Our hostess seats us at a table unlike any other I’ve come across in my travels. Instead of chairs or benches, we sit on leather couches that have been accessorized with about ten pillows on each. Lean back and enjoy your evening in supreme comfort. After a few minutes our waiter drops off our menus and informs us he would return shortly. After a few minutes he returns to take our drink orders and says he’ll return to go over the menu with us. Five minutes goes by and no waiter, after ten minutes I spot him in the background studying the menu, fifteen minutes goes by and he’s now staring at the computer screen, twenty minutes and he’s back studying the menu, after twenty five minutes he finally returns! He gives a quick and robotic overview of the menu before taking our order. To my disappointment, there was no presentation of the steaks and/or seafood, just the menu. We start with the crab cakes and my wife adds a chopped salad and I opt for the steakhouse salad. For our entrées my wife orders the Cajun rib eye while I decide on the “Akaushi” steak. Like most steakhouses, everything is a la carte, so we add on the onion rings and roasted potatoes on the side.
Crab cakes are first and they are two lump crab cakes accented with capers and red bell pepper, served with a lemon tartar sauce. The crab cakes are melt in your mouth moist with a lovely sear to the outside for a nice tasty crust. Salads are next and my wife’s chopped salad has big rough chops of Romaine, red peppers, cucumbers, bleu cheese, and is tossed in a whole grain mustard vinaigrette. The rough chops deliver a great crunch and overall wonderful mouth feel to a well executed salad. My steakhouse salad is a large wedge of iceberg topped with onion straws, apple wood smoked bacon, and nestled on top of sliced tomato and bleu cheese dressing. Everything works except for the tomato. The tomato is sliced very thin and gets lost in the mix.
Our dinner arrives with a bit of confusion. Our waiter begins to serve my wife “my” steak and then stops, walks away, and returns to serve each of us our proper cuts of beef. Our two sides thankfully arrive at the same time. That’s when I notice that the onion rings are not really rings at all. They’re more of a tumble weed, but they don’t disappoint in regards to flavor. The onions are sliced paper thin and then fried to a golden crisp. The roasted potato’s are diced and served with onions and cherry peppers and have a wonderful golden texture and slightly sweet taste from the onions and peppers. Time for the main event, the steak! My wife’s Cajun rib eye is a big beefy wonder. Seared perfectly outside to give a nice crust and then dusted in Cajun spices. The steak has a great beef flavor and is super tender, but the Cajun seasoning definitely relies mostly on black pepper. Need an extra kick? It’s also served with a side of horseradish just in case the normal Cajun seasoning isn’t enough. My “Akaushi” is a barrel cut piece of American Kobe beef that is accompanied by a half head of roasted garlic. My steak had a great crust, was very tender, and had a very mellow flavor similar to a filet. When you require just a bit more flavor, add a little of the roasted garlic and you’ll be just fine.
Time for the dessert tray to come out, right? Wrong. No dessert presentation is available so we choose out desserts from the menu. They must not realize that you eat with your eyes as well. My wife orders a coffee and their signature chocolate dome and I decide on the key lime parfait. The chocolate dome is a brownie topped with whipped cream, chocolate mousse, and then “domed” by a layer of chocolate ganache. It is rich, decadent, and not for the faint of heart. Usually your coffee arrives before your dessert and not ten minutes after. Our waiter drops off her cup and cream but walks away with the coffee pot still in his arms while he helps another table! My key lime parfait had crushed graham crackers between two layers of a cool, creamy, and slightly tart filling. The only thing the parfait lacked was some whipped cream.
Final bill with tip was about $190 for the two of us. That’s pretty standard for an upscale steak house. What wasn’t standard was the extremely slow and absent minded service. While our waiter was very nice, he obviously was not experienced enough to work a busy shift. My wife and I arrived at 7pm and didn’t leave until a few minutes past 10pm. Overall “Sam & Harry’s” offers very good food, contemporary atmosphere, and very slow service. Rating ** out of ****.
Location
Renaissance Hotel
1551 N. Thoreau Drive
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847-303-4050
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