Max Chophouse, located in an unassuming strip mall along Monroe Avenue, is a shrine to old school excess: gigantic prime steaks, potatoes served both ways (that is, mashed or fried), excellent seafood, and a host of delicious sides, complemented by a short but distinguished wine list, a talented bartender, and nearly flawless service. There are salads, and there are vegetables - owner Tony Gullace claims that some of his most loyal customers are vegetarians - but the emphasis here is on meat, meat, meat. In style, Max is reminiscent of an East Village chophouse, warmly lit, cozy (even a bit on the small side), dominated by a long bar at the front and an intimate dining room in the rear. The place fills up quickly on weekends, but no one ever seems rushed: it takes a long time to work your way through three (or even four) courses of Chef Mark Cupolo's excellent cooking.

As Gullace points out, the focus at Max is on the steak, but that's not the best place to start. The menu offers a thoughtful selection of appetizers and salads to whet your appetite for the main course. January is a prime month for oysters, and the half dozen bluepoints ($13) that arrived at our table on a bed of ice and rock salt were real gems: plump and sweet yet briny, these were oysters that I actually enjoyed chewing and savoring for a bit rather than simply knocking back. These beauties were served with mignonette, cocktail sauce, and a creamy horseradish sauce that lit up the shellfish.

The broiled littleneck clams ($11) were even better. Broiled on the half-shell in garlic butter, garnished with a generous handful of finely diced bits of intensely smoky bacon, and finished with a sauce composed of butter, garlic, parsley, and perhaps a bit of chive, each plump clam melted in my mouth, tempting me to order a second plate and make a meal of them alone. Cupolo's Caesar salad ($7) is solid, but his iceberg wedge with creamy bleu cheese dressing and bacon ($9) is a real eye-opener. If you haven't tried iceberg lettuce in a while, this salad will come as a real surprise. Yes, the crunch you remember is there, but so is a cool green flavor that I certainly didn't. It formed a wonderful palette for a chunky and almost sweet bleu cheese dressing and lardons of the same intensely smoky bacon used on the clams. The lettuce provided a welcome counterpoint to the heaviness of both the dressing and the bacon, allowing me to enjoy both without feeling that either was overwhelming.

And then, there was the steak. Max Chophouse serves USDA Prime steaks. The beef is very well "marbled" - shot through with tiny veins of fat that melt away during cooking, giving it an incredibly tender texture and an intense beefy flavor. For my money, the rib-eye (18 oz., $39) is the king of steaks, and the one served at Max is about the best I've ever tasted. The substantial yet tender and perfectly mediumrare steak was nicely seasoned, juicy, and flavorful, with a rim of crisp fat giving it a nice, smoky-creamy edge.

The New York strip (14 oz., $35), the densest cut that we tried, had an even stronger flavor and a noticeable "grain" to the meat that made it a delight to eat. The filet mignon (6 oz., $27) was easily the most tender of the three steaks we sampled. It was nearly fork-tender, meltingly juicy and mildly flavored, a nice foil for the dab of bearnaise that I added to a couple of bits just for variety's sake. Each of the steaks was served with a garnish of perfect watercress, whose peppery bite cut through the richness of the meat like a knife, refreshing the palate for the next bite.

In keeping with chophouse tradition, dining at Max's is a la carte; sides are a separate matter worthy of extended consideration. Nothing goes better with steak than potatoes, and the piping hot and crispy pommes frites ($4) are peerless examples of the art of frying potatoes (they even maintained their crunch to the very end of the meal, a rare quality indeed). The white beans with broccoli ($6) included generous amounts of butter, parmesan cheese, and garlic, creating a dish that was somewhere between a very rich soup and a very loose casserole. Either way, it made a pleasant companion to the steaks, and I was grateful for bread to sop up the rich gravy in which the beans were suspended.

Simpler is often better, and there's not much simpler than braised red cabbage ($5) - or anything that's much better when it's done well. Earthy and sweet with just the slightest acid edge and a hint of bacon, the cabbage was still ever-so-slightly crisp. Alongside the Yankee Pot Roast ($21), this was a perfect side, and one that traveled ‘round the table several times over the course of the meal.

On the off chance that you still have any room to eat after two hours of steady and pleasurable effort over your steak and sides, I can think of no better way to cap your meal than with Cupolo's superlative butterscotch pudding ($6). Rich, thick, and creamy, with just the right balance of vanilla and butter, this is just the thing to fill in whatever tiny nooks and crannies may remain in your stomach after your meal. 

Max Chophouse

1456 Monroe Avenue

271-3510

Tuesday-Sunday, 5:30-10:30 p.m.