Decades Steakhouse in North Conway, NH - Average Steaks, High Prices
Written: Feb 04 '08 (Updated Nov 05 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: atmosphere, drink selection, steaks are good
Cons: food is just average, prices high for area
The Bottom Line: You can have better steaks at cheaper prices in the area, or the same steaks for less. The Tuesday special is the only reason I would return.
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| AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Decades Steakhouse and Seafood |
We wanted to go someplace special for my birthday this year. I was in the mood for something more than just a steak from a chain restaurant. My first choice was closed since it was a Thursday night. We’d heard advertising for Decades Steakhouse on the radio fairly often and opted to head there instead. Fortunately it was open.
AMBIENCE
One place where Decades Steakhouse excels in in the ambience. Right from walking in, I was impressed with the memorabilia collection, with sports, music, and entertainment items from the 1950’s through the 1990’s. I was immediately drawn to one of the Springsteen items on the wall, and there was plenty more in cases and hanging all over the place. Of course, being in New Hampshire, the sports memorabilia is heavy on Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins.
There’s a decent bar at Decades Steakhouse, so it’s a terrific place to go and just enjoy the memorabilia. It’s not exactly geared to be what I would term a hang-out, but the atmosphere is really excellent.
We were seated immediately with it being pretty dead during the week. The window alongside our table gave us a nice view of the snow outside.
MENU
For drinks, Decades Steakhouse is known for their martinis. They even feature a Martini Club that meets Fridays from 4 PM to 7 PM. You can join it for $20 (donated to a local charity) and you receive a personalized glass for your drinks. I couldn’t tell you how the Martinis are, as I opted for a beer. They have a nice selection of local and regional micro-brews either on tap or in the bottle.
For appetizers, we had Decades Fire Wings These come in either honey-hot, medium, or hot and are accompanied by a blue cheese dip. We had them hot and although they aren’t the hottest wings I’ve ever had, they were good. The rest of the selection in appetizers is pretty small and dominated by seafood items. I have been trying to have a salad with every meal, and chose the Garden Salad which was fine and at a relatively inexpensive price.
Turning to the menu, I was shocked to see some of the prices. I usually order filet mignon and have paid around $27 at the most for it recently. At Decades Steakhouse, the cost was $32.95, a bit higher than what I expected to spend at this meal. It comes topped with crispy fried onions and finished with a veal-demi glace. There is also a wine recommendation with each dish in the menu. Instead, I opted for the New York Strip Sirloin at just $21.95. This also comes with choice of potato, grilled asparagus and a veal demi-glace. The steak was fine. It was nothing spectacular, but it was fine. It was tender and had a lot of flavor.
My dining partner had the Barbequed Delmonico Steak which came smothered in barbeque sauce with a choice of potato. He also liked it but it didn’t exactly dazzle him either.
SERVICE
The service was excellent. It should be since the crowd was thin the night we went. Our waitress was attentive and answered any questions we had about the food. She tried to encourage us to have dessert but didn’t press the issue.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I felt that Decades Steakhouse was overpriced for the food it served. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was more expensive than my favorite steak place in the area, the Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub in Glen, NH. I would have rather spent a little less and traveled the extra distance there for our meal.
The ambience at Decades Steakhouse is pretty incredible. It’s a great place to soak up atmosphere and if I wanted to go again, I’d go on a Tuesday for the special where two people get to have two entrees off of a selected menu for $22.95. That makes it much more reasonable.
Locals seem to agree that Decades Steakhouse is appealing to the tourist crowd, specifically yuppies from Boston. I never quite fit into the yuppie category and I’d rather drop a bit less on my meal unless there was something that really made me say I had to come back here to eat again.
Other places to eat in New Hampshire:
Bea's Cafe, Conway NH ~ Cafe Noche, Conway NH ~ Delaney‘s Hole in the Wall, North Conway NH ~ Harts Turkey Farm, Meredith NH ~ May Kelly's Cottage, North Conway NH ~ Merlino's Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Moat Mountain Smokehouse, North Conway NH ~ Muddy Moose, North Conway NH ~ Peach's Restauran, North Conway NH ~ Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub, Glen NH ~ Yankee Smokehouse, West Ossipee NH
Sites to see in New Hampshire:
Attitash Bear Peak Ski Resort ~ Bretton Woods Ski Resort ~ Canobie Lake Park ~ Cranmore Mountain Ski Resort ~ Franconia Notch State Park ~ King Pine Ski Resort ~ Loon Mountain Ski Resort ~ Madison Boulder Natural Area ~ Mount Washington Cog Railway ~ North Conway, NH ~ Polar Express Event ~ Shawnee Peak, Bridgeton ME ~ Six Gun City ~ Story Land ~ Whale's Tale Waterpark ~ White Lake State Park ~ White Mountain National Forest ~ Wildcat Mountain
Some places to stay in New Hampshire:
Attitash Mountain Village - Bartlett NH ~ Comfort Inn & Suites - North Conway NH ~ Hampton Inn - Concord/Bow NH ~ Yankee Clipper Motel
Books about the area:
Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain Guide ~ 50 Hikes in the White Mountains
© 2008 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
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AliventiAsylum
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
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