It’s frequently ranked as one of the top 10 steakhouses in New York City.
The other day, I was invited to try the newest offering from Wolfgang’s Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zweiner at the ground floor (outside) of the new wing of the Podium Mall. I have heard people talk about Wolfgang’s Steakhouse since the first branch opened in Newport Mall in Resorts World Manila.
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse has several branches all over the world, but its flagship restaurant is located in Manhattan. According to Wikipedia, Wolfgang’s has been frequently ranked as among the top ten steakhouses in New York City.
WOLFGANG’S STEAKHOUSE
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zweiner is a fine dining experience with the price tag to match. However, they recently launched a new lunch menu, so let me share what’s new and why I think it’s a good value.
They dry age their own beef
They have their own aging room for their meats, which they dry age an average of 28 days. Dry aging really makes a big difference in the taste of the beef 🙂 Other steak restaurants rarely boast about dry aging their meat, but if you love eating steak and try to learn more about it, you’ll realize that dry aging is something you will come to look for. The key effect of dry aging is the concentration and saturation of the natural flavour, as well as the tenderization of the meat texture. You can read more about beef aging here.
Even if we wanted to cook our own steak at home, the big difference why we go to good steakhouses is really because of the dry aged beef. Trust me, with the steak prices, we have considered DIY-ing our own steaks. But you just can’t get dry aged beef at the supermarket. Dry aged beef is only available at specialty shops, and it’s actually quite rare, and that’s why the good steak places usually dry age their own beef. But setting up my own dry aging contraption at home is just too much. I’ve seen a few YouTube videos on how to dry age beef at home and it’s just not feasible for me. And that is why we go to steakhouses 🙂
THE WOLFGANG EXPERIENCE
This is the newly launched set lunch menu. It is available from 11AM-4PM, Mondays to Fridays only.
I chose to order The Wolfgang Experience Set Lunch with 600g dry aged rib eye. The price of P3,788+ already includes soup or salad, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and dessert.
For appetizers, here is the Seafood Taster (Tuna Tartar, Lobster Salad, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail). This is an optional item, add P1,088. While the Lobster Salad and the Tuna Tartar were good, the servings were small and I think the additional P1,000+ is too much for what you get…
I chose the Caesar Salad with Sizzling Bacon. The bacon wasn’t sizzling, but the salad was fine 🙂
Here is the 600-g rib-eye steak:
Here’s the one I had. It comes with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.
According to Travis Halverson, general manager at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse at the Podium, the meat they use is USDA Prime.
I ordered my steak Medium and it was tender and flavorful. The steak had a nice char, and the inside was still perfectly medium. But after trying the Classic Wolfgang Burger that was almost rare and liking it much better, I am thinking that I might try medium rare for the steak next time. What was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking and gave my automatic answer of “Medium” when asked. But for a steak like this, I really should have gone medium rare! Lesson learned. 🙂
Closer to the center, the steak was a bit rarer. Yum yum yum 
600g is A LOT of steak! I wasn’t able to finish mine so I had them to take home. When I posted my steak on FB, many people were commenting about how the 600g steak was such good value for money because it’s a big piece of steak that can easily be shared. People were also sharing their tips on how best to eat the leftover steak – some said it’s good when made into salpicao, some said it’s good just reheated in the oven toaster. Apparently, many people have also discovered this 600g ribeye!
They have an all-around Wolfgang sauce available, but the steak really doesn’t need anything else. It is seasoned well with salt.
This is the wine they paired with the steak:
CLASSIC WOLFGANG BURGER
I also shared a Classic Wolfgang Burger with my lunch companions and I can’t stop thinking about this burger, more than the steak! I thought I knew good burgers, but this was absolutely delicious.
It looks unappetizing in photos and I thought it was just going to be just another burger, but, oh my god, I am going back for this burger more than the steak, to be honest. It has a very beefy flavor that I have not had in any other beef burger before, I even find it beefier than the steak! The meat was tender, has no gristle at all, and while it looks almost raw, it did not taste raw. It’s just concentrated beefy meat flavor. I did not even need to add anything except a slice of pickle, I ate it with just the beef patty and bun (all the toppings were placed on the side).
Since it was so good, I just had to ask if it was dry-aged, and they told me that yes, the beef that was used for the burger patty has also been dry-aged for 28 days.
The beef burger patty hands down is what my hamburger dreams are made of so I will just close my eyes and willingly pay the P700+ for this burger on my next visits. Pikit mata nalang sa presyo, hahaha 
I wasn’t able to try this Loco Moco (P698), but it looks like the rice version (burger steak w/ rice and egg) of the Classic Wolfgang Burger. The Loco Moco also has a USDA Prime dry-aged ground sirloin patty. Hmmm… now I’m wavering on whether I should get the Classic Wolfgang Burger or try the Loco Moco next time. 
SUMMARY
The highlight here are their steaks, but it was actually their Classic Wolfgang Burger that had me hooked!
If you choose the 600g Rib-eye from the Wolfgang Experience, if you are not a voracious meat eater, it actually might be big enough for two to share. I like meat, but even I found 600g to be too much for me. I think for our next visit, probably on a special occasion, we’ll order the Wolfgang Experience – J can have 3/4 of it, I can nibble 1/4 of it, and we’ll order the Classic Wolfgang Burger or the Loco Moco for me 🙂
My only gripe with this set lunch menu is that it is only available for Lunch, Mondays – Fridays, 11AM – 4PM. Hahaha, so that means we need to make an effort to visit on weekdays.
