Celebratory night out at Ryan Duffy's

A couple of weeks ago, a good friend visited me for the weekend. On Thursday night, we stoped in at Trader's Bar for a beer and their Unlimited Mussels special, planning our "Big Night Out!" for Friday night.

My friend gave me free reign of our party night, saying: "You choose. Food is what you do!" After tirelessly debating all day long about where to go, I finally decided on Ryan Duffy's. I knew that I wanted to celebrate with steak and after comparing a couple restos, decided that this place seemed to have the best value.

We arrived at about 8:30ish and set to work picking out an appy to share. We considered several options; crab cakes, steak tartare, ect., until I saw the side option of onion rings on the accompaniments menu....SOLD! I dunno what it is about these things - when I see them on a fine dining resto menu, I just gotta have 'em! After putting in our order, the server brought over bread and a nice little treat; house-made dilled pickles and carrots, which provided a great snack as we waited for our appy.

Onion Rings

Oddly enough, we both ordered the exact same entree; a 6 oz. filet with sweet potato gratin. The steak was luscious. Grilled rare, the meat was supple, juicy and topped with a tantalizing garlic butter that upped the ante for sheer indulgence!

The sweet potato gratin was decadent as well with the tender vegetable enveloped in rich cream and butter with a delicious crust of Parmesan cheese. On the side we chose caramelized onions sauteed with earthy rosemary and tender wild mushrooms paired with woodsy thyme.

6 oz. Filet Mingon w/ Sweet Potato Gratin

Sauteed Wild Mushrooms & Sauteed Onions

To finish off the night, we had cupcakes from Susie's Shortbreads back at my apt. My AMAZING pal had picked up some cupcakes during the day to surprise me when I got home! A sinfully delicious chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream and Skor bites, this cupcake was the perfect ending to our perfect night!

Chocolate Toffee Crunch

chocolate cake swirled w/ Skor pieces

topped w/ chocolate buttercream & Skor pieces