I've never been any kind of fiscal shape to be eating at Tom Colicchio's craft or craftsteak, so when I caught wind of halfsteak (all lack of caps theirs) and their recession-friendly comfort-menu concept, I figured it was a good way to wade past my repeated positive experiences at 'wichcraft.
When The Man and I walked into halfsteak, Dos Mattys were busy charming the lovely crustacean-dismantling young lady manning the adjacent raw bar, as Mattys are wont to do.
We settled into the clean, modern lounge-ish area allocated to halfsteak, prattled, told inappropriate stories, and crafted an ordering strategy (again, as Mattys are wont to do).
We're not the kind of people who can say no to chicken liver mousse ($6), and nor should you be when it's this earthy-schmaltzy slathery-savory.
My beef: The cheekily faux-rustic mason-jar presentation made the mousse hard to get at, and the teeny brioche toast points (too pathetic to be pictured) were too fay to be borne.
Toast is cheap. If you're selling us upscale-satisfying, toss toast points around with abandon, dammit. Strike one.
Luckily, gorgeous (complimentary!) Parker House Rolls filled the mousse-to-face delivery void nicely: 
Score one!
The interplay of the 2 aforementioned items pretty well sums up the minus-one, plus-one dynamic of this meal. As soon as you were about to clap down your silverware for good, some kind of saving grace would swoop in and temper your out-and-out frustration.
In the category of "Good-to-Meh but Twee" (all $6.50):
I think these were billed as "Corn and Crab Fritters": Warm, crunchy, strangely absent of crab. AKA hush puppies. 'Twould be a better choice if you were perched at a bar and you were looking to pass the time. By yourself.
Item #2 for "Good-to-Meh but Twee": Smoked Chicken Wings with White BBQ Sauce.
The Man and Dos Mattys were into the smoky notes and the richness imparted by the mysterious "white BBQ sauce". To me, they were tiny chicken wings covered in mayo. I mean, teeny. Like the kitchen was breaking down baby poulet or cornish game hens and tossed these underdeveloped birdie arm bits into a pile. MEH.
Item #3 for "Good-to-Meh but Twee": Fried Oysters with Summer-Afflicted Slaw (wording mine, cannot remember the menu's slaw schtick):
Pretty, no? But guess what! SO. SMALL. Think of cornmealed Kumamotos. Taste-wise, these elicited a table-wide shoulder shrug...and we be fans of most bivalves, raw, fried or otherwise. Sadness.
But not all was lost, sports fans! The two salads ordered ($8 each) were dressed with a light hand, and registered favorably with all four of us.
The Romaine with Truffled Pecorino and Creamy Garlic was a shining example of all a good caesar-like salad could be: Crisp, salty, unami-rich-yet-fresh.
The Baby Greens with Roasted Beets and Sherry Vinegar were a great foil to the romaine, pulling its weight on the sweet-tart-refreshing side of the salad spectrum.
Repeated beef: Like the toast, romaine and mesclun are subpennies in the kitchen stratosphere. Adding another handful to each salad won't hurt your bottom line, and will keep your guests feeling less wary. Just sayin'.
The Man seemed to really enjoy his Bacon and Soft-Shell Crab 'Po Boy ($12):
...all a-burstin' with deep fried critter!
Spicy Matty wanted to be in love with his Lamb Ribs with Cucumber Raita ($9.50):
...but alas, not even a big-hearted guy like Spicy Matty could use the word love on these spice-crusted babies. They were plenty tender and seasoned, but for all that was going on, they just tasted...flat.
Luckily, we were able to buffer Spicy Matty's disappointment with lovely bits of steak. Mild Matty and myself were impressed with halfsteak signature dish, The Half-Steak Frites ($14.50):
Ain't she a burnished beaut'? Stippled with the requisite fat and minerally juiciness, you'd be hard-pressed to find another steak of this quality at this price. Bulk-steak eaters may be wincing at the mention of a half a steak, but if you're a first-course grazer that requires dessert (like moi), the 6-ounce portion of aged strip steak and fries is just right.
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