I'd wager there weren't many losers filling the tables at Council Oak Steak & Seafood, Seminole Hard Rock's most sophisticated and expensive dining destination, though with wine glasses nearly big enough to hold a whole bottle, it would be a good place to drown your gambling woes.

Named for the tree where tribal elders once gathered to deliberate, Council Oak is a welcome respite from the casino's blaring music, flashing lights and way-too-tempting slots. We watched a woman feed $100 bills into one machine and walk away empty-handed. Better to spend on a fat steak.

When you enter the restaurant, you're flanked on one side by the handsome bar area and on the other by a large window where cooks prepare the prime-grade meats -- the stars here. There's lots of mahogany in the 150-seat dining room, but it's more open and airy than the usual steak house, with lots of chandeliers and patio dining.

There are plenty of safe bets on the menu: crab cakes, oysters Rockefeller, surf-and-turf entrees and crowd-pleasing desserts like chocolate soufflé. Service is gracious and accommodating, with complimentary Fiji Water and a nice basket of rolls and flatbreads with butter and sun-dried tomato spread.

One of our favorite starters was a delicious bowl of chowder chock-full of lump crab and corn with a little taso ham for smokiness and cayenne for kick. While fresh and well-dressed, our field green salad was way too short on other ingredients of sliced pear and Gorgonzola. At $10, let's pony up on the pears, please.

We were quite happy with the Council's Maryland crab cake, a plump, crisp patty of pan-seared jumbo lump crab with minimal filler, served with a crunchy roasted corn relish, ''Beluga'' lentils and cilantro crme frache. Another starter, carpaccio of sirloin, was excellent. The ultra-thin slices, which do seem to melt in your mouth, are simply drizzled with lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil. Arugula with a hint of truffle oil and shavings of Manchego cheese comes alongside.

The menu is la carte, but some meals do include sides. We wish our otherwise-skilled server had mentioned some of our dishes included asparagus before we spent $7 on a family-size side of the vegetable.

Our dry-aged steaks were all cooked perfectly to order. This is a place for excess, so dig into offerings like a 20-ounce cowboy rib-eye or 24-ounce porterhouse. A friend raved about his filet Oscar, the beef buttery tender, topped with well-seasoned lump crab, just-firm asparagus and a rich béarnaise sauce with a side of mashed potatoes, haricots verts and baby squash.

Executive chef Paul Schlosser adds a dash of color and sweetness to beef dishes with his raspberry-infused onions. If you like prime rib, the version here is right on the money, served with popover-like Yorkshire pudding, a fun substitute for potatoes.

Our 3 ½-pound lobster was the only real disappointment. Some bites were sweet, juicy and tender, but part of this monster was a little chewy; for a whopping $84, it should be perfect. (Be sure to ask the price of specials; we forgot and were stunned.) The accommodating staff will take the lobster out of the shell for you -- and keep leftovers chilled while you head back to the slots.

The menu also offers Chilean sea bass, chicken, pasta and a few nightly specials, including our Flintstone-size grilled pork chop with caramelized apples, great for fall. Given that ''seafood'' is right up there next to steak in Council Oak's name, we would have welcomed more fish and shellfish selections.

The wine list is extensive at 500-plus bottles, with unsurprisingly high markups. By-the-glass choices have grown to 33.

Desserts include Key lime torte and crme brlée, but we took our waiter's advice and ordered the Belgian chocolate soufflé when we sat down (it takes about 40 minutes). Lucky us: It was sublime, and easily big enough for our party of four. At $14, that's one of the best deals in the house.