Rare Steakhouse is actually located around the corner from my work. I spent about 9 months walking past it, wanting to go inside but never had the opportunity. Whilst chatting to a friend one day she said that she had the biggest craving for garlic prawns from Rare Steakhouse. Given it was so close to my work we arranged a lunch date.
When I walked in it was amazing how many suits I noticed. This seems to be a place to go for business lunches. My friend arrived soon after and we waited for a menu. I have to say, whilst the restaurant was at about 60% capacity, the service did seem to be slow...or was it because we weren't in suits?
We were given a drink menu and I decided to have a red wine, my friend a white.We ordered our drinks and then were given the menu. I noticed a lunch special that was an entree, main and glass of wine for $35. I wanted that. I managed to get the attention of the waiter and asked for my wine to be the one in the lunch special. He actually seemed to be annoyed that I changed my drink order (note: it had not reached the table yet). My friend's drink arrived and I waited for mine. And waited. About 15 minutes later my drink finally arrived. At this point, the previous waiter would have known I wanted the lunch special but essentially he had not taken our orders. The waitress took our orders but at this stage I was getting slightly annoyed at the service. However from this point on the waitress looked after us and she was much more competent.
I ordered the $35 lunch special which included the following:
- Grilled Boerewors with tomato and BBQ sauce
- 200g Porterhouse steak with a choice of sauce (I chose Garlic, surprise, surprise)
- A glass of beer, wine or soft drink (I chose red wine)
My friend ordered Garlic Prawns which were $16.50 and severed with Ciabatta Bread and a side of Crispy Fried Onions for $6.50.
Considering how long it took for us to place our order, the food actually came out quite quickly. The first dish was the Grilled Boerewors. I actually forgot to take a photo of it as I was so underwhelmed by the entree. It was literally a BBQ sausage I would buy from Coles with some tomato/BBQ sauce on top. It wasn't even presented in an interesting way. Luckily this is the only dish that let me down.
Garlic Prawns
The Garlic Prawns were really yummy. There was lots of garlic (which I love) and oil to dip the prawns in. The only think is for $16.50 I would have expected a couple of more prawns. They were cooked perfectly and we both enjoyed them. The bread was nice to have on the side to be able to scoop up the garlic oil.
Crispy Fried Onion
The Crispy Fried Onions were served with a garlic aioli sauce. These were not traditional onion rings but slices of onion but they were amazing. I loved the crispy batter on them and the onions melted in your mouth. If I had more time, I think we would have ordered a second side of these. I can say these are the best onion rings/slices that I have tried. I could return just for these.
200g Porterhouse Steak with Crunchy Steakhouse Chips and Garlic Sauce
I love that the steak sauce was included in this lunch special. At Meat & Wine Co, you actually have to pay around $5 extra to get sauce with you lunch. For me a steak is not a steak without some sort of sauce. I ordered the steak medium-rare and it was cooked perfectly. The steak was so tender and there was no fat on the steak. The garlic sauce was nice but I think it might have been able to use some more garlic but I am bias as I love garlic and could almost eat it straight from a jar. (Trust me, I don't but you get the picture). The chips were very crunchy as promised and I really enjoyed dipping them in the garlic sauce and garlic aioli from the onion slices.
All in all, aside from the disappointing entree, I enjoyed all the other meals we tried at Rare Steakhouse. Rare Steakhouse also sell pork ribs which I am yet to try. Given my love of ribs I will have to go back. This place seems to be a slightly cheaper option that Meat & Wine Co. and their steak was on par. I was annoyed at the service in the beginning but I think this was a once-off so am willing to look past this. Given this restaurant is so close to my work, I know I will be back soon especially for those crispy onion rings however I will avoid the Coles sausage next time!!
Rare Steakhouse
42-44 King Street,
Melbourne
(03) 9620 9888
The steak looks YUM!
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