Boston’s Restaurant Week: Abe and Louie’s

The chance to eat a good piece of steak is a rare and coveted experience for a college student. But a magical biannual event known as Boston Restaurant Week, when restaurants across the greater Boston area offer discounted lunch and dinner options, makes this oft-thought-about fantasy a wonderful reality. Abe & Louie’s, a steakhouse on Boylston Street, is one of those restaurants that not only fulfills the promise of steak, but boasts a variety of seafood as well.

Entering the nondescript brick building, one is immediately immersed in the kind of glamorous elegance usually reserved for old-timey Hollywood movies. Soft, low lighting makes the dark, glossy wood of the floor and the furnishings gleam and vases bursting with stylish flower arrangements welcome you into the large dining room from the small entrance and bar area.

Overall the staff is attentive and quick, even amidst a midday rush of the business lunch crowd on a Wednesday afternoon. Water glasses are hardly ever half full and empty plates seem to disappear as soon as each diner sets down his or her fork.

For Boston Restaurant Week, Abe & Louie’s has a fixed, three-course lunch menu. But this doesn’t mean a dearth of choices.

The first course offers a selection of either the restaurant’s house salad or French onion soup. The house salad presented appealing colors in its presentation — a mix of green lettuce and deep purple red cabbage — but little else. The greens were wilted, and the green pepper and red onion promised in the menu’s description were nowhere to be found.

The second course provided a bit more variety with four different dishes: Prime sirloin (of course), broiled king salmon, half-roasted chicken and Boca chopped salad with chicken Milanese.

The presentation was flawless and the taste was there to back it up. The steak was cooked exactly as it was ordered, with a bit of crunch on the outside and a slightly pink, soft, juicy center.

The garlic chive mashed potatoes were smooth and creamy, with just enough flavor to keep your hand away from the saltshaker but not so much as to leave you with garlic breath for the next week. The sautéed spinach was soft but not mushy, and boasted an unexpected amount of flavor.

But it was the red onion jam that really came as the big surprise, despite looking like a sea creature’s tentacles. The jam had a sweet-and-sour flavor to it that gelled well with the sirloin and the potatoes, appeasing even those diners who may be a bit wary of anything that combines “onion” and “jam” in its description.

Dessert provided a choice between Abe’s so-called famous chocolate cake, ice cream, and sorbet. Within moments, it was easy to see why the chocolate cake was supposedly famous.

The multi-layered cake was plated beautifully, with little squiggles of chocolate sauce extending across the plate. The rich chocolate icing melted on the tongue and the cake was moist and spongy. Even with a bursting stomach, it would be difficult to leave any piece of this chocolate masterpiece unconsumed.

A visit to Abe & Louie’s during Boston Restaurant Week is certainly worth it, even for those who are not keen on steak. The restaurant offers a decent variety even on a limited menu, ensuring that there’s something for almost everyone.

And for those who do love steak, this one is a no-brainer. You make out like a bandit, scoring a prime sirloin meal plus two additional courses for less than the price of your average haircut. Overall, eating at Abe & Louie’s during Boston Restaurant Week guarantees to be no missed steak! (Sorry, couldn’t resist …)

Abe and Louie’s is located at 793 Boylston St. Restaurant Week prix fixe menus set prices at $38.13 for a three-course dinner, $20.13 for a three-course lunch and $15.13 for a two-course lunch.