The Old Oven Art Cafe

USDA Prime.  Ribeye.  600 bucks.  Do you really need any other reason to visit this place?  Old Oven Art has been getting some publicity over the past few month and apparently, this little shop along White Plains is said to serve a mean cheese steak as well.  And what deranged bastard does not like a fucking cheese steak?

Things started off great.  This quaint little space had a good vibe about it — plus, how can you go wrong with Beatle music?

To start with, we got the Chonburi Spicy Wings, which is their best seller.  You can have it mild, spicy, or super spicy.  These babies are one of their best sellers and deservingly so.  They weren’t all that spicy, but pretty good.  Like I said — pretty good start.

But it was pretty much downhill after that.

First of all, that USDA Ribeye I had been thinking about all day?  Not available¹.  Imagine KFC running out of fried chicken – -SMH.  I just went for the USDA Steak Salpicao to get my fair share of USDA beef.  Flavor-wise, it wasn’t bad at all.  They had garlic bits and the right amount of seasoning, but the meat was a bit tough².  It went really well with their rice, though.  Moist, even a bit wet³ — almost like a risotto.

At the very least, the Old Oven Cheesesteak Sandwich was available.  Not very memorable for a signature dish — in fact, it wasn’t very good either.  The baguette was a bit tough and the flavor of the meat didn’t exactly sing.  It’s no Elbert’s that for sure.

Every sandwich comes with fries.  But at another 50 bucks, you can upgrade them to Chili Fries.  It wasn’t bad, but nothing spectacular IMHO.  For 50 bucks, it’s worth a try — or you can order them ala carte for 145.

For another 35 bucks, you can complete the meal with a glass of Iced Tea.  They blend their own, but honestly, I can’t remember if it’s good or not.  I just know it wasn’t bad.  If you want a bigger glass, get the Jar Iced Tea.

I did try the Old Oven All Beef Cheeseburger as well, and I thought this was pretty awful.  I know, I know.  It’s not USDA beef, but I didn’t expect this shit.  Quality was one thing, but it just wasn’t cooked well.

And did I mention that it took forever to come out⁴?  I was wondering why they had all these puzzles and games on the table and by the end of the night, it was pretty clear why they were there.  You’d go nuts waiting for your dishes⁵.

After waiting for almost 30 minutes, our Peach Berry Crepe finally arrived.  I was actually pretty happy with this.  The crepe itself was cooked pretty well and the flavors worked.  They used berry syrup, which was too fucking sweet, but other than that, this was actually a great end to the meal⁶.  For 80 bucks, you can add a scoop of ice cream, which I think makes a lot of difference.  Definitely go for it.

In some ways, you can probably say the place is over-hyped.  Still thoroughly disappointed that the ribeye wasn’t available, but I thought we had tried enough dishes that I probably won’t make a return trip just for the steak — USDA or not.

The Old Oven Art Cafe 2013-06-22

SDA Prime.  Ribeye.  600 bucks.  Do you really need any other reason to visit this place?  Old Oven Art has been getting some publicity over the past few month and apparently, this little shop along White Plains is said to serve a mean cheese steak as well.  And what deranged bastard does not like a …