I have a dilemma.

It's my fiancee's birthday tomorrow. She wants to go out for a phat steak. For our steaking, we usually go to Brekky Creek, which we love, however this year I figured we'd try something a bit more upper class (it is her birthday after all) and booked in at the Cha Cha Char Bar/Grill at Eagle Street Pier.

I told her we were going there last night, and showed her the menu, to which she said was way too expensive (I swear to god she's of f***ing jewish heritage). She's a very "value for money" kind of person, and she just doesn't think that paying ~$50 dollars for something we could get for $25 at Brekky Creek is reasonable - fair call I guess.

The problem is now Brekky Creek are all booked out for tomorrow night, yet she still wants to go for a steak (!).

I guess we don't wanna spend more than say, $35 per meal, and we want really good steaks. I've heard The Norman is good, however I'm assuming they'd probably be all booked up as well. Is there any hope of going somewhere else for a nice steak, or are we screwed?

I know there's already a "tell me a good restaurant" thread, however I think this deserves it's own thread, given that the circumstances are different.

Ta!

Morrison Hotel @ Woolongabba.

Best steak & pizza I've had.

20-30 for mains.

Go to Joe Joes in the City awsome steak and its not expesive. also you will have to book if you are going tomorrow night.

yer, norman, morrison, willow at moorooka
all good

Norman at the gabba? Pretty similar to breaky creek i think?

owned by the same people

the norman is axtually a better joint than brekky creak though coz its southside

Another vote for the Norman. It is nicely priced as well. No more than $25ish for steak, chips and salad - unless you want a steak the size of your face then it is $30

You really can't go past Embers on Park Rd for top quality steak, it's expensive and will probably be $40-50/head if you keep the number of drinks down but it's the best steak around.

Otherwise it's the Norman if you don't mind going to a pub.

Hey TicMan

to which she said was way too expensive

nd she just doesn't think that paying ~$50 dollars for something we could get for $25 at Brekky Creek is reasonable

I guess we don't wanna spend more than say, $35 per meal,

Sorry but Morrison is better than the Norman.

I know, I've been to both.

last edited by mission at 20:02:29 10/Nov/06

could get for $25 at Brekky Creek is reasonable - fair call I guess

mm.. fk i cant wait to come home with a wallet full of £ and pay $25 for a steak. ill eat out for a year.

Just insist that you go to char char char.

No the circumstances are pretty much the same.
You're useless and didn't plan anything until the last minute!

I've heard good things about Blue Smoke
http://www.brisbanenews.com.au/restaurant/restaurant_bluesmokebbq.htm"

hogs breath ftw

When I worked at bretts wharf they beat cha cha for best steak in QLD :P The price would be about $35, maybe 40 at the most for a steak. Consider it, its an ok restaurant...

edit: I gotta say, steak is the lowest of the low in restaurants. Its like the my pallet sucks dish IMO. Should go to a restaurant and actually try good food :P No way after a fiddy main at a place like II would you say it was a waste.


last edited by qmass at 21:17:14 10/Nov/06

norman

Hey Kat

stfu

I was merely pointing out the best restraunt for Steak that I know of and then followed it up by recommending the Norman for the price.

Awww, don't be mean. i will cry

I'm with qmass
I LOVE having steak at a bbq but I never order it at restaurants.
I goto restaurants cos I need a chef to do things I can't do.
Anyone can cook a good steak yo

after being over here from only 3 months I am already craving a decent steak!

I can't wait until I get back in Jan for a decent scotch fillet!!

also I am a simple man and have simple tastes, if I want a steak at a resturant I will have a steak!

dont get me wrong, steak is wicked, i just dont like paying someone else to do something i could do myself :)

Lone Star is pretty good an cheap :)

Sizzler!

owned by the same people
the norman is axtually a better joint than brekky creak though coz its southside

Nope..
Not anymore
Norman is now owned by Lasseters (the mob I used to work for) same as both Dooleys (Valley & Meadowbrook) and soon also the Indooropilly Tavern.

