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| - Rare steakhouse is my third favorite steakhouse in Madison. Great formal and lively atmosphere, looking very traditional. Two wait staff working as a team to serve your table. I actually come here often just to enjoy the bananas foster dessert. I come here for dinner as well occassionally.
Rare dry ages all of their beef in house and you will usually get a piece of meat that has been dry aged between 28 and 35 days. They also note in their menu that their beef is USDA Prime and it is a part of the top 2% of the beef in the world. Writing both is redundant, as I'll explain below. This really sets expectations high and I think the meat, though good, doesn't always match the claim. I have had outstanding beef and mediocre beef coming here on separate occasions. There is a lack of consistency.
I personally believe they should take the 2% fact off because to some respects they are shooting themselves in the foot; most people don't know that Prime beef is indeed the top 2% of beef by USDA standard and some people may develop a new level of expectation based on this accurate, but, perhaps misleading, fact . Just write that you have Prime beef. Anyways, why not impress by having consistently damn good beef instead of being redundant and falling short of expectations? Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.
The service here is always great, friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt even at peak dining hours.
As I mention above, the food is really hit or miss, and I can say this based on multiple visits. In our last visit, we ordered a dry age rib eye, Kansas city strip, filet, tomato soup, risotto, duck frites, loaded hash browns, and bananas foster for dessert.
Most of the time the meats are tender and flavorful, exactly what you would expect going to a steakhouse serving USDA Prime. There are times, however, where my steak is loaded with tough, inedible tissue, an experience that I could easily replicate by purchasing a bag of jerky from a department store.
The sides, excluding hashbrowns (these were top notch) were mediocre. The duck frites lack duck fat flavor (consistent issue on multiple visits) and were overpowered by the parmesan. The chili aioli has zero heat and rather had an Asian sweetness to it. The Risotto, well, lets just say don't get it.
My favorite and really the highlight of my visit every time is the bananas foster, made table side with a great flambe to impress patrons. If I am on the square, I will come here for dessert only because the foster is THAT good. The sauce and bananas are served over three scoops of rich vanilla bean ice cream. Cant go wrong and possibly the top reason I give Rare four stars.
Very enjoyable, but, not the best steakhouse in Madison.
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