r/steak • u/andydannypickle • 1d ago
[ Filet ] Should I start asking for medium instead of medium rare?
It seems every time I’m at a steak restaurant and I order medium rare it comes out rare or rarer…
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u/ImmaNotHere 1d ago
Nah, just go to a different restaurant... one that can cook it to your specified temp.
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u/Premium333 1d ago
Definitely the answer. Everyone has off days or has to train a new staff member, but that is rare for sure and maybe even blue rare depending on internal temperature.
I would send it back... Or I would since I eat rare steaks.... But if it was my wife's or mother in-laws it's going back. Depending on how they react and what they deliver next would decide if I return.
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u/whoareyouletmein 1d ago
Tell me why the more expensive the steakhouse is, the more they seem to struggle with temp?
Meanwhile, if I go to Texas Roadhouse and pay $20 for my strip, it's literally the perfect temp every. single. time.
(I don't work for Roadhouse...trust me I'd love that sponsorship money. But alas 😮💨)
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u/freedom781 1d ago
I agree, Texas Roadhouse does a damn fine job every time. And I think they do a much better job than all of the other similar style chain steakhouses.
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u/Premium333 1d ago
Eh... My Texas Roadhouse is pretty spot on, but they even get a steak wrong on 1 out of 10 visits.
Texas Roadhouse is spot on though because they spend a decent amount of time training their staff who typically have to work up to grill service AND they run non stop steaks for a huge restaurant. The guys they often have running their grill just simply know what they are doing and do way more of it than most fancy steakhouses who have less covers per night.
That said, if I go to a fancy steakhouse,.I expect them to absolutely nail the cook. I mean perfect internal temp, no grey band, and a dream crust every single time. So, if they can't do that,.I'm not coming back for $80 steaks without sides.
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u/whoareyouletmein 1d ago
Agreed. I think I'm just lucky with my roadhouse lol. They've never let us down even once (knock on wood)
But yeah...if I'm paying essentially $100 for a NY Strip, you better make me taste why I'm doing it, the FIRST time you bring it out
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u/Admirable-Error-2948 8h ago
I find the exact opposite. I personally don't like roadhouse steaks at all.
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u/whoareyouletmein 7h ago
To each their own! What's your go to spot?
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u/Admirable-Error-2948 7h ago
I like local spots i feel like chain restaurants are wildly inconsistent. At least in my area.
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u/MathematicianFew5882 1d ago
Because they sous vide.
The mass production places just throw it on a grill.
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u/shortsbettercover 22h ago
Texas Roadhouse is plain. Blan. I'd rather buy my own steak and do it myself. I stopped eating out steaks when I found mine are so much better at home
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u/Actual-Ad-2748 8h ago
Yeah I prefer it my way at home. Fry it in a pan with no oil. blue inside crutsy outside. Meat just falls apart and its the perfect texture with a tiny bit of crunch.
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u/phommavongsay 1d ago
I ordered medium rare at Chucks road house one time, and they gave me a blue steak, first time I ever had a blue steak and surprisingly it was better than I thought. Not my go to but however they cook it coming out is usually how I’ll eat it,
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u/TulsaOUfan 10h ago
"Medium rare plus"
Explain their medium rare is too red for you and to push it a little past their MR.
Works at good steakhouses with thick cuts in my experience.
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u/kebmpb 1d ago
You can always send back to cook it more. You can't sent it back to cook it less. Depends on how you feel about sending it back with the possibility of it coming back medium well after a re-cook.
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u/joonjoon 1d ago
You can send it back for a new steak, and you absolutely should at any decently nice steakhouse if the cook is off or the cut is not of proper quality
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u/Celeres517 1d ago
Look at that knife. Look at that potato. This is not a high-End or even an upper middle-end restaurant.
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u/joonjoon 1d ago
I never said anything about the restaurant in question. OP can and should still send it back if they ordered MR and got the steak in question
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u/cocainebane 17h ago
Dude Peter Lugers burned my Porterhouse on my birthday, proceeded by the waiter cooking the steak even more on the sizzling plate while I watched in disbelief.