True story

last edited by HERMITech at 00:36:19 11/Nov/06

Lasseters? Isn't that the group off Neighbours which is run by evil Paul Robinson?

hahah Le Cock I was thinking hte same thing

However don't they do online gambling as well? (the real one)

Lasseters? Isn't that the group off Neighbours which is run by evil Paul Robinson?

Never hear that one before.....
Casino has been around out in Alice Springs longer than the crap show has been (hey, neighbours is a hasbeen!!!)

However don't they do online gambling as well? (the real one)

Yes they do an since Oct 13th they don't allow US punters cause they (Bushes puppet Masters) made it illegal (in a bill draughted for Anti Terrorism called the "Safe Port Act" or therabouts) for any "mechanism" that would allow an online wager to be made.

Hence, myself an some 20+ people were made redundant cause 70% of our punters came from the US. I've worked there for the last 7 years (not same job, I've changed job titles and what I actually did 4 times). It was the awesomely cool an talented people I got to work with that kept me there actually.

I must say though, to the company's credit (and my profound amazement), even those whom normally would not be eligible to receive a redundancy package, were granted one albeit however small it was.

Now they're trying their hand in Euro and local pubs

i wouldn't give my money to paul robinson.

go to lou's pub, they do awesome steaks.

nah seriously day before melbourne cup i have to admit(although we had a bit of a run in with a wanka of a waiter) i had a pretty bloody solid eye fillet from the regatta boatshed.. although i probably would've gone the larger one had i gone again, i was a bit crook so only got the small, but it was perfectly cooked and up until we had to pay the paying dude all the customer service was awesome, unfortunately one guy f***ed it up and kinda ruined out night.. if you go there.. tell hamish i said he's a f***head... i'll never forget his name now. :|

I was gonna go for the tube steak joke but I cant think of any

Suprised no one has recommended The Glenn, off Logan Road in Eight Mile Plains.

Very very awesome steaks and only around $20-$30 depending on what your order.

if you don't mind a bit of a drive... kilcoy pub! steaks at kilcoy are cheap & enormous... probably because they are pretty close to the abatoir :D

if the drive is too long i 2nd the hogs breath cafe call.

Your kitchen or a bbq. It's only steak after all.

Don't be a fag, cook your fiancee a dinner worth remembering.

hogs breath is too franchisy for my liking.

there is a seafood buffet called weis at toowoomba, f*** it f***ing cains

i think it was 45 bux per head last time i was there... but omg, i will never forget it...

it was spectacular

NORMAN HOTEL!

History :: Cavil family made the breaky creek famous for steaks, greedy brewing company refuses to renew lease, so Cavil family forced to go to another pub. They buy Norman and do it up, also taking all the chefs and cooking staff with them.

Norman = Old Breaky Creek (the best)

Also, Cavil family own cattle stations and grow their own steaks... :)

Think the Cavils's also run The Glen.

Breaky Creek sux dog's balls now, hairy ones at that!

I second the Morrison. Go there heaps...both cheaper and far superior to the Brekky Creek. Went to the Creek on Friday and was appalled by how s*** the meal was.

So... where'd you go?

Morrison Hotel @ Woolongabba.

yeah that's probably the best I've had

I love their pepper sauce

also lone star is great too for cheaper, their chips rock

last edited by WetWired at 14:16:03 13/Nov/06

Yes they do an since Oct 13th they don't allow US punters cause they (Bushes puppet Masters) made it illegal (in a bill draughted for Anti Terrorism called the "Safe Port Act" or therabouts) for any "mechanism" that would allow an online wager to be made.

