I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this place, we've been thinking of giving it a try since it opened but we've been hesitant. The old Armory Restaurant had always been a staple in town, we used to go once or twice a year, and the food was always on the good-to-great level, but the restaurant was seemingly always plagued by slow service or a short-staffed kitchen. I do recall a few wonderful Friday night meals with a live piano player though.

Anyhow we're definitely going to give 20 Milk Street a try now, probably stop by for a couple steaks in the next week or two. From the sound of it, I guess we should call ahead. Thanks John!

I am glad to finally read a fabulous review about "Twenty Milk Street." My business partners and I went in on a busy Friday night, got a lovely table and our dinner was fantastic. I had the crabcakes, the 12 ounce NY sirloin AND the creme brulee. All fabulous, I left full but very happy. The service was also superb, I believe was a female server and two male servers (forgive me, I forgot their names) but they worked so well together and they were very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. I will be back and am glad the word is finally out there!

"It’s so large it seemed like it was cut from a condor..." Nice line. Gave me a good laugh! I'm glad to hear there's a good steakhouse in town now.
Frank

My wife and I had a terrific meal at 20 Milk Street. A straight forward, no nonsense steakhouse idea in Portland is sorely needed. The dining room was empty on the Sunday night we dined so it felt like a private club with our own server. The manager came over, we talked wine and we had a great two pound lobster which we shared, wedge salad with blue cheese and a club steak. Bearnaise was perfect. Porterhouse probably would have been a better choice but we did not want to over do it. Wine list could use an uplift and our hors d'oeuvre of baked brie came with very sad looking townhouse crackers but overall a great time. Our server, Chris I think, was wonderfully attentive as was the manager. Look forward to another meal soon.

Creamed spinach. . . oh how I've longed for you since my frequent visits to many a New York City Steakhouse. It is good to hear we finally have one right here in Portland. There is nothing quite like the sizzle of beef and a club like atmosphere on a cold Autumn eve. I can't wait to try it. Where are Gretchen's comments ??

I have to agree with your post, John. I have been in to eat several times and it's always been wonderful.

One point I wanted to differ with you on, was that to my recollection there is no T-Bone on the menu - - but I had a nice Porterhouse for about $45.

The chef at 20 Milk Street, Alan Cook, is a long time personal friend - and I'm really glad to finally see him getting the attention he deserves! Hats off to Alan!

I'm afraid I have no comment since I've never been there and really don't love steak enough to pay $40 for one. That $23 piece of gristle that we paid for at Katahdin the other night was punishment enough.

Looking forward to trying out 20 Milk Street. It sounds interesting. I do have a bone I want to pick over with you, though. (pun intended....)
I want to preface the following comment by saying that while this may sound a bit churlish, I fail to understand why you are making a sustained pitch for Oolong. I have dined there several times, twice for dinner, and once for lunch. Each experience was more disappointing than the previous one, and I have finally given up. Delicious is not an adjective that I can apply in any way to anything relating to my personal experience with this establishment. Taste may be subjective, but there are standards which are pretty much universal when it applies to food, and Oolong, (much to my dismay, because I so wanted it to be good) is consistent only in its inconsistency. If I had a suspicious nature, I would suspect that there was more to your frequent mentions of the place than meets the eye. Since I know that you are above reproach in this regard, and I often enjoy your comments and observations, I will extend to you the benefit of this serious doubt, and just accept that, for some reason, you adore this place...hey, its your blog, right?
I don't think that Oolong will last Toolong anyhow...not without some serious retooling. Enjoy it while you can.

I agree, I have eaten there twice. The first time one of the dishes was simply inedible and was returned to the kitchen - they did not even offer to cook a new dish for us. The second time the food was edible but by no means extraordinary. They have put a great deal of effort into their decor, but It comes off to me as a lot of effort with a small lack of skill in execution.

Style over substance for the most part.

Yes it is good to see there is a steakhouse in town. I have tried it, however I couldn't resist trying the Halibut dish instead. It was superb, with a Lobster & goat cheese stuffing. I paired it with an affordable chardonnay and was very pleased. My colleague decided on the Duck which also was a delightful meal with a delicous orange sauce of some kind on it. We finished by splitting the Mud Pie which was explained to us as having homemade Kahlua ice cream. Getting back on my diet may be quite difficult. The decor could use an upgrade as I feel the room was slighly drab, but overall I had a great experience.

To B. Wildered. First,let me congratulate you on your choice of the word "churlish," the usage of which is rarely seen in the so-called modern sentence.

But more to the point: It is true that I've referred to Oolong on many occasions. I have no qualms about trying to help out a new restaurant IF i feel it's worth the kudos. I've probably been there 5 or 6 times since they opened and my experiences there have been quite positive.

Of course restaurants, ,especially new ones, can be very uneven. Perhaps you've hit it wrong each time. I never have second thoughts about panning a restaurant if such lack of praise is warranted. I just haven't found that to be the case there. I think the only dish on the menu that hasn't impressed me is their noodle dish with peanut sauce. It needs improvement, Other than that, every entree has been wonderful, and I love the crab and corn rangoons and most of their other appetizers.

Occasionally I'll go to a restaurant that's so bad (this happened recently) that I decide not to write about it, figuring it will eventually die on its own. This happened recently at an eatery in Falmouth, off Route 1, that was beyond hopeless. The food was old, nearly uneatable and totally without redeem.

But that's been the only restaurant in a long time that I have vowed never to go to again.

I went to Oolong this past Sunday and had a really nice meal with friends who joined us there. We sampled a lot of dishes, and other than the peanut noodle concoction, it was all first rate.

Dang...you congratulate people for using archaic words?

Well...if thats the case....

I will never kumtux your amaranthine idee fixe with the execrable restaurant known as Oolong.

How about that one?

I will throw a fillip of respect to Mr. Golden for continuing to praise Oolong, despire others' animadvertations, to which I must add my own. My dinner there was, if not outright mephitic, most certainly less than sapid. One dish had as its anlage nothing more than plain, cold iceberg lettuce, with a farrago of other bland items atop. Mr. Golden can persist in his flummery, but it seems that most people have experiences similar to mine, and that Oolong's deserved epicedium will soon be heard.

Glad to see you back Mr. Weir.

Will your approbation for Mr. Golden be fugacious if you espy that he spasmodically consorts with the proprietrix of the chophouse?

John J. needs a dictionary instead of a thesaurus because many of these words are "loose" synonyms and it reads, uh, a little funny. "Spasmodically consorts"? That almost sent me into spasms of guffaws! Which is, I suppose, what you are intending with these comments, if perhaps for different reasons . . .

God forbid I write something a little funny.

I did acknowledge that you were being funny. No worries!

OK, errant wordsmiths, let me praise you all in which the orisons of my gratitude go unabated.

Finally got to try the "new great steakhouse" last night. In a word: mediocre. The Hollandaise on the broccoli tasted like a lemon sauce. The meats were bland, not rich like I would expect grain feed midwestern beef to be. The cranberry bread was good. The service shoddy. Lack of communication between the captain and the servers, dirty glass ware and silver ware. Every time one of the waitstaff passed me they bumped the back of my chair. Kind of like having people on a plane pull on your seat when they go to stand up. One of the servers reached ACROSS my wife to the other side of the table to clear another guest's plate and in doing so nearly dropped a stacked salad plate and knocked over my sister's drink. The wine list was adequate but might benefit from a couple of more choices by the glass. IMHO the prices are WAY out of line for the quality and the service. I certainly would NOT put it in the same league as a Smith & Wollensky's, Gallagher's, Peter Lugers or even Ruth's Chris.