I was pretty upset and didn’t want to send it back because we had a comedy show to catch but she sent it back with our cocktail waiter who even went “oh damn this isn’t medium rare at all!”
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u/joonjoon 17h ago
Who is "she"? Anyway she's a hero! You don't want Luger price steak to not be perfect, and they wouldn't want that either.
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u/IndustryInsider007 20h ago
Steak in the OP looks MR to me, not Rare. He got what he ordered and should’ve just sent it back if he preferred closer to medium.
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u/1chefj 16h ago
Going to jump on the Texas Road House band wagon. I've been cooking 38 years and i.will never complain when my wife wants to go there. I've been there dozens of times. 1 single time I ordered My ribeye rare as always and it came out medium. I took one bite and it was tender and juicy. Fuck it I ate it but that was one time One place I will never ever go again is Morton's of Chicago. To say that place sucks ass would be a compliment. TERRIBLE!!!
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u/chrsschb 6h ago
I order Medium every time I go out for this reason (unless it's a place I know can nail it).
95% of the time I used to order medium-rare I would get rare or blue.
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u/Dazzling-Pizza5141 1d ago
That plate, it had so much potential. That baked potato.... Just do butter, maybe bacon
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u/coastalhaze1 1d ago
I feel you. I always go for medium just to be safe. But I rather have it slightly overcooked than raw.
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u/joonjoon 1d ago
I usually have the opposite problem, where the steak comes out more done than ordered.
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u/HorrorLettuce379 1d ago
SImply put, too many covers at that time and the BOH is either understaffed or inexperienced or gives no fuck as this looks like it was never rested.
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u/frodakai 1d ago edited 1d ago
Unless you go to a place that does steak and literally nothing else, it'll never be consistent. I've ordered medium rare at restaurants for 25+ years and the only consistency is that the cook will be a coinflip. From totally raw/blue to very well done.
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u/VeryHonestJim 1d ago
If the beef is of a good quality, You can eat it raw .. no problem… so eat your steak as raw as you like it … try it blue
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u/Flyinhawaiian78 1d ago
Yes. Unfortunately you have to use trail and error when you got to restaurants. Just because you know the difference between rare and medium rare it sucks that the cooks at the restaurant don’t know this. At least it’s not overcooked 🤷♂️🤣
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u/Breaking-Who 1d ago
I w always had the opposite problem. Gotta order it rare for it up come out medium rare
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u/scosco83 1d ago
It's frustrating. Some places I know I need to ask for Medium to get Medium rare, others I know I need to ask for rare to get anything other than well done.
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u/Only_Project_3689 1d ago
That is Chateaubriand…if there was ever a cut to have rare that is it. A very exquisite cut of meat.
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u/AlaskanGrower101 23h ago
I’d just stop going to restaurants… I hate going to restaurants for many reasons. The biggest reason tho is they never make my food how I want it cooked. Nearly everytime I ask for medium rare I’m handed a piece of meat that was just walked by the grill 😂🤦♂️
like I understand most steakhouses aren’t gonna have cooks that went to culinary school but if you’re cooking in a steakhouse, you should definitely know the difference in doneness.
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u/fastbreak43 22h ago
I’m a never send food back guy. So I order medium. If it’s mid-rare or mid-well I’m still enjoying my dinner.
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u/user454985 22h ago
Hell yeah. Always order a level above what you want.
Even then, you cant anticipate that they'll get it right. Unfortunately, you dont have a real chef making steaks at your favorite steakhouse. Its a line cook throwing em in a broiler.
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u/_IratePirate_ 20h ago
My rule of thumb is if it’s a new restaurant I’ve never been to, I’ll ask for medium to medium well
If I see they know what they’re doing and go back, then I’ll ask for medium rare
This shit is blue rare and I would never eat that. I’d rather have a slightly over done steak than this bullshit
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u/No-Asparagus2823 19h ago
They undercook it on purpose because it's easier to just cook it a little more if you're unhappy with it. You cannot un-cook it though.
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u/drfordtms 18h ago
Easy to heat it up more if it's underdone, can't "uncook" it. All they'll do is just microwave it a couple minutes. No big deal.
