Meatmaiden is a moody, subterranean Melbourne steakhouse that pairs premium local meats, including dry-aged steaks, with craft beers and a sophisticated, rock-and-roll vibe. We dined on a Friday night and it was packed. Bookings are essential.
Food
Started with roasted bone marrow, rockefeller and toast. This was a simple and delicious dish for $26. No faults.
This was hash brown with tuna ceviche and tomato for $18. It was a perfect balance of refreshing, umami and savouriness. The hash brown was so cripsy.
This was burnt ends for $30, recommended by the server. It was the burnt ends of other steak orders, with crispy onion and horseradish. It was good but became sickening towards the middle.
We added on this smoked whole pig croquette for $15 a few minutes before our first dish came out so we had to wait 20 minutes after the first round of dishes for this one to arrive, and then another 30 minutes before our mains arrived. This croquette was good, with mustard and apple. It was crispy, had a good balance of flavours and textures, but due to our mistake and the wait time, it became less enjoyable as we were keen for the mains and filling up.
We got the special cut of the night, which was a stone axe full blood wagyu striploin, with the bone, that had been dry aged for 50 days. It was 600 grams at 9MBS for $280. Magnifique. Spectacular. You could just come to Meatmaiden and order this one steak and you would be set.
Meatmaiden are famous for their lobster mac cheese, bisque for $56 and oh boy, this was a delicious bite. It was rich, savoury, sweet and so filling. It was such a shame we had that wait, which made us to full to finish this dish. It is a smaller portion for the price.
We had to get the ramarro farm leaves, fennel and honey vinaigrette for $18 to balance all the richness.
Drinks
The cocktails were really good. We got a few specials from the night that rotate often, where they use smoke and charred techniques from the steaks on the drink ingredients.
Service
The service was good, but our server was definitely burnt out. She did her best, and pacing was good. It was our fault about the wait time. It was a bit hard to flag down staff for drinks order though.
Review
We had a good time. We would return mainly for steaks and the mac & cheese.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
