Bern's Review Redux

In a variety of food/steakhouse threads on this forum, I (and many others) have repeatedly mentioned Bern's in Tampa, FL as one of the best. The truth is, it had been a number of years since the last time I ate there before last night. I'm happy to report that it was every bit as good as I remembered, and in some ways better. For value, it remains exceptional among other steakhouses. A $45-50 steak (or as low as $30 for a 16oz Filet) comes with Salad, the best French Onion Soup I have ever had - including all the ones I've had in France (Le Bec Fin is a close second, but still not as good), a baked potato, onion strings, and two vegetables. The steak is dry aged for about 25 days (sometimes more), well seasoned, and incredibly tender. Because it is cut to order, you have a lot of control over how it is cooked. The menu includes a large grid with varying descriptions/cooking times for Extra Rare, Rare (cold center), Rare (warm center), Medium Rare, etc. depending on the thickness of the steak. To make up for the weight of the fat they trim off your strip steak, they replace it with an equal weight of filet. The vegetables are still grown (primarily) on their 14 acre farm and you are encouraged to order seconds if you wish. The impressive caviar menu with over 20 varieties from USA, Russia, Japan, and Iran has few rivals outside of specialty restaurants like Petrossian. And the accouterments like creamed onion, egg white, bleu cheese and yukon gold blini are just perfect. Last night they had stone crab on the menu, and it was some of the best I've had since eating at Joe's in Miami a few years ago. I don't believe crab that good ever leaves the state of Florida. Since my last visit, the number of bottles of wine has increased from about 600k to over 1 Million. The tour of the kitchen and wine cellar are still very fun and informative. Also new is an affinage they have set up in the back of the kitchen, to support their growing plate of artisnal fromage in the dessert room... which, needless to say, is a higlight of any visit. Bern's does not advertise anywhere, ever. All their business is from word of mouth. So, in gratitude for remaining one of the great food destinations in my life I urge all of you to give it a try if you're in Tampa.

Apparently you're not familiar with the Mons Venus