Sydney pub slammed over ‘insane’ price of steak special

Sydneysiders have called a suburban pub's steak special 'ridiculous', with the price tag higher than some of the city's most prestigious restaurants.

A suburban Sydney pub has come under fire after a diner vented online about the price of a ‘chef special’ steak that they believed was “taking the p*ss”.

The customer took to the @r/foodies Reddit forum to share a photo of the menu at The Peakhurst, a premium pub in the St George Area, 25km southwest of the CBD.

The pub’s prime cut special was a 350g piece of Scotch Fillet with a Marble Score of 4+, which indicates a high-quality grade of beef.

It’s served with buttery mashed potato, roasted root vegetables and Cafe de Paris butter, and was priced at $90.

A Sydney pub has been slammed for its 'insane' price of a steak special. Picture: Reddit

$90 for a pub steak

“At my local, 90 bucks for a steak, not even a ‘recommended for two’ type thing,” the poster wrote to the forum.

“I don’t mind paying a bit of coin at a hatted restaurant where you’re getting the service and the ambience, but this is beyond taking the p*ss. I went with the gnocchi off the regular menu ($28).”

They thought the pricing was particularly “insane” considering the pub requires you to fetch your own cutlery.

The Peakhurst in Sydney’s St George area had a $90 steak on the menu, despite asking customers to fetch their own cutlery. Picture: The Peakhurst

‘Ridiculous’

Many commenters agreed, saying this was well above what they’d expect to pay for a pub chef’s special.

“Pubs are getting pretty out there with prices, especially when you consider most of it is just meat/veg/veg,” one of the top comments read.

“Nothing that isn’t shared should be $90,” another remarked.

“The pub special vs. a la carte is becoming stupid,” a third quipped.

“This is honestly ridiculous,” someone else commented, as others agreed it was a “rip off”.

However, others noted that “It wouldn’t be on the menu if it wasn’t selling”.

Another steak at the suburban pub. Picture: The Peakhurst

Pub responds to post

A spokesman for The Peakhurst told news.com.au that the venue seeks out high-quality suppliers for its monthly chef special steak.

“The producer of this cut of beef, Little Joe’s, is a small farm, the animals are extremely well cared for, they have an extremely high marble score, and have won numerous awards for being some of the best beef in the world,” they said.

“And while people might be surprised to see a $90 steak in a pub, all pricing is done based on a Gross Profit (GP) Margin foruma.

“It’s the cost of goods involved in producing that item. From that, you have GST to pay for, service staff to pay for, utilities, chefs, all your overheads – that all comes out from your GP, and that leaves you with your net profit. And everything is getting more and more expensive.

“We can’t give away a product at less than the margins we need to keep our business open.”

The spokesman acknowledged that while people come to pubs looking for value, there are four other cheaper steaks on the menu.

“If customers don’t want a prime cut of beef, they can make a decision based on their own affordability,” they said.

Another one of the steaks on the regular menu at The Peakhurst. Picture: The Peakhurst

So, is this pricing really so out of order?

A $90 steak special at a Peakhurst pub is objectively on the pricier side, considering it’s generally considered a suburban, working-class suburb.

It’s also an outlier for any Sydney restaurant or pub, even in an affluent or gentrifying area.

At Bistecca in Sydney’s CBD, often hailed as the best steak restaurant in Sydney, steak costs $21 per 100 grams, meaning a 350g piece would be $73.50, well below The Peakhurst’s $90.

The Peakhurst’s other four steaks, which range from 200-300g, average around $45.5, comparable to the prices at the most up-market pubs in Paddington, one of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs, where the median house price is $3.5 million.

Beef prices have surged recently. Picture: The Australian Meat Emporium

At The Village Inn Paddington, a 250g steak is $42; at The Paddington, 250g is $45; and at the Paddo Inn, a 250g steak is $38.

It’s worth noting that beef pricing is surging in Australia at the moment, partly because of Donald Trump’s crackdown on imports, with limited stock seeing prices soar.

Costs have also gone through the roof for hospitality businesses recently.

Nearly one in ten food service businesses closed in the past year amid rising rents, labour shortages, cost of labour and economic pressures, according to a recent report from CreditorWatch.