New Brisbane

Brisbane is a town that loves its steak. Cha Cha Char, The Norman Hotel and what was formerly Fiasco’s at The Morrison all serve up fantastic steaks - and I should know, I’ve tried them all! So when I kept hearing on the radio about a new steak restaurant opening up at the Normanby Hotel in Red Hill, I felt compelled to check it out. And with a name like Bovine, I knew I was going to get a top steak, particularly since they’re one of the only places in town serving Wagyu sirloin!

Bovine Restaurant
The Normanby Hotel
1 Musgrave Road
Red Hill QLD 4059
P: (07) 3831 3353
E: info@thenormanby.com.au
W: www.thenormanby.com.au

Showing up at the Normanby around 11:30 with a friend of mine, we were a bit disappointed to find out that the restaurant didn’t open for lunch until 12, so we grabbed a drink and had a catch up while we waited. As the clock struck noon, the doors to the restaurant opened and I was impressed to see what they’d done with the former gaming lounge at the Normanby Hotel. Completely renovated, I was now entering an open, well-lit dining room with a very modern feel. The tables were all exquisitely set awaiting the lunch service, the wood-panelled walls added warmth and the subtle cowprint were clever and tastefully done. The whole thing was a bit out of place in the suburbs, especially at The Normanby which is known best for its drunken Sunday crowds, but inner-city suburbs are great for steakhouses if the success of The Norman/Morrison are anything to go by.

Taking our seats, we got our first look at the menu. Entrees seem to consist solely of share platters, salad and seafood, so we avoided these and decided to just grab a serve of bread before our main meal. Served with olive oil, dukkah and salt flakes, the bread was a good way to kick-start our appetites for the steak feast ahead.

Now, the second thing that struck me about the menu at Bovine is that there’s really nothing ‘light’ on there. If you’re coming to Bovine, you’re coming to eat a big meal. To be fair, they have the Garden Grill restaurant in the beergarden just outside, which has an extensive range of lighter options, but I still would have expected something smaller in Bovine itself, in case somebody at your table isn’t up for a big meal. For example, if you’re out for dinner with the wife and she’s not a big eater, there’s probably not much on the menu for her. Bovine is clearly, and without question, a steakhouse.

And indeed, there was an excellent selection of top quality Australian steaks on offer, sourced from ranches in QLD, NSW and SA. But really, as impressive and delicious as their range of beef sounded, I was interested in only one steak - the Wagyu sirloin. You see, Wagyu beef is delicious, and after Aria Restaurant stopped serving their $110 sirloin (which I never got a chance to sample), the only wagyu I could find in Brisbane restaurants was rump. And while rump is a lesser cut, it’s still delicious when it comes from Wagyu cattle, and so I wanted to see what a Wagyu sirloin tasted like. My friend thought the same and so, boringly, we both had the same.

As it arrived, we were impressed with the presentation of the meal and felt compelled to take a photo. A perfectly criss-crossed steak, lemon cheek, potato salad and a cosy little spot for my sauce pourer. But the coolest thing on there was the full bulb of roasted garlic - this is something I’ve always wanted to try at home, but to get a full bulb like that in a restaurant kinda blew my mind. It’s a unique touch, for sure.

Wagyu Sirloin - Bovine Restaurant @ The Normanby Hotel

So, as delicious as it looked, the real test was in how it tasted - and I have to say, these were some pretty delicious steaks. They were a little undercooked (my medium-rare was too rare, my friend’s medium-well was too medium), which was a bit disappointing with such a fine piece of meat, but they were satisfying nonetheless. The sauces weren’t that great (my wild mushroom sauce had a total of 2 mushrooms in it, my friends diane sauce was gluggy and thick), but the steak spoke for itself and I was quite happy to use the roast garlic to really bring out its natural flavours. The potato salad was also quite tasty, but I couldn’t work out what the lemon cheek was doing on my plate. I much would have preferred a small piece of garlic bread à la The Morrison Steakhouse.

All up, Bovine is a very good steakhouse and I’d probably go there again if I found an occasion - perhaps if my father flies into town and we feel like a larger, more upmarket feed, where I could sample more of the menu items. The food is good, the service is top notch and the atmosphere was very nice also. But, when I compare it to some of the other steakhouses I’ve been to in Brisbane, it’s probably not my favourite.

- Ross