While I feel sorry for your plight, I have to laugh at the f***ing sheer retardedness of the current American political system

don't go to hogs breath the steak is real tender but doesn't taste that good

go the norman, but it's s*** cause it's on the southside

breaky creek is (y)

hi spook

Mave I think Ive met that Hamish guy, my boyfriend used to work with him at the Regatta. Funnily enough he is now working at Cha Cha Char.
Still waiting to find out what the foods like though...

you're kidding yourself if you think you can buy steak as good as what you'd buy at a restaurant like the norman, and unless you're a chef i put a pretty safe bet on that you can't cook it as good as some of those places.

if you know the right places, you can buy equal or better quality steak than any restaurant in queensland.. then it just comes down to how good your able to cook it / equipment you have.

We buy our meat in bulk straight from a small farm (half a cow at a time) and even though we dont have the top of the range bbq, i've yet to taste a better steak eating out than the one my dad does on the barbie.

there is a seafood buffet called weis at toowoomba, f*** it f***ing cains

Sorry to tell u this ace, but that place closed down a while back. It was owned by the same family that does the Weis Bar icecreams.

Has anyone been to Crushers League's Club for the seafood buffet? Looks pretty good on tv, but i imagine it's probably pretty ass?

i had a pretty bloody solid eye fillet from the regatta boatshed..

I worked there when it first opened and the food and running of the place was s***HOUSE. That being said, it's been going a few years now so I guess they've improved, but I still haven't been back. The thing is there, they cook the steaks on this conveyer belt that goes through an oven. So it's not actually BBQ'd in the traditional sense. The idea behind it was that every steak would be perfectly cooked - well it doesnt work that way at all - the steaks were f***ed half the time depending on the temperature of the day and how windy it was etc... The chefs there are all c***s too.

Never ever go there with a large group of people either. I went there with like 20 mates once. Took like 1.5hours to get our steaks, and they came out one by one. It was like half an hour+ for all the meals to come out so everyone was eating at different times. Many came out cold too.

Oh yeah they don't wash the water glasses there either the grubby pricks. The managers would actually bust u for washing them. They're foul.

My money is still @ the norman.


p.s anyone named hamish is 99.9% likely to be a wanker - goes without saying mav : )

Norman (Buranda)
Lord Stanley (The gabba)
Full moon (Shorncliffe)

man its so easy to make steak as good as restaurants, people living at home are f***ing worthless, there is no arcane art to cooking... most of the people in the industry are total morons. If they can learn, you can learn.

Restaurant steak may or may not be aged, ask a good butcher, not your woolworths one. You need to go to the farmers market at new farm park or you need to find a good butcher, that operates separately of a chain. Aging is like hanging the s*** in the air for a long time. I dont know anything about this, however... I know that cha cha ages some or all of theirs though.

Restaurant steak is grilled, big difference number 1. Flame touches the meat which imparts smokeyness and some other big differences. - just use a BBQ. - the way a restaurant grill works is by applying super f***ing high heat, im talking burns your hands to even hold tongs over the f***ing thing and if the steak doneness requires cooking longer than the time to burn the f*** out of the outside they finish it in an oven. Do the same.

Drop your f***ing doneness by one level if you are working at home, im certain that every single douche bag over-cooks their meat. If it is on or in something that is applying heat and the steak has no pinkness left inside, you are boned. You are overcooked.

Residual heat will mean that by the time you eat your steak, which requires resting... ie. even longer succumbing to residual heat you will reach medium easily. You gotta pull that sucker off at rare for medium rare and then cover wtih alfoil away from the grill or oven.

Sealing... is horses***. There is no such thing as 'sealing' meat. I have even seen a f***ing educational video that tries to break the falicy at college :P What is called sealing is putting that really nice crust on your steak, it doesnt stop juices from leaving your steak, though too low heat will cause your meat to stew and that removes all the moisture from your meat and is what caueses it to go powdery. To seal properly you wanna get your meat seasoned and oiled before it even hits the heat and you want it to hit mach 10 turbo heat, hot as you can get a pan on your stove if you arent BBQing and if its on a pan only oil the meat, not pools of oil in the pan.

That can be information post one. I cant be f***ed re-reading, I gotta go make dinner :P

oh hey I realised some basic stuff I left out.

