Celebrating Sydney’s best steaks

Look away now, vegans – we’re celebrating the steak. From high-end restaurants to carnivorous clubhouses, here are five of Sydney’s best steaks.

From high-end restaurants to carnivorous clubhouses, it’s time to celebrate the steak.

From high-end restaurants to carnivorous clubhouses, it’s time to celebrate the steak.

Margaret

Double Bay

Margaret.

Named for his late mother, Neil Perry’s Margaret doesn’t just feel personal, it tastes personal, with Perry’s produce-first philosophy evident on every plate. And though the chef is just as celebrated for fish and vegetable skills, it’s his commitment to beef that saw Margaret named the third-best steak restaurant in the world last year. Expect Perry’s favourite cuts, from his favourite producers, cooked over wood fire and paired with his favourite sauces and sides. Friesian eye fillet with red Thai curry butter or Blackmore’s wagyu sirloin with chimichurri? Just don’t skip the layered-then-fried potatoes.

30-36 Bay St, Double Bay

themargaretfamily.com/venue/margaret

20 Chapel

Marrickville

20 Chapel.

As a collaboration with Stix Farm, a celebrated organic vegetable producer on the Hawkesbury River, it’s no wonder this punchy little eatery in the backstreets of Marrickville does such a good job of showcasing the best in-season vegetables and fruits. It’s 20 Chapel’s arsenal of Blackmore’s beef that’s got us most excited, though. They age a selection of MB9+ marble scored wagyu cuts for 28 days, before grilling over fire and serving them up with jalapeno hot sauce, Korean barbecue sauce and a selection of those incredible vegetables.

20 Chapel St, Marrickville

20chapel.com.au

S’more

Castlecrag

S'more. Picture: Steven Woodburn

Despite pitching itself as a “humble neighbourhood bistro”, this little spot in Castlecrag is all about extravagance. Chefs “Big” Sam Young and Grace “Super Banana” Chen have created a shrine to indulgence, offering everything from caviar bumps to lobster and truffle-topped pasta. And this propensity for decadence doesn’t stop at the steaks. The centrepiece of S’more’s beef is a 900g full-blood wagyu rib eye with a marble grading of MB9+. This piece of meat is handled so deftly by Young, it made him (and his hibachi grill, which you can buy as a souvenir) an Instagram celebrity during Covid lockdowns.

79 Edinburgh Rd, Castlecrag

smoresydney.com.au

Porteno

Surry Hills

Porteno.

The heart and soul of Argentinian cooking are beef and the parrilla grill, its adjustable grate able to be raised and lowered over a fire as needed. You’ll find both in the kitchen of this sharp Argentina-inspired steakhouse, meat pulled from the in-house dry ageing cabinets and tamed by the grill until medium rare. Tallow-fried beef empanadas, charcoal-grilled blood sausage and wood-fired bone marrow make this a proper meat fest, as do those incredible triple-cooked beef fat potatoes with hot honey and garlic.

50 Holt St, Surry Hill

porteno.com.au/porteno

Bistecca

CBD

Bistecca.

Like the trattorias of Tuscany, this subterranean dining room from steak specialists Liquid & Larder specialises in one thing: bistecca alla Fiorentina. After you’ve surrendered your phone and dunked your bread into the “wax” pooling around your table’s candle (beef tallow, it turns out), you’ll be asked to choose, not the cut – it’s all T-bone – but the thickness of your steak. When it returns to the table, the ironbark and charcoal have weaved their magic. The steak is richly charred outside but perfectly pink inside, dressed only in salt, pepper and olive oil and accompanied by a slice of lemon.

liquidandlarder.com.au/venues/bistecca

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Originally published as Celebrating Sydney’s best steaks