Thursday, Dec. 04, 2008
Ready for prime time?
kansas city prime steakhouse
By Ashley Morris
For Weekly Surge
setting the table
You're certainly not in Kansas anymore in Kansas City Prime - though I'm still not sure about the validation of the "city" or "prime" (as in steak) part of its moniker.
The site of the triple-threat venue of Kansas City Prime, Kono Asian Grill and World Café on the 19th Avenue North block of Myrtle Beach has been a revolving door resting place for a slew of bars and restaurants, including Red Rooster, Club Icon, Hog Wild and a two-level sports bar called Yesterdays, just to name a few. It's been interesting to witness the beauty of renovation - how the anatomy of the same building could be transformed into such a colorful array of dining/entertainment concepts with only a hint of its former life (flight of stairs, open kitchen, etc.).
Kansas City Prime's eye-catching cathedral-size double doors open into a large vestibule that leads straight ahead to a multi-level dining area beautifully brushed in bronze and gold and overpopulated with brightly lit wrought-iron hanging lights. The lighting ambiance could have been just a tinge dimmer, but it probably didn't help that our large booth was catty-corner to the fluorescents from the kitchen.
down the hatch
Our dining occasion on the evening of our visit doubled as my birthday celebration. It was a party of five at Kansas City Prime.
Server Scarlet was not only gifted with a great, true Southern name, but cute, perky-laced Southern hospitality. And she was furthermore tested with a couple of trips to the table bearing a pile of napkins after my niece toppled two glasses of water. Nothing more than a smile and a wink her way, honey.
Our round of beverages varied from Yuengling drafts to domestic beer bottles ($3-$3.50) to a glass of wine ($6) and a Cosmopolitan cocktail ($6.50). The appetizer portion of the evening was several orders of sushi (California, Spicy Tuna and Philadelphia rolls at $4.79-$4.99 each), which were comparable to most sushi I've sampled in the area. Before appetizers, came a basket of warm French bread accompanied by saucers of seasoned oil.
Even birthday dinners call for a budget, so most of us selected from Kansas City Prime's "special menu" page, which offers guests a buy-one-get-one-free entree opportunity. Not a bad deal. My choice was the Cowboy Bone-in Rib-eye ($29.99). Prepared medium well, the large, thin cut of meat arrived more on the well done end. Trying to shake things up outside of the usual potato side, I ordered couscous, which was interestingly presented as an island mound floating in the middle of broth and vegetables. It was surprisingly good. My salad, dressed in the house sesame ginger, was fresh and lively, garnished with a purple pile of unique pickled onions.
Additional entrees were the grilled tilapia ($17.99), which bordered on tasting too "fishy," rack of baby back ribs ($20.99), which my brother downed and licked his sauce-covered fingers with approval, and the lamb chops ($23.99), which were disappointingly more chop then lamb.
check, please
Our visit to Kansas City Prime took place on the Friday night after Thanksgiving, but was so quiet and deserted of patrons, you'd think we dropped in on a random Tuesday night in January. Kono Asian Grill at the other end of the three-venue complex, on the other hand, was electric, hopping faster than a Hollywood hotspot.
For a name like Kansas City Prime, too many entities (food, ambiance) were almost there, rather than right-on prime. And I can't help but think of our dinner conversation, which kept referring back to Outback Steakhouse and its line of steaks for some reason. Why was that sinful subject even part of our conversation at a steakhouse called Kansas City Prime?
Kansas City Prime is located at 1901 N. Kings Highway (Kings Square Center), Myrtle Beach. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. For additional info, call 213-1204.
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