To get your pan hot enough for steak at home the best idea is to turn your oven up as hot as it goes and out your pan in there till its hot as it can get. Soon as most oil hits this heat its gonna start to break down and burn so you wanna get yourself a NICE (ie not canola, grapeseed has no flavor and has a high smoke point) - I believe canola smells and tastes like fish when it hits its smoke point and olive oil probably doesnt exist after cooking steak at this temp because it smokes very very low, its not meant for this sort of work.

and while im talking about hot-s***.

When water contacts hot oil (eg when a raw steak hits a pan at the temp of the sun) it is possible to flare up. This is caused by the dissociation of water into its constituents, air and hydrogen which are super flammable. Its not really an issue here unless you are dropping marinated steak into a pan with hot oil in it becuase generally you need alot of oil to get enough surface area of heat onto the water to break its bonds.

So the point there is that you never put water into your meal if its on fire. Just leave it on your stove, make sure your extracter is on and enjoy the show. - not much more fun can be had on a stove than getting a bit of fire happening. Chefs love it :)

last edited by qmass at 19:47:20 13/Nov/06

I think u missed saying which type of oil to actually use. Thanks for the post tho.


You can get good steaks at the Jindalee butcher. He's in the shopping thing behind the swimming pool. His sausages are good too.

Apart from that, u get awesome rib fillets from the melbourne meat markets for like $5. Thinking about getting a mate to ship some up they're so good and cheap. You'd pay $40 for one in a restaurant.

Dunno where u can get cheap quality meat in brissie tho...but yeah jindalee butcher is well known to be quality

Boat Shed does oarsome steaks.. been there quite a bit, always been impressed.

Has anyone been to Crushers League's Club for the seafood buffet?

we had a crikcet breakup at crushers, took the missus along and she hasnt stopped hassling me to go back

loved it

If there's anyone on the Southside the butcher at Annerely, next door to the s***ty old Food for Less, stocks some quality meat and sausages.

He closes at 12pm Saturday though so you need to plan ahead.

we buy all our steaks from the markets these days (rocklea markets)

aint seen any meat that comes close to the meat the markets butchers sell

my mate works as a cook / apprentice chef at cha cha char, but i still havent gotten off my ass to head in there :o

best way:

hand feed a steer you hate for 3 months. bit of grain and good lucerne. keep him yarded and well-watered.

call up butcher mate to pick im up. wait a week. pay kill fee to abattoir. pay butcher 75c kg dressed weight.

stop at bottleshop for two tallies to drink on the way home to reward yourself for all your efforts whilst you chuckle at all the cash you saved and how much you are going to enjoy your six months + worth of AWESOME steaks, snags, silversides, bbqs whatever.

Or you could budget properly with your mortgage so you can afford to eat out at Embers for good steak.

yeah ticman is right

if thats the same Embers thats on my block, its not expensive.

I'm still confused about QMASS' post. Does he say u should use Grapeseed oil? He just says

Soon as most oil hits this heat its gonna start to break down and burn so you wanna get yourself a NICE (ie not canola, grapeseed has no flavor and has a high smoke point) - I believe canola smells and tastes like fish when it hits its smoke point and olive oil probably doesnt exist after cooking steak at this temp because it smokes very very low, its not meant for this sort of work.

Can anyone decifer that? it looks like he's forgotten to state which oil after saying "NICE..."

I'm serious, i wanna know

peanut oil is good for steaks, extremely high smoking point

i want steak now :\

I dunno wtf oil you can use :P I just use what is kicken at work. I hardly cook at home and have to buy my own stuff. plus I dont know a f***ing thing about cooking I just made all of that up sounds good but.

well i didnt read threw the whole thread but if someone hasnt mentioned it the lone star at aspley is a good steak house

to bad u cant do the peanut on the floor thing ne more tho

i dont think it really matters smart, i dont mind chucking them in the container the only annoying bit is the little bits of shell you cant pick up i normally sweep them under the table anyways :P

so phar where did you end up going farking?