Sydney’s best and cheapest pub steaks revealed

While the Reserve Bank is ruminating on the next rate rise, Kitchen Confidential can reveal which Sydney watering holes have steaks as easy on the wallet as the palate.

For the red meat eaters among us, last week’s steep national inflation figures of 5.1 per cent came as no surprise.

Anyone ordering a rump at their local watering hole knows any piece of meat under $25 (served with a healthy serving of attitude of course) is value for money anywhere in Sydney.

While the Reserve Bank board is ruminating on the next rate rise, Kitchen Confidential was out doing our bit to bring down inflation.

So where exactly can you get a cheap piece of protein? Turns out a few places all over Sydney appear to have kept their prices in line with 1992 rather than 2022.

First up on our inflation-busting stop was the Carousel Inn in Rooty Hill which gives you a 200g rump, chips and a salad (with a very nice dressing) and a beer or a glass of wine at lunch all for the very tidy sum of $13.

Rene Peniata dines on a $13 steak meal at Rooty Hill’s Carousel Inn. Picture: Justin Lloyd

It is cheaper than a large quarter pounder meal from McDonalds … but can you actually eat it?

The verdict: we’re happy to report it is as easy on the palate as it is on the wallet — no mutton dressed as rump here. And made all the better for a quaffer of a chardy to wash it down with. So how does a business manage to keep the lights on charging just loose change?

Chef Saroj Adhikari said the profit margin is very slim but it’s bringing plenty of people in from surrounding suburbs.

“We are still making some profit on it but not that much, it’s all about getting people in,” he said. His secret to a good steak? “Salt and pepper and olive oil,” he said.

The Inn’s Monday to Friday lunch special includes steak, chips and a house beer or wine. Picture: Justin Lloyd

And the cheap feeds aren’t just happening out West.

Popular student pub The Royal in Darlington has a very thrifty $11 number with no strings attached.

Further south Merivale’s Tennyson Hotel at Mascot gives you a beer, chips and a steak for $14.50.

In Sydney’s southwest the Cooks Hill Hotel in Cabramatta also has a steak that comes with chips, salad and chips for just $11. In fact, every meal: Chicken, Lamb, Pork, Battered Fish, Spaghetti and Kransky’s are all $11.

Perhaps a good venue for the next RBA board meeting?