Cattle Baron Steak and Seafood Restaurant

October 4, 2008

Roswell, New Mexico – Believe it or not, we’re back in Roswell again, the third time in as many months. I’m still looking for new places to try out here. I had recalled seeing Cattle Baron during an online search once before and decided to check it out. Besides, I was in the mood for a good steak. I figured any restaurant with the word ‘Cattle’ in its name must have a decent steak. Did Cattle Baron live up my expectations? Read on.

Owner Jeff Wilson has a dozen Cattle Baron Steak and Seafood Restaurants throughout New Mexico and Texas with more planned. The one here in Roswell has just undergone an extensive remodel. He also owns Farley’s, Tia Juana’s (I recommend Tia Juana’s. They make their own tortillas right there in the restaurant and you can actually watch them being made), The Snazzy Pig, and a few other varied concepts. If you go to more than one upscale restaurant in Roswell, chances are you’ll end up dining at one of his establishments.

Before you even walk in, you get a warm feeling from the look of the building. Wooden posts and brown stucco exterior come together in a southwest-styled architecture. That theme is continued inside with lots of wood throughout the place; paneling, beams, etc. Sandstone brickwork adds just the right accents. The photos on the wall are mainly black and white or sepia and seem to be from the era of the great southwest cattle drives. Not only will you find period photos on the wall, but the head of a bison, chaps, lariats and the requisite steer horns, too. A veritable hanging museum.

From several of the seats you can see the bustling kitchen. Every once in a while you’ll see flames rear up as another steak meets the grill on its way to some happy customer’s plate. The booths are elevated so watch your step if you are seated in one. I spent a bit of time just taking in the décor of the building. It’s not hard to forget you’re in a restaurant and imagine being in someone’s rather large dining room instead.

It was dinnertime and the place was doing a brisk business. Fortunately, Cattle Baron had sufficiently staffed the place so it did not take long to be served. My waiter, Robert, was very friendly. After a very brief chat, he presented the menu to me and went off to serve his other customers.

Offerings on the menu were assorted and abundant. Admittedly, I suffer from paralysis when being presented with too many choices at a new restaurant. I want to make sure I get the most out of whatever I choose to order. Roswell ain’t exactly right down the street so I may only have one chance at getting the best entrée to represent my experience here at Cattle Baron. My decision? Prime Rib, the house specialty. They have an 8-ounce, a 12-ounce, and a 16-ounce cut. I chose the 12-ounce cut since I was going to be having an appetizer. And for that appetizer I selected the bacon-wrapped stuffed shrimp. There a couple of schools of thought on wine parings with red meat. For me, I follow the more contemporary view: order whatever you like. Tonight, that would be a white wine, specifically a chardonnay.

While I sipped my water, my waiter returned with the bread. It came on a small cutting board with a steak knife and butter. My meal came with a trip to the salad bar. Cattle Baron has a mile-long salad bar. Anyone would be impressed with it. The best part is the fruits and vegetables are fresh. All the more impressive given Roswell’s geographic location. I piled my plate with salad and toppings and returned to my table.

A few minutes later the appetizer arrived. Five shrimp wear a wrap of bacon, as you’d expect. This is then fried and laid over a bed of rice. (The current menu says jalapeno cream cheese filling with jalapeno ranch dip but I seem to remember mine having a Remoulade dip.) The shrimp was kind of salty, which was probably due to the bacon. You actually taste shrimp in the shrimp, though. Dipping the shrimp became a real treat thanks to the Remoulade. Very nice. Between bites of the shrimp, I tried to nurse my wine while saving some for the main course. The chardonnay was good but I forgot the brand so I can’t tell you whose cellars produced it.

With bread, salad, and appetizer in play, the table was half full. That changed rather quickly when the main course showed up. Now the table was completely full. I must have looked like one of those guys you see on television with an endless number of plates before him and an appetite to match. One by one, the plates were emptied, leaving just the main course.

Entrees come with a choice of sides. I chose the rice pilaf, even though rice came with the appetizer. The rice was also salty. Bearable, but noticeable. Vegetables would have been a welcome addition to the meal but I guess that’s what the salad bar was for.

By now I was really looking forward to tearing into that steak. It was slow-cooked, nice, juicy, and marbled about right. Just a tad bit of gristle. Whatever they used with the pepper in the rub worked for me. Horseradish is available if you ask for it; which I did. Usually I have half the steak plain, the other half with added horseradish. If you want, they have 3 kinds of toppings for your steak; one with mushrooms, Ponchartrain topping, and another type that escapes me at the moment. Being a lover of food from Louisiana, I had to try the Ponchartrain topping. The mixture features chunks of shrimp and crab along with flavored bread crumbs. Kind of like the dressing that you’d have with turkey dinner.

When I tried putting some of it on top of my steak, most of it rolled off. Hmmm. I though to myself that this might be better if they could add some sort of cream to the topping to help it stay on the steak where you put it. I mentioned this to the waiter. He considered it and said that no one had brought that up before. He said he’d mention it to the cook. Combining the topping with the prime rib resulted in a very interesting taste. It took my mind a second or two to wrap itself around the different textures of a tender forkful of prime rib with chunks of shrimp and crab as they rolled around inside my mouth.

Obviously this was a huge meal. It left no room for dessert. Unfortunate, because I was looking forward to trying one of their sweet offerings. But I decided to leave well enough alone. No sense trying to force down another course at the expense of not being able to enjoy it, thus ruining the whole experience.

If you’re looking for a good steak, this is the place to come. If you’re looking for something other than a steak, this is the place to come. Their menu is varied enough that everyone should be happy, including vegetarians. And yes, it did meet my expectations.

Cattle Baron Steak and Seafood Restaurant – 4.5 forks. Highly recommended. Caveat: Be prepared to wait as long as half an hour to be seated if you arrive during the few times a year the local military college has Parent’s events or graduation.

Update: I came back here again in February 2009. This time I had the lunch version of the prime rib with the salad bar. As before, the fruits and vegetables from the salad bar were fresh. The lunch cut is a 6-ounce portion. Probably because we got there right at the end of lunch, the prime rib was a bit dry. Still, it was very good.

I ordered a Kentucky Pie to go, which I almost left inside the place. The waiter literally stopped us in the parking lot as we were driving out. Bless you, Terry! The Kentucky pie puts me in mind of a mud pie. Actually it’s more of a cross between a pecan pie and a chocolate chip cookie. It is topped with ice cream. Pretty gooey and very good! So good that two bites had mysteriously been taken out of it by the time I opened the container to eat it later that evening. The culprit? My wife.

Cattle Baron retains its 4.5 fork rating