Chef Pip Pratt is used to focusing on a single cut of steak. At Circular Quay’s Bistecca he started with T-bone as the menu hero, while The Gidley on King Street has its gaze fixed firmly on rib-eye. On Monday, October 16, the restaurants were joined by a new stablemate, Alfie’s, which champions the humble sirloin.

Not so humble, Pratt says. “It’s not like we’re working with toenails,” he says. “It’s still a premium cut, just one of the more affordable premium cuts.”

Referred to as sirloin, strip-loin or strip steak, depending on who you ask and where you are in the world, the cut has some unique selling points. Pratt loves the flavour the fat gives the sirloin, and not having to contend with a bone, as he does with the T-bone at Bistecca, Alfie’s can get a steak on the table within 15 minutes of ordering.

And that’s part of the Alfie’s raison d’etre. Co-owner James Bradey says the latest steakhouse from the Liquid & Larder hospitality group is unashamedly setting out to “disrupt” Sydney’s plethora of American steakhouses and grand brasseries.

Stopping short of saying it will undercut the cut-throat Sydney steak market, Alfie’s is a restaurant for its time and economic environment, offering a premium pitch that’s still affordable.

Alfie’s will serve up a $38 220-gram Riverine sirloin. It’s a relatively modest pricetag, given the restaurant’s location in the middle of Sydney’s “steakville”, just around the corner from the upmarket Rockpool Bar & Grill and across the road from Chophouse.

The owners and design studio Tom Mark Henry set out to create a 120-seater that’s fun. That includes a design brief that melds “urban artistry with a working-class aesthetic, and celebrates the brutalist and utilitarian”. Lost? Us too, but expect plenty of fibreboard, stone, and fancy pebblecrete lining the bar. And throw in bold artwork from Melbourne artist Steven John Clark.

The dining room has windows that peek at the process and mechanics of this meat hub. One frames a butcher, preparing meat. Another shows a rotisserie, which will be loaded up daily with “beefeta”, Alfie’s take on porchetta. It’ll spin for five hours, ready for diner service.

Alfie’s also has Liquid & Larder’s first central butchery and steak ageing room, where meat will be prepared before being sent off to Bistecca or The Gidley. “We’ve got a refrigerated van, we’ll be able to move it around the city,” Bradey says.

Alfie’s is deliberately antithetic to Sydney’s American-style steakhouses and European brasseries. Its London East End vibe is backed up by a menu of sides that touch on Pratt’s childhood. There’s bubble and squeak, and chips with curry sauce. “Every child growing up in the UK had frozen potato waffles,” he says. The Alfie’s version is made with buckwheat flour and topped with roe.

Alfie’s executive chef Pratt and head chef Matt Thomson had some fun with the menu planning. Alfie’s collaborated with Ciccone & Sons to create a gelato on a stick made of burnt honey gelato, beef fat and rosemary. “You can take it with you,” Pratt says. “We joke it’s the f--- off dessert. It’s like when you go to a Chinese restaurant and they bring a piece of fruit.”

Open lunch and dinner Mon-Sat.

Bligh House, 4-6 Bligh Street, Sydney, alfiessydney.com.au

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to the head chef as Mark Thomson. It’s been updated to say Matt Thomson.