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Thursday, March 26, 2009

miNa's at McNary Golf Club

Posted by KandN

Update 5/20/11
Closed, is now McNary Restaurant.

by KandN
We hadn't planned on going to miNa's, but somewhere between home, sharing our day and a companionable silence, N and I found ourselves on River Road North in Keizer. Remembering hearing about miNa's, I asked N where the McNary Golf Club was. We were nearly there.

We opened the double oak doors and walked into the entry way. No employees were in sight. We could hear (how large was that crowd?) a lot of conversation and laughter pouring out of the lounge area, along with an 8-10 person birthday party in the dining room. Happy noise without the smoke - I'm liking this change more and more.
While we were trying to decide whether to seat ourselves or not, a young man appeared with menus to lead us to a table. N immediately turned to the back page featuring their Thai menu. Me? After smelling grilled beef wafting out from the kitchen, all I could think about was the top sirloin at the top of their steak section. When the waitress came over to see if we were ready to order dinner (she had already brought us our ale and porter), N asked about one of the Thai entrees. She explained how they're slowly phasing out their Thai selections and are only offering the Pad Thai now, so he joined me in ordering a top sirloin, medium rare. I ordered the 8 oz. for $14.95 and N ordered 12 oz. for $18.95.
Big picture windows line one side of the dining room. At 7:30 PM, I couldn't tell you exactly what the view was (golf course?), but it was framed on either side with tall fir trees, with hills in the distance. It's a large room, broken up with a privacy screen or two and some large plants. We picked up a hand-out on our way in, announcing a name and menu change. In my opinion, the direction they're headed is a good one - "natural, sustainable products from local businesses". As I read the items that will be on their new menu, my mouth began to water. The only question is - will we be able to afford it more than once or twice a year? It's a good thing they'll also be offering meatloaf or pot roast!
Our dinner salads were made from a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce with a wedge of tomato, slivers of carrot, red onion slices and croutons - dressing on the side.

I was surprised to see an old vegetable favorite of mine, pickled beets, sharing the plates with our steaks and loaded baked potatoes. N sliced off a piece of steak, put a bite in his mouth and sighed. I think this is one of the best top sirloins I've had in town - cooked and seasoned just right, juicy, so tender and full of flavor. The pat of herb butter provided an unexpected burst of extra flavor once I worked my way into the center.
The great food and attentive service made for a nice experience.
Thank you, MiNa's!
165 McNary Estates Dr N
Keizer, OR 97303
(503)393-4111
at 12:05 AM
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13 comments:

  1. I can't wait to get out of this $$ slump so that we can try this place- it sounds amazing. I have a newly found love of beets, too. lol

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  2. Are beets one of those things you either HATE or enjoy?
    When we lived in SW Washington there was a restaurant named "The Oak Tree" that put shoestring, pickled beets on every dinner salad. It was my favorite part and my sister-in-law's least favorite.

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  3. "Are beets one of those things you either HATE or enjoy?"

    HATED them until about 3 years ago when I had roasted beets w/ olive oil and salt/pepper. YUM. Just went to Breitenbush Hotsprings this last weekend and had matchstick beets in my salad and now am an addict. lol

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  4. They serve Prime Grade Beef at Prime. It used to be called Mina's. It's now called prime Steak and Seafood. I also had the Top Sirloin and I don't like Top Sirloin but the Prime Grade sold me. I too thought it was the best steak I've had in this town. They also serve Painted Hills Natural Beef from John Day, Oregon. I've bought that particular beef from Roth's Supermarket before and it is awesome. I like what they have done to this restaurant. And I will pay a fewe extra dollars for that good of beef and that good of a view.

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  5. I'm curious as to what cuts of beef are people's favorites?
    My favorites are New York and rib eye, although I won't turn down a top sirloin.
    I do love prime rib, but have decided there's really nothing to compare to buying a prime rib roast at Roth's, inserting several cloves of garlic, covering the outside in course ground pepper and sea salt, wrapping it up to sit for 24 hours and roasting it on the rotisserie of our barbecue grill.

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  6. Filet mignon, NY strip, Tri-Tip.

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  7. Just out of curiosity, M2D, do you like the Filet Mignon for how tender it is, the flavor or ??
    I worked at a steak place as a teen and liked that steak mainly due to the bacon. :>)

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  8. I have to go back to this place now that it is Prime. I've always liked the food, but you can't go there if you're in a hurry, because the wait staff certainly hasn't been anytime I was there.

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  9. I have to agree with the last post, the servers at mina's were slow and inattentive. But the place really has changed. New owners, new chefs and new servers. I eat there all the time, not because it is close but he bar food is to die for. You might think a steakhouse at a golf club would be expensive and yes, they do have filet mignon and lobster. But my budget only allows me to eat the fabulous prime rib sliders or the buffalo burger while i'm watching a game in the bar or my girlfriend likes to eat out on the huge patio and enjoys watching the golfers finish up on the 18th tee. Prime is my new favorite restaurant. The servers and bartenders are kinda hot too so its alot of fun to go there.

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  10. They don't serve Prime garde at the restaurant it is choice grade but since it is Painted Hills Natural beef then it is better than any prime grade you would have.

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  11. KandN said...
    Just out of curiosity, M2D, do you like the Filet Mignon for how tender it is, the flavor or ??
    I worked at a steak place as a teen and liked that steak mainly due to the bacon. :>)

    Sorry, didn't see your ? until I browsed the recent posts this a.m. I like filet because it's tender and of course for the bacon which gives it the flavor it might lack due to a lack of marbling. We always wrap them in bacon at home. We had rib eyes on the 4th, the marbling in them makes them so good, but I love NY too! UGH. I'm hungry now!

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  12. I have to agree the servers were very slow and I have never once been greeted right upon entering the building. I think they need to hire a hostess and if they have one she needs to just be stationed at the door and only be used for seating. The food is great a bit on the spendy side but a great special occasion place. We go once every few months and besides the serves everything else was great, drink, food atmosphere.

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  13. Hello, I'm Jeff. I'm the owner and Executive Chef of Prime Steak and Seafood. I browse eatsalem often and I wanted to take a moment to comment on the posts written on Prime Steak and Seafood. Yes, we serve USDA Grade A Prime Beef here. Only 2% of the nation's cattle are graded prime. Its a very strict process and we are proud to serve it here. The prime cuts are the Prime Rib that we serve on Fri and Sat nights, the Ribeye and the Top Sirloin. We also serve "natural beef", raised without any hormones or antibiotics and the cuts are Filet Mignon, NY strip and Porterhouse. Our beef hamburger patties are also all natural and never frozen. Business has been great, better than we had envisioned. We are constantly making adjustments to better serve our diners and one important one is service. Our servers receive on-going training and we are striving to raise the bar on our service. Besides what I mentioned earlier, we offer fresh halibut, salmon, razor clam, prawns, and lobster tails. I'm starting to sound like a commercial so I will finish by saying thank you to all that have tried Prime Steak and Seafood and please continue to give us a try.

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What do you think? Please keep your comments civil. Personal attacks are not welcome and do not lead to constructive or even interesting discussion. If you believe a restaurant is in violation of county ordinances please bring that matter to the county health department at (503) 588-5346

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