I love a good steak house. It is my food of choice for this year’s travel adventure. I try to find at least one good steak house to visit in every city I go to. After a quick googling of places to go to I settled on the 801 Chophouse in downtown Kansas City. This place is in the well known Power and Light district of downtown. I was staying at the historic Hilton President downtown and this place was a quick stumble right down the street from the hotel. It is currently just before Christmas and 14th Street was nicely lit and I was greeted with a welcoming lightshow prior to my dinner.

I walked into a very well decorated old school steakhouse with a wine gallery through a rotating door. I was greeted with a beautiful bar with a large liquor selection, mainly focused on brown spirits (of course) but a healthy selection of gins and vodkas.

I ordered a dirty vodka martini from the gents behind the bar with blue cheese stuffed olives… Which at a good steakhouse they should know how to perfect. Aside from the bit of residual ice at the top and… The rounded Martini glass (not my preference but nothing wrong with this). The drink was made well and the blue cheese was of decent quality.

I didn’t eat all day so I decided on a bit of a feast for dinner. I ordered a beef carpacio to start as an appetizer. The beef was of very good quality, and they served it with a fried caper. Those were little salt bombs of crack and deliciousness. However, the citrus vinaigrette they put on the greens and the large slices of parm really overpowered the desired delicate nature of the dish. For the main I had a filet, medium rare, with a Bearnaise and some creamed spinach as a recommendation from the bartender.

The filet was beautiful, among some of the most well done I have had.  It was decently priced for the size of the steak (8 oz) and I didn’t like the Bearnaise…. At first.  It really grew on me when it thickened up and the fresh tarragon really came through.  The creamed spinach was the same way.  I ate it at first and didn’t really like it.  I was going to throw it at the bartender in a drunken rage (just kidding) but then the cheesy bread crumbs kicked in and it joined the clean plate club.  The bartender recommended their barrel aged Manhattan but it was pre made… I think he was being a bit lazy.  It was good but not as good as a fresh made cocktail.  To complete my journey into gluttony for the night I finished off the meal with a creme brulee and a Remy XO.

The creme brûlée was perfectly done, with a nice crispy crust and fresh fruit. The custard was well set with a great creamy and vanilla hint. It had real vanilla beans dictated by the beautiful flecks throughout. The Remy as always… A treat. In short this is a wonderful place to visit for dinner if in town, expect to drop some cash on this place. It’s a traditional steakhouse. The staff was friendly yet not as memorable as some places I have been. Yet, go for the food and you will be happy.