keep in mind, we aren't the fanciest of people, so this is something we have never, ever ordered before. DH saw meat, meat, cheese, and meat, so he ordered it. I have to say that we were both glad he did. We cannot tell you what most of it was...the egg shell held chicken liver pate (our least favorite). DH's favorite was the meat in the bottom left. Really, he liked it all. It was something so fun and so different.
I decided to step out of the box (and I mean WAY out of the box) on this one as well, by ordering the escargot appetizer.
Being a person who is petrified of slugs, this was a really tough one for me. I decided to get them becuase it was now or never. I would never, ever go to a non-DWorld restaurant and order this, but why not here? So I went for it. I must tell you our server Bill was excellent. He was definitely a foodie and explained everything to us to help us make the best decisions. It was because of him that I didn't chicken out on the whole escargot thing. DH liked these more than I did. For me, it was a mind-over-matter thing. I'm glad I got them and they weren't terrible, but I would not order then again, even from here. DH actually liked them. He liked the flavor and he liked the sausage pieces that are mixed in with the escargot. My favorite part was the little puff pastry that came as an accompaniment. For those of you wondering if you should take the leap, I say go for it. Especially if you are on the DxDP.
As his entree, DH got the ribeye.
The ribeye is his absolute, all-time favorite cut of meat. Actually he was torn between the strip and the ribeye, but went for the 16oz ribeye. It came with sweet potato and (some-kinda) cheese beignets. The steak was topped off with some sort of buttery sauce. He ate all of the steak (and almost all of mine, too...but we will get to that in a minute). He said it was delicious, but he was a bit disappointed that there was nothing "extraordinary" about the steak. He really like the beignets, too. They were savory with a hint of a mellow sweetness from the potato. This was unusual for us because we are used to sweet recipes (brown sugar, marshmallows, etc.) with sweet potatoes, but we enjoyed them nonetheless.
I got the "prime" NY strip.
Mmmmm. It was good. DH and I agreed that we like my cut of meat better, but his sauce better. Mine had a peppercorn brandy sauce. I like pepper, but it was almost a bit overpowering. The cheddar potato gratin was good, but not as good as it had sounded on the menu. Don't get me wrong, I would definitely order the strip again. DH actually got a big portion of my steak because...well, you know...dessert was around the corner.
For dessert, I got the Trio of Valrhona Chocolate.
OMG. If you go to Yachtsman, you HAVE to get this. This was one of my absolute favorite desserts of the trip. (I'm sure I will say that again, but this was seriously good.) It was a combination of peanut, espresso and caramel. OMG. It was freaking awesome. If you do get this (and you should), DO NOT skip over the little pile of what looks like peanuts in the top right corner. It tastes like a spectacular peanut brittle and I almost missed it. YUMMMM
DH got the creme brulee.
It was creme brulee. That's all I can say. Not bad by any means, but nothing (at all) compared to my dessert.
So, in review...Yachtsman provided us with excellent service (best of the trip), good meat, and one dang fabulous dessert. We were slightly disappointed in the atmosphere. And we are left wondering if this is truly 2-credit worthy. We had a great time and truly enjoyed ourselves, but it was nothing that we felt like we couldn't get somewhere else... I could see us returning at some point in the future, but I'm not sure it would make the cut if we needed to limit our number of signatures.
Final cost was $158.89 (inc. beer and tip). We used 4 DxDP credits.