"How do you like your Filet Mignon? Butterflied or original?"
I, who previously considered my carnivorous way of being almost borderline criminal, sat there speechless and charmed. "Hyde Park" is like this secret top-notch carnivorous club where you can truly indulge and dig your teeth into the bloody most delicate parts of the cow delightfully guilt-free.
The place has this "white table cloth" atmosphere, where I immediately felt like an adult or at least among adults, and completely regretted not getting a manicure the day before. Maître d looked Cleopatra-like beautiful under the light of a crystal chandelier, so only spotting few ladies in Halloween sweaters calmed me down and stopped me from panicking. For once I felt appropriate wearing a dress.
Up-Side: nice cozy atmosphere, convenient location, Special 1800 C furnaces for the steaks, really nice service (guides you through the Bible for the carnivores - THE MENU), few fish dishes, most importantly: BEST STEAKS in TOWN
Down-side: EXPENSIVE. Surprisingly nothing comes as a side -dish with you $40 steak. Baked potato is another $7, salads (yummy and generous) $7-10 dollars extra. Cocktails are tasty, but could have been fancied up some more (my "Sex on The Beach" was missing peeled orange and pink straw - but hey, I hear I am a spoiled brat), and the choice of Gins and Vodkas is limited)
Summary: mixed feelings about the place. Of course Americans overeat and waste food all because of the restaurants that overwhelm you with extras. However once you are used to it, restaurants that don't do that feel like a complete rip-off. But if you want to treat yourself to the supreme aged steak - that's the place to go, also if you want to impress some meat and potato girl like me and have over $100 for dinner, go for it, she will special like I did. Who knows, maybe she will even wear a dress for you, sailor.