Steak that’s top notch and perfectly cooked to order
Mark Laba
Province
Stoked for steak? Try Pinky’s Steakhouse. Photograph by : Jon Murray, The Province
PINKY’S STEAKHOUSE
Where: 1873 West 4th Ave.
Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-732-9545
Drinks: Fully licensed
Hours: 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Sun-Tues, 5 p.m.–midnight Wed.-Sat., lunch Fridays only from 11:30 a.m.
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Marshall McLuhan said the medium is the message but I think it’s the steak. All forms of communication come down to our early days, sitting around the fire grilling mastodon and trading grunts. Primitive but that’s the way I see it, so for me, the steakhouse of today is the equivalent of the cave, firelight licking the walls with flare-ups of fat and grease, illuminating crude paintings of the last woolly mammoth hunt and the barbecue at Borok’s place.
So I was tickled pink to eat at a steakhouse called Pinky’s, which as steakhouse names go is the equivalent of putting a principal ballet dancer on the line with a bunch of NFL middle linebackers.
The steakhouse has long perpetuated the myth that it’s the male of the species that dominates the eating of red meat toward the achievement of a heart attack and many a meat-laden enclave has reflected this thought. In reality the joint claims it has taken the name inspiration from a Scottsdale, Ariz., well-aged steakhouse called The Pink Pony and their concept is to make the steakhouse friendly to gals and guys equally.
Called up Gregarious Greg for a little hunting and gathering in the wilds of Kitsilano at the newest Pinky’s to open since the launch of the Yaletown venue.
“I’m so stoked for steak,” he said on the drive there. “I was looking at a pack of Mr. Noodles before you called thinking, ‘Hell, I shoulda went to Costco because I could eat a whole skid of these things.'”
Walked into a room that echoed that cave-like quality of our early loincloth days but a little better decked out, both in human attire and furnishings. Actually the all-female serving staff was dressed in a kind of updated version of the loincloth, a bit more fabric but tightly wrapped, black and somewhat revealing. Dark woods and leathers and booth seating bespeak a classic steakhouse in every way but with modern tweaks like the shiny globe lights and exposed ductwork ceiling covered in spots intriguingly by Old Master-style paintings strapped to the rafters and looking down on the diners below. Maybe a way to say Pinky’s is turning the steakhouse concept on its head or on our heads or something to that effect with its aim to attract the hip mixed bag of young urbanites, a kind of Sex and the City for carnivores.
“I can’t believe they have a sushi appetizer on the menu. I mean a Dynamite Roll in a steakhouse. This we gotta try but after that I’m gonna need some bacon,” Gregarious Greg prompted.
So Dynamite Roll it was ($8) along with bacon-wrapped scallops ($11) for starters. The DR was disappointing. What was billed as a tempura shrimp shindig with spicy mayo turned out to be three-quarters rice and shrimp that gave new meaning to their name. You’d need a microscope to see these things and for the price this Dynamite Roll had little bang. Bacon-wrapped scallops fared much better although the scallops, too, seemed to be suffering from the shrimp factor.
We both opted for the 7-oz. seasoned sirloin ($23) and a pick from six different sides. The three onion rings balanced atop the steak was a nice touch. Steak was top-notch and perfectly cooked to our specifications. Pinky’s Plush Potato fabrication was a head-scratcher with its wonton-like wrapper but the jalapeño and cheddar mashed tater inside was delicious. And the homemade horseradish was excellent, running full gallop through the nasal passages and leaving them smouldering.
From a 12-oz. New York steak to a 22-oz. porterhouse the choice is yours and you can surf ‘n’ turf it with crab legs, lobster or prawns. Wines available in both 9- and 6-oz. glasses and the desserts are generous including a decent key lime pie. There’s an old saying, go big or go home. Well, we went home not sure if we went that big but our arteries felt better for it so maybe it’s about the survival of the species or given the meet market sensibility, really the origin of the species.
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THE BOTTOM LINE: A swinging scene for meat-eating hipsters.
RATINGS: Food: B+; Service: B+; Atmosphere: A-