Thermo Steakhouse, 2 Aug 2023, Dinner
The Meat: 300g dry-aged Prime grade black angus ribeye (21+ days) for 285 SAR.
Dear Thermo,
I love you—I really do. From the first steak to the most recent, you’ve always delivered an authentic, upscale American steakhouse experience; the restaurant looks and feels the part (love the open kitchen as you immediately walk into the restaurant), and the food quality is typically superb (with minor quibbles). Most days, I’m inclined to offer a 4-star rating—this is not one of those days.
But lately, I feel as we’ve drifted apart, with different expectations of one another; we don’t seem to be on the same page anymore, and I find myself looking longingly elsewhere at times.
Your wagyu ribeyes are superb, every single time—I’ve ordered the wagyu 3 times now—a true signature steak that is superior in every respect to your wagyu-offering competitors in Riyadh and the Eastern Province. But your base ribeye steak, which I’ve now had 5 times, is officially an inconsistent dining experience. I order medium rare every time, and only the 1st and 4th base ribeyes were cooked to order. Ribeyes 2, 3, and 5 have all been unevenly cooked; tonight’s ribeye, ordered medium rare, was only medium rare in the center, while the edges near the fattier areas of the steak were medium, and the non-fattier areas were cooked medium well to well done at the far edge.
To be fair, we’re talking degrees of excellence here—a bit of extra cooking time on each side is the difference between perfectly cooked to order, and not, so this most recent experience is truly disappointing, especially since I sing your praises routinely to my friends and colleagues. But cooked to order means exactly that, and you missed the mark tonight. For me, I’ll never order the regular ribeye again, but I’ll gladly keep your wagyu ribeyes on speed dial.
One final note: The Belgravian Brasserie, while not a true steakhouse, delivered a much better ribeye to me and my fellow diners only 3 days ago—and they did it 7 times simultaneously, with zero cooking errors—impressive. Thermo, your base ribeye is now an underdog chasing the greatness of Belgravian Brasserie’s superior angus ribeye.
Observations:
1. If you’re a proper steakhouse (you are), throw away the paper napkins and replace them with cloth.
2. Your Mac n cheese is still a solid side that pairs well with a steak, and your roasted vegetables are simply the best. And that green smoked salad (which I didn’t order this time around, is flat out amazing).
3. Music decibels is always perfect—just loud enough to hear, but soft enough as to allow unimpeded conversation with friends using normal tones.
Buy now 
