Sparks Steak House’s Prime Sirloin Strip
Meat and potatoes, the all-American dinner plate, is dominated by protein—in this case, a sixteen-ounce corn-fed sirloin strip, from a Nebraska ranch. The sides are spinach cooked with heavy cream, nutmeg, salt, garlic, onions, and butter, and hash browns, baked and then fried with butter and onion salt.
Calories: 1,094*
Fat: 59g
Cost: $62.85
Satisfaction Factor: On a scale of 1 to 10, a 7 for fullness (one could argue the meal is too filling) and a 10 for overall pleasure.
Dovetail’s Barbecue Parsnip Rib
The parsnips are sourced from Long Island’s Satur Farms, brushed with a sugarless tamarind barbecue sauce, baked, and served with coconut sticky rice, diced daikon radish, diced pineapple compressed with white-wine vinegar, steamed soybeans, and herbs.
Calories: 184
Fat: 3.7g
Cost: $42 (including three additional courses as part of Dovetail’s Monday-night prix fixe)
Satisfaction Factor: What vegivore meals lack in heft, they often make up for in finesse. In terms of fullness, we’ll give the four-course meal a 9 (we were pleasantly sated but not stuffed). In terms of overall pleasure, a 10.
* Estimates based on the average nutritional content of each ingredient listed.