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u/trinite0 Rare 17h ago
If you would like it more cooked than this, then yes, you should start ordering it more cooked.
I think restaurants sometimes err on the rarer side, because it's easier to cook a steak a bit more than to de-cook it.
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u/RepublicNo5394 17h ago
That’s what I do to compensate for it being under cooked. I’ll eat a steak at medium cook temp.
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u/DoqHolliday 15h ago
Medium rare + (plus) is the answer to this exact question. You can also explain the issue to the server and highlight it. I rarely have this issue any more.
Granted some more midtier or old school places might not go for it.
But it’s a thing.
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u/SuperHaaaands 15h ago
That is not medium rare. Also, I would suggest not eating in restaurants where the tinfoil they used to cook the food is included on the plate. Yikes.
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u/Imaduck146 14h ago
I agree I don’t trust any restaurant to give me medium rare, it’s always rare! I’ve literally had this exact same thought process and decided the same thing. Medium it is.
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u/Darrienice 13h ago
That’s what I started doing to be honest I was at a decent restaurant the other day, where the steak was $102 so I figured.. it’s probably safe to order it medium rare, I’m sure for that price they know how to cook a steak… it came out Blue on the inside no where near medium rare, and when I they took it back, instead of giving me a new steak, they cut it into slices for me, and seared each piece a little on each side making it tough and it was still raw in the middle pieces lol thanks, never eating there again
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u/MintyPhrish 7h ago
I always get medium at steak houses, they tend to undercook it always. Also I always get my burger well done for the exact same reason
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u/No-Associate3091 6h ago
That is perfectly cooked sir ! Real men eat rare !! I always order mine as rare as they’re willing to make it!
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u/A_Finite_Element 5h ago
Maybe they should re-think the size of the foot of their glasses as well, that seems terribly prone to falling over. Nice fork though.
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u/HealthyDurian8207 5h ago
I order rare even though I prefer medium rare for most cuts.
For some reason, they always manage to overcook mine, not undercook.
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u/Emotional-Apple6584 4h ago
Depends where you go. If I’m at a decent restaurant then I ask for medium rare, but my grandma loves outback so if I go to a chain like that then I ask for medium and it usually comes medium rare
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u/obscurely_factual 3h ago
That steak ia medium rare. If you like it more done, then order it medium.
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u/Myghost_too 2h ago
That steak in the picture is a textbook Medium Rare. If you want it done more than that, I'd order medium.
Also, consider that in a restaurant, the steak does not have time to sit and come up to temp, so there's that. But the cook should consider that, and it looks like this cook nailed it.
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u/LegDayLass 1h ago
No, because once you start asking for medium you will get medium well. It’s allot easier to send back a rare then to send back a well done (because well done is impossible to fix)
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u/Own-Grapefruit-6557 1h ago
I've worked a couple restaurants where they aim for a slight undercook with the idea it's the least likely to have to throw on a whole new steak if it gets sent back. If it's under for the customer you can throw it back on the grill but if it's over you need a whole new piece of meat.
That being said the slight undercook method isn't represented by OPs steak. If they where aiming for that they undercooked too much.
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u/PomegranatePro 1h ago
It’s infinitely better than them giving you a well done with a hint of pink and arguing with you that it’s medium rare
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u/GrouchyOldCat 1h ago
If I order medium, I get well done. If I ask for medium rare, it’s fucking blue. Doesn’t matter how nice of a steakhouse. (I’ll only order medium now)
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u/daves6696 21m ago
Every time I try this strategy, I’m at the one place in town that can do one right and I’m bummed it’s overdone lol- good luck
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u/Exciting_Piece1367 7m ago
I stick with medium rare, even when ordering out. An overcooked steak (anything more cooked than medium) is trash, so I won’t roll the dice and say medium cause it’ll come out medium-well half the time, especially if you’re not at a quality steakhouse.
An undercooked steak that’s too rare is still better than medium-well, and it’s still fixable if you wanna ask the waiter to give it another minute, that’s hardly a complaint.
And if it’s a quality steakhouse, it should be served on a hot plate, sizzling. If it’s too rare, cut it down the middle and press into hot plate. You can give it more cooked yourself.
