If you’re in Seattle and craving a good steak, I think the best place to go is still the Metropolitan Grill. This is an old style steak house restaurant with plush banquette seats, a big bar and waiters in white jackets. But the main thing is that it has a wide range of steak cuts available.

I came here to celebrate my aunt’s birthday with my mom and her three sisters. So being a group of five ladies, we definitely knew we’d be better off sharing our food given the large portions. One of the nice things is that the waiters were able to give us suggestions on what to order and how the steak should be cooked. So instead of sharing a porterhouse, we went with what they call The Met Long Bone Ribeye steak with meat that is a Wagyu/Angus cross from Snake River Farms in Idaho. This 40 oz cut was shared among three.

Interestingly, our waiter suggested that the steak be served cooked medium instead of medium-rare so that it’d be more tender. That’s the first time I’d heard that recommendation but it worked out well. The steak was among the best I’ve tasted in a while.

We also shared a more standard New York peppercorn steak. This we stuck with medium-rare but admittedly, it was not as good as the Long Bone ribeye. But this may be because, I like my meat with a bit more fat on it. On hind sight, perhaps we should have gone with one of the prime ribs or the Wagyu/Angus Top Cap Sirloin.

The Metropolitan Grill has nine different Wagyu/Angus cuts, two Ohmi beef cuts, two prime ribs, and seven standard steak cuts. The night we were there, they also had a Hokkaido steak available. It was really hard to choose.

We shared a prawn cocktail and  crab cakes starters and added a side of roasted mushrooms and roasted poblano scalloped potatoes. However, sides may not have been necessary as the steaks come with an ample helping of roasted vegetables, or potatoes. Our dessert was a strawberry shortcake – again large enough to feed all five of us.

The Metropolitan Grill has an extensive wine list and as it possesses a large and popular bar, you can also essentially have your choice of cocktails. Both the Yamazaki 18 and 12 year whiskeys were available. We had a bottle of Vega Sicilia Alion 2009 to accompany our steaks.

The Metropolitan Grill’s website, online reservations available: http://www.themetropolitangrill.com