Delmonico’s has been on my radar for a while now so when my mom mentioned she’d like to have dinner during Restaurant Week, I quickly made reservations on OpenTable. The restaurant has a lot of history – dating back to 1837. It’s credited as the 1st American restaurant to allow its customers to order a la carte, instead of prix fixe. The building itself is a site to behold – it’s on the corner and the restaurant takes up the entire bottom floor. At first glance, it might be easy to walk past it. But once you’re inside the restaurant, it’s like you’ve been transferred to another much older world. You feel like you’ve walked into another time!

Our waiter came by with menus, explained the Restaurant Week menu and left us to peruse our options. Delmonico’s menu is pretty similar to other Restaurant Week menus – there are three options for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. There are three addition options for both appetizers and entrees with supplements. If you want one of their more classic dishes like Lobster Newburg or Delmonico’s Steak, you have to pay extra.

Both my sister and I opted for the Chef’s Chilled Soup of the Day since it was so hot outside (boarding around 95 degrees). The soup of the day was a Butternut Squash with lobster chunks. It was so good – it wasn’t very cold, which was nice. The butternut squash was strong and nutty, which mixed well with the lightly salted lobster. I think this was my favorite dish of the night.

My mom went with the Gulf Shrimp Risotto with heirloom tomatoes, charred corn and basil.  I liked her risotto but I’m not a huge fan of corn in my risotto. The portion was decent for an appetizer.

For our mains, both my sister and I had the 8-ounce Filet Mignon with chef’s seasonal vegetables. The filet mignon is only available for the dinner menu for Restaurant Week. I’m a huge fan of filet mignon – it’s probably my cut of choice because I don’t like big, meaty steaks. I don’t like to saw through a huge steak so this was perfect for me. The portion size is generous and cooked to my requested medium-rare. The sides were green beans and fingerling potatoes, which are two of my favorite steak sides. Both were very tasty. The combination of steak juices and the potato sauce made for a great dipping for my steak.

My mom went with the Grilled Striped Bass with maitake mushrooms, sauce Americain, marble potatoes, and Maine lobster. The portion size was very generous and my mom couldn’t even finish her dish. The Maine lobster was a nice garnish to the striped bass and everything blended well together.

For dessert, we ordered all three so we could try them all. My mom ordered the New York Style Cheesecake with strawberry compote (pictured first). My sister ordered the Dark Chocolate Mousse with salted caramel sauce (pictured second). I opted to pay the $6 supplement and try their famous Classic Baked Alaska with walnut cake, banana gelato, apricot jam and meringue (pictured last).

The Dark Chocolate Mousse was my favorite – there was a nice crunch at the bottom of the mousse. The dark chocolate was nice because it cut the sweetness of the mousse. The Baked Alaska was a bit underwhelming – I found it a bit too sweet. And I have a sweet tooth so if I think it’s too sweet, that’s saying something! It’s also a huge portion so it’s definitely sharable.

Service was attentive throughout dinner and all our dishes came out very quickly. We barely waited 5 minutes between courses. I didn’t particularly feel rushed but it did end up being a quick dinner. Delmonico’s is a very classic and well-oiled steakhouse. I’d probably return again to try out their classic Delmonico’s steak with sides (I spied them on the table next to us!).