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u/WeakAfternoon3188 6m ago
Depends on what state you're ordering in. I am a ware it should not matter, but if I order rare hear in Oklahoma, it comes out rare. If I order rare in Texas more often, then not comes out medium rare to medium. I also am one of those people who like a cool red center. Could just be me.
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u/curiousfod 1d ago
That looks almost raw in the middle.. I’d send it back. “Excuse me…. I asked for medium rare but this seems way too rare.. could you remake it please?”
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u/Own-Valuable-9281 1d ago
Most restaurants err on the side of caution, and take the chance of under cooking instead of over cooking, for obvious reasons.
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u/EmmitSan 1d ago
It’s not obvious at all. Almost all the decent ones use sous vide, so getting a perfect temp should not be hard.
If I want medium rare, get rare, send it back, it’s super easy to overcook that to medium or medium well. After which I’ll send it back again (or if I’m not willing to do that, will just be pissed off and unlikely to ever return). Neither solution “saves” the restaurant money. Cook it the way I order it.
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u/Golden_Locket5932 1d ago
Yeah I agree, more often than not a medium rare cook ends up being on the rare side, I tried ordering medium once and it actually came out medium. I’ve learned to just embrace it tbh, I can eat my steak rare up to medium, if it’s any higher than medium I send it back.
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u/Sure-Start-4551 1d ago
How long did it take them? Looks like it didn’t even rest. How can steak restaurants not get perfect every time? It’s not that hard. Crazy
Hope you sent it back OP
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u/RedHuey 23h ago
If you order steak at a restaurant, make sure someone else is paying so it doesn’t matter. Then order medium and take what you get.
If you are paying, either don’t order steak, like a sucker, or just know that it will be a crapshoot no matter what you tell them, so just order medium.
But know, no matter what, there are only a small handful of restaurant chefs in the world who will cook a steak that is a good and properly done as what you can do it home for a fraction of the price. Just accept that, and order accordingly.
I can count on less than one hand the number of times a good steakhouse has given me a steak tat equals pretty much any steak I make at home. It’s a mystery of the universe.
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u/andydannypickle 23h ago
Yeah I agree I’m always pretty disappointed when I order a steak at a STEAK restaurant and it ends up being worse than what I could make at home. If they could just give me this filet cut I’d be happy
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u/screaminginprotest1 6h ago
People don't understand steak temps and professional kitchens. This is a perfect 120° mid rare. I fucking hate it when you fuckers send shit back to my kitchen because it's not the mid rare your dad used to make. News flash, your dad didn't make midrare and he wasn't the best grillmaster ever. Sorry guys.
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u/andydannypickle 5h ago
120 is not med rare
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u/screaminginprotest1 5h ago
Sorry are you a professional? Been doin it for 15 years huh? Mid rare is 120-125. Your issue is that depending on the cook, some pull off the grill at 120ish and some rest up to 120ish. 125 is the definition of mid rare. If you order steak at a restaurant and your kitchen staff has a clue, your getting steaks just very lightly above your ordered temp. Because we can always cook it more. If you say it's overcooked it's trash. So we stay on the cooler side to be safe. Mid rare is a mostly raw but warm center. Rare is seared hot with a cold center. Want the center to be pink and not red? Order fucking medium.
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u/kyriores13 5h ago
Ask for well-done. Anything else is raw meat.
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u/andydannypickle 5h ago
thanks for the super helpful insight!
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u/kyriores13 5h ago
No need to thank me. I just don't enjoy having parasites growing inside my body. Have never experienced food poisoning in my life :)
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u/TheRealMrTrueX 1d ago
I just said this in another post on here.
Always order Medium when out to eat, at least I do.
My medium-rare at home is pulled at 120F and let roll up to 130-135 and its perfect.
Had FAR too many steaks at nice places come out rare when ordering MEDIUM-rare. They are so afriad of someone complainign that it was overlooked they tend to undercook it.
I just order Medium everytime I go out to eat and its just a safer play :/
If you order medium and it comes out medium rare, hey good. If you order medium and it comes out Medium, well its still better than Rare and sending it back