Steelhead Grill

 I wanted to second Beth Mazur's recommendation for the Steelhead Grill.
 It is in the Marriott Hotel (formerly the Hyatt) building, in downtown
 Pittsburgh near the Civic Arena.

 I would highly recommend the Grilled Asparagus ($5) which was perfectly
 cooked and seasoned (maybe a little butter and black pepper-I am not
 sure, but it was delicious).

 Like Beth's friend, I ordered the specialty, Salmon with chive butter
 accompanied by mashed potatoes with capers ($19).  The salmon and chive
 butter were wonderful, the mashed potatoes were dry and did not have
 much flavor.

 My husband had the "Charred Tuna with Crisp Sweet Potato and Plum Wine
 sauce" ($21).  I tried some of his tuna and it was delicious.  I must
 warn sweet potato fans, however, the only sweet potatoes on this dish
 were two sweet potato chips that were there more for garnish than as a
 side.  This disapointed my husband who is a sweet potato chip fan.  The
 primary side dish was a spicy quinoa (a grain) pilaf-like dish which was
 very good.

 For dessert, I had the Bogota Coffee Creme Brulee (all desserts are $6),
 which I enjoyed thoroughly.  This was my first creme brulee, so I have
 no basis for comparison.  My husband had the Banana Parfait.  The
 presentation was beautiful, but the banana ice cream (or frozen yogurt)
 left a lot to be desired.  There were no bananas other than the
 flavoring in the ice cream.  The macademia nut brittle that toppped the
 parfait was very good.

 I thought the meal was terrific and would rate the restaurant up there
 with Monterey Bay Fish Grotto (formerly Rodi Grille House), my husband
 would rate it as "OK, but nothing to run around recommending."  I will
 let him post an explanation if he desires.

 One word of warning to those who like their fish cooked through.  The
 chef seems to prefer to cook the fish VERY rare.  When taking our order,
 the chef mentioned that the salmon would be "medium rare" unless
 otherwise specified, but made no comment about the tuna.  I would rate
 both as bein cooked "extremely rare."  Only the outer 1/4 inch of each
 fish steak was truly cooked thoroughly.  This did not bother me as the
 fish was extremely fresh, but if you are squemish about this, you should
 notify your server, whether or not they mention how the fish will be
 cooked.

 Their fish selection is slightly smaller than Monterey Bay.  Last
 Friday, there were only 6 seafood dishes (salmon, bass, tuna, shrimp,
 lobster, and cod).  You do have the option of getting any fish on the
 menu simply grilled, steamed or sauteed rather than prepared in the
 manner listed on the menu.

 Other information from the menu:
 They serve dinner 5-11pm.  Reservations are suggested, the number is
 (412) FYI-FISH.  We arrived around 6:30 or 7pm on a Friday night and had
 no trouble getting a table, but it did get crowded soon after.  They
 also mention that they have a $19.95 prix fixe menu available on area
 event nights, but they do not provide any other details.

 Excerpts from netnews.pgh.food: 5-Nov-96 Re: Steelhead Grill by Marcie A
 Wallace@andrew.
 > I thought the meal was terrific and would rate the restaurant up there
 > with Monterey Bay Fish Grotto (formerly Rodi Grille House), my husband
 > would rate it as "OK, but nothing to run around recommending."  I will
 > let him post an explanation if he desires.
 >

 I am the aforementioned husband. I don't have anything against the
 restaurant. The food was very good as was the service. The restaurant is
 part-owned by the people who own Montrechet in New York and Rubicon in
 San Francisco (as well as a place I went to in Monterey, which I can't
 remember the name of). The atmosphere is California casual.

 The food's presentation was a bit dramatic and trendy for my taste: the
 sweet potato chips stood straight up in the quinoa as did a few chives.
 My banana parfait came in a chocolate cylinder decorated with white
 stars (I'm don't know how they did that). It really was a work of art,
 but it was hard to eat. I did manage, even though the ice cream was dry
 and flavorless.

 As Marcie said, the fish was excellent, but we both like sushi. If you
 don't, ask them to cook it more. The quinoa was surprising, since I've
 never liked it before. The menu says that they want to be Pittsburgh's
 favorite restaurant. It's not mine, but it's a good place to go if
 you're looking for a good restaurant downtown.

 As long as I'm here, I'll put in a strong recommendation for the London
 Grill(e?) in the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon. We went there a few weeks ago.
 The chef is David McKinney, who used to be at Jake's Above the Square.
 There's a pub room and a more formal dining room. As you might guess
 from the name, the menu tends to be grilled steaks, chops and fish. It's
 probably the only place around that has both Beef Wellington and Liver
 and Onions on the same menu.

 Like Jakes, the atmosphere (in the dining room) is formal but not
 pretentious (and formal in the sense that the room and service are
 formal, but you can wear just about anything). I had venison, which was
 wonderful, though the sauce was a bit overwhelming. It came with garlic
 mashed potatoes, which were great as well. I think Marcie had fish
 (tuna?), which I also remember as being very good.

 For dessert, we had the English trifle, which was fantastic and, even
 better, it was "on the house" since it was our anniversary.

 Steve