“Packed to the rafters”: TV chef draws big crowds with flashy new restaurant
Diners are rushing into this glamorous new Brisbane steakhouse from one of our city’s most recognised chefs.
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If too much beef is never enough, then head immediately to Fortitude Valley newcomer Establishment 203. From complimentary snacks of puffed beef tendons (a bit like pork crackling) to begin and rich, salted beef fat caramels at the end, there’s a plethora of meaty options in between, with even the bread served with a tallow (beef fat) candle infused with herbs and spices that melts to become a dipping sauce.
This temple devoted to the worship of beef is on a site once populated by nightclubs on Marshall Street, a rising foodie hotspot, with the neighbours including Short Grain, Etna and Brooki Bakehouse.
The expensively fitted-out restaurant – with the theatre of an open kitchen at one end, plush booths and comfy banquettes, a fluted marble bar, a beautiful tiled entry floor, all in a smoky pink-dominant palette – is an enterprise by Queensland beef producers Stanbroke. It’s helmed by chef Ben O’Donoghue, who most recently ran Billykart in West End but whose CV includes hosting TV shows and working with Jamie Oliver, who he met when they were both at London’s River Cafe.
While the centrepiece is, as you might expect, steak, there’s also an Italian theme, reflecting the owners’ heritage, with house-made pasta a specialty and mains including cotoletta, quail saltimbocca and tagliata di manzo (seared and sliced wagyu with rocket and parmesan).
Pastas include tonnarelli with wagyu sirloin bolognese, spaghetti vongole, or our choice of cappellacci filled with roasted pumpkin and buffalo ricotta ($28), which we share as a starter.
Those six delicate little parcels are lovely and slightly sweet, while our other entree of Mooloolaba king prawns ($28), turns out to be two crustaceans dished up with a pleasing mix of zucchini, lemon and chilli butter.
Other starters include on-theme choices such as beef tartare, bone marrow, seared wagyu and foie gras on crostini as well as oysters, caviar or raw tuna and kingfish. Similarly, main courses run to lobster and market fish and Glacier 51 toothfish. But at the heart of the enterprise is the 11-steak line-up comprising cuts of Angus with a marble score of 3, wagyu with a marble score of 6, pure wagyu listed as having a marble score of 10 and a grass-fed eye fillet. All are cooked over charcoal and wood sourced from the company’s cattle properties.
A dry-aged 1.1kg Angus tomahawk tops out the price list at $260, but we opt for a 150g version of the wagyu marble score 6 flatiron ($30) and a 300g wagyu rump cap ($70) and both arrive not quite as hot as you’d hope for. However the meat is outstanding, flavoursome and oh so tender. We choose a dab each of horseradish and mustard from those proffered but the meat is so good it seems a shame to contaminate it with anything. Sauces are $8.
Shoestring fries ($12) are very good, although again, are less than perfectly hot, and the butter lettuce salad ($14) is fresh and simply dressed.
Service throughout the night ranges from superb to novice but as the place only opened the week we visit you’d assume that the newcomers will improve.
The lengthy cocktail menu and craft beer line-up are backed by a red-heavy, global wine list with an Italian bent, with a 25-strong, by-the-glass selection offering a range of affordable options, as well as Coravin extras for those seeking a top-shelf tipple.
Desserts run to caprese torte and grappa pannacotta but tiramisu ($16) served tableside is hard to beat, with a waiter hewing a chunk of a delicious, very creamy version covered in grated chocolate from a slab in a copper pan. Pistachio soft serve with a brioche bun ($16) also makes a terrific DIY ice-cream sandwich.
It’s a fun finish to an enjoyable dinner, with any glitches at this very early stage able to be put down to the place being new and already packed to the rafters.
ESTABLISHMENT 203
6 Marshall St, Fortitude Valley
3186 1133
Must try
Steak
The verdict - Scores out of 5
Food 4
Ambience 5
Service 4
Value 3.5
Overall 4
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