Our whole family is very into steak, mom in particular. So on our trip to Sydney, she of course insisted what we try Australian Wagyu. After some quick looking around, we decided on Meat & Wine Co, since their lunch deal seemed bangin'.
The lunch deal includes a wine/beer/soda, and the choices of appetizer, entree, and dessert--all for $49. Sounds amazing, right? Well, it turned out to be a little bit too good to be true. I made a reservation for our party of 4 ahead of time, for Queen's Day, and signed each of us up for the lunch deal through their online platform. They informed us that there would be a $5 per person surcharge, which they do on Sundays and Holidays. Mildly annoying, but a nominal amount, so no big. When we arrived, the server informed us that they would not be offering the lunch special because it was a holiday. I explained that the reservation allowed us to select the lunch deal and after going to check with management, our server complied.
3 of our 4 went with the house red, with the fourth electing the house white. As someone who drinks a solid amount of red wine and isn't really all that picky about them, this was... not great. My aunt also did not care for her white wine. For the app, I had the beetroot and labne. I didn't realize that the beets would be pickled; they were a bit strong, but paired with the labne and rocket were pretty good. It was just a little bit stronger of a flavor that I was expecting for an appetizer. My sister and mom had the wagyu tartare, which they both said was very good but incredibly rich. It was a ton of tartare for their first course, they both agreed. My aunt had the calamari, which she said was decent as well.
For our entrees, 3 of us had the wagyu rump and one had the steak sandwich--all with salad on the side. My wagyu was cooked closer to medium well than the medium I requested, but the glaze that they used on it was fantastic. My mom and aunt both said as well that their steak wasn't quite as tender as expected, but they both liked the glaze too. My sister's steak sandwich was also very good. The salads initially looked a little sad, with just lettuce and some radishes, but the vinaigrette used on it was superb. We all had the creme brûlée for dessert, which was pretty good but nothing really to write home about. To be fair, I feel like it's kind of hard to blow someone away with a creme brûlée.
Service was okay and the food was decent; I'd have been annoyed though had we paid normal a la carte prices for what we got. Nothing that we had was outright bad, but I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend this as a must-visit restaurant in Sydney. read more