“On ordering, we specified that we wanted care to be taken. The meat, grain-fed for 120 days, was perfectly rare as ordered,” says dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.

THE MEAT & Wine Co is a carnivore’s delight. This premium steakhouse seats more than 100 inside and 60-plus in the front courtyard.

It was Friday lunch and although we started at 2pm, parts of the restaurant were packed and the place was super noisy. The interior is intriguing – Afro-chic with big, leather, dark-brown seating and loads of bronze and gold accents. 

The Meat & Wine Co offers an exclusive line of Monte Beef and steaks are basted with a 50-year-old secret recipe that adds a surprising touch of sweetness.

The South African influence is predominant throughout the menu and wine list, which features special drops from Stellenbosch and Western Cape. Our Stellenbosch Radford Dale chardonnay was charming and not heavy on the oak ($78).

Having lived in South Africa, I was keen to try the traditional dishes. We shared the air-dried beef biltong, lovely and peppery on the outside ($14/100 grams), an acquired taste for some. The Boerewors mini beef sausages ($16 for three) were dense, but not dry. The accompanying chakalaka relish was spicy, tangy and colourful. The Meat & Wine Co should bottle and sell it.

The Meat & Wine Co prides itself on the quality of its beef, working with hand-selected farms around Australia that operate ethically and dry-ageing to perfection.

I had heard mixed reports about The Meat & Wine Co cooking steaks “just so” – even though meat is their thing – and so on ordering, we specified that we wanted care to be taken. The meat, grain-fed for 120 days, was perfectly rare as ordered.

The 200-gram fillet was super tender ($39) although the 300-gram rib eye ($43) won the taste battle.

The Meat & Wine Co offers seven sauces and the hot African chilli was powerful ($5). We sliced through the meat with ease using serious-looking, heavy-duty steak knives featuring black marbled handles. 

The steaks arrived with disappointing salads. The tomatoes were hard and tasteless (the kitchen should have just left them out), some leaves were wilted and the dressing was mediocre.

We ordered a decadent mash ($8) and loved that the kitchen didn’t hold back on butter. The dish of the day was the traditional samp – coarsely ground maize kernels; a staple starch dish in South Africa. This version featured truffles and porcini, with grated biltong, parmesan and herb crumbs and it was truly amazing ($12). We’d go back just for the samp.

The restaurant shocked us by whipping out a bright purple Dyson vacuum on not one, but two occasions, vacuuming directly around the place even though service was in full swing (a bit tacky). The music was super heavy on the base and at one point we wondered if we were in a nightclub.