DESIGNER Michael McCann gives good dining room - think Flying Fish, Whitewater and Pony, his other venture with chef Damian Heads - and (stainless) Steel is no exception. Despite its shiny, industrial crispness, there's plenty of eye candy - from the 3000-bottle glass wine wall to the oysters piled on a mound of ice in front of the central, open kitchen. Even the vegetables, stacked in buckets against a glass wall, are turned into a visual statement. The loos are worth a perve, too.

Steel's look is a little retro-Jetsons, with shiny steel mesh dividing the room into a series of nooks of curving banquettes and leather chairs at bare timber tables. Dark onyx and topographical sandstone walls contrast with the futuristic touches.

The semi-outdoors veranda is an all-day bar with a fireplace, long communal table and bench seating. The quirky cocktail list by Jason Crawley raises a wry smile.

I haven't met Katie but I think she helps run the floor under Chris McNally, back from London where he worked with Tom Aitken. She's certainly busy. We were told Katie would see us to our table but she didn't. After standing there for a while, someone else did. And Katie was going to explain the Transmontanus caviar ($70 for 12 grams) from California but she didn't. A waiter bravely gave it a shot. He lost me comparing it with avruga, one of the world's great caviars. Er, no. Avruga is a cheap substitute made from Spanish herring.

It turns out Transmontanus is the Latin (scientific) name for California's native white sturgeon, in this instance farmed for Petrossian. Avruga it ain't, thankfully, but it's a good splurge at a decent price.

Meanwhile, the wine knowledge is wiser and the floor team has cheerful enthusiasm and a touch of cheekiness.

That brings me to the food. Have you eaten at Pony Dining, where Heads is also chef, nearby in The Rocks? If so, then parts of Steel's menu will be familiar. Perhaps it's because this is such an ambitiously broad menu but I can't figure out why Heads repeats himself. Steel seems to be a Pony derivative in a city besieged by a new crop of bar-and-grill-style restaurants. Perhaps Stencil is a more fitting name.

Here's a tip. If you love chilli-salted almonds ($5.20), they're available at both sites. Chorizo with its curious chilli jam is the same price ($9.60). Italian flatbread? At Pony, it's $4.40 and at Steel, $5.50. Charging that much money for four slices with olive oil, when most restaurants serve bread free? Priceless.

Steel's menu is divided into thematic sections, including small plates, platters, ocean (including live crayfish), poultry and paddock. Like Pony, the sizzle to a steak is the ironbark-fuelled, wood-fire grill.

Dishes amble around the planet, thus sashimi ($30), mezze ($22), so-so charcuterie ($28) and a mixed grill ($32) feature as platters. Simpler Mediterranean dishes deliver the best results, although on my two visits, the flavours seemed apathetic.

Cuttlefish with fresh tomato and chilli oil ($12.80) needs a boot up the backside, despite a generous serve and the best efforts of fragrant mint to give it some life.

A similar fate befalls seared scallops with green pawpaw salad with fresh herbs, cucumber ribbons, cashews and chilli ($24/$32). The inference is Vietnamese vigour but the execution is pallid, needing more saltiness and lime to invigorate it.

Charging $32 for a mixed grill - lamb chops, eye fillet, chipolatas and bacon - seems to be having a lend of an Australian breakfast classic. Serving it with nothing more than French mustard doesn't help and I hanker for something with more grunginess. This version is too polite.

Even the hand-cut chips - all four fat rods of potato - are flabby and lack crispness beside an otherwise commendable wood-grilled sirloin steak with bearnaise and watercress ($36).

There are signs of life: a creamy and crunchy chickpea, fetta and chilli salad ($8.90) and wonderful Cantabrian anchovies on toast with grilled red capsicum ($11.80).

The Goan kingfish curry ($32) is a goer for its tart, tangy tamarind and tomato sauce, plus the accompanying brinjal pickle and cardamom-scented pilaf.

The resounding winner-takes-all is marinated spatchcock ($31): succulent, sweet, lemony, a little spicy too, slightly smoky from the grill and eloquently accompanied by roasted cherry tomatoes, asparagus and salsa verde. It's beaut chook and a rare occasion of demonstrating the kitchen's capabilities.

I'm reassured by some desserts, too. The tian ($15) will bring evocative joy to anyone who has loved a Splice over summer. Layers of vanilla ice-cream, pineapple sorbet and coconut mousse sit on a biscuit base, drizzled with lime syrup. It's creamy yet refreshing and playful, just like a good restaurant. Steel isn't there yet.

sthomsen@smh.com.au