Brisbane’s best steaks as judged by Des Houghton

SENIOR restaurant critic and steak aficionado Des Houghton presents his picks for Brisbane’s 10 best steaks.

• Black Hide a true treasure
• ‘Hidden gems’ in wine list

BEEF lovers can taste some of Australia’s best steaks when the Royal Queensland Steakhouse opens at the Ekka from Wednesday, August 8 – two days before show officially opens.

On offer will be the gold-medal-winning steaks from the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show.

These include Stockyard’s Wagyu Kiwami – crowned Australia’s grand champion – and the JBS Riverina Angus rump, which was named the champion MSA branded beef of the show.

It’s the second year the Wagyu Kiwami, produced at Jondaryan, won the title.

To mark Food Week, Courier-Mail steak aficionado and senior restaurant critic Des Houghton presents his picks for Brisbane’s top 10 steaks:

10. Cha-cha Char Signature wagyu sausages (with spinach and mash). Made in-house. Delicious. Cha-cha Char.

9. Nolan’s grain-fed OP rib on the bone. The Boatshed. Regatta Hotel.

8. Jack’s Creek F1 wagyu rump cap. Marble score 6-7. Moo Moo.

7. AAco Kobe cuisine F1 wagyu striploin. Outstanding. Cha-cha Char.

6. JBS Australia Riverina Angus sirloin. Grain fed.

5. JBS Australia Shorthorn strip loin. Lovely buttery flavour. All the rage in London. Moo Moo Bar and Grill, Blackbird.

4. Nolan’s Private Selection T Bone. Juicy, tender. Breakfast Creek Hotel, Bracken Ridge Tavern and butcher shops

3. Gina Rinehart’s 2GR full-blood wagyu. Fattened on grain for 450 days. Endless flavour. Blackbird restaurant.

2. Stockyard’s Wagyu Kiwami. Intense. Restaurant Nineteen, Gold Coast.

The winner: Black Hide tomahawk

1. Stanbroke’s 1200g Angus tomahawk from the Darling Downs. Deeply satisfying. Knocks wagyu off its perch. Black Hide by Gambaro at Treasury Casino. This is the steak a condemned man would happily eat as his last meal before he went to the gallows. It’s superb. It’s juicy, it’s flavoursome, it’s rich. It is the taste of Queensland. The 1200g Angus tomahawk from the Darling Downs is a better flavour than the Wagyu, which is also fantastic, but this is a triumph of Queensland cattle over genetically modified Japanese breeds.