Meat (sorry) the new wave of high-end city steak houses coming our way
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Are eye fillets the new black in Canberra?
From burger joints to pizza places, Mexican to Korean, street food to matcha, we seem to do food in waves in this city – what starts out with one place ends up with a crowd.
Well strap in, carnivores; it feels like we are heading into our peak steak era. Also #proteingoals…
Hunter and Barrel
The new Hunter and Barrel in Civic, opening next month. Image: hunterandbarrel.com
Next month Hunter and Barrel opens its doors in the former Carlotta space in the Canberra Centre.
With outlets across Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth, the parent company Seagrass is hoping for a warm reception in Canberra with CEO Ravi Singh saying, “We are known for our rustic character, flame-grilled steaks, barrel-aged spirits and relaxed hospitality, and we look forward to welcoming guests to the venue.”
From the meat menu there are Portoro Grain Fed 200 gram Eye Fillets (MB2+) and Rumps (MB2+) to 300 gram New Yorkers (MB2+) and 350 gram Rib Eyes (MB2+) to 700 gram Black Diamond T-Bones, and 300 gram Wagyu Rumps and Rib Eyes (MB6 or 4+), all levelled up with an optional Bone Marrow Topper and cooked over a coal fire.
The non-meat menu is extensive with plenty of options for seafood and vegetable lovers, and dishes kids would love (tacos, burgers and some chargrilled skewers). We look forward to bringing you more news as the doors open.
20 Scotts Crossing, Canberra Centre | hunterandbarrel.com
7 Cutz Steakhouse
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Just nearby will be some competition from 7 Cutz Steakhouse, which is also opening soon. Taking out the former Botswana Butchery site, this restaurant has South African flavours and outlets in Newcastle and Wollongong (and was previously known as Meat and Grain Steakhouse).
All meats are grilled on an open flame – from 250 gram Darling Downs Southern Prime Sirloin, 350 gram Rangers Valley Grain Fed Rump (MB3+), 500 gram Great Southern Prime Beef T-Bone (150 day Grain Fed), 1.3 kilograms of Southern Ranges Tomahawk MB4 and variations of Tajima Wagyu. All protein is served with chips and house salad.
7 Cutz has seafood options but would leave the vegos a tad hungry apart from a selection of salads or sides.
148 Bunda Street | 7cutzsteakhouse.com.au
Vice
Another recent addition to the meat scene is Vice Steak Restaurant from the crowd that brought us Molly, Highball and Amici (all of which reside nearby in the Melbourne Building).
Vice opened late last year and works on a simple menu model – one main, of Rib Eye, seared on the bone and priced by weight. They do have a Plan B of a Prime Rib Beef Burger, but if you aren’t into temptations of the flesh then you better order up big on sides.
It sounds like a strange way to run a restaurant, but it’s done well and the dark and moody confines add to the fun. Non-meat eaters may do well to order two serves of the Vanilla Bean Flan with sea salt and an Irish Whiskey spritz for dessert which is a true joy. Vegans, however, are clearly not welcome here.
Odgers Lane Civic | vice.restaurant
Meat and Wine Co
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Meat and Wine Co was among the first high-end steakhouses in the city, opening in 2021 and still drawing a steady crowd of business lunch and fancy dinner clientele to its Constitution Avenue Boma-inspired dining room.
A franchise operating across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, it does a respectable trade in Monte Grain Fed Rump, Rib Eye, and New Yorker, Wagyu and a selection of Butter Aged Grass Fed Southern Range Rib Eye (MB4+) flavoured in artisan beef dripping butter.
There are a selection of ribs, burgers and burgers and a truly extensive range of sauces (Bilton Butter, Veal Jus, Creamy Mushroom, Blue Cheese, Peppercorn, Creamy Garlic, Hot African Chilli and Barbecue Relish). There’s fish, there’s chicken and there’s a lot of veg to suit all tastes.
220 London Circuit | | themeatandwineco.com
Marble and Grain
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We first reviewed Marble and Grain in 2015 so of all the inner-city fine-diner steak houses, this one has a long track record and is still going strong.
Offering a full non-meaty a la carte menu to cater for all and keep the hotel clientele happy, Marble and Grain has a separate meat menu, all of which is served with watercress, lemon, red wine jus and a table-side mustard service.
Choose from Premium 120-day 300 gram Grain-fed Victorian Hangar, Beef Tenderloin, 130-day Grain-fed 300 gram NSW Black Angus, and a selection of 60-day dry aged cuts as well as Wagyu including a Queensland 200-day Grain-fed Rump with a grading of MBS89+.
This place also sets the bar for sauces – King Prawn Garlic Sauce, Mushroom Porcini Cream, Black Truffle Butter and Green Peppercorn and Brandy.
25 Mort Street in the Avenue Hotel | marbleandgrain.com.au
Charcoal Restaurant
No article on steak in Canberra can omit the very original Charcoal Restaurant which has been satiating carnivores in the city since 1962. Its décor and menu have largely unchanged in this time; here is a restaurant steeped in history where many a politician and bureaucrat has enjoyed a long lunch and helped create the Canberra of 2026. If only the walls could talk.
Sadly, we hear it’s been tough for owner Anna Gray who says business is being disrupted by construction of the Light Rail and her lease is now a month-by-month proposition. It would be an absolute wrench to see this place close down.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit the simplicity of a platter of oysters and followed by one of their timeless steaks (served with chips and steamed vegetables at lunch and a baked potato with sour cream as well as steamed vegetables at dinner).
Choose from Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, Carpet Bag (eye fillet served with a pocket of oysters), Steak Pepper or Diane, Tornedoes Rossini or Bearnaise, or a selection of in-house cuts cooked over charcoal. There are pasta options, fish, veal and chicken and every dish is an exercise in experience and nostalgia.
While there will soon be many new places to order a steak, we owe a debt of gratitude to the original.
61 London Circuit | charcoalrestaurant.com.au
