A friend passing through town asked me to pick a restaurant for dinner for our annual catch-up/philosophical debate/chin wag. He’s pretty careful about his carb intake, so I thought this was the perfect time to try one of the several new steakhouses in town.
I am not much of a meat eater (in fact I’ve gone meat free many times in my life) but do appreciate a good steak every now and then.
I called Bedrock and was told that Saturday dinner was in 2 sittings. From 6.30-8.30 or 8.30 onwards. So – eat early and skedaddle somewhere else or eat late and linger. Neither was attractive.
I called Cut at MBS and fully expected ‘we are full’ but lo and behold, they had room. Mindful of friend’s wallet (he always buys dinner), I asked what the average $ per head was. ”Starting at $300 per person for 3 courses”. Wow. That had to be pretty fine steak.
The menu is relatively simple – starters, then a choice of different cuts of different grades of meat (from USDA Prime to 100% Japanese Wagyu), with your choice of sauces and sides (from mac and cheese to caramelised onions to broccoli). There are other dishes (chicken, pork) on the menu should you not eat beef. (menu here)
Mr Puck and the various cuts on offer
Given that the beef is priced to be AMAZING (the cheapest cut starts at $70), we opted to avoid the starters and keep our appetites primed (pardon the pun) for the main event.
I opted for the cheapest New York sirloin (the USDA Prime aged 21 days) and my friend the Australian Angus, aged 35 days). We had creamed spinach and broccoli, and I had the shallot-red wine bordelais sauce.
OMG.
It was amazing. The seasoning was beautiful (13 herbs and spices) and the smoke-grill was evident in the multi-layered flavours.
The meat was firm but sliced easily (like butter). Each mouthful was flavourful, with just enough chew before it melted in your mouth.
The sauce was delightful, and the sides excellent – beautiful creamed spinach, and perfectly cooked and seasoned broccoli.
This is NOT your average steak experience, but a connoisseur’s delight.
Without a doubt, the best steak I have ever had. My friend said it was on his top 3 list (he’s eaten more steaks than I have!)
We were so satisfied we didn’t even want dessert to spoil it.
But of course, being a high end restaurant, you’re spoiled with amuse bouches and petit fours. The amuse bouche was a fabulous choux concoction with a gruyere kick. The petit fours were little macaroons and cookies – just enough of a sweet ending.
I had been fearful before dinner that the hefty price tag was because of the celebrity chef and not because of the quality of the food. Happily, I was wrong.
The service was good (maybe a little forced, but I appreciated the effort), the decor upmarket-modern-American-casual-chic, with pictures of Hollywood stars gracing the walls (there is a Cut in Beverly Hills, and it’s a celeb favourite).
My gripe is that it’s awfully dark – I get the ‘romantic’ atmos attempt but seriously, I’d like to have been able to see more. Turn up the lights a little.
What was amazing to me was the number of families and children having dinner. Given that our bill for 2 steaks, some beers and bottled water was $400, how can people afford to bring their entire families for a casual dinner? And would you want your 10 year old eating $100 steak? It blew my mind, especially when I asked our charming waiter about it. He said they were mostly local families, just having dinner, no special occasion.
Remarkable. There’s obviously a lot of money wafting around, and Mr Puck must be sitting in his counting house yelling “KA-CHING!”
I want to go back again, to try the $250 wagyu steak (beautifully marbled). I asked the waiter if that steak sang and danced in your mouth. He said “no singing or dancing, but like heaven”.
Good enough for me. Better start putting the pennies in the piggy bank so I can get back there.
