As September is just a few days away, I'm suddenly in a rush to the many things that I've put off over the course of winter and just this entire year in general. I've had so much free time as I recently said goodbye to my full-time job, and gone through all the busy events I had lined up. Since then I've been in a horrible slump and its taken me getting so sick that I'm stuck at home to finally rolling out all these food reviews that I've been wanting to share. I'm hoping the next step is that I'll start taking my goals to the next level but we'll see!
Anyway, September is important to me because I love fresh starts - such as the change in season from winter to spring (winter makes me depressy and stressy). And also, it's my boyfriend Patrick's birthday month and if there's anything I enjoy more than my own birthday, it's spoiling the person I love for their birthday!!
Last year I went a bit crazy because I have no idea how I will even begin to top it this year. But if there's one thing we can talk about, it's where we ate.
Chophouse. Home to Sydney's arguably best steak.
I've seen via social media friends and family visit this place on special occasions and leaving with nothing but compliments on how amazing and tender the steak is. And Patrick's favourite food? Steak.
Situated down the quiet Bligh Street in Sydney's CBD, Chophouse looks completely quiet and unassuming from the outside. If not for the small lit up sign I probably wouldn't have guessed the Uber even took us to the right place. We head inside where we hear the instant wave of loud chatter and can see so many people having a good time.
I love that ceiling has these cage shaped structures for decoration,
reminiscent of a rib cage and fitting to the restaurant name; Chophouse.
I let them know that we had a special reservation for two and we were then promptly seated in a nice and cosy booth that had lots of room for the two of us. I highly recommend that you make a reservation because even though we were here on a Wednesday night, it was clear that the after work crowd is in favour of this place and it has the potential to fill up quickly.
We love the feel of the restaurant because it gives off such cosy, casual and down to earth vibes. The service is also extremely friendly and we love the effort that the waitress goes to to answer our questions, give recommendations and make conversation.
We order some drinks to start off with as per recommendation.
Beer
I can't remember what Pat got but it was definitely a Stella Artois or a Pale Ale! Perfectly complimented the food to come, as well as matching the vibes of this place.
Cocktail
Additionally I can't even remember the name of this cocktail I got this time because I let our waitress pick one out for me. She said this was her favourite cocktail as of currently.
I really enjoyed this one! It had sour whisky with warm citrus and rosemary flavours.
Complimentary sourdough with butter
Without even asking, we were given complimentary bread and butter while waiting for our entrees and mains. Such a nice touch! The bread was nice and warm, slightly toasted.
Salt and Pepper Calamari w/ chilli, shallot, lemon $20
I remember in an old post I was wondering why some people order salt and pepper calamari when there are so many other exciting options. But here I find myself with a bowl of said dish in front of me whilst my boyfriend happily munches away on the classic starter. I'll give it that though, the calamari is well cooked with a thin and delicate batter that clings well. It is perfectly flavoured with the salt and pepper. The chilli and shallot are both just garnishes though and barely add any flavour.
The mains are a bit of a longer wait but all completely worth it as we both anticipate and prepare for some the best steaks we will ever have.
Scotch Fillet
Grain Fed (Oakey Reserve Black Angus MB2+, Southern Qld) - 300g
with Cafe de Paris sauce $46
This was Patrick's steak that came out first and we were so in awe of how it looked. It seemed both sides of the steak were cooked to achieve a delicate and caramelised sear while the sides were left alone so we were able to see the beautiful marbling rendering into the juicy steak. Medium rare perfection.
Can confirm. This was such an amazing piece of steak. It cut like a hot knife through butter. The crust was amazing and worked well to accentuate the extremely tender and juicy beef flavours and textures. The accompanying Cafe de Paris sauce provided a buttery and slightly tart side which pairs extremely well and personally, I can't get enough of it!
Chargrilled Minute Steak
Grain Fed (Jack's Creek Black Angus Rump MB5+, New England NSW) - 200g
with Cafe de Paris sauce $29
This chargrilled steak is said to be cooked in a minute over a high heat. Because it is a very flat cut, I found this steak to be really dry and the grill marks added an unpleasant burnt taste rather than a pleasant smokey one. It was also tough to cut and such a disappointment in comparison to the scotch fillet above. This is the cheapest steak on Chophouse's menu yet still an expensive steak overall. The only thing left to say is that the Cafe de Paris sauce really saved this dish for me, but I wouldn't order it again or recommend anyone else to.
It is noted that the steaks don't come with any sides so we decide to order two to share:
Steak-Cut Chips $9
Really good chips, exactly what you want from a thick steak cut chip - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
Steamed Beans $10
I love my greens so this was mostly, if not all for me. These came steaming hot and glistening with butter. However it was a huge let down for me as these were not steamed very well and had the taste and texture of a raw green bean. The butter also did not have any strong garlic or herb taste as we were told it would. This is quite a huge and generous portion but sadly these are left unfinished as I can't get taste the raw stringy texture.
Pat was still hungry, as I knew he would be so we ordered him another steak:
Rump Cap
Wagyu (AACo F1 Wagyu MB5+, Darling Downs Qld) - 200g
with Red wine jus $48
Wow look at that beautiful piece of steak staring at me from across the table! I read some reviews online saying that this small steak was actually so worth it and really delicious, so I just had to recommend it when the time came. We had two grain fed steaks before this, so why not end the meal with a treat of wagyu! True to say, this was a wonderful piece of steak that just melted away in our mouths. Everything was so perfect about it. A must order from Chophouse!
We were both really happy with the way we ended our meal here as it was great. I asked Pat to stay for dessert as Chophouse had a little surprise planned (and I too had some stalling to do for another surprise planned):
Chophouse Chocolate Block $12
I've seen different variations of this block but tonight ours was a rich milk and white chocolate with a beautiful creamy inside! Sad I didn't get a picture of it because we had asked the waitress to take polaroids of us with this when it came out. But it had a little sparkler attached and a small cleaver used by the waitress to expertly hack this chocolate block into smaller pieces for us!
Huge thank you to Chophouse for providing such amazing food and wonderful service on this very special day. It's such a high quality place that I really recommend to everyone. Because the prices are on the high end, this makes it the perfect little splurge for a special dinner and event!
As for the big question; is it the best steak in Sydney? I don't really know as I'll have to keep eating to find out. All I know is while one of the steaks was disappointing, the other two were extremely good.
Love, Kim xx
TL;DR:
Price: Expensive
Quality: Great, specialise in thicker cuts of steak
Service: Friendly and helpful
Ambience: Casual, warm, inviting
Chophouse
25 Bligh St
Sydney NSW 2000
Open Monday - Saturday
Mon-Fri: 12PM - 10PM
Sat: 6PM - 10PM
