Bob's Steakhouse - 500 California at Montgomery St., SFCA

   I go out for steak maybe three or four times a year, given the cost and the fact that I try to watch my red meat consumption. When my friend Rob emailed and said he had a $50 coupon for Bob's, I couldn't say no. This is part of a chain and is incorporated into a fancy hotel, as a lot of them are. Lots of heavy wood paneling and all. And, of course, expensive, even compared to some of the other houses in the City. They do buy prime meat from Chicago, and it doesn't get much better than that.
   Though I said I wasn't eating any more batter-fried Onion Rings (10), I coudn't resist, and these were pretty decent. The coating was thin and crisp and cooked at a high enough temperature to keep them from being greasy. They didn't need salt, just a little ketchup.
   We decided to split a Bone-In Kansas City Strip (57), something I've never seen before. We certainly didn't eat 'em that way in Kansas City! They don't do 'steak Diane', so we had it au poivre, medium rare. It was slightly overcooked but still very moist and extremely tender.
   All steaks come with the giant glazed carrot you see here on my plate. Now, if it was me, I'd slice that sucker at angle, 1/4 inch thick and cook it in the glaze. Here they just boil the carrot and then dunk it in the glaze - sugar, cinnamon and orange juice. I thought the carrot was a bit overcooked.
   The reason my plate looks a little barren is because decided to forgo the potato options - baked, smashed or pan-fried with onions and pepper gravy. I did try the gravy with a piece of bread and it was dangerously good.
   I went for my calories by getting The Wedge (10) with bleu cheese and bacon. No complaints here, except that $10 might be a bit much.
   Rob brought a nice 2004 Chateau Lascombes Margaux which took a while to open up but developed a great finish and paired well with the peppery steak. ($25 corkage fee).
   With a glass of Dry Sack Sherry, a pint of beer, tax, tip and coupon it came out to $55 per person.
   I must say I was not converted and will stick with Harris' Steakhouse as my meat palace of choice, and BTW they DO fix steak Diane. Bob's gets a 3.5 on the Meter (1 to 5)