Ray's the Classics - Silver Spring, MD

Met a couple of good friends for dinner last week at a place called Ray's The Classics. Nice location on Colesville Road in Silver Spring, MD. Easy to get to and plenty of parking behind the building.

The interior is deceivingly large - while we met in the bar area near the front door for dinner, on the way to the bathroom I noticed that the dining room is an L shape and spans all the way to the back of the building. The bar area was hip (in fact the seats looked like ostrich skin!), very clean and the service was great; although the busboys seemed to grab at the plates before we were finished.

Since we were in the bar area we decided to stick with the Price Fix menu for $28.95 per person including your choice of soup, entree (from a limited menu) and the choice of a dessert. Apparently the dining room has a non-Fix menu with a much larger selection.

Our table decided upon the New England Clam Chowder and the Crab Bisque for our soup choices. The service was rather quick, and before I knew it I was looking into a cup of chunky New England Clam Chowder. This Clam Chowder was different than what I expected and different from any other I have had - in a good way. The base was creamy but very light. Most clam chowder I've eaten had a very thick, creamy base. Since this base was light you could actually taste everything that was in the chowder. Celery, clams, potatoes - you could see exactly what was on your spoon and furthermore could tell that each ingredient was fresh. Very fresh. While I didn't have the opportunity to taste the Crab Bisque I could see the consistency of the base reflected what was in the Clam Chowder and I was told it was very good. I'd highly recommend either of these soups.

For the main entree two of us decided upon the Bacon-wrapped Medallion Filets, while the others chose the "Diablo NY Strip" and the marinated sirloin. The Filets were OUT OF THIS WORLD. A word to those who are picky about the "wellness" of their beef: I ordered mine medium while my friend ordered hers medium well. Mine came out more medium rare while hers was more medium. I appreciate a rarer portion of filet so I was beside myself with how good the steak was. It had an incredible flavor and the meat had the perfect consistency. You could easily tell it was a high-quality cut. I had a chance to taste both of the other entrees as well. The "Diablo NY Strip" was served as bite-sized portions of meat mixed with garlic and onions and had a great flavor - however, it was entirely TOO spicy. I like spicy foods but I couldn't eat but one piece of the meat. It's a shame because it was cooked well and was (once again) a great cut. I'm not usually a fan of sirloin steak so I was apprehensive to try a piece of our companion's. The menu promised a marinated sirloin and the steak that was delivered was as promised. The sirloin was once again cooked a grade lower than was requested (looked medium rare rather than medium) but the flavor was terrific and the meat was of great quality. While I wouldn't usually think to order a sirloin I would order one from Ray's anytime.

To accompany our meal was a side of mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach. All three: OUT OF THIS WORLD! So good. The mashed potatoes had chunks of potato in there to let you know it was fresh - and the garlic mashed potatoes had entire cloves of cooked garlic on top. Wow.

Finally, the dessert menu brought us the opportunity to try the chocolate pudding, their "Famous Rockefeller NY Cheesecake", a chocolate cake, and an RC COla float (in lieu of the root beer float). The concensus of the desserts was that they were average in appearance and taste. But it's tough to compare the desserts with such a great entree.

As with any Price Fix menu you're not going to walk away completely stuffed - but with Ray's The Classics Price Fix menu you're certainly going to go away satisfied. In fact, I'm still thinking about the steak a week later.