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• Z's Oyster Bar & Steakhouse

Mirada oysters ($12.95 per half-dozen) are small but serve up a big, briny taste of the sea at Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse. (Steve Healey for The Star)

Dining room of Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse (Steve Healey for The Star)

A relish of tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and bleu cheese is served with the veal porterhouse. (Steve Healey for The Star)

Z's is welcome addition to Indy's restaurant landscape

Long empty, the building once home to The Wharf started showing signs of life this summer. And in November it opened as Z's Oyster Bar & Steakhouse, a sister restaurant to the original Z's in Louisville.

It's a place for thoughtfully and adeptly prepared steaks and seafood served with the highest respect for food and customer. It doesn't by any means fill a void in this area, but I expect Z's to make many local diners happy it's here.

The Food

Don't bother asking before 4.p.m. what's on that night's seafood menu, Z's Web site warns -- "our chefs are still at the airport." Nothing pulled from the sea has been out of it more than 24 hours, our server told us. Can I get an amen for air travel?

Z's menu has your swanky steakhouse favorites (oyster shooters, jumbo crab cake, steak tartare), most of them in traditional presentations. My guest and I started with a half-dozen Mirada oysters ($12.95; small, briny) and escargot ($9.95) in mushroom caps, amply topped with garlic, butter and magic.

Washington salad ($7.95) melded bleu cheese, apple slices and candied pecans. Its maple-walnut vinaigrette was strangely sweet, almost buttery.

Hawaiian butterfish ($29.95) -- seasoned and seared and perfectly moist -- had a rich flavor that didn't need a bit of the Thai chile garlic sauce that was served beside it (and in fact clashed with it). My guest's tender, flavorful veal porterhouse ($34.95) was served with a tangy relish of tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and bleu cheese.

Alongside those stars we sampled perfect cream-style corn ($5.95) and steamed asparagus ($7.95) that included a memorable and tart brown-butter sauce.

Z's offers a long list of desserts (chocolate creme brulee, mixed berry shortbread, Key lime pie, and more, more, more) but because the menu highlights the souffle and I'm not made of stone, we ordered the bourbon chocolate-chip version ($7.95), delivered with the fanfare of flambe.

The Service

My guest called the service we got at Z's "the best in town," and certainly the duo who attended us were professional, formal and adept.

The Atmosphere

Decor looks much more corporate than the restaurant actually is, with only two locations to its name. A giant fish tank is visible from the entryway and the dining room feels decidedly like a steakhouse (jazz, dark wood, dim lighting) but doesn't pack much personality apart from the blue neon that carries over from exterior to interior.

The Price

$206 covered an expansive meal for two, including tax, tip and three adult beverages that accounted for $39 of the bill. Expensive, yes, but hard to argue with, given the quality of food and service.

Next Time

The escargot is a given for any dinner I eat at Z's, and I'll likely give the cornmeal-fried oysters or crisp-sauteed calamari a try, as well as the broiled jumbo sea scallops.

- By Traci Cumbay / Star correspondent