shouldn't person #3 have taken out the steel markers and relabeled them with a new code matching their new symbols to the steel rods? you would have to used 2 decoders in the end but the way it stands the initial coder would have been able to recognize the steaks on the plates no?

sounds like a fun meal. maybe i will have to help out on the next one...eheheh.

You're probably right Alex, but I guarantee she (the coder) wasn't paying attention to the steel rods - and wouldn't have remembered which steak they went to anyway!

Eric, would you mind re-posting that after this post? It is hard to see because of the "first post bug"

Awesome write-up Eric. Thanks. I've always wondered if some of the mail order steaks were worth the tariff. I haven't tried any of them except the Whole Foods.

Oh my, well I can tell you - some are definitely worth the tariff! We've been ordering Lobel's for a few years now, and have never been disappointed. Certainly not cheap, but we sort of justify it by considering what an equivalent (well, in most cases, lesser) meal would cost at a quality steakhouse. If you REALLY want to splurge, go for the Lobel's Wagyu, it is truly an OMFG steak...

Was the Costco rib-eye the regular, or their prime? The prime was running $10.99/lb last week...

My take away from this is that I can be content with Costco meat at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price :-P

Eric - Great write up. Thanks for posting it twice so that I could read it. (the first one is just html gibberish)

I've had Lobel's many times, and it does not surprise me that it came out first. Of course, you could have included Luger's... That and Lobel's are the best of the best. That said, Bryan's is my favorite, because it is less expensive than Lobel's.

Drew - Costco meat is acceptable, but not anywhere close to the league these others play in. For a splurge, go for Bryan's. One pound of Rib-eye is $34, which may seem like a lot, but how much do you spend on the wine to go with the meal?

Update: One pound of ribeye at Lobels is $39; the wagyu is $91 for a pound. Hmmm...

So I can buy 3 lbs of rib-eyes at Loebels (not including shipping), or I can buy 3 Costco primes and a bottle of Bressler? :-P

Don't get me wrong, I'm the guy that took pics of dinner every night and posted them. Eric's blind tasting rocks!!!

From my non-scientific experience (my non-scientific scientific experience?), Costco is decent and very good value, I don't like Whole Foods red meat at the price, and Flannery is great. Haven't tried Loebel's. I most commonly buy prime beef from Andronico's, I think it's from Snake River Farms.

-Al

You might want to keep checking Whole Foods. I shop at the Whole Foods headquarters store here in Austin. Their offices are connected to this store so there are always corporate types wandering about the store. They are becoming acutely price conscious with the recent economic downturn.

As I was at the meat counter last week they were quizzing me about what makes me buy more meat. Local, price, etc.?? I said it is the price for the cut of meat. They were running a special that day that said "under $10" on some lovely sirloin steaks. I pointed to the sign and said "That gets my attention" a lower price on a good cut of meat. When the price is good I buy a few servings and throw them in the freezer.

I don't like the Whole Foods beef compared to meat I can get at Andronico's, it doesn't come close for me. The Andronico's prime is expensive, but I only eat beef about once a week so the cost is worth it to me.

-Al

I haven't been as impressed with the Whole Foods stuff, personally. I've had Flannery filets, and they were awesome.

I don't see pictures??? Sounds like a great evening! And even though I've never had Lobel's Waygu, I'll place a $20 bet that the Akaushi from heartbrand will blow it away....

Whole foods is okay but IMO for the quality a little bit too pricey. Local alternatives usually have similar (if not better) quality priced reasonably.

Wow marbling...

...

Actual Japanese Kobe is really in it's own, separate category...

Wonderful idea.