Steer Bar and Grill
Steer Bar and Grill
641 Chapel St, South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia
(03) 9040 1188
My husband’s side of the family seemed to love their meat, so since it was hubby’s cousin’s Chowie’s birthday, we took him to Steer Bar and Grill. For all the hype surrounding them taking in food bloggers to do a few weeks of work experience there, I have never been to Steer until now. It was a Wednesday night and at 7pm the place seemed surprisingly empty. 2 or 3 tables sat on the couches facing the windows, with several waiters crowded around the kitchen. No one seemed to notice us at first, we had to wait several minutes to be acknowledged and seated. First impression do count, so this is a little bit disappointing.
We were also seating on the couches, which is comfy enough, however there is a disconcerting amount of tiny flies buzzing around. I began to fret about my choice of dinner venue- this is not good. We persisted though, and was happy to find one of our favourite wines on the wine list- Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz $95.
After ordering our drinks, we were presented with the selection of meat- these huge chunks of raw meat may scare vegetarians but we are very excited but confused- so much to choose from! I was dying to eat the Moondarra Full Blood Tajima Wagyu again, ever since I tasted it last time at the Fringe Food Fest. But alas, it was sold out. Finally Hubby and Chowie settled on the Delmonico cut and Rib Eye from Steer Premium.
But first of all, we needed some appetisers. For some annoying reasons, it seemed that whatever I wanted to order, it ran out. I really wanted the Crispy Crab Roll, but nope, they didn’t have it that night. So we settled for the scallop tataki. The scallop tataki is kinda unexpected. I thought tataki is supposed to be lightly seared but this came out raw. Not that it mattered, the scallops were very very fresh and went well with the thinly sliced radishes and freshly grated real wasabi. Of course the micro shiso goes down very well with me also.
Our pièce de résistance came, which is of course, the meat. The Delmonico cut was so so tender, cooked to perfection, fatty but not TOO fatty… just perfect really. The rib eye is a little bit drier, but hubby and Chowie thought that was just right to balance out the fattiness of the other piece. They are both ordered medium rare and whilst the Delmonico cut I thought it was perfect, the rib eye I thought it was a touch overcooked.
We ordered dressed organic leaves and chips as sides, whilst I left the chips for the boys (which said it was nice), I had lots of yummy fresh salad.
We also ordered the baked field and pine mushroom in what looks like a wrapped parchment, which I thought was interesting and it adds a leafy fragrant to it that lifts the earthiness of the mushroom. Just wish that there were more pine mushrooms!
We try to see if Chowie wanted dessert here but he seemed to be uninterested. I suspected that the flies were just becoming too much of an issue for everyone’s liking anyway, they attack our food, one even fell into my wine and I had to fish it out. I whacked a few of them dead but there are still a few stuck on the walls. The service was also one of the biggest issues they have. I am not too sure whether they were untrained or what, but not only did we not get acknowledge for a long time in the reception, once we sat the waiter plonk one of those tall jugs of water on our table that is usually reserved for waiters to pour for us (it’s just so tall that there is no way guests can pour it sitting down). It was only when Hubby stood up to start pouring us water (after a few raised eyebrows) that someone came and went “let me do that for you”. Other incidences include bringing us sides that we didn’t order, not looking very patient when we ask for sauce etc.
If I were to come back, it would definitely for the food, but I surely wish very very hard that they get pest control and some better trained staff before my next visit! 6/10
I went to Steer last year with around 8 people and had a fabulous time there. Many of us thought that it was one of the best steak places in Melbourne. Their onion rings are a must have and the Bombe Alaskas were definitely one of the highlights of the night. The staff definitely knew about the food.
Maybe you went on a bad night. I hope you give them another chance.
Hiii thanks for commenting! I totally agreed that the food was good but the flies and the service just bugs me. To be honest if I have to pay that much for the service and flies there are a lot of other places I would rather go back to than Steer. But never say never!