Restaurant Review: Morton's The Steakhouse, Anaheim, CA

Morton's The Steakhouse - dinner on May 6, 2014, 4-star rating on yelp, 322 reviews

At my conference last week, there was a Morton's The Steakhouse within easy walking distance of the hotel. My coworker Michelle and I headed there for an early dinner after the day's events. I'd never been to a Morton's. I'd never even heard of Morton's until I got to Anaheim. Last year we had stayed at the same hotel so I knew it was there but back then, it was extremely crowded so we didn't bother to try to get in. This time, we went early and even so, we were almost turned away but then a last-minute cancellation came in so we were able to get a table.

Onion bread - tasty and served warm

I didn't take a picture of the interior because I doubted it would have come out. Like every other steakhouse I've ever gone to, Morton's doesn't believe in investing a lot in lighting. The overhead lights were dim. I mean, seriously dim. I think if they had lit candles and sprinkled them throughout the restaurant, it would've been glaringly bright in comparison. Maybe they wanted their patrons' eyes fully dilated to compensate for the twilight-dusk lighting. I almost forgave them when they brought out a nice warm loaf of onion bread. I don't actually like onions (I have texture issues with them) but I don't mind onion-flavored things and their bread was nice and crusty.

Salmon with lump crab meat and jumbo shrimp - $49

Although I was at a steakhouse and logic would dictate I should try their steak, since I'd had prime rib the night before at The White House, I decided to skip the turf and just went with surf: salmon topped with lump crab and served with giant shrimp. I thought I might need a carb to go with my proteins so I also ordered a side dish of au gratin potatoes. These weren't Betty Crocker au gratin potatoes either and I confess to a shameful moment of expecting them to be like those boxed potato mixes of my childhood: thin slices of potato-ey substance covered in a yellow-orange cheese...something. Nope, these were honest-to-goodness potato chunks covered in a sauce of real cheese mixed with bacon. Yeah, not for the faint of heart....literally. They were good but the seafood was deceptively filling so I couldn't do justice to more than a couple of spoonfuls of cheesy potatoes.

Side of au gratin potatoes - $12

Because you knew I had to be saving room for dessert. Michelle and I split an order of molten chocolate cake with vanilla gelato. Although she doesn't eat dairy so the gelato was all mine, mine, mine. I was still pining for that chocolate souffle I didn't get from The White House so the molten chocolate cake served as a surrogate. It was pretty good and actually did have a molten center (not all of them do). I don't know that it was particularly special or a memorable standout from other molten chocolate cakes but you know I have a picky dessert palate.

Molten chocolate cake with vanilla gelato

The food was good in general but I have to say, I thought it was really overpriced. I've paid that much for dinner before but for their price points, I expected something more spectacular. I'm glad I tried it to see what it was like but it isn't something I'd pay that much for again.