Cincinnati Restaurant Review: The Precinct

It is no secret that I have a soft spot in my heart for Jeff Ruby restaurants, ever since the fabulous experience we had at The Waterfront back in October. I have a rule with restaurants lately: if I can cook my food better than you can cook my food, I'm probably not a happy girl. I make a mean steak - but Jeff Ruby's are, well, meaner.

Even though I guessed my birthday present nine days early (and he still gave it to me!), my husband still decided to take me out for a nice meal when I turned the big 2-3 last Friday. He made an 8:30 reservation at The Precinct. The Precinct is sort of "the" steak restaurant to go to in Cincinnati. There are others that are very good - hell, all the Jeff Ruby restaurants are known for their steak - but if anyone asks where you can get a good steak here, they're probably going to end up at this one.

I suppose I should be embarrassed, in hindsight, that I ordered basically the exact same thing I ordered when we went to the Waterfront. I'd be embarrassed if it wasn't so fantastic, but luckily for me, it is fantastic. I had the Steak Collinsworth, the Cincinnati version of Steak Oscar (filet, two sauces, king crab and asparagus), and John had the Steak a la Roth (pepper-crusted filet). We also ordered the shrimp and crab saute as an appetizer.

I have to say that the shrimp and crab dish was the most disappointing part of the meal. Neither one of us likes mushrooms (the horror, I know), and this had significantly more mushroom than seafood in it. The seafood was fabulous, when you could find it - and even as a mushroom hater, it was still fairly tasty. I just wish the mushrooms had been mentioned ahead of time.

The steaks were, of course, amazing. Both were cooked to perfection. While I am rarely a fan of sauces with my steak, I could have absolutely licked my plate. There was a generous piece of king crab on top of mine - enough that I didn't mind giving John half - and the asparagus was delightful. The steaks come with a side salad and your choice of potato. John and I both opted for the garlic mashed potatoes. Tasting these made me feel like I should modify my recipe - I use minced garlic in my garlic mashed potatoes, but the roasted garlic in theirs is a really nice, rustic touch.

We each had a glass of wine - a Zinfandel for me, Shiraz for him - and two drinks at the bar before our table was ready. As per usual, I'm a little ashamed that I didn't write them down, but I never remember to do that. We passed on dessert because we were absolutely stuffed.

Also, Jeff Ruby's restaurants serve bread with two kinds of butter. One of them is a mushroom butter made with what tastes like a little bit of white truffle oil. They should probably start selling this so I can buy it by the pound. Mushroom hater or not, I cannot get enough of this butter. It's lovely.

Our bill wasn't nearly as expensive as The Waterfront, but we also just went with steak instead of adding on seafood. It's definitely still a nicer restaurant, but not unreasonable. Most steaks are in the $35 range, and the appetizers are about $10. Seafood will cost you a pretty penny, but as we learned with our last Jeff Ruby experience, it's worth it if you can spare the change. Their wine list is extensive and includes many bottles at decent prices, but they have a good selection by the glass as well. We were so stuffed from the food, we could barely finish our wine as it was - we never would have been able to finish off a bottle between the two of us!

A fantastic experience - perfect for a special occasion. I can't recommend it highly enough.